Our Lady of the Angels school fire to be remembered at Sunday Mass

The Dec. 1, 1958, fire at the grade school at Iowa Street and Avers Avenue killed 92 students and three nuns. It resulted in stricter fire safety codes nationwide.

SHARE Our Lady of the Angels school fire to be remembered at Sunday Mass
Three nuns and 92 children were killed in the Dec. 1, 1958, blaze at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School.

Three nuns and 92 children were killed in the Dec. 1, 1958, blaze at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School.

Sun-Times file

A Mass is planned Sunday to mark the 62nd anniversary of Chicago’s Our Lady of the Angels fire.

Social distancing and masks will be required at the memorial, which is scheduled at 5 p.m. Sunday at Holy Family Church, 1080 W. Roosevelt Rd., according to the Chicago Fire Department Foundation.

Members of the fire department and relatives of those affected by the blaze are expected to attend, said Bill Kugelman, president of the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago.

The Dec. 1, 1958, fire at the grade school at Iowa Street and Avers Avenue killed 92 students and three nuns. It resulted in stricter fire safety codes nationwide. 

Fire Prevention Bureau officers inspecting the third-floor hallway ceiling in the rear of Our Lady of the Angels School after the 1958 fire. From left: Robert J. O’Brien, Fire Prevention Bureau Chief; 2nd Deputy Fire Marshall Frank Theilman; Joe Mackey, chief building inspector (in topcoat and hat) and 2nd Division Marshall Vincent A. Malek, pointing to ceiling. Fire officials believe children milled in this hallway, trying to find an escape route. Chicago Sun-Times Library File photo.

Officers from Chicago’s Fire Prevention Bureau officers inspect the third-floor hallway ceiling in the rear of Our Lady of the Angels School after the 1958 fire.

Sun-Times file

The Latest
NHL
Kane, 34, has been dealing with a nagging hip injury that hampered him over the past year with the Blackhawks and then down the stretch and in the playoffs with the New York Rangers.
La crisis migratoria no solo ha llevado al límite los recursos municipales, sino que también ha exacerbado las tensiones políticas históricas entre afroamericanos y latinos.
Choose Chicago said that with high-profile events coming this summer, the city’s comeback from pandemic shutdowns remains on track.
Dos docenas de personas, de edades entre los 18 y 80 años y procedentes de 17 países, juramentaron antes del comienzo del partido de la tarde entre los White Sox y Los Angeles Angels.
We have already spent millions on youth programs, a Humboldt Park reader writes. Let me ask: How has that worked out?