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The Peshtigo Fire of 1871

 

2021 has been a hot year for many places around the world. We already know that June 2021 has been the hottest on record in the contiguous United States per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 4.2 degrees above average. Along with the hot temps and dry conditions across much of the US, wildfires have been raging in the west and in Canada. In Wisconsin, we have experienced the side effects of these fires with several days of low air quality due to smoke. While 2021 has seen its own share of destruction, let's take a look at the deadliest fire in US history to date.

 

                   

 

The very industry that made Peshtigo prosper would also be its demise.

The town of Peshtigo, located in northeastern Wisconsin, was a booming logging town in the year 1871. Beginning in the 1780s the seemingly endless amount of trees near Lake Michigan attracted logging companies and immigrants such as lumberjacks and farmers. Peshtigo's proximity to waterways and the booming town of Chicago (via Lake Michigan) – the world's largest lumber trade market at the time – made it a very prosperous town. Peshtigo's logging industry happened at a time when responsible forest management practices did not exist. Loggers simply stripped the land without regard to the potential fire hazards they created. They dumped tree refuse from logging operations in large piles of slash that would become the perfect fuel for the horrific event that would take place on October 8, 1871. 

 

The people of the town had no warning of what was about to happen.

The summer of 1871 was hot and dry in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In the weeks and days leading up to October 8th, there were several small fires in the area surrounding the town of Peshtigo. On this October night, a cold front bringing winds of 100 mph fanned the flames of the surrounding smaller fires causing a fire storm that would turn into the deadliest fire in US history. The confluence of events that led to the devastating blaze started with "a low rumbling noise, like the distant approach of a train," witnesses of the chaos later recalled. Families awoke that night with their town engulfed in flames. Some would flee to the river, but many met their fate in the water due to drowning or succumbing to hypothermia. The fire would jump the river as well. Many had no chance to leave their homes at all. Livestock would also flee to icy waters.

 

1.2 million acres – the size of the state of Connecticut – burned that night.

The town itself was a tinder box with every building and sidewalk being constructed from lumber. Even the town streets were lined with wood chips. Between 500 and 800 people - half the town's population – died in Peshtigo, and between 1200 and 2400 died in the region that night as the winds fueled the flames that engulfed several parts of the area. The conditions were so extreme that "fire tornadoes" were seen by few survivors. Before they knew what was happening, many thought it was a comet that had struck earth and created the inferno.

 

 

Sadly, the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 is often forgotten. The Great Chicago Fire that left 100,000 people homeless and destroyed 17,000 structures also burned that same night. Though it was not as severe as the Peshtigo fire, the Chicago fire dominated the headlines and history books.

 

October 8th, 2021, will be the 150th anniversary of the horrific Peshtigo blaze. With 2021 also being a very smokey and fiery season, let us take some time to really think about those affected not only by today's fires, but to also remember those that had to endure that catastrophic event in 1871.

 

The Peshtigo Fire Museum, housed in the first church built after the fire and operated by the Peshtigo Historical Society, preserves the heritage of this tragic event through storytelling, exhibits of artifacts from the fire, displays of the lifestyle at the time of the disaster, and a cemetery to memorialize those who died. Visit http://www.peshtigofiremuseum.com/ for more information.

 

Resources: Blakemore, Erin, "Why America's Deadliest Wildlife Was Largely Forgotten", www.history.com

 

By Jenny Sadak, Environmental Science Educator