Essay On Chicago Fire

It has been 145 years since the Great Chicago Fire started on October 8, 1871. Chicago had not had rain in three weeks prior to the fire, so it made the city flammable. The city was also made up of wood, everything was wood. Their fire alarm system was bad because they took 40 minutes after the fire started. The fire crossed the river and spread through the city because their rivers were polluted. Chicago had around 30,000 people and still growing, it was one of the fasted growing cities at that time. The fire started on October 8, 1871 in Mrs. O’ Leary’s cow barn around 9 P.M. Legend has it that one of Mrs. O’Leary’s cows kicked over a light lantern. The wind took the flames to the north and east, catching factories and warehouses on fire. They thought the river would stop the fire, but the river was so polluted that the fire just caught the river on fire and spread. People did realize how fast the fire would spread so they didn’t act quick enough to By the time the firefighters started to try and put out the fire, the flames were 50 feet high. …show more content…
300 people were reported to be dead and over 100,000 people were homeless. About 73 miles of the city was destroyed and $200 million worth of property was destroyed. They started rebuilding immediately and population started to grow again. Chicago had to hire an army of people to rebuild. By 1890 Chicago had a population of over a million people living there. The Chicago Fire Academy was built on the site of Mrs. O’Leary’s burned barn in 1956. The Great Chicago Fire led to the city becoming one of the United States’ most important economic cities. After the fire they passed a legislation were buildings required to be constructed from brick, stone, or other fireproof materials. The winds quickly change so that Mrs. O’Leary’s house would be touched by the