The month of September 1871, was a warm and dry one in Chicago Illinois. The city had not seen a drop of rain in weeks, and by the time October rolled around, the area was ripe for a disaster.Most of the city's buildings and homes were made of wood, the most widely used and cheapest construction material of the times. The city was also full of factories of all types and houses bunched together in crowded neighborhoods.
In those days the Chicago Fire Department consisted on just over 200 full time firefighters who manned 17 steam driven engines, and hose carts along with 4 hook and ladder wagons, all driven by horses. These engines were scattered throughout the city and were dispatched by alarm bells from the city courthouse. A watchman on the roof approximated the position of the fire and sent the appropriate engines to the scene or box number. The men often lived at the firehouse, getting few days off to return to their homes. On the night of October 7, a fire broke out in a planing mill and spread quickly, eventually destroying 4 square blocks of the city. The fire quickly rose to three alarms bring all available men and equipment to the scene. The men fought desperately to contain the blaze which eventually brought under control around 3:30 am. The entire depaertment was exhausted and battered by the huge blaze. Firefighting at the time was basically hand-to-hand combat for the men who had to get in close proximity to the fires in order to get water on them. They were often burned and exhausted by the time big blazes were extinguished.
The very next night, October 8, disaster visited Chicago. A fire started in the barn behind the O'Leary residence on De Koven Street. A man sitting across the street noticed flames coming fron the O'Leary's barn and went across to try and save the animals inside. The man, Daniel Sullivan, had a wooden leg and fell several times in the barn in his attempts to save the animals. Finally he escapeds the fire and woke up the O'Leary's who were asleep in bed.By then the fiure had spread to buildings on either side, and across the narrow alley and was spreading quickly, urged on by a stiffining wind. By the time the first steamer arriveds at the scene,5 or 6 houses and barns were already burning. Box alarms, were starting to pour into the courthouse, most of them wrong. But companies in the area had noticed the fire on their own and were heading for it. Soon there were 5 steamers, 3 hose carts and a hook and ladder company in a thin perimeter around the blazing block of homes. But the hose carts had little or no pressure, and steamers soon began having problems, one ran out of coal, and another was plagued by burst hoses and a third just quit, until the engineer hit it with a hammer, and it started again and served without problems afterward. But the fire soon jumped to the next block and the firemen had to retreat to try and get ahead of it to make a stand. The fire was now large enough to make its own wind, drawing oxygen into itself and creating a fire tornado.The dry wooden buildings were no match for the inferno and embers and flaming debris were carried for blocks on the wind which started numerous small fires which were sucked back into the main fire. In less than three hours 8 to 10 square blocks were burning and the rout was on. Several engine companies tried desperately to stop the advance but were swept aside as the fire pounded them with intense heat and smoke then jumped over their heads. One company fought in a field between two blocks one man ran the hose while two others held up doors ripped from houses up in front of him to block the heat. One door burst into flames and its man ran back to the engine. The second door held, for a little but it too burst into flames and both of the men then retreated and dragged the engine away just before the entire field ignited. The fire was now driving everything towards the Chicago River. The firemen retreated across the river, but were met by even more fire.The fire jumped the river right into heart of the business district. Block by block the city was systematically destroyed. Most of the fleeing citizens went to the lake and stood in the water. The following day just before the blaze had reached the outskirts of the city and the new watertower, it began to rain.
The fire started around 9pm on Sunday night and lasted until the rain started on Tuesday morning. The official death toll was estimated to be around 300 people, but some were never found so that number was probably higher. Over 18,000 buildings were destroyed leaving over 100,000 people homeless. The damage was estimated to be $200,000,000 at the time.
The O'Leary's house, although it caught fire several times survived the fire, but 4 square miles of the city had burned to the ground beyond it's small back yard. The site of the house is now occupied by the Chicage Fire Department Training Academy. Even though it was proven shortly after the fire by eyewitness testimony, Mrs. O'Leary was still blamed for the ignition of the fire. The official cause was 'undetermined' except for the fact that it did start in the O'Leary's barn.
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