This Evening of October 8th is the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, It reportedly started this evening at Mrs. O'Leary's barn. The fire burned from Sunday October 8th to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, it killed hundreds and destroyed about four square miles in Chicago. The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. Michael Ahern, the Chicago Republican reporter who created the cow story, admitted in 1893 that he had made it up because he thought it would make colorful copy. Although the fire is still undetermined, and it has been established that the O’Leary’s were asleep at the time the fire started, the massive fire swiftly took its toll, burning more than 2000 acres in 27 hours. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) decided that the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire should be observed not with festivities, but in a way that would keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention. That's how we came to have a national observance of Fire Prevention Week.
| Here are some links to the history of the great Chicago Fire |
Chicago Historical Society http://www.nationalcenter.org/ChicagoFire.html http://www.answers.com/topic/great-chicago-fire
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