1871: The Great Chicago Fire Of 1871

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was a tragic event that impacted many people at the time. The fire raged through the city of Chicago, Illinois from October 8th to October 10th, destroying 3.3 square miles of downtown Chicago. While the fire was devastating, it laid the groundwork for rebuilding a stronger Chicago.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was a large part of Chicago's history. Destroying most of the city, the fire went on for two days and was uncontrolled. Though fire fighting and alarms were great for the time, multiple mistakes cause the fire to go wild. It is unknown how it started but it was spread by dry winds and a mostly wooden city.

Have you ever thought about living in the late 1800s? Sometimes you have to do work that you have never done before. In the novel I Survived The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by Lauren Tarshis is a Novel about a boy that was forced to move to Chicago. His family had to go to Chicago to get work done. Oscars personality is shaped by the time period in which he lived.

fires in the first week of October, on Saturday night, October 7, a blaze broke

The two texts, “The Great Chicago Fire” by Julia Ann Moore, and the “fanny Boggs Lester” letter by Fanny Lester, both share the same theme. The authors argue that incredible devastation can be caused from trying to come back from a huge fire incident.

The rebuilding of Chicago started immediately, sometimes even before the architect and engineers had completed their designs. There were laws that were passed requiring new buildings with fireproof materials like brick, stone, marble and limestone because of the fire. These materials that are way more expensive than wood were held together by a strong, sticky substance called mortar. The construction technique using that substance is called masonry and the skilled groups of construction workers are called masons. Many Chicagoans could not afford the fireproof materials, the skilled masons or the insurance to rebuild. Without rebuilding or insuring their property, thousands of people were crowded out of Chicago. Many businesses ignored the new building laws.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)

The Great Chicago Fire was one of the significant devastation that happened in the eighteenth century. Through this tragic event, hundreds of people died and thousands of buildings were completely destroyed in the fire. Before, the city was flourishing as more people traveled and decided to call Chicago their home. After the fire destroyed most of the surrounding area, people began blaming one another for the deaths of all the people. As time passed, Chicago slowly began to rebuild like never before. Although the city of Chicago continued to grow before the fire, after, the city boomed with the abundance of money and people. Moreover, because there was destruction, the people of Chicago, Illinois did not allow a fire to stop them from creating more opportunities for the future. The city has changed from the fire, but because of the help that was received, it was able to get rebuilt, and invite new individuals to explore the wondrous city of Chicago.

From there, a piece of debris was flown onto an oil tanker located across the river in the North Side. The North Side was ablaze. It was a terrible night for many of the residents of the city of Chicago and is one that will go down in infamy until the end of time. The final totals for the fire were at the minimum 300 deaths, 70,000 buildings burned to the ground, 100 thousand people forced to homelessness, 73 miles of street were incinerated, and 200 million dollars in damage.

Great Chicago Fire in 1871; “Big Burn” the Great Fire of 1910; Miramichi Fire; Oakland Firestorm of 1991; Cloquet Fire; Yellowstone 's 'Summer of Fire '; California 's Cedar Fire of 2003; 2004 Taylor Complex Fire; Great Hinckley Fire of 1894; and the 2007 California wildfires (Nelson, 2013).

Throughout the mid 1800´s Chicago was undergoing substantial growth. The city had a population of 30,000 in 1850 and within 30 years had grown to nearly 90,000. Middle class individuals settled the outskirts of the city expanding it's borders. Lower class individuals continued to settle in the downtown districts. This resulted in an extremely dense concentration of people and wooden structures which would contribute to the extensive damage caused by the fire.

Two major disasters that shocked the world included the sinking of the Titanic and the Chicago Fire which destroyed almost the whole city. The sinking of the Titanic, known as the "unsinkable ship", killed more than one thousand five hundred people making this a mind-blowing event when it tragically sunk. (NY Daily News) Another horrific event was the Chicago Fire. The Fire was so devastating that it killed up to three hundred people, destroyed a little over three square miles of Chicago, and left more than one hundred thousand people homeless. (Wonderopolis) Additionally, the fire "burned an area of four miles long and one mile wide" which in its path "destroyed seventeen thousand five hundred buildings and seventy-three miles of

The Chicago Fire of 1871, otherwise know as the Great Chicago Fire, began on October 8th and lasted through the 10th. The fire left the windy city in ruins and left nearly 100,000 people homeless. The fire burned four miles long of the city and nearly a mile wide, which cause almost 300 people to die and 200 million dollars of property damage. The Great Chicago Fire was a historical event that won't soon be forgotten, and caused this sturdy city to grow to greatness.

For over 100 years a cow has been blamed for the 1871 Chicago fire. It’s simply not true. There is a myth that the O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lit lantern in their barn and caused the fire but there is another cause for the fire. Before the fire there was about 109,000 people. Then after the fire there was an estimate of 1,000,000 people when they rebuilt the new city ("Before and After the Fire: Chicago in the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s”). The 1871 Chicago Fire not only resulted in multiple fatalities, it also destroyed the city. It created a huge/life changing fire in Chicago.

At 10:45 p.m. on January 21, fire companies were dispatched on mutual aid to a single-family house fire that began in a small, unattached wooden shed where the occupants kept rabbits. The fire started when three heating lamps used to keep in full personal the rabbits’ water from freezing came into contact with combustibles and spread to the house, which was 10 feet (3 meters) away.