HARTFORD — An effort is underway to identify the remains of two unknown victims of a massive fire at a Connecticut circus 75 years ago.
The Hartford Courant reports that a judge hearing an exhumation request on Monday asked for additional information and ordered public service announcements to be placed in two media outlets to make sure anyone with an interest in the exhumations has an opportunity to be heard.
The July 6, 1944 fire in Hartford killed 168 and injured 682.
Five victims remain unidentified and buried in a Windsor cemetery.
State Chief Medical Examiner James Gill wants to compare the unknown victims’ DNA to that of Sandra Sumrow, the granddaughter of 47-year-old Grace Fifield, a Newport, Vermont woman who was at the circus the day of the fire but was never seen again.
