Life nets often failed to save people , and sometimes firefighters themselves were injured or killed by falling bodies . According to researcher and writer Cecil Adams , " Leapers sometimes struck something on the way down , landed on a fireman , or missed entirely . " In November 1910 , a fire swept through a factory in Newark , New Jersey , killing 25 people . Among them were four girls who held onto each other when they jumped into a life net . They tore the net apart and were killed . In the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25 , 1911 , girls jumped into life nets from the ninth floor with their arms intertwined and the impact ripped the canvas and tore the springs from the frame , resulting in their deaths . In all , 146 garment workers were killed in that fire . During the Hotel Polen fire in Amsterdam on May 9 , 1977 , firefighters could not successfully deploy a life net in a narrow , congested alley . When a life net was deployed in a more open area , some hotel guests threw their luggage into the net , and were then injured when they jumped . Others were injured when they hit the rim of the net . In all , 33 people died in that fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Life net