I t has been 145 years since one of today’s biggest cities was burned to the ground. One normal day in the city of Chicago, a fire started in the O’ Leary’s barn on October 8th, 1871. There was dry weather and most of the city was made from wood. With the wood, and the dry, windy weather, the city was very flammable. Once the fire started, it spread to the whole city. Sooner or later, the city was burnt to the ground. A couple days later, the fire stopped. There was a lot of people effected and a lot of damage done. The city builders learned their lesson. There was no warning from humans that there was going to be a fire, but one from nature. The dry, windy weather could have been a sign that a fire was a possibility. There are some theories of how the fire started. The main one is that a cow that belonged to Patrick and Catherine O’ Leary, had kicked down a lantern in their barn and started the fire in their barn. The O’ Leary’s denied this theory, but we still …show more content…
The people rang the fire bell, but the fire spread wildly to the center of the city. The fire burned for two days, it stopped on October 10th , 1871. Because the city was windy, the fire was spinning in mini tornadoes of fire. It spread around four miles and it even jumped a river twice. Sooner or later, the city was burnt to the ground. Once the fire stopped, there a lot of damage done. The estimated amount of $190 million in damage, 300 dead, and 100,000 were left homeless. More than 17,000 buildings were destroyed. The Great Chicago Fire had an effect on the city. The people learned not to make buildings out of wood. A construction worker said “Historically, every disaster has taught us something about how to build safer buildings.” The city was then rebuilt in a new, different way. The city then grew in population and is still to this day. Things are not made out of wood today and maybe it is because of this