The Cause Of The Great Chicago Fire Of 1871

The Great Chicago fire was a major fire that had occurred in Chicago in 1871. There were many factors that caused the fire to occur. Those factors had many effects afterwards, including many deaths. The city had changed a lot after the fire. The Great Chicago Fire was very destructive for the people of Chicago. There were many causes of this fire. One of them was that most of the buildings of Chicago had been made mostly out of wood. "Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire."(History) This meant that the fire would get a lot of fuel, and that it could spread easily. The first mistake made was by Mathias Schaffer, who was showing the town to some visitors. He had ignored the

It was just the smoldering embers from the previous night’s fire, he assured them. Nothing to worry about."(Murphy) This example proves that Schaffer did not know that the smoke was from a different fire. Then, he made two other mistakes when he had realized his first mistake. The author states," Schaffer signaled down the speaking tube and had his assistant strike Box 342. This sent engines rumbling through the streets — to a location almost a mile away from the O’Learys’ barn." Then, he struck another box, which was still seven blocks away from the fire's location. These errors meant that the firefighters would have to follow the smoke and that the firefighters closest to the fire would not be able to help. Another cause of the fire was the equipment used to fight the fire. The author writes, "Unfortunately, America was a hose cart and could not throw water any great distance,