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Remembering The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 100 Years Later, Part 2

by Jesse Zanger

Click here to see part 1 of Remembering The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: What Happened.

WHAT CHANGED

As New Yorkers, we know that horrors visited upon us reverberate around the nation. That was true with Triangle.

The conditions the workers labored under gave rise not only to the union movement but also fire safety improvements.

"It's clearly one of the most significant events of New York history," said Dr. Ryan Carey of the Museum of the City of New York. "It's part of the construction, the creation of modern New York."

"The poor people that were killed with that fire will never be forgotten," said New York Fire Department Commissioner Sal Cassano, "because what was borne out of that fire, which was the labor law, the Bureau of Fire Prevention and our first fire prevention codes."

FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano talks about the impact of the Triangle fire on the department with WCBS 880's Sean Adams

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"As a result of that tragedy, numerous rules were put in place requiring factories to install sprinkler systems on upper floors, keep doors unlocked and hold fire drills," said Cassano, who also pointed to the creation of the city's Bureau of Fire Prevention, which currently employs some 400 people.

"The Bureau is constantly working to find new and innovative ways to keep people safe," Cassano said.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The remains of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in 1911 (credit: AP Photo/File)

A simple change that was made, for example, was requiring that doors to stairwells and fire escapes not open inwards.

"When you have a large group of occupants trying to get out one small door and they're in a panic they press up against the door making it impossible for the door to open inwardly from the press of bodies," said Chris Connor. Connor is a retired member of the FDNY and works as a construction safety engineer.

Cassano said the real legacy is lives saved.

"Fire prevention is a critical part of FDNY and, thanks to hard work by our inspectors, firefighters, fire safety educators and others, New York City suffered fewer civilian fire deaths in 2010 than any other year on record," he said.

WCBS 880's Marla Diamond with Vincent and Serf Maltese, who lost relatives in the fire

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Labor laws also changed in the wake of the fire.

"The Triangle Fire was a devastating tragedy which brought attention to the many problems facing factory workers in the United States and was instrumental in paving the way for worker protections and safety standards," said Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) agreed.

"The memory of those 146 lives lost dramatically underscores how essential 100 years of progress have been for ensuring that employees find safe and humane conditions in their workplaces," said Nadler, who represents the district where the fire occurred.

The House and Senate have both recently introduced resolutions commemorating the disaster.

Mark Levin, producer of "Triangle: Remembering The Fire" discusses the blaze's role in strengthening the union movement

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Mark Levin, who produced "Triangle: Remembering The Fire," a documentary about the deadly blaze, said the lessons from the fire resonate to this day.

"What's amazing is that 100 years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire we are witnessing a debate about where there's even a need for labor anymore," Levin said. "We need to be reminded how we got here. It didn't come easy. Lives were lost in the struggle."

ONLINE RESOURCES

There are numerous websites with extensive additional resources for you to learn more about this historic tragedy. Here is a cheat sheet.

Complete list of victims

Cornell University's Online Triangle Fire Exhibit, which was vital in putting together CBSNewYork's retrospective.

McClure Magazine article on the fire from 1911

Remember The Triangle Fire Coalition

A look at the Triangle fire trial

Annual CHALK Commemoration of the Triangle fire

Share your thoughts about this disaster and its significance in our comments section below.

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