You Want Sprinklers On That?

One hundred years ago this past March 25th, a fire at what was known as The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Manhattan, NY, killed 146 factory workers. At the time it was the largest number of deaths in one single incident (obviously that number was surpassed on September 11th) and caused cities around the country to analyze the consequences of a fire in a high-rise building. It also led to the creation of many new building, fire, and safety codes around the country. Owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, emigrants from Russia, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory began as a little shop on Woodster Street. As their firm grew, the business was moved to the ninth floor of the Asch Building, a 10 story building located at the intersection of Washington Place and Greene Street, in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan where New York University’s Brown Building now sits, just a few blocks from Washington Square Park.. As the business expanded, so did their occupancy as they eventually took over the eight and tenth floors as they soon became one of the largest blouse makers in New York City. What made this company famous was their manufacturing of the “shirtwaist”, which in those days was a very popular women’s blouse that had a tight waist and puffy sleeves. Although they exploited their almost 500 workers as many “sweatshops” in those days did, The Triangle Shirtwaist Company made Blanck and Harris extremely wealthy.

These people, who were mostly immigrant women, worked very long hours, six days a week, in a small unhealthy area and were paid very low wages. As most of the workers were young, many were only age 13 or 14 years of age. These abominable conditions led to an industry wide strike in 1909 and although many of the other shirtwaist companies in NYC negotiated an agreement of the strikers’ demands, the Triangle Waist Company owners did not, and conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory remained unchanged. At 4:30 on Saturday, March 25, 1911, as work ended and most of the workers were collecting their paychecks, a cutter noticed that a small fire had started in his scrap bin. As it was never determined what exactly started the fire, a fire marshal suggested that a lit cigarette had possibly been disposed of in the bin. Workers immediately began to throw pails of water on the fire, but since the room contained hundreds of pounds of cotton, tissue paper, and wooden tables, the fire quickly grew out of control. Workers then tried the fire hoses on the floor, but when they turned the water valve on no water came out. Immediately a worker called the ninth and tenth floors to warn them of the impending fire, however only the tenth floor received the message so the workers on the ninth floor didn’t even know about the fire until it was virtually too late. As people ran to escape the fire, many headed for the four elevators which were built to carry a maximum of 15 people each. Only a few round trips to the lobby occurred until the fire engulfed the elevator shafts as well. Out of the fifty or so people that tried the fire escape, only about 20 survived as the metal structure buckled under the heat and collapsed.

Those on the tenth floor which included Mr. Blanck and Mr. Harris, escaped to the roof and across to neighboring buildings. Those on the eighth and ninth floors were not as fortunate as the elevators were burned out and the fire escape was gone. The doors to the hallways were locked as per company policy so the remaining workers had no other option but the windows. Responding to the fire about 20 minutes later, the fire department ladders were only long enough to reach the sixth floor, so many of those workers who were by now standing on the ledge jumped to their death.

Within 30 minutes the fire was extinguished, however out of the 500 employees, 146 died. Their charred bodies went to a makeshift morgue on a pier on 26th. As thousands of people arrived to identify the bodies, many were left unidentified. Eventually The Triangle Shirtwaist Company owners, Mr. Blanck and Mr. Harris were charged and tried for manslaughter and other charges, but were found not guilty of all charges.

This particular loss and exposure of the hazardous conditions and fire danger that was common in most factories eventually led to The City if New York passing a large number of fire, safety, and building codes while also assessing penalties for those companies that do not comply. Within a short period of time, many cities followed the example of New York City. So why wasn’t this building equipped with sprinklers? “Not invented yet.” you say? Well, the world’s first true sprinkler system was installed in the Theatre Royal, located in England, in 1812. Designed by Colonel William Congreve and covered by a patent it consisted of a cylindrical airtight reservoir of 400 95,000 litres of water and was fed by a 10 inch water main. Followed by a series of smaller pipes that fed from the main line, the smaller pipes were pierced with a series of 1⁄2 inches holes which would sprinkle water in the event of a fire.

This perforated pipe system was used in textile mills throughout New England as a means of fire protection until about 1850. Although they were not automatic, they served the purpose until in 1872 when the first automatic sprinkler system was patented by Philip W. Pratt of Abington, MA. However, Henry S. Parmalee of New Haven, Connecticut is credited as being the inventor of the first automatic sprinkler head as he improved upon the Pratt patent and created a better sprinkler system and in 1874, Parmalee installed his fire sprinkler system into a piano factory that he owned.

