Progress in fire safety was even more gradual than this comment makes it sound. About 30 years later, the Iroquois Theatre Fire (also in Chicago) killed twice

Progress in fire safety was even more gradual than this comment makes it sound. About 30 years later, the Iroquois Theatre Fire (also in Chicago) killed twice as many people as the "Great" fire. That spurred them to realize that, among other innovations, exits should have an "EXIT" sign over them, and people should be able to push on exit doors to open them. There's always another accident, with new lessons. Some are bigger and some are smaller but there's never quite a single event that fixes an entire industry.