I was in 5th grade at Annunciata parish school at the time of the OLA fire. The impact it made on me lasts to this day. I feared fires in school for the rest of my grade school days. They used to put up posters for "fire prevention" week that had pictures of firemen carrying children and it terrified me to look at them. The sound of the fire alarm was almost the sound of doom to me. And yes, we had countless fire drills in our school after that. When my children were in grade school, I made the fire inspector come out and explain to me that they were safe in the upper floor of a very old school building with no fire escapes. I made him read "The Fire that will not die" and he argued with me that it didn't apply anymore. I never believed him. That fire reached the souls of every child in parochial school at that time, I'm sure. It remains in mine to this day.
|