Dramatization on Fire Safety in Schools / Educational Training Video 

This film was produced in 1959 during fire tests being made at Robert Louis Stevenson Junior High School located at 725 S. Indiana St. in East Los Angeles. The building (built in 1926) was scheduled for demolition due to seismic concerns, so the LAFD used a three-story section for the tests. The school building was replaced with a one-story structure which can be seen on Google Street View, but the buildings across the street are still there.

Judging by the cheerful opening scene, complete with upbeat happy music, I wasn't expecting Jerry and his teacher to die in the fire. I was also surprised to see the school building actually in flames (intentionally staged, of course, but real). Like others have already commented - and despite the final onscreen disclaimer - this movie was obviously inspired by the Our Lady of Angels school fire in Chicago.

This film was made in 1959, in a direct (but always deniedassociation with) the Our Lady of the Angels school fire in late 1958, in which 92 students and three teachers (nuns) died in a horrible and completely avoidable deathtrap scenario. Look it up on Wikipedia. It's chilling. This bldg was going to be demolished in LA and was very similar in build to the LOA school, so it was used to illustrate a "never again" policy. Hence, the name "Our Obligation."

Spooky how this video so much resembles OLA fire in 1958.

This story sounds exactly like what happened at Our Lady of the Angels in my hometown of Chicago. That school fire happened when my father was in the fifth grade at a neighboring Catholic school and my mom was a fourth grader at a Catholic school on the south side and both of them attended schools that did not have the fire safety measures in place today, such as sprinklers and fire alarms that ring directly to the fire department.

Rosary films this film was made sometimes between late 1964 and early 1965 because it’s in color picture format

Wow..I remember seeing this film when I was in Elementary school, probably mid 60's....we had to write a paper on what we saw in the film...I do so remember writing about the fireman finding Jerry's essay paper "that had fallen from his pocket"..thanks for bringing back a childhood memory..also, I know now they were actors and no one actually died like I believed back then.

i love so much this kind of classic video.

Still shocking and scary to this day.

interesting, yeah the codes in my area seem so random, there are high-rises with no smoke or heat detectors anywhere (except 1 per stairwell usually) that were built in the 70s, lol

this flim is from 1965

so no one else is going to talk about the fireman with the child tripping in the fire hose at 14:56

I have watched this film a few times and it is a big reminder that even though it is an old film we have to remember that something like this can happen today. Always listen to what you are told to do in case this happens. Don't try to be a hero and let the ones who are trained do their jobs.

At 8:21, it looks like the secretary actually opens the pull station, when she could've just easily pulled the lever!

The book shown in the film, "Operation School Burning", which was written as a result of these tests, is an interesting read and very informative; you can read it online at archive.org.

@vacuum321 Actually in my one story grade school (built in the early 60s), our third grade classroom had a direct exit that we also shared with the eighth grade classroom. We went into the coatroom, up four steps to a latched door, then down six steps to another door that led directly to the outside and this was the door that we used for fire drills only, so if there ever was a real fire blocking the main classroom door that led into the hallway, we still had a quick and easy way out.

What year is this from?

If you read "To sleep With the Angels" by David Cowan and John Kuenster, you'll see many striking similarities between this senario and the disaster at Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago which ocurred in 1958.

NOT THE FROG!!!! 17:13

lots of apartment buildings in my area are like that, but not schools, my old high school built in 1961 has heat detectors in every room and hall

The year is 1965

yeah, there were actually alarm-connected heat detectors available in the early 1900s, and sprinklers in the late 1800s!

Thanks for posting...really helped me out in our Special Education school for Life Skills Training.

TheKingsDaughter1977, thank you very much!

@19775021 - thank you for your comment!

Holy crap.. Mrs. Jorgenson is SCARY. o.O

yeah, and sprinklers were actually invented in the 1800s! but they weren't common

EpcotGirl, around 1961. Thanks!

yeah i can hear carefuly without hedphones, i have good hearing.

and electric heat detectors connected to the alarm were invented, too

This video was made in response to the OLA fire in Chicago.

life skills you say check out James Stafield web site

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where's the fire alarm sound?

ya school out