When they showed the photo of a fireman carrying the body of a boy I bursted in tears. You see I was that fireman. Only I was photographed doing the same thing twenty six years later. I was a fireman for thirty three years. And I guarantee every fireman there suffered the rest of their lives because of that fateful day. God bless you all my brothers. I understand.

In 1985 we lost a high school classmate who worked weekends as a security guard at an office building in an arson fire; he got several people out of the building but re-entered to find one more and was overcome by smoke. His name was Steve Wartemann. RIP

I lost my cousin in this fire in room 208. My Aunt and Uncle were absolutely devastated. My entire family was devastated by the fire. Many friends of my father were lost in the fire. I was born in St Ann’s Hospital and baptized at Our Lady of Angels. So many in the neighborhood had their own theories about how the fire started. The neighborhood knew who started the fire, authorities denied it over and over. My aunts and uncles talked about what they knew vs what was reported. This event wrecked the entire neighborhood, so many mourned for the rest of their lives.

I'm glad they did another version of this story! My father was a student in the neighboring parish of Saint Agatha's, a fifth grader at the time of this fire. He remembers distinctly all the fire trucks rushing down the street towards the fire as he walked home. My mom was a fourth grader at Saint Columbanus on the south side. What's so scary to me is that this could have easily have been one of their schools, as they were built very similarly to Our Lady of the Angels. I'm glad that the story of this horrible tragedy will not soon be forgotten, by those that lived it, knew of it, or people like me, the children that came a generation after and were fortunate enough to attend schools that were finally structurally safe. God bless all the children and the adults involved in this tragedy. He shall wipe away all your tears.

When you lose a child the pain of loss never goes away . You learn to live with the grief . My heart goes out to the children that survived through it .

I use to have a patient who had a son that passed in the fire. She told me she would follow the fire trucks around town sometimes because she didn’t have anything to do as a housewife. That day she dropped her son off and was on her way to do some errands and was going home and decided to follow the fire trucks and it lead right back to her sons’ school and she found out later he had passed in the fire. Many years later when she was dying, she kept on saying she sees her son waiting for her at the foot of her bed! The grief is unreal and stay with her for over 50 years!

I had a cousin die in the OLA fire and her brother saved because a nun rolled him down a flight of stairs. This destroyed my aunt and uncle. The whole family was never the same. I was only four and don’t remember the whole story. The book To Sleep With The Angels was an excellent read and answered so many questions. My dad went with my uncle to the morgue to identify my cousin. It was one of the few times I remember my dad crying.

2 of my uncles were some of the first firefighters at this fire. It had a deep profound effect on them both.

I find it immensely heartbreaking that I've never heard of this tragedy before you posted this. 😢

That afternoon, when we got home from our own Catholic school, my Mom said that Daddy would be working late that evening. Then she started crying. "There was a fire at a school in the city. Your Dad is taking pictures for the paper ("The New World" (a Catholic weekly). Dad came home after our bedtime, but when we heard his car on the driveway, we ran to meet him. He reached out to hold us all, and Mom reached out to him from behind us. Then he started to cry in great, shaking sobs. I had never seen him cry like that. The next day after school, Mom went over what had happened and made sure we knew that we were safe in our one story cinderblock school. She told us to be patient while Dad was grieving. Dad had told her that this was even worse than anything he'd seen since the war. Years later, Mom said that the evaluation failure was in part due to a young Sister who didn't know what to do, and was waiting for Mother Superior to tell her. (Or, possibly, she was just in shock.) Dad photographed EVERY Catholic event in the Metro. So he was at every parish event related to the fire, every speech by the Cardinal and Mayor, every press conference regarding the OLA fire and its aftermath. The burden of bearing witness so the world could see was also a gift. That mission let him stay at The New World so he could take more pictures of celebrations, than of horror.

So glad this film showed the importance of future fire safety in schools. Those angels forever changed the lives of other children! 😔

I was a freshman in a Catholic high school at this time. They replaced all our wooden lockers and redid the entire science lab, which had had a wooden floor. It was a wake up call for private schools across the country.

This documentary was so moving. All those poor children and their teachers. And the families who lost their children. I just can’t imagine. The survivors showed us how you can go on, and it was impressive to see how many went into healthcare and firefighting. Very moving.

