Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! Witness the tale of the most disastrous performance in circus history — a show so hot, it literally burned down the tent.

On July 6, 1944, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus pitched its Big Top in Hartford, Connecticut, promising an afternoon of wonder and delight. What the audience got instead was terror, tragedy, and a firsthand demonstration of why you should never waterproof a tent with a mixture of paraffin wax and gasoline. (Yes, really.)

The show began with a crowd of nearly 7,000 spectators, mostly women and children, eager to escape the summer heat and marvel at the spectacle. But just as the lions were doing their thing and the trapeze artists defied gravity, someone noticed a different kind of attraction: flames licking up the side of the Big Top.

Now, the good folks at Ringling Bros. had waterproofed their canvas tent using a homebrew concoction that sounds like it was invented by Wile E. Coyote — a mixture of wax and gasoline. The result? A tent that was highly water-resistant and extremely flammable. Once the fire started, the tent went up faster than your uncle’s backyard fireworks display on the Fourth of July.

Panic ensued. The exit situation was… let’s call it "poorly thought out." As the crowd rushed for safety, the burning canvas collapsed, trapping many underneath. In just eight minutes, the Big Top was reduced to ashes, and the aftermath was horrifying: 167 people dead and more than 700 injured.

The fallout for Ringling Bros. was immediate and severe. Several circus officials were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and the company paid out millions in settlements. The disaster also led to stricter fire safety standards for public events — because apparently, it took a literal firestorm for people to realize that maybe gasoline and wax aren’t ideal building materials.

So the next time you’re at the circus, spare a thought for the Hartford audience of 1944. And if you see the Big Top starting to smolder, maybe skip the popcorn and head straight for the exit.

Stay safe, stay curious — and maybe avoid any show described as “fiery.”

Sources

Books:

The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy - by Stewart O'Nan

The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top by Michael Skidgell

Articles:

https://connecticuthistory.org/the-hartford-circus-fire/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hartford-circus-fire

https://hartfordhistory.net/circusfire.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-24-mn-1291-story.html