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| Peshtigo Fire Museum |
Some 140 years ago, the deadliest fire in U.S. history burned Peshtigo, WI to the ground. This fire happened on the very same day of the infamous Chicago fire (October 8, 1871), but is not nearly as talked-about. The Peshtigo fire burned 1,875 square miles of forest, destroyed 12 communities, and took an estimated 2,500 lives.
Peshtigo is located about 40 miles northeast of Green Bay, WI, on the western shores of the bay of Green Bay. The fire was so intense and wind-driven that it actually jumped the waters of Green Bay and burned sections of the Door Peninsula.
Several other Midwestern cites and towns were impacted by fires that same night, including Port Huron, MI, Holland, MI and Chicago. This begs the question: Did Mrs. O'Leary's cow really start the Chicago fire? Or did some other event like comet fragments or a meteor shower cause all of these communities to go up in flames on the same night? For more on this fire, click here.
I never knew about the Peshtigo fire. Thanks for sharing this info!
ReplyDeleteSorry to contradict, but there is no reason to believe that the fire jumped the bay. There were many forest fires that had been occurring throughout the summer due to extreme drought conditions, not to mention people setting fires to clear wooded areas and as an attempt to prevent the spread of fires. The fires that spread that night were most likely caused by a frontal system coming through the area and fanning the smoldering embers of fires that had not been completely extinguished.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that the various fires jumped rivers (such as the Peshtigo River) to say that the fires jumped miles over the bay is laughable and has not been proven. It's almost as laughable as the comet theory.
It should be kept in mind that the Peshtigo Fire was not one fire. The several fires that swept across the 16 counties on the night of October 8th 1871 are collectively known as the Great Peshtigo Fire, but only because Peshtigo suffered the greatest losses, not because it was one fire.
When there is an enormous fire, like the one in Peshtigo, it creates it's own weather. The winds can reach over 200 MPH and cause "Fire Tornadoes" and the embers can carry for miles beyond the fire boundary. As for "jumping" Green Bay, the distance at the closest point is about 12 miles and though it might be a stretch... It still could have happened if the embers got lifted high enough. Fire is amazing, just watch the news during the fire season out west, or think of the latest fire in Minnesota where the smoke made it all the way down to this area... Nature can do some amazing things. Truth is stranger than fiction...
ReplyDeleteHaving been a conservation fireman, I have experienced fire first hand. I also watched and heard a forest fire, the largest fire in Canadian history at the time, as it Roared across miles of forest and jumped several lakes with ease.
See also;
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wioconto/Fire.htm