I did a firefighter midterm paper on our lady of angels and got 100% on my midterm paper.

I was taught by nuns from 1969 to 1976. They were stone cold serious about fire drills. When I first learned about OLA’s fire, it all made sense.

You can see how terrible the trauma has been for the survivors, even all these years later. This is why counselling is so important.

I live in central Illinois and I was 11 years old when the fire happened. I will never forget watching the news and seeing the little bodies covered with blankets. My mother could not stop weeping especially when they showed a little girl that looked a lot like me. It still brings tears to my eyes even all these years later.

Amazing documentary! I remember this fire like it was yesterday. My cousin was in 8th grade and jumped out of the window for safety. All of my uncles split up and went from hospital to hospital to find him. My dad and another uncle left the ER to go to the morgue when they walked past my cousin who had pushed aside because he wasn't so bad. He was burned but alive!

When I began teaching at Trinity High School, one of the first things my students asked me was whether I knew about the OLA fire. (Not from Chicago area and had no idea. Later I met and worked with a survivor of the fire. Such a horrible tragedy. It reminds me of the saying, "Every safety measure is written in blood." Because of that horrible event, millions of students and teachers have been safer in schools nationwide. But the cost was too high. My deepest sympathies to all those who lost someone or something precious in that fire.

My aunt was a Pharmacist at St Ann's Hospital when this happened. She told stories about the kids being brought in and the phone calls to area Hospitals for pain meds because they ran out.

I attended a private Catholic School in the 70’s and we had regular fire drills with the Sisters telling us how important these drills were because of the deadly fire at Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago. We used to pray prayers for the victims, survivors, their families and parish. Our Lady of the Angels Fire was etched into our hearts and minds. Fire drills were most frequent and taken so serious, because of that dreadful fire.

What a great documentary. Anyone who watches this should find a copy of “To Sleep with the Angels” it’s a fantastic read about this absolutely tragic fire and the subsequent investigation.

Thank you for this documentary. My Father, Uncle and two Aunts were in the fire. My father and Aunt were in the same room. (211) my father jumped out the window, (survived) Nancy Rae hid in the closet with two other girls. She didn’t survive. My uncle who is still living, still remembers the day as if it was yesterday. 😔

This is the most saddest and devastating video I’ve ever watched. I’m 54 and I don’t recall ever hearing about this tragedy. The loss of so many children, the loss of those Nuns that tried to save their students, the pain and anguish from the parents who had to identify their deceased child, the stories from the survivors. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it all.

I was in the 6th grade at that time - and couldn't stop crying for those poor children!! My heart hurt so bad!!! May all of those little angels R.I.P. Still to this day all I can do is cry over this horrendous fire! God Bless all of the survivors and help them all to move on with their lives!

I was in first grade or so at St. Mary School in Albuquerque when the nuns taught us about this fire, which terrified us and never left my young, frightened mind. It was a way to teach us the importance of fire drills, but it was extremely traumatizing. I remember a nun telling us how some children were found at their desks, hands clasped as if praying when they died of the poisonous air. That was the worst image to haunt a little Catholic school kid like me with. I prayed “Please God no fire” over and over for many years, believing that for each time I said those words I protected myself for another day from fire.

I never understood why people blamed God and not actual people. This the result of choices people did or didn't make-no sprinklers, lack of fire doors, flammable materials, someone starting the fire, etc...sad as people shouldn't have to lose their lives to make changes; but that is often the result. I learned long ago that you can't rely on people to always save you or have your best interests in mind, you have to save yourself.

I grew up in Gary, IN, and all of our tv & news came from Chicago. This fire was the first ‘real’ tragedy I ever saw happen on tv. I was 12 ….. and all of us were greatly impacted by seeing the horrible reality of this fire. No one from our generation, Catholic or not, will ever forget it.

Back then you didn't talk about emotions, I was taught to keep everything in. Godbless all who died 🙏🇺🇸

I was in kindergarten at neighboring St. Fidelis parish school. I remember my mother weeping in front of the TV. This was the first news story I remember being aware of. Several years later I met survivors in public school. My friend Patty lost her sister that day(her 6th birthday)an older brother and sister survived. My father took us to the cemetaries where the children were laid to rest on the anniversary of the fire many years. This morning I heard a fire engine and remembered this is why I was taught to always say a prayer for the firefighters and the people they were going to help.

