(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Great Chicago Fire began around 9 p.m. Sunday Oct. 8, 1871 near what is now the South Loop.
It left about 300 people dead and destroyed more than 3 square miles of the city, leaving 100,000 residents homeless.
Chicago, however, was not the only place in flames day.
There were fires throughout the Great Lakes region, which was experiencing drought-like conditions, notes Paul Durica of Chicago’s Newberry Library.
A forest fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin is estimated to have killed more than 2,000 that same day.
Other sites devastated by fires as Chicago burned: Holland and Port Huron, Michigan, and Urbana, Illinois.
“People actually study the fact that there was a meteorite shower over four states — Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana — at the time,” said Larry Langford, director of media affairs for the Chicago Fire Department.
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