The Triangle Shirt Factory Fire was one of the worst fires after the turn of the 19th century. It cost the lives of more than one hundred and forty people, most of whom died indirectly due to fires and smoke. Although the fire was caused by an accident, the real culprit was negligence and poor management. The factory was located in the ten-story Asch Building in downtown Manhattan and owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. The two men were known to use insurance fraud to collect money by burning down their building to collect the insurance money, which was a common practice at the time. The building itself was ten stories tall and had four elevators to transport workers. Unfortunately, only one of these elevators was fully functional and could transport a maximum of a dozen people per shuttle. The building also had two staircases leading down, but one of which was always locked during working hours to prevent worker theft and the other had a door that only opened inwards. Although the structure had an emergency exit, the ladder itself was of appalling construction and could only support a few workers at a time. With landlords relying on insurance fraud to make money, they refused to install sprinkler systems and other basic security measures to keep the building safe because it would undermine their fraudulent schemes . This will come back to haunt the workers on that fateful day. The fire broke out in a rag bin. The managers on site immediately tried to put it out themselves with the installed fire hose. However, the pipe itself was rotten and the main pipe rusted due to neglect and lack of service. Lacking sprinklers and other means of slowing or stopping the fire, it spread quickly thanks to the abundant amount of fuel coming from the clothing produced on site. People started panicking and running for the elevators and stairs. Many managed to escape through the inner door staircase while many others found themselves stuck on the locked staircase. The single full-service elevator was able to make about four trips before it failed and cut off this exit. By this time, workers were beginning to jump from the building and die on the sidewalk. When the firefighters arrived, they found themselves in total chaos. People jumping from the building made it difficult for them to set up their equipment to start fighting the fire..