I was born in 1962 at Saint Anne's Hospital, which treated many of the victims , and I knew persons who lost relatives in this fire. When I was in Catholic school, if anyone dared to misbehave during a fire drill, the nuns would remind us of this fire.

This was well done. I was a Catholic school student in the early seventies in Brooklyn, the building Holy Family school was completed in 1958 similar look but without all the dangerous wood elements. We had Many Franciscan nuns. I remember nuns were strict but loved the children, skipped rope with us… God bless those who passed and those still haunted by this fire.

I remember when this fire happened, my father was one of the firemen who fought this fire

I read anything I could find about this, as I was growing up. It started as an assignment for school. I was surprised how many laws about school safety came from this fire. As an adult now, I can’t imagine how the entire community was devastated.

I and my twin brother were in the fire we survived without injuries Father Joe Ognebiene carried me out of the building my cousin Carol Ann Gazzola died in the fire.

My condolences to families who lost kids and family 😢

“The Will of God” during a tragedy is used to excuse the lack of preventable action by humans.

Teachers, if your students think fire drills are a joke, show them this documentary. (Preview first. It may be too graphic for younger children.)

Such a loss of innocence. Rest in peace sweet angels.

It is great to hear that most people in that class went into pursue careers that help people

How horrible. I’ve never heard of this. I am from California. I pray everyone found peace.

Wonderful documentary! I was 8/9yrs old…I don’t remember it…watching this brought back my own memories, of growing up in a Catholic Community…I miss it!😢 I lived in Miami, Fla. at the time. When I was 24yrs old I moved to Georgia, the middle of the Bible Belt and was snubbed by the intolerance of “Christian’s”… There was only 1 Catholic Church in the country, miles away. Over the years I fell away from Organized Religion… I’m still Catholic but Over the years I’ve seen so MANY changes… WHY am I telling this… BECAUSE I MISS THE THINGS OF YESTERYEARS! This documentary has brought memories of a kinder, gentler times that I’ve long since forgotten. I miss those times! Please forgive my rambling!😢

My teachers told us about this terrible tragedy back in the early eighties why it was important to have fire drills I attended school in the Chicago they told us how 92 children were sadly killed 😢

I was 10 years old when this happened & I was shocked that this could happen at a school. I cried when I saw the pictures in the newspaper of each child who had become an angel too soon. I looked at each picture & read every name & said I was sorry it happened to them. When I went to my school the next day I was glad to see the building was brick, stairs were cement rather than wood that could burn up & that there were many fire alarms around. Fire drills were never the same after that for me ; I have had more respect for them. I have never forgotten that tragic fire & the devastation it ignited in my 10 year old self. 😪

I grew up Catholic, but went to public school on the North Shore of Chicago. I remember hearing the stories about this tragedy. Always scared me as a kid. R.I.P to all who perished. I can't imagine the grief the parents felt who lost one, let one the ones who lost two😢

I watch documentaries all the time. Lots of sad ones. But this one really got me. 😢

My father was the fire chief in the our little community, and I remember they showed the movie that was made about the fire at the fire house. I at the time was around the age of 12 and how it always stuck in my mind. I can also remember how my dad and the rest of the fireman of the department we’re on a crusade to make sure that all the schools in our town were safe, and checked frequently!

Sad that the priest claimed it was “the will of God!” Our God is a loving God. This was not his will! How dare the priest say that to grieving parents! 🥺😢

Since 6th grade (1975) I was fascinated by this story, reading the large books of world headlines in the library. It still haunts me. Watching this was heartbreaking. All those children and the brave sisters became Angels of Our Lady that terrible day.

