January 14, 2025 • 11 mins
Take a look back, and you’ll see how similar human reaction is over the centuries to so many things that happen to us today. Take the recent fires in LA and the great Chicago fire of 1871. How do people decide what to save, and what matters most, when faced with a catastrophic event?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
As we watch firefighters continue to try to deal with
the fires in La County, we can see a really
amazing similarity to what happened in the Great Chicago Fire
of the eighteen seventy one. I'm Patty Steele when the
fire was master. Next on the backstory, We're back with
(00:20):
the backstory. The Great Chicago Fire is a riveting story.
It started in the barn on the O'Leary family's property
around nine pm on a hot Sunday night in early
October eighteen seventy one. Just like the fire in La
this one came after a long drought and grew due
to unusually windy conditions in a city known as the
(00:42):
Windy City. What started it, well, it could have been
a cow kicking over a lantern as some teen boys
played in the O'Leary barn. Or it could have started
spontaneously after Patrick O'Leary stacked undried hay in the hayloft
and there was a chemical reaction, Or maybe somebody tossed
a cigarette or a pipe. But the flames took off
(01:03):
and neighbors ran to help, leaving their own houses and
barns vulnerable. Over the next thirty hours that fire would
grow and grow, roaring across three square miles in the
heart of Chicago. Three hundred people were killed and seventeen
four hundred fifty buildings were destroyed. It caused more property
damage than any fire before it in America. In the
(01:27):
following years, witnesses shared their stories. One young guy said,
volumes of flames carried across to other streets. There were
showers of sparks, red and glowing. They fell like golden snow,
and the air was filled with them as far as
the eye could see, not only sparks, but burning pieces
of wood. The wind was blowing fierce, spreading the flames.
(01:49):
It was a hellish sight. Streets, houses, trees, everything in
one huge furnace. Close your eyes and try to imagine
what that looked like. Some firemen said it could have
been stopped, but wasn't due to human error and bad luck.
Said one. We sprayed water for five minutes and then
the engine gave out. One of the springs broke in
(02:10):
the pumps. Running it might destroy it, but I said,
this is going to be a big fire smash her.
We have to run her. Another said, if the Chicago
Brigade had done her duty, the flames would have been
checked fast, but the engine had no steam left because
she'd been used the night before in another fire. The
men were exhausted when they got back and went straight
(02:32):
to the bunk room without getting the engine ready for
the next fire. The captain went home. The fire department
was indeed caught napping. Everything was as it should not be.
Robert Williams, Chicago's fire marshal, added the supply of hose
was inefficient and the men were exhausted. After Saturday night's burning,
(02:52):
everything went wrong, plus there was a communications mess. A
watchman at the city's courthouse saw the flames but gave
the alarm system's operator incorrect information about the location. Firefighters
later said they got the incorrect alarm around nine thirty pm,
and it delayed their response. One claimed that with two
(03:13):
more engines on sit on time, they could have stopped
the fire, but they got there too late. By the
time they did arrive, the fire was out of control,
jumping across streets. At that point, the horses pulling the
fire engines couldn't take the heat. The firemen said their
clothes were smoking as they tried to work, and much
(03:33):
like in La part of the problem was how quickly
the city had grown, with houses, barns and businesses stacked
one right next to the other. As the embers flew
through the air, they dropped down and got trapped between
the buildings, starting more blazes. There were no fire brakes.
It was like dominoes. One man said he watched the
(03:54):
flames for a while and when he realized it was
out of control, had to run to the nearest bridge
to escape. He said, the air was like a blast furnace.
I was pushed and trampled on by others trying to
get away. They were screaming and cursing. People had wagons
and carts loaded with belongings that were trying to save,
but then they were abandoning even their small wagons just
(04:17):
to save their lives. Sounds a lot like folks in
La leaving their automobiles in the middle of the street
to escape, And as in La, some folks managed to
get out of the fire zone and stayed with friends
or family, but most not so lucky. Witnesses, including a cop,
said as the fire spread all the old wooden buildings
(04:38):
were ablaze. There were women and children in their nightclothes
and men with bundles fleeing the flames, complete confusion. The
streets were thronged with these human beings, hollering and running
in every direction. One telegraph operator said he saw some
men ramming open whiskey barrels that were lying in the street.
