The Great Chicago Fire - Research Paper Example

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of the most immense tragedies in American history. It was actual Apocalypse in one individually taken During one night, the thriving and prosperous city of Chicago was turned into a blazing wasteland. The hurt was so deep that small amount of people believed the city could be never rebuilt once more. “It was the completeness of the wreck; the total desolation which met the eye on every hand; the utter blankness of what had a few hours before been so full of life, of associations, of aspirations, of all things which kept the mind of a Chicagoan so constantly driven.” Elias Colbert, 1871 The days of the Great fire was the period at once of the city’s greatest fame and of the biggest humiliation. Will Chicago be able to return her royal title of the “Queen of the West”? The Great Chicago Fire "It was like a snowstorm only the flakes were red instead of white." Bessie Bradwell Helmer 1. Chicago started as a small settlement and grew to a very populated city during XIX. The population of Chicago had burst from approximately 4,000 souls when it received its first city charter in 1837, to 30,000 in 1850 and to an amazing 330,000 at 1871. It had passed Saint Louis as the fourth-biggest city in America and became a key player on the international scene. Modern for those days highly-branched railroad was a very important element of Chicago city. No American city was linked to the romance of the railroad the way Chicago was. It resembled imperial European centers – Paris, for instance – where the stations, like the points of a gigantic compass, beckoned in all directions… It was the railroad that made Chicago the capital of America’s heartland, its attainable metropolis, its possible dream. (Lowe, 2010, p.51). 2. This fast increase city growth, though, happened with little planning. Several brick-and-mortar constructions were already built, but thousands of buildings were factually “thrown up” to house the enormous flood of European immigrants. There, next to rich houses was built squatter settlement where buildings often were put up very close to each other, back-to-back. The growth of the city was so speedy and similar to the fast growing bones of a teenager, which often might be subject to easy breaking. The expansion of Chicago was far from being ideal and faultless. There were class conflicts, business upheavals and urban rivalry which became common in American cities. 3. On Sunday October 8th 1871 around 9 o’clock in the evening in the small barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, that was on 137 DeKoven Street, the fire started. Nobody knew for certain what caused it. The investigation by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners has never before been fully researched and reported by the fire historians. The Board’s final report published in Chicago newspapers on December 12, 1871, indicated that the commissioners were unable to determine the fire cause.” (Bales and Schwartz, 2005, p.4) 4. There were number of equally possible stories, from the owner’s cow kicking over the lantern to meteor shower which possibly caused 3 other fires in the same area simultaneously. 5. According to Owens (2007), “The Chicago fire started in the O’Leary barn but the O’Leary Home survived.” (p.8) 6. However, many historians nowadays believe that the true culprit of the fire was Daniel Sullivan, the one who told O’Learys about the fire. They accepted as truth his story that he got inside the barn to steal their cows’ milk. Prior to his death, Daniel Sullivan admitted that he was accountable. There are some indications confirming it is true, yet it is not certain. A.T. Andreas, nineteenth-century historian wrote: "Nature had withheld her accustomed measure of prevention, and man had added to the peril by recklessness." The fire spread very fast due to the draught for fourteen weeks, multiplicity of wooden houses, jacked-up plank streets and sidewalks and powerful southwestern wind. It was similar to hundreds of matchboxes set close to each other and lit with the match. Due to the unreliable alarm system, slow fire “trucks”, disorientation in the fire location, firefighters’ exhaustion from the previous fires, by the time they arrived to the place, the fire was absolutely out of control. It looked like as if the land itself had ignited, taking into consideration that the streets, bridges, and sidewalks were made of wood.  7. Firemen were strained daily. For the previous year, Chicago had approximately two fires a day.  