TIMELINES: Forty-nine people die in a tragic factory fire in England on Oct. 31 of what year?

Monday, Oct. 31, 2011

THEN Oct. 31, 1941, 49 people die when the H. Booth and Son clothing factory in Huddersfield, England catches fire. By the standards of developed nations in the 21st century, the fire safety precautions in the factory are unthinkable. The factory building, which is a converted five-story warehouse, has no fire escapes. Investigations indicate that the fire is caused by a smoking pipe stuffed into a jacket pocket without being properly extinguished. To escape the blaze, two women desperately jump from the building to their deaths. The majority of the victims are buried in a mass grave in a cemetery in Huddersfield. Reflective of a wartime mentality, the memorial for the workers states that the victims died while serving their duty. NOW Today, 70 years after the fire, at least one older resident of Huddersfield has not forgotten the town’s worst tragedy. For the anniversary of the fire, artist Keith Hanselman, 80, whose brother Chris was killed in the fire, did a tribute painting to remember the 49 victims of the blaze. Hanselman was inspired by a photograph of firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze and he said he hopes his painting will be a lasting tribute to the victims. “Apart from at Edgerton Cemetery [where the victims were buried] where there’s an edifice, I never thought there was anything to remember the event,” Hanselman said. He said it would make him happy if the painting cOULD be shown in a museum somewhere. “It records a big, horrible event that was masked by the war,” he said.