The 25 March 1911 New York Garment Factory Fire That Killed 146 Workers in 18 Minutes Because the Exit Doors Had Been Locked From the Outside
A fire began on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in Greenwich Village at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday 25 March 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company occupied the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors. The exit doors had been locked from the outside to prevent theft. 146 garment workers died — most of them young immigrant women — in 18 minutes. The disaster produced the first New York State factory-safety legislation.
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