On this day in history, fire devastated parts of the Midwest.
After months of unusually dry conditions in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire began on Oct. 8 and quickly spread through the city. A popular legend blamed a cow belonging to Catherine O’Leary for knocking over a lantern in a barn, but the exact cause of the fire remains unknown.
The fire spread through much of Chicago, which contained numerous wooden buildings, and crossed the South Branch of the Chicago River before reaching the city’s center. Over the course of two days, more than 17,000 buildings were destroyed and about 100,000 people were left homeless.
Firefighters responded to the blaze, but an error in locating the fire initially sent crews to the wrong area, delaying the response. Despite the widespread destruction, an estimated 300 people died.
That same night, another devastating fire swept through northeastern Wisconsin, particularly around the town of Peshtigo. The Peshtigo Fire became one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history.
The exact cause of the fire remains uncertain, but its destruction was immense. About 1.2 million acres burned, and although the exact death toll is unknown, estimates have placed it in the thousands.
The fact that two catastrophic fires occurred on the same night remains a striking moment in American history. While the Great Chicago Fire became one of the nation’s best-known disasters and contributed to changes in building and fire-safety practices, the Peshtigo Fire has received considerably less attention.
More than 150 years later, the two fires remain reminders of the destructive power of fire and the vulnerability of communities when environmental conditions allow it to spread rapidly.
