Babbs Switch Fire
Encyclopedia
The Babbs Switch fire on December 24, 1924 killed thirty-six people in a one-room school house at Babbs Switch, Oklahoma
, USA. Whole families died and more than half the dead were children.
The fire
broke out during a Christmas Eve
party when a lighted candle
decorating a Christmas tree
came in contact with the cotton trim on a Santa Claus suit
. The flames spread quickly over the entire room. Contributing to the deaths were screened over windows and a door that opened inward. It is said by some that this is why public buildings now have doors that open outward instead of inward.
The nationwide publicity over the fire led to stricter fire safety codes
for schools and other public buildings.
The fire gave rise to a famous hoax. Thirty six bodies were recovered, but not that of three-year old Mary Edens. In 1957, Grace Reynolds of Barstow, California came forward, claiming to be the long-lost child. She published a book and appeared on the Art Linkletter's House Party
television program. A local newspaper editor knew the story to be fraudulent, but withheld the information until 1999 at the request of Mary Edens' father, who believed his wife could not endure losing her child a second time.http://www.okhistory.org/okjourneys/babbsswitch2.html
Babbs, Oklahoma
Babbs is a small rural community in Kiowa County, Oklahoma. It was named for Edith "Babbs" Babcock. Babbs was the scene of the nationally known Babbs Switch Fire on December 24, 1924, in which 36 people died in a school fire. Many of the dead were children but several families were completely...
, USA. Whole families died and more than half the dead were children.
The fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
broke out during a Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
party when a lighted candle
Candle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
decorating a Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
came in contact with the cotton trim on a Santa Claus suit
Santa suit
A Santa suit is a costume worn by a person portraying Santa Claus. The modern American version of the suit can be attributed to the work of Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly magazine, although it is often incorrectly thought that Haddon Sundblom designed the suit in his advertising work for the...
. The flames spread quickly over the entire room. Contributing to the deaths were screened over windows and a door that opened inward. It is said by some that this is why public buildings now have doors that open outward instead of inward.
The nationwide publicity over the fire led to stricter fire safety codes
Fire safety
Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of a fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the...
for schools and other public buildings.
The fire gave rise to a famous hoax. Thirty six bodies were recovered, but not that of three-year old Mary Edens. In 1957, Grace Reynolds of Barstow, California came forward, claiming to be the long-lost child. She published a book and appeared on the Art Linkletter's House Party
Art Linkletter's House Party
House Party is an American radio daytime variety/talk show that aired on CBS Radio and on ABC Radio from January 15, 1945 to October 13, 1967...
television program. A local newspaper editor knew the story to be fraudulent, but withheld the information until 1999 at the request of Mary Edens' father, who believed his wife could not endure losing her child a second time.http://www.okhistory.org/okjourneys/babbsswitch2.html
Fiction
- Beard, Darleen Bailey. The Babbs Switch Story. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. ISBN 0374304750
- Grossnickle, Mary Edens. Mary, Child of Tragedy: The Story of the Lost Child of the 1924 Babbs Switch Fire. Schoonmaker Publishers, 1980 (first published as a true story but later discredited).