'IT COULD HAPPEN HERE'

On Dec. 5, 1958, a Colorado newspaper took local taxpayers to task for voting down a school construction plan and made its case citing that week's deadly school fire in Chicago.

"It Could Happen Here," the Louisville Times warned its readers after Chicago's Dec. 1, 1958 tragedy. (Louisville is located between Denver and Boulder.)

Ninety-two students and three nuns perished at Our Lady of Angels school in spite of the valiant efforts of the Chicago Fire Department, the fire patrol, police, teachers, neighbors and parents. The school was old and lacked fire escapes.

"The tragic school fire in Chicago should make taxpayers who voted down a new grade school building for Louisville stop and think," the Times said. "Most certainly it will add more worry to the mothers who every time the fire alarm goes off run out to look for smoke at the grade school and listen to see which way the fire truck takes."

About two weeks later, Louisville area firefighters held school fire drills, and the Times reported: "In the St. Louis school 163 pupils cleared the building in 75 seconds. ... At the new Fairview consolidated school where rooms all have outside doors, 485 pupils were out of the building in 65 seconds and at the old Fairview building it took 77 pupils 65 seconds to clear the building."