Starting with crushing "Burlington Warehouse" fire on September 30 there were 20 fires during one week time. The Last fire they fought for seventeen hours and put it out only few hours before the Great fire. The guard who reported the fire quickly realized that he had given the wrong location. He asked to send out corrected report. The telegraph operator, however, refused. He reasoned that the different report would only confuse the issue. This error caused significant delay in the efforts of the fire fighters and it is a major reason that the blaze was not contained. (Owens, 2007 p.33) 8. The whole next day firefighters fought the fire with no success. The fire, which was nearly put down, stretched to the other closely located buildings. Even mayor’s call for help to the neighboring cities did not help – the fire was too large to contain. 9. At 3:30 am, when the roof collapsed on the pumping station and conflagration burnt the water station, any firefighting efforts became useless as flames cut off the water supply. 10. The fire was going through the center of the city devouring stores, hotels, churches, theatres, the City Hall. At 1:30am it got to the Courthouse tower; the watchman hardly escaped sliding down the banisters through the burning stairway. City officials, understanding that the structure was fated, decided to free the criminals from the cellar barely prior to the falling of the great bell through the collapsing tower. 11. The fire engulfed the city’s gasworks. The consequence was unsurprising as the colossal outburst added tons of explosive fuel to the firestorm. 12. The fire was showing indications of what firemen call a “convection effect,” the capability to create a concentrated updraft, as if generating an unending, self-creating body that moves ahead by itself without any assistance from the wind. Air from all directions got sucked into the heart of the fire, creating tornado effect moving burning wreckage high above the ground into the night air. 13. As the fire walked unavoidably north, another phenomenon, spontaneous combustion, sent constructions thundering into fire even without being contacted by the main section of the blaze. 14. Fire, causing total panic, jumped to the north side of the Chicago River where citizens were finding refuge. The Chicago River itself was on fire from the enormous amount of litter in the greasy river. 15. People tried to outrun the fire, exhausted, they had to throw away some possessions and keep only valuables. Some hid it in the ground, hoping they will be able to find them later. 16. First fire was continuing to burn the other side of the city. Mayor called in the city Marshal Law but in a short time, when the wind weakened and little drizzle started, the great Chicago fire completely died down. Chicago stayed extremely hot—it took two days before any analysis of the harm was possible. Chicago after the fire was like a city at war. Architects were drafted by the local developers and supported by the Eastern banks. When the city’s darker side needed acknowledgement, its portrayal was subsumed of Chicago’s persistent struggle and triumph over adversity…Goodspeed viewed [city’s] struggle for civility and respectability as part of a larger historic drama into which all the pieces fit. A “mysterious murder” of a week earlier was given new significance. The city’s entire history – admittedly “sinful” at times – contributed to this fiery apotheosis. But unlike Pompeii, buried under ash for thousands of years, Chicago survived. The fire offered the city a second chance. (Miller, 2000, p.51) 17. The fire encompassed more than 2,000 acres, destroyed 17,500 buildings, $222 million worth property—about a third of the city's valuation, leaving third part citizens homeless. Final number of the dead approximately 200–300 people is a relatively small number for such a colossal fire. The same day a fire wiped the whole small town of Peshtigo, killing more than 1100 people. Since the day when tall Troy crumbles away in flames no fire surpassed Chicago conflagration in its terrible work of destruction. The value of the merchandise alone consumed by the flames was at least double that of the goods destroyed in the great fires of Moscow and London combined. No city suffered a greater pecuniary loss by fire, whether Jerusalem smitten by Titus, Rome when sacked by Alaric or Carthage when given up to fire and sword by her Roman conquerors (Luzerne, 1872, p.89) According to E.J. Goodspeed, devastation of Chicago was greater than ruins of Pompeii.  18. How will Chicago respond to such disaster? Some were predicting that Chicago might be able to recover…if she could cast off this burden of pride…and arise from her ashes a grander city than ever, chastening by her calamity and by experience glow less confident in startling rapidly of progress, and have more content with gradual returns and solid gains. (Boehm, 2004, p.19) 19. Chicago citizens’ first answer to the fire was unbelievable. Many of them day and night were rebuilding their city. Other American cities were pouring in aid and funds, so during a week Chicago built 6,000 temporal buildings for the homeless.  20. In 1884, in thirteen years after the conflagration, the first in the World skyscraper was built in Chicago – The Home Insurance Building. It was built out of steel frame and bricks as the outer material. 