(04:58):
He said, as soon as the liquor was gut out,
they'd throw themselves flat into the street to gulp the
whisky as it poured over them, and no one interfered
with their amusement. Worse yet, the weather office said that
as the intense heat from the fire grew, it actually
increased the speed of the wind, pushing the fire forward
(05:18):
through the city, blowing people fifty feet through the air.
They said the wind was blowing with the force of
a hurricane, lifting up entire wooden buildings while they were ablaze. Also,
as in the recent La fires, some folks blamed arsonists
for the growth of the fire, and city officials hired
special officers, although historians later said the rumors were probably false.
(05:43):
Who knows even so, One angry residence said citizens were
patrolling and orders were given to shoot down every man
found setting fire. I heard shot after shot and felt
glad when I heard them, and the fire raged on.
A politician watching from a hotel across the river said,
I saw people huddle together, trying to hold on to
(06:05):
their things, helpless and astounded. The air was filled with
falling cinders, and it looked like a snowstorm lit by
colored fire. By three am, the city water pumping station
had burned and water stopped flowing into the pipes. Hydrants
across Chicago began to run dry again, just like La,
(06:27):
said the fire captain. At that moment, the fire was master.
It was there that it seemed to be superhuman and
bent on its work of destruction. A wave of wind
met the sea of fire, and the sea of fire
rolled over our buildings. A nineteen year old salesman was
living downtown with family, sharing a bed with two rumors. Yeah,
(06:49):
come and practice back then, he said, My bedfellows were
shaking me. The whole city is on fire. Savior things.
I jumped out of bed. Everyone was trying to save
his men as much as possible. I gathered what I
could and left with the family. People in the streets
were carrying all kinds of crazy things. A woman was
carrying a pot of soup which was spilling all over
(07:11):
her dress. They were saving worthless things and leaving behind
good things. And there were looters forcing their way into
stores and throwing out merchandise into the street for others
to gather up. As people fled onlookers said valuable oil, paintings, books, pets,
musical instruments, toys, mirrors, and bedding were just trampled on.
(07:33):
A young newlywed said she'd just gotten her house together
when the fire broke out. She said, I tried to
save my things, then finally shut the doors on my treasures.
I nearly broke down and thought I could not leave them,
but I choked back my grief and I left. And
some people actually dug holes in the ground to try
to save their household items by burying them. It did
(07:55):
no good. When people did get away with items they
thought mattered. A lot of them went to a massive
park along Lake Michigan. For a mile along the lake,
people had dropped their treasures in the grass, but his
embers rained down. They finally left it all behind to
jump in the water to keep from being burned, said
one survivor. Everybody carried what goods they could save to
(08:18):
the lake shore park. There were ladies in silk, velvet
and diamonds and peasants with nothing, and then a cloud
of flames and smoke covered them, clothes catching fire. One
man ripped his wife's burning skirt off of her. We
all try to imagine what we would attempt to bring
with us if we were forced to evacuate due to
a fire or other catastrophe. A lot like the burning
(08:41):
of the White House in eighteen fourteen, when First Lady
Dolly Madison opted to save certain things, most famously a
portrait of George Washington, which still hangs once again in
the White House. But at the end of the day,
wouldn't you leave it all behind just to escape with
your life and the lives of the peaple you love?
Talk about an existential moment. A lot of folks thought
(09:04):
that this was Judgment Day. A fire marshal told the press.
Our men had worked till their eyes were puffed out
from heat and cinders, their voices were gone, and their
clothing burned off of them. They had to feel their
way from place to place. They stumbled and fell from exhaustion,
and even then crawled to the front and fought on.
(09:25):
How did they begin to make progress? While they started
exploding buildings with gunpowder to create a fire break and
stop the fire's advance in several directions. A newspaper editor said,
we heard the detonations and it gave us all heart.
Imagine people feeling encouraged because somebody was blowing up houses
in the midst of the city. And then early Tuesday
(09:48):
morning rain began to fall and the fire was halted.
