The Collinwood Fire, 1908 is an experiment in digital, nonfiction storytelling. The site weaves together a 3D animated film, archival movie footage and photographs, newspaper clippings, and historical narrative to explore the disastrous inferno that killed 172 school children, 2 of their teachers and one rescuer in a suburb adjacent to Cleveland. Though mostly forgotten today, the Collinwood fire was a transatlantic news event, causing a rush to inspect the safety of schools in New York, Chicago, Paris, and London. Properly woven into its historical moment, the fire becomes a lens for viewing not just the event itself, but the history of education and school architecture, the rapid and tumultuous industrialization of the Midwest, the dynamics of immigration to the region, and the emergence of mass consumer culture.