21. Though the fire brought devastation for the city in countless ways, it also united Chicagoans as well. 22. This disaster alone changed not only Chicago, but other American cities too. It was a warning to other American cities. 23. All the citizens were unified by the common goal. Large number of people was discussing fire rules, fire safety measures and firemen’s equipment. Obviously, nobody wanted to have the fire tragedy repeated. That is why all the community focused on the idea of conditions’ improvement, Chicago administration started to change. Although the city was destroyed, the spirits of its people was not. Rebuilding started soon after the fire had been extinguished and Chicago again thrived bigger and better than ever before (Nobleman, 2006, p.50) 24. The biggest fire disaster in the States in XIX century gave many vital lessons. One thing the Great Fire was not able to take away from the citizens was their bravery and willpower to rise over the tragedy. 25. Before the conflagration, 40.000 Chicago’s houses out of 60.000 were entirely wooden, roofs were made of tar and felt or wooden shingles. Surely, strong wind was able to effortlessly spread fire among lax constructions of completely dried wooden houses. Winds are common in this area because the closeness to the Lake Michigan. That is where the name “Windy City” comes from. 26. At the time of the Great fire the fire department was found insufficient. The minimal supplies advanced the tragedy. The city fire truck park was crippled since out of seventeen engines there was one that was totally broken during the last fire in the October 7th, and another two were in the service. There were also only two hundred sixteen firemen. The fire station was in desperate need of modification and upgrade. 27. In less than three years, in July 14, 1874 the second Chicago fire occurred. It was smaller. Fire ruined more than 800 constructions covering the location of 60 acres. 28. After that Chicago abruptly changed attitude toward fire safety and gave a priority to fire fighting. The National Board of Fire Underwriters insisted on passing new "fireproof" region laws and making other upgrades in the Fire Department. New regulations and laws concerning fireproofing were put into effect, like the regulations concerning materials the houses and streets were built of. For example, the floors and roofs were required to endure fire for at least 3 hours. Chicago’s wooden streets were changed. Communities started to ratify firm construction and fire regulations, develop firefighting equipment, water pumping system, communications and alarm system. Though the switch from fire engines maneuvered by men to horse-drawn fire engines that occurred in mid-XIX century considerably improved the response time to incidents, still it was not fast enough. Firefighters began to use gasoline powered trucks to be able to get to the fires quicker. The alarm system was unreliable and there were errors in reading its signals, so new requirements for US fire service and fire officers took effect. 29. In the near future Chicago made many improvements and took leading position in the fire safely area. The city bought three tugboats and equipped them with fire equipment. There were made shift fireboats managed by trained fire fighters. The first fireboat "Geyser" was built and launched in 1886, "Yosemite" – in 1890, "Fire Queen" was finished in 1893 and the "Illinois", a steel fireboat - in 1899. The first sliding fire pole (wooden covered with paraffin) was invented by Captain David Kenyon in 1878 and in 1880 it developed into metal one. The Joker telegraph system was introduced and installed in 1878. In 1883 apparatuses for reaching upper portions of tall buildings were added to the department. 30. From 1885 each year firemen who distinguished themselves by acts of bravery & heroism in the saving lives and property were rewarded with Lambert Tree and Carter Harrison Merit gold medals. 31. In 1886 the water tower was produced. Through the first, year the water tower reacted to 100 alarms and toured 95 miles. 32. During the following two decades, hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into Chicago. At the end of the XIX century, the city was well on its way to recovery. References: Bales, Richard F and Thomas F. Schwartz The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. Olearys Cow. North Carolina: McFarland, 2005. Print. Boehm, Lisa Krissoff Popular culture and the enduring myth of Chicago, 1871-1968. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. Lowe, David Garrard Lost Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print. Luzerne, Frank and John G Wells The lost city! New York: Wells & Co, 1872 Miller, Ross The great Chicago fire. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000. Print. Nobleman, Marc Tyler The Great Chicago Fire. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print. Owens, L. L. The Great Chicago Fire. Minnesota: ABDO, 2007. Print. Read More