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Fire Prevention Week was established to
commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250
people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than
2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on
October 9, 1871. According to popular legend, the fire broke out after a cow - belonging to
Mrs. Catherine O'Leary - kicked over a lamp, setting first the barn, then the whole city on
fire. Chances are you've heard some version of this story yourself; people have been blaming
the Great Chicago Fire on the cow and Mrs. O'Leary, for more than 130 years. But recent
research by Chicago historian Robert Cromie has helped to debunk this version of events.
 The
'Moo' myth
Like any good story, the 'case of the cow' has some
truth to it. The great fire almost certainly started near the barn where Mrs. O'Leary kept
her five milking cows. But there is no proof that O'Leary was in the barn when the fire
broke out - or that a jumpy cow sparked the blaze. Mrs. O'Leary herself swore that she'd
been in bed early that night, and that the cows were also tucked in for the evening. But if
a cow wasn't to blame for the huge fire, what was? Over the years, journalists and
historians have offered plenty of theories. Some blamed the blaze on a couple of
neighborhood boys who were near the barn sneaking cigarettes. Others believed that a
neighbor of the O'Leary's may have started the fire. Some people have speculated that a
fiery meteorite may have fallen to earth on October 8, starting several fires that day - in
Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as in Chicago.
The biggest blaze that week
While the Great Chicago Fire was the best-known blaze to start during this fiery two-day
stretch, it wasn't the biggest. That distinction goes to the Peshtigo Fire, the most
devastating forest fire in American history. The fire, which also occurred on October 8th,
1871, and roared through Northeast Wisconsin, burning down 16 towns, killing 1,152 people,
and scorching 1.2 million acres before it ended.Historical accounts of the fire say that the
blaze began when several railroad workers clearing land for tracks unintentionally started a
brush fire. Before long, the fast-moving flames were whipping through the area 'like a
tornado,' some survivors said. It was the small town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin that suffered
the worst damage. Within an hour, the entire town had been destroyed.Eight decades of
fire prevention
Those who survived the Chicago and Peshtigo fires never forgot what they'd been through;
both blazes produced countless tales of bravery and heroism. But the fires also changed the
way that firefighters and public officials thought about fire safety. On the 40th
anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (today
known as the International
Fire Marshals Association), decided that the anniversary of
the Great Chicago Fire should henceforth be observed not with festivities, but in a way that
would keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention. The
commemoration grew incrementally official over the years.
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first
National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been
observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the
National Archives and Records Administration's Library Information Center, Fire Prevention
Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of
the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that
week every year since 1925.
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