Im from the west side of Chicago. My gym teacher was a little girl there. She was an awesome teacher and we all felt so bad for her. God bless us all..😢❤

The shot of the school after the fire with all the ladders leaning against it: people thought it meant the fire department’s ladders were too short. The explanation is much sadder. When news of the fire spread, grandfathers ran to their garages and grabbed their ladders-they went to the school to save their grandchildren. Sadly, most were too short, and they could only look on helplessly as children jumped out, their hair or clothes on fire as they smashed into the cement below, or fell back into their classrooms as the flames engulfed them. There is an outstanding book on the O.L.A. fire-“To Sleep With Angels”. It will break your heart and you won’t be able to put it down. I was a student at O.L.A.-we moved out in October of ‘58: the fire was December 1st. The only time I ever saw my father cry. I lost so many friends.😓💔

Great story. Can you imagine being in a school room and the only way to survive is to jump. God bless all who died, those who lived for years with the nightmare. The priest and nuns - they are heroes 😔

My sincere heartfelt condolences to those who lived this tragedy. My late Father In Law was a District Chief Captain in the City where I currently live in Canada. He had served for over 35 years before cancer came & took him from us. He had told me about this tragedy as he had learned about it years before in his training. I raised two sons in the Elk Island School District in a small town near the city. Whenever they were late for class the school policy is to mark them absent. I have fought this policy for years explaining that should there be a emergency evacuation of the school can they be sure that they got all the students out including those who are registered as “Absent” although they are only late. They still continue this policy 4 years after my youngest Graduated. It gives me chills to think about it. They really don’t understand the ramifications of this policy should they ever face an actual emergency. I still try to have it changed and they still haven’t made any changes. I’m frustrated that they think this is ok. After watching this documentary, I have a renewed interest in addressing my concern and having their policy changed. I still have friends who have Children in that School system. If your Children’s School does this, then please look into having their School Board also change their policy. It only takes a few seconds to miss a child when they are actually in the building.

I've been a Journey fan for many years, and I knew the Cain family hailed from Chicago, but I've never heard this story. God bless the survivors, their families, those who lost loved ones, the Sisters, the rescuers. Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us. May those who were lost rest in peace.

I was a student at St Domitilla in the 60’s. The legacy of the fire of Our Lady of Angels was shared with the students every year during Fire Prevention October. We were reminded of the improvements implemented because of their suffering. Because of those stories, I have never forgotten this tragedy and the lessons learned.

I was three at the time i remember my mother telling me what happened and having us pray for them 🙏

So appreciate this broadcast, and this particular story. Growing up in Chicago, we heard of this tragedy all our lives.

I was 6 and I remember this fire in Chicago. Our church in Rockford held a special mass, as alot of Italian Catholics had relatives who were impacted by this fire. 😢

I was in 2nd grade. At a different Catholic School. I was so disturbed by this. I lived in Chicago as well.

My Chicago elementary school burned down January 1959. Fortunately, it was a Sunday night fire and the building was empty. Arnold Elementary. I was graduating from 8th grade that month.

I don't remember hearing of this tragedy. I was in first grade in Catholic School in Philadelphia at the time and my father was a Fireman. We always had firedrills. Dear God what a horror 😢

We lived 5 blocks from this school. I remember the fire hoses all strung together and everywhere trying to get enough water pressure to the school. Inadequate 😢 by the time the water reached, the pressure was too low. My older sisters little friends died in that fire.

I think this is the hardest thing I've ever seen as a faithful Catholic. How does any child come back? How does a parent, without faith? God rest all those who lost their lives. God Bless the survivors.

I had never heard about this fire. Cried hearing their stories. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee..........

I remember this fire. I am now 75, living in Wisconsin. But at the time attended Our Lady Help of Christians school. Not far from the school. After the fire, every class had to share their desks with the living students in a split shift class day. We had to carry all our books to school every day. There was no such thing as back packs back then. And we walked several miles to school. No such thing as school busses or mothers who drove you to school. It was a real sad time.

My whole class went to the funerals. It is one day I will never forget.

This is the first time I heard of this, but I recognize the kids in their desks, the Nuns in a Box (the headpiece), kids standing at the back of the room. I was 4 when this happened, and entered Catholic school in 1960 and we had at least 50 kids in each classroom and 2 classrooms of each grade. 100 kids as first graders. We lived in a suburb of Pasadena, CA, and the school and church buildings were Mission style with cement steps. I do remember the nuns especially telling us how important it was to be quiet during fire drills and to walk quickly and line up on the playground where the teacher would call the roll. I went another 4 years at a Catholic high school and credit my strict education with any success I have achieved, especially in reading, literature, spelling and writing (can still diagram a sentence). RIP - all the young lives lost and the 3 nuns who died while protecting the children. Our family lived across the street from the Church and School and I cannot imagine in any world how those kids could go back to class after this happened. In sorrow and prayer, Kathleen

