The Hartford Circus Fire Left a City in Mourning

The Hartford Circus Fire was one of the worst tragedies in Connecticut history — and one of the deadliest fires in America’s past. On July 6th, 1944, a blaze tore through the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus big top during an afternoon performance, killing 167 people and injuring more than 700. The disaster shocked the nation and forever changed fire-safety laws across the country.

The circus had arrived in Hartford a day late. Wartime shortages had slowed the trains, forcing the cancellation of the previous day’s show — a bad omen in circus lore. Still, by mid-afternoon, more than six thousand people crowded beneath the enormous canvas tent on a field off Barbour Street, eager for a few hours of wonder in the middle of a world at war.

The big top stretched nearly five hundred feet long and was waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin wax and gasoline — a coating that kept out rain but turned the canvas into fuel. Inside, lion tamer Alfred Court had just finished his act, and the Flying Wallendas were performing high above the crowd when someone noticed smoke rising near the men’s tent.

What began as a flicker became a firestorm. Flames raced up the sidewall and across the ceiling. Burning wax rained down as panic spread through the stands. Some exits were blocked by animal cages, others by equipment. Ushers slashed holes in the canvas to help people escape, but within ten minutes, the massive tent collapsed into an inferno of fabric and smoke.

When the flames finally died down, rescue crews searched the wreckage, pulling survivors and bodies from the ruins. Ambulances carried the injured to Hartford Hospital, while the Connecticut State Armory was turned into a makeshift morgue. Families walked slowly among rows of bodies — many burned beyond recognition — hoping to find someone still alive. When names were confirmed, grief swept the hall.

In the days that followed, the scale of failure became clear. Fire extinguishers were buried in storage, fire trucks sat a quarter-mile away, and Hartford’s fire department hadn’t even been notified of the circus’s arrival. Several Ringling Brothers officials were charged with manslaughter for negligence. They served short sentences before being pardoned, and the company eventually paid more than five million dollars to victims’ families.

For decades, questions lingered about how the fire started. In 1950, a former circus worker, Robert Dale Segee, confessed to arson, claiming he’d been haunted by visions of a “flaming horse.” He later recanted, and most historians now believe the blaze began with a discarded cigarette near the men’s tent.

The Hartford Circus Fire led to sweeping safety reforms, banning flammable waterproofing materials and tightening fire codes nationwide. Today, behind Hartford’s Wish School memorial, a monument marks the site where the big top once stood — a field where laughter turned to panic in minutes. To explore survivor stories, photographs, and archival records, visit circusfire1944.com.