Chicago Fire Case Study

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.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 would forever alter the city of Chicago, as well as the community which called the city home. The fire left a path of destruction no Chicagoan had ever experienced. Despite the terrible destruction and loss of life, the fire led to the construction of the Chicago everyone knows and loves today.

On Sunday, October 18, 1871 the largest fire Chicago has ever seen broke out. Hundreds died and thousands of homes were annihilated. Devistation towered over the city, ashes floated gracefully through the air as bodies, houses and cherished items burned. People ran in fear, holding their young, crying for the gone, searching for saftey. Searching for life. Searching for hope.

This time in history was one of chigago most devastating times that chicago has ever.This fire destroyed the majority of all of chicago. In Jim Murphy’s book The Great Fire chapter 1 “A City Ready To Burn” talks about this topic and how chicago was ready to burn.

It was October 8, 1871, Chicago was a city ready to burn. It was a Sunday night, the fire would burn for the rest of Sunday, all of Monday, and into the early hours of Tuesday with really “little opposition”. This day was not going to be a good day. In Jim Murphy’s book, The Great Fire, the author gives all the evidence to show that Chicago was “ready to burn”.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to Chicago on October 8, 1871 the day of the great fire why did it burn it was said that “It was a city ready to burn.” why was Chicago ready to burn that is what we find out about in this story. If you wish to have more information I would recommend “The Great Fire book by JIM MURPHY

Much of the city was demolished, including many of the governmental records and data. While the fire had devastated the downtown and North Side of Chicago, the stockyards and lumberyards on the South and West sides remained intact. The city rebuilt quickly, and by 1880 its population had reached a half million. Reconstruction efforts began shortly after the fire, and great economic growth was spurred. The great blaze may have contributed to what makes up present day Chicago Illinois’ population, business structures, and other tourists attractions.

Before Chicago was as glamourous as it is today, it was “swampy, overcrowded, and diseased” (Soucek 19). “Chicago was destined to become a world class city, and it needed world-class goods and services” (19). After the fire, architects started immediately on the reconstruction of this wonderful city. The railroads and transportation systems were left untouched, so many supplies and people were granted a way into Chicago.

At the time “Chicago was the fourth largest city in the United States with over 334,000 residents”(Groves, n.d.). With factors like drought conditions and strong winds the chance of having a serious fire was raised. “Over 60,000 buildings (90% made of wood) were squeezed into the city limits, along with hundreds of miles of wooden streets and sidewalks”(Groves, n.d.). With these conditions, and the fact that most of the city structures were made of wood, major portions of the city were at risk of being lost due to fire. Weeks before the great fire there were many small fires that the Chicago fire department was able to extinguish.

n October 1871, Chicago Illinois was built on wood. There was dry weather, and wooden buildings which made the city vulnerable to fires. The new city had drawn many people there, to start new work. Then one day a tragic fire struck the city. It’s still a mystery how the fire started, but some people have their own theories. A common legend told is that a cow kicked over a lantern in the O’Leary’s barn. Which started a blaze, and burned out of control because of the dry weather.

The Great Chicago Fire was 146 years ago. The total damages from the Chicago was estimated to be $200 million. The fire became uncontrolled, very soon and the fire rapidly moved

The great chicago fire of 1871 began the night of October 8, 1871 and burned until the morning of October 10. There are many theories of how the fire started at 137 DeKoven St. (now the home to the Chicago Fire Department training facility) in the barn belonging to Patrick and Catherine O’ Leary; a cow knocked over a lantern, an unknown person knocked over the lantern or possibly even spontaneous combustion but, the true case was never determined. What is known is that due to overly dry conditions and months without rain, once ignited the fire spread quickly. There was also a steady wind that fueled the fire and caused flames and embers to rain down and burn 2,100 acres of the city. The fire was finally out with the assistance of rain, the fire reaching lake and an unbuilt area of Chicago's North side. Even though the fire ruined most of chicago, it was a positive turning point in history. The chicago fire improved fire fighting techniques, improved buildings, and encouraged other cities, states, and countries to send relief and aid.

The Iroquois Theater was one of the newest and greatest show time additions to Chicago, Illinois, after the Great Chicago Fire. The Iroquois Theater was one of the best theaters of its size in 1903, the year it was built. By examining the treacherous outcomes and the causes of The Iroquois Theater fire that happened shortly after opening, we can see that good things can end quickly.

(Chicago, IL) – The Chicago Fire Department was dispatched to the fire this morning around 1 A.M. to the alley behind 137 Dekoven Street where the small barn was found to be completely destroyed by the fire. About 10 hours later, the fire rages to burn out of control, and it is spreading to the center are of the city. We have already deployed all of our 185 firefighters and 17 horse-drawn steam engines on scene and protect the whole city. In addition, we are working together with the EMS and Department of Transportation to evacuate residents and transport the wounded in order to save more lives. We don’t have enough first responders and machines to respond to the great fire, however, we are trying our best to rescue people in the affect area

The Chicago Fire was an extensive fire that destroyed an enormous amount of the city. It burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10 in 1871. The fire was initially caused by the dry weather. Most buildings used wood as their primary construction material. The buildings’ wood frame is highly flammable and dangerous in scenarios like this. The fire spread at an alarmingly fast rate and over a large area due to the city design. The buildings were placed close together on narrow streets which allowed the fire to spread quickly. This resulted in majority of the city to be burned down and destroyed. Despite this catastrophe the fire allowed for a re-do. This could have also easily allowed for a collapse of the city but due to the strong economy, forward thinkers and designers, and the motivation to rebuild this fire resulted in a new urban plan and way of building. Chicago was becoming a world city. Louis Sullivan argued that it was the biggest grain and lumber market in the world as well as the greatest railroad centre.1 The economy was very strong and allowed for a quick rebuild and transformation of the city. Architects such as Louis Sullivan capitalized on this opportunity to design in a new way. Not only to avoid this from happening again but to also design a better working city from the previous one. Starting from a clean slate they could learn from the mistakes from the previous designs and provide a better functioning city for the people of