My fiance is a volunteer firefighter and every fire is devastating but when kids are involved it’s a thousand times harder. My fiancé has seen his fair share of fatal fires, accidents etc. but the one that stands out harder than the rest was when a mom set her house on fire with her husband and two kids in the house (this was at 2:30-3 in the morning. She set it ablaze and went for a walk and then when she got back her house had accidentally caught on fire. The saddest part of the whole thing was the brother was found with his sister and he was laying on top of her trying to protect her (he was in his room when the fire was started asleep) and their father died in front of the little girls room as he was trying to save his kids. I have been with my fiancé for well over ten years and never seen him cry. He called and told me he was on his way home and to send ourdaughter to my moms and hung up the phone. When he got home he still had his gear on which was very weird and when he got to our porch I could see that on his gear there was something that looked funny (what it is was is further down) and as soon as he stepped in the door he dropped to his knees and that was it he busted out crying and because it was under investigation he couldn’t tell me everything that happened. Finally I was able to get him calm and out his gear and as soon as he went to take it off he froze and told me do not touch any of his gear and to call the police and fire investigators immediately. When he picked up the little boy off his sister he put the little man in his arms to crawl out with him and some of the little boys skin and clothes ended up on his jacket. And then he lost it all over again. Therapy has worked so well and some of the firefighters that were on the same call are still going through therapy five years later.

I was in 5th grade on Dec 1, 1958 when Sister Rose Helen stopped the class and told us about the fire that was happening at the school 700 miles away in Chicago. She wanted us all to pray for the children that were in the fire. I’ll never forget how my chest hurt and my eyes filling with tears as our whole school prayed. It was traumatic for us as children to hear about it too. I have never forgotten that day 65 years ago. Incredibly sorrowful.

I cannot imagine…RIP to all of those lost 🤍🕊

Rip to the 95 live's 🕊️🌟

Father Joe Ognibene my mom’s first cousin. Growing up in Buffalo, New York, we only saw him for a few weeks every summer when he would visit my grandparents. Such wonderful memories of him, his brother Father Sam Ognibene and their father, my great uncle Joe. I had never heard anyone in my family talk about this tragedy, until maybe 10 years ago. What a horrific tragedy.

This is the best documentary that I have seen on The Our Lady of Angels fire. I can imagine how difficult it was to talk about their experiences, but we are learning so much about the survivors' accounts. It hurts so badly to see such a terrible event happen to these children and nuns and tear apart families.

I applauded all those people and will keep them all in prayer ❤

My parents were young marrieds living near that neighborhood at the time. My mother was a public school teacher. So very, very sad.

I don't live in Chicago but our school was similar. Plus we had the old wooden desks attached in rows.

So tragic and heartbreaking these poor little kids.

When this fire happened, i was in third grade at Most Holy Trinity School in a small town in downstate Illinois. That was when we started to have a lot of fire drills.

My grandma lived about 45 minutes from there as a child for a brief time and said when her elementary school learned of the fire, the kids cried and drew pictures for their school. She also stated she had to stay away from this very heavy due to extreme racism. Really sad story.

This documentary was very nicely and respectfully done. As a Catholic & an Italian, I found it very moving. Thank you. 🌈 ❤️

10:00 - I can attest to the Baby Boom of that time, and the sad failure of parochial school education...my sister and I grew up in the far NW Chicago suburb of West Dundee. My Dad was Polish Catholic, and my mom (a German Lutheran) went along for the ride via marriage, so we went to St. Catherine of Sienna grade school from 1961 thru 1965. In the 1965 year (starting in Sept 1964) my sister was in second grade and I was in fifth. The first day of that year, my sister came home from school crying her eyes out. Mom kept asking sis (Sharon) what was wrong, what happened. Sis finally sobbed out: "Mama...the teacher said that - that we can't ask any questions. How am I ever going to learn anything?" -- My mother hit the roof, and drove directly over to the rectory and demanded to speak with Father Vaughn. She was LIVID that one of her children couldn't ask questions in class, and she demanded to know why. Poor Father Vaughn had to explain to my hysterical mother that my sister Sharon, at age 7 in second grade, was one of *_SEVENTY TWO_* children in the class -- with only one teacher. Because tuition was not refundable, Sharon and I had to finish out that year, with a far-below average education -- Sharon never got above a D in any of her 2nd grade subjects, and I managed to cruise through 5th with a passable C. The next year, when Mom enrolled us in public school, Sharon's grades miraculously (!) improved to B+ in most subjects, and I (in 6th grade) got straight A's and A+'s for the first time.

