The Forgotten Fire

Posted by Miss Cellania in Everything Else on September 20, 2007 at 8:54 pm


peshtigo

The deadliest fire in the history of the United States occurred in a town you probably never heard of. On October 8th, Peshtigo, Wisconsin was totally consumed by fire, and over 1,200 people died. The fire was not widely reported in the press, because the Great Chicago Fire (October 8-10) got the headlines. Read a harrowing account of the Peshtigo fire at Damn Interesting. Link




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COMMENT

5 comments to "The Forgotten Fire"

  1. meg
    September 21st, 2007 at 12:37 am

    here in WI, it’s one of the first “negative” things we learn about in elementary school ;) though, it happening here rather does help the whole us having to learn about it bit

  2. Justin
    September 21st, 2007 at 8:44 am

    Wow, I had never heard of this. Thanks for the link.

  3. Sally J.
    September 21st, 2007 at 9:24 am

    One theory I’ve read is that a very large meteorite broke up and pieces of it crashed simultaneously in Peshtigo and Chicago, causing both fires.

    The Peshtigo Fire Museum is skeptical, though.

    More info on their website:
    http://www.peshtigofire.info/

  4. L
    September 21st, 2007 at 1:37 pm

    I’d never even heard of this one.

    It seems quite a few cities have a “great fire” in their histories. Stands to reason, though, seeing that most buildings were made out of wood in the olden days.

  5. Holly
    October 1st, 2007 at 8:23 am

    I remeber learning about this. and i always tell people whe i get a chance that thier was two great fires, chicago and Pestigo…and both were said to have been started by a clumsy cow


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