The tragedy of the Rhoads Opera House fire unfolded on January 13, 1908. After a kerosene stage light was knocked over, the flame spread to a malfunctioning stereopticon projector being used by an insufficiently-trained employee during a lecture on the second floor. The audience waited in their seats for employees to put the fire out, but as minutes passed and panic rose, the mass of people pressed toward the door, preventing it from opening inward. The exit stairwells narrowed at the bottom and the frenzy of people trying to flee wedged together…