The Fire This Time · Episode 4 of 8 · 18 min
Peshtigo, 1871: The Deadliest Wildfire in U.S. History
On the same night the Great Chicago Fire began, a firestorm erased Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing more people than any wildfire in American history. Cutover, slash-choked land, deep drought and a wind-driven front produced a fire that consumed well over a million acres in hours. Peshtigo planted the American conviction that wildfire is an enemy to be exterminated.
Who's who
- Peter PerninPeshtigo priest who survived in the river and wrote the key eyewitness account
- Frances FairchildGovernor's wife credited with redirecting relief supplies to Peshtigo
- Lucius FairchildWisconsin governor, away in Chicago during the fire
Where it happens
- Peshtigo, WisconsinLumber town destroyed in about an hour
- Peshtigo River, WisconsinRefuge where hundreds stood in the water for hours
- Door Peninsula, WisconsinSouthern half burned; Williamsonville destroyed by a fire whirl
- Chicago, Illinois+15 more episodesBurned the same night and took the headlines
- Upper Peninsula, MichiganFire reached across the state line
Timeline
- Summer 1871Persistent drought dries slash and soil across the Midwest
- October 8, 1871Firestorm reaches Peshtigo around 8:30 to 9 p.m.
- October 8, 1871Chicago burns the same night
- 1873Wisconsin state report names 1,182 dead or missing
- 1874Pernin publishes his eyewitness memoir
- 1894Hinckley, Minnesota fire repeats the pattern
Still debated
The true death toll is unknowable because local records burned; published estimates run from about 1,200 to 2,500. Acreage estimates also vary, and it is debated how far the event was really one fire rather than a regional complex.