Triangle: Remembering the Fire

This HBO documentary deals with the infamous fire of March 15, 1911 in New York City in which 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, most of them women, were killed in a horrendous fire. The company operated on three upper floors in a relatively-new high-rise. This was a time when there were no requirements for fire drills or sprinkler systems. The workers were packed into tight work spaces and when the fire broke out, one entire floor wasn't forewarned, thereby losing several precious minutes during which they could escape. In the end, dozens of workers jumped from windows to their death. The tragedy led to the creation of modern health and safety laws and laid the foundation for Roosevelt's New Deal.