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On Nov. 28, 1942, a horrific fire swept through the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing nearly 500 people. More than 60 years later many aspects of the blaze and its aftermath still fascinate.

On Nov. 2, 2005, a group of experts will examine this pivotal fire from several perspectives in a panel discussion at the Boston Public Library.

This multi-disciplinary approach will give Bostonians a greater understanding of the ongoing legacy of the Cocoanut Grove inferno including issues of manslaughter law, building codes, and burn treatment.

The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2, in the Rabb Lecture Hall of the Boston Public Library.

The Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire is considered one of the worst disasters in American history. The cause was never officially determined, but a fast-moving fire broke out about after a busboy lit a match while screwing in a light bulb in a club packed with revelers and football fans. Panicked clubgoers were trapped by faulty exits and a jammed revolving door. Survivors suffered terrible burns and mysterious injuries to their lungs. The official death toll was 492. In a subsequent trial, the club owner was convicted of manslaughter.

The Nov. 2 discussion will be moderated by Stephanie Schorow, author of Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston and The Cocoanut Grove Fire, and a former Boston Herald reporter.

Presenters and their areas of expertise include:

The legal impact: John C. Esposito, author of Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath. A member of the New York, Washington D.C., and the United States Supreme Court bars, his interest in the Grove fire began while he was a student at Harvard Law School.

The medical impact: Barbara Ravage, author of Burn Unit: Saving Lives After the Flames, will offer a look at the evolution of burn treatments, many born as a result of the Grove fire, at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Fighting the fire: Charles Kenney, the grandson of a firefighter who battled the Cocoanut Grove blaze, is the author of an upcoming book on Boston firefighters. He was a reporter and editor at the Boston Globe for 16 years.

Fire regulation: Casey Grant, assistant vice president of Code & Standards Administration and assistant chief engineer at the National Fire Protection Association and the editor for the fire safety section of the ILO Encyclopedia on Occupational Health and Safety.

Panelists will also include: Jack Deady, of son of Philip W. Deady, lead investigator on the Grove fire.

Representatives of the Boston Fire Department will also participate.

The panel discussion will be followed by audience questions. Authors will be available to sign copies of their books, which will be on sale. Seating is limited.

For more than 150 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America with revolutionary ideas and famous firsts. Established in 1848, the BPL was the first publicly supported municipal library in America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library and the first to have a children’s room. Today, the BPL boasts 27 neighborhood branches, free Internet access, two unique restaurants, an award-winning website www.bpl.org and an on-line store featuring reproductions of the BPL’s priceless photographs and artwork. Each year, the BPL hosts nearly 5000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions and serves millions of people in its National Historic Landmark McKim Building in Copley Square. All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning!

Prepared by the Boston Public Library's Communications Office. For more information about news, programs and events at the BPL, call 617-859-2212 or send a message to the Communications Office.