A ceremony is being held at the site of the fire to honor the 168 lives lost.
On July 6, 1944, the famous Ringling Brothers and Barnam and Bailey Circus came to Hartford.
"They were just known to be the best. They had the biggest big top tent in the world they claimed, and it was an exciting thing when they rolled into town," said Natalie Balanger, Public Programs Manager at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.
Balanger says about 8,700 people were there that afternoon to see the show.
"In the context of wartime Connecticut, you can imagine it was a culture, a society that really just needs entertainment and to forget about their troubles," said Balanger.
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But a couple minutes into the performance, the tent went up in flames.
"The big top tent was many pieces of canvas sewn together, and it was enormous," said Balanger. "It had been waterproofed with gasoline and paraffin wax, which was incredibly flammable, which means once the fire hit the tent, there was no fighting that fire, and the whole thing was gone in probably under 10 minutes."
Balanger says the Hartford Fire Department and State Fire Marshal determined that a tossed cigarette ignited some grass and caused the fire to spread. But that changed in the 1990s when they reopened the investigation and said the cause was "undetermined."
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According to the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, it was also very difficult for people to get out of the tent as the side walls were staked down, the seats were bolted to the ground, and two round animal cages stood in the center.
"As people are trying to flee the tent, they are washing up against these shoots, and they can't get over," said Balanger.
At least 168 people died, including men, women, and many young children. Balanger says none of the circus staff or animals were killed. It's believed the staff tried to help people escape.
"We never want to forget events like those," said Captain Jose Rivera of the Special Services Unit.
Rivera says the Hartford Fire Department hosts a ceremony every year at the site of the fire to honor the 168 victims, and they did that on Saturday, which marked 80 years since the tragedy.
"We will take time to read off the names of each individual. We'll have the fire chief as well, speaking to the folks that come out. And yeah, just taking time to spend with folks who were impacted by this fire," said Rivera.
