On a chilly Chicago winter day in 1903  the lavish, newly built Iroquois Theater was filled with teachers, mothers & children enjoying their holiday break. Over 400 of them would die by the end of of the first act. Considered fireproof,  it was unthinkable that the show palace could burn, much less kill nearly a third of the occupants; that is unthinkable to all but Fire Captain Alfonse Schaffer. He had seen the shortcuts and shoddy workmanship behind the curtain.  He had warned the department of the peril, but his warnings fell on deaf ears. Corruption fears daylight, and now he would learn how dangerous knowing the truth can be.