# The Hartford Circus Fire: 167 Dead in Under Ten Minutes

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/the-hartford-circus-fire-167-dead-in-under-ten-minutes
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/the-hartford-circus-fire-167-dead-in-under-ten-minutes.md
Podcast: [Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories](https://stenobird.com/podcast/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827)
Published: 2026-06-18T00:00:02+00:00
Episode link: https://weirddarkness.com/HartfordCircusFire
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72569880/wd20260617a_hartfordcircusfire.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/weird-darkness-paranormal-true-crime-stories-475827/episodes/the-hartford-circus-fire-167-dead-in-under-ten-minutes
Duration seconds: 3239

## Resource

Because the canvas roof had been waterproofed with gasoline, the small flame that touched it on July 6, 1944 swept across the Hartford circus big top in seconds, and most of the 167 people it killed were children. EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/HartfordCircusFire READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/39d8nfwh FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Three boys fishing in the middle of the night hear a blood-curdling scream. But it wasn’t a human making all that noise – it was an extraterrestrial. And thus began a series of meetings with alien beings! (What Do You Say When Meeting An Extraterrestrial?) *** A day of hilarity turns into a day of horror as an uncontrollable fire breaks out at the Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus – resulting in the most deadly circus disaster in history. (The Day The Clowns Cried) *** Most ghosts and specters do a great job of scaring the pants off you – and some can get creative with how they do it, with stacking chairs, making toys talk, slamming doors, etc. But apparently not all spooks are worried about their reputation – and when it comes to haunting, they just phone it in, doing the bare minimum. (Lazy Phantasms) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:39.923 = Lazy Phantasms 00:12:35.047 = What Do You Say When Meeting An Extraterrestrial? *** 00:42:41.671 = The Day The Clowns Cried *** 00:52:38.951 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narrat…

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## Transcript

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