The Grea Calamity

A detailed Summary of The Grea Calamity

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of the most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourishing city of Chicago was turned into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.

There had been little rain that year, and various other fires occurred. More than 600 fires occurred in 1870, and 27 in the first week of October alone. Murphy 19-20) Most of these fires originated in barns because of the highly flammable hay located there. Lanterns would be knocked over, and flames would catch the hay causing fire to break out.

The evening of October 8, 1871 was unusually warm. There had been a strong wind coming off the prairie all day. Chicago had also been going through a drought that made grasses, wood, and everything else in the city extremely dry. (Murphy 13) These conditions were just right for a fire. Little did people know, that the wind and drought were going to help destroy their magnificent city.

Moreover, Chicago in 1871 was a city ready to burn. The city boasted having 59,500 buildings, many of them-- such as the courthouse and the tribune building-- large and intricately decorated. The trouble was that about two-thirds of all these stru

It was a Sunday evening, and a normal one for Catherine and Patrick O'Leary, which means they had gone to bed early because they had to awaken early in the morning for chores. Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan just happened to be riding by the house numbered 137 on DeKoven Street at the time the blaze broke out. As the hungry flames licked the side of the tool shed, Sullivan, in panic, began to yell, "Fire! Fire!" (Murphy 14) All the neighbors were alerted and the fire had their attention too, as the swirling wind drove the fire into their yards. The O'Leary's remained asleep until one citizen went directly to their door and began to pound on it. Moments later, Patrick emerged from the cottage, still half asleep. "Kate!" he screamed the moment he saw what was happening. "The barn's on fire!" (Murphy 26)

"Those pedestrians who saw the fire, quickening their pace, pushed on. They were not excited. They stood in groups listening to the wind, that was making noise very much like a lake on a stormy night," Fireman Dorsey commented. (Murphy 45) Not soon after, the fire broke out across the river, and several people on the side that it was headed panicked, because they knew it was after them. Like the O'Leary's, they exited their houses quickly and tried to find safety.

In spite of all the efforts to terminate the fir and get the warning out to citizens, the fir could not be contained. The truth is, Chief Williams and his firefighters did everything they possibly could do to control the fire and had followed established firefighting procedures as well. It burned for 29 long hours, wiping out 73 miles of streets, (Murphy 100) and $192,000,000 in property was destroyed. (Chicago.html) The flames also left 100,000 homeless. (Murphy 97)

As the fire burned and heated up an area, sometimes to 1500 degrees, the hot air rose and formed a column hundreds of feet tall. Oxygen-rich air was sucked into the column at the base, where it mixed with the burning fuels and also rose, twisting and whirling around as it did. At its fiercest, such a whirlwind could rip a roof off a house and pick up the building's contents. Thousands of people found themselves surrounded by flames and smoke and rushing headlong to escape. (Murphy 60)

Sadly, those 100,000 now homeless could not do much after the fire was put out. They could only look through the rubble in a desperate search to find their family and friends. Somewhere in that rubble, 300 lay dead buried by ash, and only 120 were found in the end. (Murphy 112) The death toll was also raised by suicides. Some felt that they had to take their own life due to their financial loss. (Murphy 113)

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Approximate Word count = 1995
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History