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Woman and Child Fall From Broken Fire Escape

In 1975, 19-year-old Diana Bryant and her two-year-old goddaughter Tiare Jones fell from a broken fire escape during an apartment house fire in Boston, Massachusetts. 

The heat had forced them into the furthest corner of the fire escape. A firefighter was on a ladder nearby and asked for Bryant to hand him the child. When she attempted to do this, the fire escape gave way. 

Bryant broke Jone’s fall, saving the child, but she died later that night from her injuries. This picture prompted officials in Boston and other cities around the country to rewrite its fire escape safety laws. 

 The journalist who took the photo wrote, “I was shooting pictures as they were falling – then I turned away. It dawned on me what was happening and I didn’t want to see them hit the ground. I can still remember turning around and shaking.” (Source)