Same Story, Different Chapter—The Great Peshtigo Fire

G. J. Tisdale - Peshtigo Fire museum
The Peshtigo Fire showing people seeking refuge in the Peshtigo River, 1871. taken from Harper's Weekly, 1871 Page 1037.

The year is 1871. The month is October. The day was the 8th.

The night of October 8, 1871, would go down as one of the worst in fire history. A fire started in a barn and nearly destroyed Chicago. Between 250 and 3,000 people died in the days that followed.

Wait! Only 250 deaths were reported in the Great Chicago fire. How do you get between 250 and 3,000? A large, more destructive fire started in Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Well, the Great Peshtigo fire killed between 1,500 and 2,700 people.  The events in Chicago overshadowed the Peshtigo fire.

As you watch Scott Knickelbine, author of “The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America’s Deadliest Fire,” share the history and relevance of the Great Peshtigo fire, note similarities with fires of the present.



Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• "Remembering The Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871," Fire Engineering magazine.
• What lesson(s) can you pull from the Peshtigo fire?
• What similarities do you see playing out today?