When sparks ignited a fire at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago in 1903, it was one of the greatest public safety tragedies of the twentieth century. Even though the theater did not take basic safety precautions, no one was held responsible for the fire. The fire ultimately killed more than 600 people—many of them children—at a performance of a musical. Using clips from an author talk, pupils consider who was ultimately responsible for the blaze.