Pittsburgh was one of the city's visited the summer the Ringling Brothers Circus Tent caught fire The Tragedy could have well happened here and still unsolved

July 6th 1944 would turn into a day of Tragedy when the Ringling Brothers  and Barnum & Bailey Circus Tent would catch fire  in Hartford Connecticut  where 167 people who came to see the circus that hot sunny afternoon never made it home.
 http://www.circusfire1944.com/

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The actual cause of the fire and who caused it  or how it started has been debated even to this day but it is known the fire was so devastating because the tent material was waterproofed using gasoline and paraffin   wax.

But few people realize this tragedy could have played out right here in Pittsburgh as the circus made a stop in Pittsburgh east Liberty community a couple of weeks before the Hartford Tragedy .
It was during the war years and a chance to get away from the stress of war means the tent would have been packed here and many more lives likely would have been lost. But with luck the circus went off with out a hitch and proceeded on. Pittsburgh was very worried about Nazi Spy's coming to do sabotage  during the time period  as Black out drills where also conducted  yet no one knew the very danger they faced by simply attending the circus that summer .