My home state of Massachusetts had its own parochial school fire on October 28, 1915, that claimed the lives of 21 schoolgirls in Peabody. Ranging from 18 years old down to 6 years old. It's rarely talked about and I've been trying to make little info bios on the victims.

I can’t even imagine!! All those kids and families what they went through. As I watched this I could only cry, just cry. God bless them. 💖🙏😢😭

One of my cousins went to this school, but was home sick the day of the fire. My aunt was relieved and told my mother that many neighbors had lost or injured children. My cousin went to public school after that. From Chicago, U.S.A.

I worked with a lady whose father was a Chicago firefighter. She told me that her father was there that day. She also said he told her of the nun who had the children place their heads on their desks and pray. What a tragedy. I heard that story several times over our years of working together. It must have left an indelible mark on her family too.

Wow, I have never heard of this! Excellent documentary

This is why just because a building is old, it shouldn't be exempt from contemporary fire codes; especially if it's a place children occupy. I understand it can be costly and possibly impossible to justify upgrading a building, but saying it's exempt is like saying eh, nothing is likely to happen so let's look the other way, or saying it's not worth the burden of upgrading it because it's just easier this way. The codes exist because it was determined that it's needed to be safe. Why should an old building be allowed to go on when unsafe? Same goes for Earthquake codes and electrical codes.

I remember this fire and it has moved me all my life

Fire doors were LOCKED?? Whoever locked these kids in this fire trap were guilty of criminally negligent homicide

Wow I had never heard of this fire God bless each and every one of them

"To Sleep with the Angels," (The Story of a Fire), by David Cowan and John Kuenster, is an excellent book on the Our Lady of the Angels school tragedy. It goes into detail about the fire itself, some lost opportunities to act sooner to respond to the fire, the aftermath for many of the survivors and what perhaps was most likely the cause of this fire.

I remember this fire. I lived in Salt Lake City. I was 8 years old. The programs - probably in LIFE magazine - haunted me well into adulthood. Such a sad thing.

I never heard of this tragedy. Sad. Good documentary. I was in 7th grade and we had a student with arson behavior. He even started a garbage pale fire in our school. Caught and extinguished in time, no loss of lives, minor damage.

I well remember the "cloud of gloom" that settled on that parish afterward. I was very young when it happened but heard the adults speak about it in hushed tones.

Thank you for showing such a tragic & awe inspiring event ! My heart goes out to those survivors who had to live with the guilt but strived to help each other & others in times of need.

thank you all for sharing this story. i knew of two fire stories but not this one til now. tho I wasn't born and raised here in Chicago, my heart is so broken for the families that lost family members and survivors for what you endured. I'm so emotional right now. I'm truly sorry what yall endured and I pray justice. we know if yall don't get justice on earth, our heavenly Father will get it for everyone of you. i wish I could give all families big hugs. my prayers are with you all xxxxxxxxx Praying protection over all of you In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen and may they rest in eternal peace crosses self

I was in kindergarten in 1958. While I don't remember the fire, I remember the fire drills and structural changes made at my private school.

What a difference a fire door might have made... I wonder if the inspector who gave a pass EVER felt somewhat responsible for the great loss of life if he hadn't reported "no violations"

As I read To Sleep With The Angels I realized that the public school where I attended junior high in 1957-1958, built in 1899, was exactly like this school: red brick, two stories, all wood interiors with layers of varnish and wooden stairs. We moved away at the end of the 1958 school year but I found out years later that the school was demolished, among hundreds of others all over the country. This great tragedy saved the lives of millions of other children. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

I was born in November of 1957 but my dad was born and raised in Dubuque Iowa and I recall him telling me stories of this tragedy. So heartbreaking.