In 1881, Frederick Grinnell enhanced Parmalee’s design, creating and patenting the automatic sprinkler now know as The Grinnell System, and in 1890 he invented the glass disc sprinkler which is still in use today. It wasn’t until the 1940’s when sprinklers were installed in residential high rise buildings, as before that time they were used exclusively in commercial buildings. Even then insurance companies were offering discounts for buildings equipped with sprinklers, as that was the driving force in owners installing them…safety of workers was the lesser of the reasons as cost vs. risk outweighed their decision. Although most cities in the United States and Canada mandate sprinklers in commercial buildings, sprinklers are rarely required by building codes for retail establishments with small number of occupants.

Thanks to a CT resident, many lives are saved and property preserved annually due to the invention of automatic sprinklers. Speaking of CT, (like that segue?) The PIA of CT held their annual convention also in March. Over 600 insurance industry professionals from across the state took advantage of continuing education classes, a trade show and plenty of networking opportunities at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, CT.Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy delivered the keynote address during the awards and greeted the crowd by highlighting his personal connection to the insurance field. “It’s a great honor to be in a room with people who make their living the way my dad made his living–selling insurance. An agency my dad joined in 1946 still lives on through my brother, Bill, and my nephew, Matthew. …I know what insurance can do for a family.”

Addressing the challenges facing the industry in CT, the Governor said, “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: In my opinion, Connecticut has long–at its own peril—ignored the insurance industry. … I think that’s emblematic of a broken state government that was more inclined to take people and things for granted than it was to understand who their strategic partners were and how it needed to treat those strategic partners and make sure they were receiving the care and treatment that they needed to receive.” He continued by saying that he was concerned that CT was losing its status as the insurance capital of the world, and that “…a lot of jobs were lost that should’ve stayed in Connecticut.”

The governor also talked about his selection of Thomas Leonardi as the newCommissioner of the Connecticut Insurance Department. “We have many jobs in this state that are insurance-based or agent-based directly, and we need to make sure we’re paying attention to this industry. That’s why I was happy to name an insurance commissioner who has an extensive history in the insurance industry.” Governor Malloy said that Mr. Leonardi will consult with PIACT once he takes his post. “We will make him available— he will want to be available to you at future meetings.” The Governor also said that the newly appointed head of the Department of Economic Development, Catherine Smith, also has an insurance background, formerly serving as an executive at ING North America.

The Governor also spoke about captive insurance companies chartering outof- state. Governor Malloy said, “No one in state government has asked ‘What is it about these other places … that make it a more advisable place to do business?’ Now, we’re going to ask that question and hopefully make it easier for a captive to be created here.” He continued by saying he has made a point to meet with “traditional- lines” insurers to make certain their needs are met and “to return insurance as a growth industry in Connecticut.”

In closing, the Governor said, “We’re trying to build a more responsive state government. … With respect to our insurance department: We recognize that you’re our partners. We’re going to try to re-engi neer that department to make sure we’re giving you timely answers, timely oversight and get out of your way—let you grow, let you sell the kinds of products that should be sold in this state. And I pledge to you that we’re going to work with you, your leadership and other insurance organizations to make sure that happens.”

Great to see the following people who stopped by my booth: Elizabeth Marano of Marano Insurance; Doug Harrigan of Insurance & Financial Services; Helen Massari of Sachs Walsh Insurance; Rosemary Shanley of Nicholson Associates; Dana Proto of The Pawson Group; Robert Forrest of Penny Hanley & Howley; Kimberly Tompkins of Housing Authority Insurance; Gary Obrien of Sutherland Insurance; Howard Rubin of Rubin Insurance; Jeffrey Killberg of Nicholas Tobin Insurance; Kristen Guglielmo of Penny Hanley & Howley; Steve West-Rosenthal of Insurance International; William Malloy of Malloy International; Robert Harris of New London County Mutual; and Amanda and Gary Freeman of Monroe Insurance Center. Thanks for stopping by to say hi!

Well, that’s all for now and next time we’ll be talking about Buffalo I Day and a few other events happening around town. Until next time thanks for taking the ferry across Long Island Sound and rolling a few 7’s with me (still not enough of ‘em!) at The MGM. Ciao for now!