The rain also threatened the health of thousands of people
with nowhere to go, but they weren't going to burn,
as the crowds real they had survived, they say, people
covered with sand and soot encouraged each other, and everyone
said Chicago will be rebuilt immediately. At most three hundred
(10:12):
people died, and ironically, a much lesser known fire happened
the exact same day, killing eleven hundred people. It was
a forest fire in a lumbertown near Peshtigo, Wisconsin, but
the Chicago fire is what we remember. It still ranks
fifth on the list of US fires causing the most
property damage, ahead of it at number one the two
(10:34):
thousand and one attack on the World Trade Center at two.
The fire caused by the nineteen oh six San Francisco
earthquake and at three and four the California forest fires
of twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen, but it's very likely
the twenty twenty five LA fires we've just watched will
top the list. Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele.
(11:02):
I would love it if you would subscribe or follow
for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel
free to dm me if you have a story you'd
like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and
on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The back
Stories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group,
(11:24):
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
back Story with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you
(11:45):
didn't know you needed to know
As we watch firefighters continue to try to deal with
the fires in La County, we can see a really
amazing similarity to what happened in the Great Chicago Fire
of the eighteen seventy one. I'm Patty Steele when the
fire was master. Next on the backstory, We're back with
(00:20):
the backstory. The Great Chicago Fire is a riveting story.
It started in the barn on the O'Leary family's property
around nine pm on a hot Sunday night in early
October eighteen seventy one. Just like the fire in La
this one came after a long drought and grew due
to unusually windy conditions in a city known as the
(00:42):
Windy City. What started it, well, it could have been
a cow kicking over a lantern as some teen boys
played in the O'Leary barn. Or it could have started
spontaneously after Patrick O'Leary stacked undried hay in the hayloft
and there was a chemical reaction, Or maybe somebody tossed
a cigarette or a pipe. But the flames took off
(01:03):
and neighbors ran to help, leaving their own houses and
barns vulnerable. Over the next thirty hours that fire would
grow and grow, roaring across three square miles in the
heart of Chicago. Three hundred people were killed and seventeen
four hundred fifty buildings were destroyed. It caused more property
damage than any fire before it in America. In the
(01:27):
following years, witnesses shared their stories. One young guy said,
volumes of flames carried across to other streets. There were
showers of sparks, red and glowing. They fell like golden snow,
and the air was filled with them as far as
the eye could see, not only sparks, but burning pieces
of wood. The wind was blowing fierce, spreading the flames.
(01:49):
It was a hellish sight. Streets, houses, trees, everything in
one huge furnace. Close your eyes and try to imagine
what that looked like. Some firemen said it could have
been stopped, but wasn't due to human error and bad luck.
Said one. We sprayed water for five minutes and then
the engine gave out. One of the springs broke in
(02:10):
the pumps. Running it might destroy it, but I said,
this is going to be a big fire smash her.
We have to run her. Another said, if the Chicago
Brigade had done her duty, the flames would have been
checked fast, but the engine had no steam left because
she'd been used the night before in another fire. The
men were exhausted when they got back and went straight
(02:32):
to the bunk room without getting the engine ready for
the next fire. The captain went home. The fire department
was indeed caught napping. Everything was as it should not be.
Robert Williams, Chicago's fire marshal, added the supply of hose
was inefficient and the men were exhausted. After Saturday night's burning,
(02:52):
everything went wrong, plus there was a communications mess. A
watchman at the city's courthouse saw the flames but gave
the alarm system's operator incorrect information about the location. Firefighters
later said they got the incorrect alarm around nine thirty pm,
and it delayed their response. One claimed that with two
(03:13):
more engines on sit on time, they could have stopped
the fire, but they got there too late. By the
time they did arrive, the fire was out of control,
jumping across streets. At that point, the horses pulling the
fire engines couldn't take the heat. The firemen said their
clothes were smoking as they tried to work, and much
(03:33):
like in La part of the problem was how quickly
the city had grown, with houses, barns and businesses stacked
one right next to the other. As the embers flew
through the air, they dropped down and got trapped between
the buildings, starting more blazes. There were no fire brakes.
It was like dominoes. One man said he watched the
(03:54):
flames for a while and when he realized it was
out of control, had to run to the nearest bridge
to escape. He said, the air was like a blast furnace.
