Cow Fire Research Paper

People don’t know how it started but some people think it started by one of their cows kicking over a lantern and other people think it started from meteors. The fire was 4 miles long and 4 miles wide, about 300 people died from the fire and about 100,000 without homes.The fire caused about 200 million dollars in damage.Almost every person didn’t have a job.

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)

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.

The preconditions of the area where the fire occurred were very dry land with “whipping seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds and the Diablo winds” (mnn.com). The fire was started by a hunter who was lost in the woods. He believed he could be found easily if he started a small signal fire however, because of the preconditions, this small fire would spread and become the “largest single fire in California’s recorded history” (mnn.com)

The great Chicago fire was a fire that burned through the city of Chicago rapidly, leaving hundreds of people homeless and some dead. On the night of October 8th, 1871 a fire started in the barn of Cathrine and Patrick Oleary quickly spreading out.

Did you know that the Chicago Fire burned 3.3 square miles and left more than 100,000 people homeless and killed more than 300 people. The Chicago Fire started on October 8, 1871, by a cow that kicked over a lantern into dry grass and started a barn fire, which spread quickly throughout the city . The firemen had a large effect putting out the Great Chicago Fire.

When the fire broke out, and the firefighters were signaled, they were sent to the wrong location. Unfortunately, back then the fire fighters were carriages with horses, so when they finally arrived to the correct location the fire already went crazy. The conflagration spread from east to north and burnt down wooden houses, commercial and industrial buildings, private

A fire that swept through the center of Chicago began on a Sunday night in October 8, 1871. The location that these roaring flames initiated from, was the place on 137 De Koven Street at the O'Leary family little barn. Misdirected fire equipment arrived too late, and a steady wind from the southwest carried the flames and blazing debris from block to block. The houses became kindling for the downtown conflagration, where even the supposedly fireproof stone and brick buildings exploded in flames as the destruction swept northward. This natural disaster would burn for the entirety of Sunday, all day Monday, and even into the early hours of Tuesday. The fire was supposedly started when a milk dairy cow kicked over a lantern, but some believe that it was from the striking of a meteor. Either way great devastation was concluded on Chicago. This year in history was also extremely

The horrific Chicago Fire devastated Chicago, Illinois on October 8, 1871, continuing until October 10, 1871. Hundreds of lives and thousands of homes were claimed by the fire (Duis 435). Many were left without a single possession, causing them to start over on their lives completely. Although for some this would have been bad, for others, it meant a new start for a better life. It gave criminals a chance to clean up their life and go back to their families. The cause of the Chicago Fire of 1871 is still unknown, although it left much devastation until Martial Law took over, resulting in the city patriotically rebounding back.

In 1871, a dangerous fire destroyed most of the city of Chicago. Although it was a destructive fire, it made positive turning points in history. The Great Chicago Fire improved firefighting and new buildings which used fireproof material. After everything settled down, the tragedy united the people of Chicago together even though Mrs. O’Leary was unfairly blamed.

The fire started in O'Leary's barn and went on from there. Theories have it, the fire started by either vandal, milk thieves, spontaneous combustion, a drunken neighbor, or by the O'Leary's legendary cow kicking over an oil lamp. The fire was fueled by months without raining, Chicago being in a drought, and technical and human errors in alarm system. Another reason why the fire burnt so long was because there were strong southwest winds, congested poor neighbors, wooden buildings, wooden streets, wooden sidewalks, and misdirected fire equipment that arrived to

No one really know how or when the fire started but, Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even a meteor might have been responsible for the event for one that was a huge problem not knowing how it started but also the fact that no help was sent until after the fire had already started to spread. Neighbors tried contacting the fire department but called the wrong one so no help or warning was made before the disaster. The fire burned wildly throughout the following day, finally coming under control on October 10, when rain gave a needed boost to firefighting efforts. The Great Chicago Fire left an estimated 300 people dead and 100,000 others homeless. More than 17,000 structures were destroyed and damages were estimated at $200

On the date of October 8, 1871 the Great Chicago Fire was spreading through the city of Chicago. Rain was a big facture in the fire, there was no rain in the 2 weeks leading up to the fire. Plus before the fire, the people made most of the city of wood so all the dry wood was all flammable. Back then they really didn’t have a real fire department and the firefighters didn’t have a transportation system so they couldn’t get to a fire until late. The people didn’t take well care of the river nearby so the river was polluted.

On October 8,1871 according to Jim murphy`s research in his book “The great fire”Chicago Illinois was a city ready to burn.No one expected this to happen in Chicago.

The Great Chicago Fire was a gigantic disaster. Legend has it that a cow in a barn kicked over a lantern and that is how the fire started. The fire started in Chicago Illinois, on the night of October 8th, 1871 and ended on October 10th, 1871. The fire destroyed thousands of buildings and sadly killed over 300 people. A lot of damage was done in that fire. Other theories that have been told are that humans or even meteors might have been responsible for the start of the Chicago Fire. The month after the fire, Joseph Medill (1823-1899) was elected mayor.