PHOTOS: While most will recall Oct. 8, 1871 as the day of Chicagoโs Great Fire, that story stole the headlines from a blaze in Wisconsin that has been described as Hell on Earth.
On the very same night, Mrs. OโLearyโs cow allegedly kicked over a lantern in Chicago, a firestorm tore through northeast Wisconsin, killing more than 1,200 people and consuming up to 1.5 million acres.
The Peshtigo Fire remains the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history, and yet, very few outside the state know it ever happened. Chicago got a myth. Peshtigo got a tragedy.
In 1871, slash-and-burn farming and railroad clearing were routine across Wisconsinโs forests. After a summer of drought, the land was a tinderbox.
As the Peshtigo Times noted in a 1921 retrospective, “Northern Wisconsin, as a rule, is not subject to drought. But the season of 1871 was an exception.”
That night, an eastward-moving cold front kicked up incredibly strong winds. Several small brush fires merged into one monstrous blaze creating a firestorm. Flames were estimated to have reached 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and were kept roaring with wind gusts of more than 100 mph reported.
In early October, small fires had already threatened the area. The Green Bay Advocate reported a barn and house had been burned in Peshitgo three days before the disaster. Area residents were becoming apprehensive as sparks and cinders were observed blowing across the river, into town.
By the next night, the area went from fire danger to what many called the apocalypse.
Witnesses were quoted as saying the fire “moved like a tornado,” consuming oxygen so quickly that people running for safety, simply burst into flames. Many in the fire’s path tried to seek safety in the Peshtigo River, but that led to drowning and many succumbed to hypothermia in the cold river water.
The Peshtigo fire finally ended when the wind died down and heavy, drenching rains came a few hours later, extinguishing the flames.
