THE BALLOON MAN

Longmont woman recalls 1944 fatal circus fire

This was the scene of pandemonium at Hartford, Conn., on July 6, 1944, when a fire in which over 145 persons died struck the tented Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus. (Associated Press file photo)By Magdalena Wegrzyn Longmont Times-Callfrom: www.timescall.com07/02/2011LONGMONT -- When Diane Wood closes her eyes and concentrates on the memory, she can still see the flames. The 73-year-old Longmont pastel artist is a survivor of the Hartford Circus Fire, which claimed 168 lives when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus big top tent caught fire on July 6, 1944.
"You go through a lot of things in your life, but that was one of the worst things I`ve ever been through," Wood said recently while remembering the fire.
To this day, the fire is the worst disaster in Connecticut`s history.
On the afternoon the fire started, Wood, then 6 years old, and her mother, Helen Burke, along with her mother`s friend and her two young boys, drove from their home in Rockville, Conn., to the circus half an hour away in Hartford.
The group squeezed into four seats near the stage. A ticket attendant recommended that Wood`s mother hold her little girl on her lap in an effort to secure a better seat.
Right as high wire act The Flying Wallendas were starting their acrobatics, Wood recalls noticing a thin plume of smoke on the southwest side of the tent.
Someone yelled "Fire!" and then, Wood said, panic overcame the audience, which was estimated to be about 7,000 people. read more at:http://www.timescall.com/features/ci_18394629