VIDEO/PHOTO: July 6 marks the 80th remembrance of the deadliest single building or building complex fire in Connecticut history. The infamous Hartford Circus Fire happened on July 6, 1944. An estimated 168 people died that day, and experts say there were almost certainly more who lost their lives.
Natalie Belanger, a public programs manager for the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, estimates there were between 8,000 and 9,000 people under the big top that sweltering summer afternoon.
“They're really only a few minutes into this matinee show when a fire breaks out on one of the sidewalls of the tent,” Belanger said. “Some people thought it was part of the act. Some people just thought, ‘well, there's a fire, but they'll put it out. Let's stay put.’”