The Cleveland School fire was the fourth-deadliest school fire or explosion in American history and the deadliest fire in South Carolina history. It occurred near

Camden, South Carolina Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Caro ...

, on May 17, 1923, during a school play, killing 77 people.

Background

The two-story school was located southeast of

, and served students at all grade levels. The school was constructed primarily out of wood and was lighted only with oil lamps. Two classrooms were located on the first floor, while an auditorium was located on the second floor. A single wooden stairway provided the only access to the second floor. The school was scheduled to close at the end of the 1922–1923 school year.

The fire

On May 17, 1923, the day the school was scheduled to close permanently, around 300 people were attending a play in the school's auditorium that took place after the annual graduation ceremony. The play was a short comedy called either ''Miss Topsy Turvy'' or ''Topsy Turvy''. During the play's last act, an oil lamp fell from the wall, causing its contents to spill all over the stage and ignite. A group of men attempted to smother the flames with their coats but were unsuccessful. The fire eventually traveled up the stage's curtains and then spread rapidly across the ceiling, causing a panic. Spectators rushed towards the stairway to escape. However, many people were trampled to death at the door to the stairs because the door was so narrow. Others died of smoke inhalation before the flames could reach them. The spectators' excess weight also caused the stairway to collapse, trapping those inside on the second floor of the building. Many of these people survived by jumping out of the school's windows. The school was completely destroyed within an hour.

Victims

Seventy-seven people perished in the fire, including forty-one children and the father of future governor of South Carolina, John C. West. Only about one-quarter of the victims could be identified. Those that were not claimed by family members were buried in a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

at the Beulah Methodist Church Cemetery.

References

{{coord, 34, 12, 42.6, N, 80, 31, 18.9, W, display=title 1923 fires in the United States 1923 in South Carolina Camden, South Carolina School fire disasters Building fires in the United States Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes May 1923 events