07/06/2025
Hartford Engine 7, the first arriving Engine Company to the scene of the infamous Hartford Circus Fire is in our collection and always on display!
Visit us to see this living piece of history on display!
Few who lived through the Hartford Circus Fire would ever forget it. On July 6, 1944, before an audience of 7000 people, mostly women and children, the Big Top caught fire during a show. The fire spread quickly and many were trapped inside the tent.
About 700 people were injured, many gravely with extensive burns, and 167 were killed. It is considered one of the worse fire disasters ever in the United States.
This page from the Telephone Bulletin of the Southern New England Telephone recounts the horror of the event, but also details how the company responded. Thousands of people were frantically making calls to locate loved ones, all of which had to be routed through the company switchboards. The company established an emergency telephone center at the site of the tragedy for use by the police and fire and rescue officials. Installers were dispatched to the city's hospitals to add circuits, and additional operators were brought in to handle the increased calls. Company vehicles were sent to the circus site to help in rescue work.
We hold the records of the Southern New England Telephone Company, which served Connecticut from 1878 to 1998. The company's efforts to aid in the tragic Hartford Circus Fire is one of many times the company had stepped up to service the people of the state.
