Children rushed to the rear door, but in a vestibule narrowed by partitions, they stumbled and climbed on top of one another, forming a pile that completely blocked the exit.

In less than an hour, the three floors and the roof of the Lake View School collapsed into the basement, leaving only a hollowed-out brick ruin.

[5] A quickly completed coroner's inquest concluded that heating pipes running next to exposed wooden joists ignited the building.

Morgan, Ohio's chief inspector of public buildings, explained the problem in his annual report to the governor and citizens: "The cause of the fire cannot be determined.

After more than a year of dispute, the state purchased the land where the Lake View School had stood, and the town converted it into a memorial garden, designed by Louise Klein Miller.