The Great Chicago Fire: What Really Went Wrong

On the evening of October 8, 1871, a fire broke out on the southwest side of Chicago. It burned for about 36 hours, destroyed roughly 17,500 buildings, and left about 100,000 people homeless. Was it just one accident, or had the weather already set the stage? What went wrong? This is the story of the Great Chicago Fire. What failed, why it failed and what changed afterwards, explained from the official investigation. Sources (public domain): NWS Chicago: 150th Anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 - https://www.weather.gov/lot/1871fire Photos and archive footage (public domain unless noted): Postcard Chicago 1871 Fire Aftermath (Front).png - J. L. Le Beau - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Po... 1871 Pre-Chicago fire map.jpg - From Harper's weekly, October 21, 1871, pages 984-5.; Image provided by Library - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18... Great Chicago Fire map with starting point.jpg - Unknown (Life time: 1869) - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gr... The Chicago Fire, 1871 LCCN2016647673.jpg - Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Destruction of Chicago by Fire, Oct. 1871 LCCN2003662862.jpg - Popular Graphic Arts - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:De... 1871 Richard's map of the great conflagration in Chicago.jpg - R.P. Studley & Co. - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18... 1871 Chicago Map - Burnt District.jpg - R.P. Studley Co. - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18... People escaping the Chicago Fire fleeing into Lincoln park 1871.jpg - victorgrigas - CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pe... The Great fire at Chicago Oct. 9th 1871. View from the west side - Gibson & Co.'s Steam Pr - Gibson & Co. (Cincinnati, Ohio) - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago Tribune (NBY 1668).jpg - Clark, C. R. (Charles R.) - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ch... Chicago Fire of 1871, Temporary Chicago (NBY 1585).jpg - Clark, C. R. (Charles R.) - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ch... Attributed to George N. Barnard - Untitled (Chicago after the Chicago Fire) - Google Art P - Attributed to George N. Barnard (1819 - 1902) – photographer (American) Details - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:At... New England Church after the fire, Chicago, 1871 (NBY 2018).jpg - Lovejoy & Foster - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ne... Field, Leiter & Co. department store ruins after the fire, Chicago, circa 1871 (NBY 7136). - Barnard, George N., 1819-1902 - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fi... Field, Leiter & Co. department store ruins after the fire, Chicago, circa 1871 (NBY 7135). - Barnard, George N., 1819-1902 - Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fi... ...and 19 more public-domain images from NASA and Wikimedia Commons. Music: "Ossuary 5 - Rest" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ How this video was made: the script is drafted from the sources above with AI assistance, every date, number and name is checked automatically against those sources, and the narration uses a synthetic voice. It is educational and respectful of the people involved. #fire #disasters #history #documentary