Founding Simsbury FD Member Who Died In Circus Fire Remembered

SIMSBURY, CT — The local volunteer fire department recently remembered one of its founding members who perished in one of the biggest tragedies in Connecticut history.

On July 6, 1944, Frank Bradley — one of 17 founding members of the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Co. — was among the 168 people who died in the horrific fire in Hartford at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show.

Last week, the SVFC honored Bradley with a commemorative social media post asking folks to remember this fallen firefighter.

According to the SVFC, Bradley went to the Hartford show that fateful day with is family to attend the matinee showing, which was supposed to entertain a World War II-weary public by offering a distraction from the daily tribulations of the conflict.

But the tribulation that followed would soon etch itself in the history of the state — and Simsbury.

Just as the circus show began, fire erupted and completely engulfed the big top, causing a massive panic as spectators fled for their lives, some of which were lost.

Both of Bradley's daughters escaped the horrorific inferno, but Bradley and his wife died in the fire.

Today, the SVFC memorializes Bradley with a page on its website and there is the Frank Bradley Memorial and Walkway located at the SVFC Main Fire Station.

Sadly, the department only existed for seven days prior to Bradley's death and he was the first Simsbury firefighter to die while serving the fire company.

After 79 years, the SVFC has not forgotten Bradley and what happened and, thanks to the department's efforts and the memorial, neither has the Simsbury community.

For more information on Simsbury Volunteer Fire Co. founding member Frank Bradley, click on this link.

For the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Co.'s Facebook page, which has images of Bradley and the Hartford Circus Fire, click on this link.