No doubt readers have already thought of the obvious “hand of God” gag by now — that the Almighty was responding to Cardinal Cushing’s prayer with a fiery, smokey portend of days to come. Barring such divine intervention, it just looks like JFK’s podium caught fire because of nothing more dastardly or ominous than electrical issues. Politico cites an electrical short as the cause of the fire, and The Wall Street Journal says that security smothered it and put it out. There’s no mention of anything even remotely life-threatening, and no mention of the size or intensity of the fire anywhere — in other words, it was no biggie. When the fire was taken care of Cardinal Cushing just went right back to his invocation. Politico even reports JFK smiling at the whole thing in amusement.
Interestingly enough, the National Weather Service provides us with a clue about what happened. We mentioned that it was a cold day when JFK was inaugurated, and we weren’t kidding — it was 22 degrees Fahrenheit. There was even a nice, full blanket of eight inches of snow on the ground. The handy folks at John C. Flood explain that cold weather can cause an increased demand for electricity on power grids. Electrical components and power lines are also at higher risk of failure in cold weather. It’s not too hard to see how the frigid weather on JFK’s inauguration day increased the likelihood of electrical issues.
