Fire Escape Collapse

Last updated
Fire Escape Collapse Fire Escape Collapse.png
Fire Escape Collapse

Fire Escape Collapse, also known as Fire on Marlborough Street, is a monochrome photograph by Stanley Forman which received the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1976 [1] and the title of World Press Photo of the Year. [2] The photograph, which is part of a series, shows 19-year-old Diana Bryant and her two-year-old goddaughter Tiare Jones falling from the collapsed fire escape of a burning apartment building on Marlborough Street in Boston on July 22, 1975. [3] The fire escape at the fifth floor collapsed as a turntable ladder on a fire truck was being extended to pick up the two at the height of approximately 50 feet (15 meters).

Contents

The photo was taken with a motorized camera and also shows falling potted plants, as well as pieces of the collapsed fire escape. Other photos of the series show Bryant and Jones waiting for a turntable ladder and the moment of the fire escape's collapse with both victims on it. Published originally in the Boston Herald American , the photo was published in more than 100 newspapers and resulted in the adoption of new fire escape legislation in the United States. [4]

The incident

The tillerman of the first fire ladder company to arrive at the scene, Robert O'Neill, asked 19-year-old Bryant to lift her two-year-old goddaughter Jones to him on the roof, but Bryant was unable to do so and O'Neill jumped down to help before the ladder could reach them. O'Neill had one arm around Bryant and one hand on a rung of the ladder when the fire escape collapsed. O'Neill managed to hang by one hand and was rescued, but Bryant and Jones fell approximately 50 feet (15 meters). Bryant sustained multiple head and body injuries and died hours later. Jones survived the fall as she had landed on Bryant, softening the impact. [2] A helicopter pilot, Joe Green, who provided traffic reports and landed on a nearby roof, reportedly offered to pick up Bryant and Jones, but got no response from the firefighter. [5]

Police obtained an arrest warrant for the building's owner, Fred Durham, for trash fires behind the building. [5] A police complaint charged Durham with keeping an unlicensed lodging house. [5] Three trash fires behind the building were reported in the weeks preceding the accident. [5]

Forman's recollection

Recalling the accident, Forman said he was about to leave the office of the Boston Herald when, after a call about a fire, he rushed to the scene, following one of the fire engines. [6] Hearing yelling for a ladder truck, Forman ran to the back of the burning building, where he saw Diana Bryant and Tiare Jones on the fire escape. [6] Because of the heat of the fire behind, Bryant and Jones were "basically leaning" at the point farthest from the building. [6] Forman then took a position where he could photograph what he thought was "an impending routine rescue" in his own words. [6] After the fire escape collapse, Forman acknowledged: "It dawned on me what was happening and I didn't want to see them hit the ground. I can still remember turning around and shaking". Forman, however, noted he was unable to see the moment Bryant and Jones hit the ground "as they fell behind a fence where the bins were". [6]

Publication and impact on policy

This photograph and others from the incident were originally published in the Boston Herald. Forman made a set of prints for the Associated Press, which distributed the photo to 128 U.S. newspapers and those in several foreign countries. [7]

Within 24 hours, action was taken in Boston to improve the safety of all fire escapes in the city. [7] Fire safety groups used the photos to promote similar efforts in other U.S. cities. [7]

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Boston Herald</i> US newspaper

The Boston Herald is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulitzer Prizes in its history, including four for editorial writing and three for photography before it was converted to tabloid format in 1981. The Herald was named one of the "10 Newspapers That 'Do It Right'" in 2012 by Editor & Publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography</span> American photojournalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. From 2000 it has used the "breaking news" name but it is considered a continuation of the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, which was awarded from 1968 to 1999. Prior to 1968, a single Prize was awarded for photojournalism, the Pulitzer Prize for Photography, which was replaced in that year by Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire engine</span> Emergency vehicle intended to put out fires

A fire engine is a road vehicle that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography</span> American photojournalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Angels School fire</span> 1958 school fire in Chicago, Illinois

On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary school was operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago and had an enrollment of approximately 1600 students. A total of 92 pupils and 3 nuns ultimately died when smoke, heat, fire, and toxic gases cut off their normal means of egress through corridors and stairways. Many more were injured when they jumped from second-floor windows which, because the building had a raised basement, were nearly as high as a third floor would be on level ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire escape</span> Type of emergency exit for tall buildings

A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible. Fire escapes are most often found on multiple-story residential buildings, such as apartment buildings.

<i>The Falling Man</i> Photograph from 9/11 attacks taken by Richard Drew

The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the World Trade Center to his death during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The unidentified man in the image was trapped on the upper floors of the North Tower, and it is unclear whether he fell while searching for safety or he jumped to escape the fire and smoke. The photograph was taken at exactly 9:41:15 A.M. on the day of the attacks.

fThe following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1976.

The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Forman</span> American photojournalist

Stanley Joseph Forman is an American photojournalist, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography two years in a row while working at the Boston Herald American.

"Time on My Hands" is the thirteenth and final episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 29 December 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Fire Department</span>

The Boston Fire Department provides fire services and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It also responds to other incidents including motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, utility mishaps, floods, explosions, and construction accidents among others.

The Worsley Hotel Fire was a major arson fire at the Worsley Hotel in Maida Vale, London on 13 December 1974. It killed seven people, including a probationary firefighter.

<i>The Soiling of Old Glory</i> 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph

The Soiling of Old Glory is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken by Stanley Forman during the Boston busing crisis in 1976. It depicts a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a black man—lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark—with a flagpole bearing the American flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasushi Nagao</span> Japanese photographer (1930–2009)

Yasushi Nagao was a Japanese press photographer.

The Cheapside Street whisky bond fire in Glasgow on 28 March 1960 was Britain's worst peacetime fire services disaster. The fire at a whisky bond killed 14 fire service and 5 salvage corps personnel. This fire was overshadowed only by a similar fire in James Watt Street on 19 November 1968, when 22 people died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winecoff Hotel fire</span> 1946 fire in Atlanta, Georgia

The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen.

References

  1. 1 2 "1976 Winners". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "1975, Stanley Forman, World Press Photo of the Year". World Press Photo. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. Foreman, Gene (13 September 2011). The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in the Pursuit of News. John Wiley & Sons. p. 232. ISBN   978-1-4443-5964-0.
  4. "The Pulitzer Prize". Stanley Forman Photos. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Rescue effort fails". Chicago Tribune . July 24, 1975. p. 1 via Newspapers.com.
    "Rescue was seconds away". Chicago Tribune . July 24, 1975. p. 5 via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Picture power: Fire-escape drama". BBC. 30 September 2005. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ethics cases". Department of Communication, Seton Hall University. Retrieved 21 July 2015.