The physical nature of fire is to consume whatever fuel is in its path. This is exactly what happened during the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911. The building itself was supposed to be fireproof, but what about its contents? The amount of unused cotton and other fabric scraps accumulated was a sufficient amount of fuel waiting to be consumed by a spark. The business owners kept the few exits and escape routes locked by the building, for fear of a thieving employee. Employees primarily took elevators up and down the building, which limited their knowledge of possible emergency exits. Given the combination of these three factors, it was only a matter of time before disaster struck. The fire broke out and quickly cut off emergency routes. The stairs were consumed by flames as the fire spread from the 8th to the 10th floor. Employees found themselves stuck 30 meters above the streets of New York. Without any prior fire drills or planned escapes, employees gathered near the windows in hopes of being rescued. As the fire spread, trapped victims faced...