Charleston circus fire

The Charleston circus fire occurred on June 24, 2003 in Freedom Park. A fire in the tent housing a sold-out performance by the Circus Maximus caused 56 deaths and 109 injuries. 194 people were unharmed.

Background
From 1929 to 2003, the Circus Maximus had used the same tent for 74 years. It was imported from the United States and was made of Merino Sheep wool coated with 1,800 pounds (820 kg) of paraffin wax dissolved in 6,000 US gallons (23,000 l) of gasoline, a common waterproofing method of mid-20th century America.

The circus had been experiencing shortages of personnel and equipment due to budget cuts. The old tent was set to be replaced with a new one made of Nylon that had been imported from India, and it took way too long to come to Lovia, so the tent's usage was numbered. Delays and malfunctions in the ordinarily smooth order of the circus had become commonplace; on August 4, 2002, a PETA employee was arrested after she threw a firework into the menagerie trailer, causing a huge fire and killing a number of animals.

After the ground in which the circus was performed was laid over with turf protection plates and then AstroTurf (for most of the grounds) and dirt and sawdust (for the circus tent floor), the circus trucks were set to come for the Charleston, Sylvania show. However, when the circus arrived, the trucks were so late that one of the two shows scheduled for that day had been canceled. In circus superstition, missing a show is considered extremely bad luck, and although the June 23 evening show ran as planned, many circus employees may have been on their guard, half-expecting an emergency or catastrophe.

The next day was June 24; the crowd at the afternoon performance was dominated by tourists and children. The size of the audience that day was estimated to be 220,347 people. Before the fire occurred, Benny "The Human Bomb" Koske had performed his act for his year travelling with the circus, in where he stood inside a retired railroad boxcar that was blown up with bags of acetylene. A week earlier, 14 people were injured when pieces from the boxcar hit the audience. When the act was performed that day, a piece of the boxcar used, a retired British Railways General Utility Van, was blown up, one of the pieces caught fire and struck the northwest sidewall of the tent.

Fire disaster
The fire began as a small flame after Benny ran out unharmed, as Bettina the Snake Charmer was performing. Princess Tenko, who was travelling with the circus at the time, was the first to spot the flames as she was awaiting her cue in the back area of the tent, and directed everyone to grab their belongings and get out, and then shouted to bandleader Dick Brickson to direct the band to play "The Stars and Stripes Forever", the tune that traditionally signaled distress to all circus personnel. Ringmaster Vladimir Sharapov urged the audience not to panic and to leave in an orderly fashion, but the power had been shut off as a safety precaution and he could not be heard. Vladimir and the ushers unsuccessfully tried to maintain some order as the panicked crowd tried to flee the big top.

In a little over five minutes, the tent was completely devoured by the flames. Circus performers The Fabulous Mingos, who were also awaiting their cue near the main entrance, used the spare bags of acetylene to blow up Jersey barriers used to guide spectators to the reserved seats section, and then proceeded to extinguish the burning remains with buckets of holy water they acquired from a local church and saved scores of people. One survivor, Fox Force Four's Ellie Gauld, used a sharp part from her saxophone to slit open the southeast sidewall of the tent to let people out. Benny the Human Bomb himself took one of the swords used for Princess Tenko's Spike Illusion act (in which the trick entailed escaping from a box before ten swords plunged into her flesh) and sliced open a sidewall, letting people escape.

Because of the paraffin wax waterproofing of the tent, the flames spread rapidly. Many people were badly burned by the melting paraffin, which rained down from the roof. The fiery tent collapsed in about eight minutes according to eyewitness survivors, trapping hundreds of spectators beneath it.

While many people burned to death, many others died as a result of the ensuing chaos. Though most spectators were able to escape the fire, many people were caught up in the hysteria. Witnesses said some simply ran around in circles trying to find their loved ones, rather than trying to escape from the burning tent. Some escaped but ran back inside to look for family members. Others stayed in their seats until it was too late, assuming that the fire would be put out promptly.

Because at least two of the exits were blocked by the chutes used to bring the show's animals in and out of the tent, people trying to escape could not bypass them. Some died from injuries sustained after leaping from the tops of the bleachers in hopes they could escape under the sides of the tent, though that method of escape ended up killing more than it saved. Others died after being trampled by other spectators, with some asphyxiating underneath the piles of people who fell over each other.

Most of the dead were found in piles, some three bodies deep, at the most congested exits. A small number of people were found alive at the bottoms of these piles, protected by the bodies on top of them when the burning big top ultimately fell down. Video of the whole event was taken by documentary filmmaker Jozef Szabó and was included in his documentary film Circus Life: The Real Lives of Circus Performers.

56 people died, 109 people were injured, and 194 people survived unharmed, with all of the circus performers and staff being apart of the 194 unharmed.

Notable Survivors

 * Ellie Gauld - Member of the Fox Force Four.
 * Keorge Gingma - Bredish language rapper and member of Beautiful Burnout
 * Tapedeck Destroyer - Female DJ and producer
 * Princess Tenko - Pop singer turned magician specialising in grand illusions