I was pushed and trampled on by others trying to
get away. They were screaming and cursing. People had wagons
and carts loaded with belongings that were trying to save,
but then they were abandoning even their small wagons just
(04:17):
to save their lives. Sounds a lot like folks in
La leaving their automobiles in the middle of the street
to escape, And as in La, some folks managed to
get out of the fire zone and stayed with friends
or family, but most not so lucky. Witnesses, including a cop,
said as the fire spread all the old wooden buildings
(04:38):
were ablaze. There were women and children in their nightclothes
and men with bundles fleeing the flames, complete confusion. The
streets were thronged with these human beings, hollering and running
in every direction. One telegraph operator said he saw some
men ramming open whiskey barrels that were lying in the street.
(04:58):
He said, as soon as the liquor was gut out,
they'd throw themselves flat into the street to gulp the
whisky as it poured over them, and no one interfered
with their amusement. Worse yet, the weather office said that
as the intense heat from the fire grew, it actually
increased the speed of the wind, pushing the fire forward
(05:18):
through the city, blowing people fifty feet through the air.
They said the wind was blowing with the force of
a hurricane, lifting up entire wooden buildings while they were ablaze. Also,
as in the recent La fires, some folks blamed arsonists
for the growth of the fire, and city officials hired
special officers, although historians later said the rumors were probably false.
(05:43):
Who knows even so, One angry residence said citizens were
patrolling and orders were given to shoot down every man
found setting fire. I heard shot after shot and felt
glad when I heard them, and the fire raged on.
A politician watching from a hotel across the river said,
I saw people huddle together, trying to hold on to
(06:05):
their things, helpless and astounded. The air was filled with
falling cinders, and it looked like a snowstorm lit by
colored fire. By three am, the city water pumping station
had burned and water stopped flowing into the pipes. Hydrants
across Chicago began to run dry again, just like La,
(06:27):
said the fire captain. At that moment, the fire was master.
It was there that it seemed to be superhuman and
bent on its work of destruction. A wave of wind
met the sea of fire, and the sea of fire
rolled over our buildings. A nineteen year old salesman was
living downtown with family, sharing a bed with two rumors. Yeah,
(06:49):
come and practice back then, he said, My bedfellows were
shaking me. The whole city is on fire. Savior things.
I jumped out of bed. Everyone was trying to save
his men as much as possible. I gathered what I
could and left with the family. People in the streets
were carrying all kinds of crazy things. A woman was
carrying a pot of soup which was spilling all over
(07:11):
her dress. They were saving worthless things and leaving behind
good things. And there were looters forcing their way into
stores and throwing out merchandise into the street for others
to gather up. As people fled onlookers said valuable oil, paintings, books, pets,
musical instruments, toys, mirrors, and bedding were just trampled on.
(07:33):
A young newlywed said she'd just gotten her house together
when the fire broke out. She said, I tried to
save my things, then finally shut the doors on my treasures.
I nearly broke down and thought I could not leave them,
but I choked back my grief and I left. And
some people actually dug holes in the ground to try
to save their household items by burying them. It did
(07:55):
no good. When people did get away with items they
thought mattered. A lot of them went to a massive
park along Lake Michigan. For a mile along the lake,
people had dropped their treasures in the grass, but his
embers rained down. They finally left it all behind to
jump in the water to keep from being burned, said
one survivor. Everybody carried what goods they could save to
(08:18):
the lake shore park. There were ladies in silk, velvet
and diamonds and peasants with nothing, and then a cloud
of flames and smoke covered them, clothes catching fire. One
man ripped his wife's burning skirt off of her. We
all try to imagine what we would attempt to bring
with us if we were forced to evacuate due to
a fire or other catastrophe. A lot like the burning
(08:41):
of the White House in eighteen fourteen, when First Lady
Dolly Madison opted to save certain things, most famously a
portrait of George Washington, which still hangs once again in
the White House. But at the end of the day,
wouldn't you leave it all behind just to escape with
your life and the lives of the peaple you love?
Talk about an existential moment. A lot of folks thought
(09:04):
that this was Judgment Day. A fire marshal told the press.
Our men had worked till their eyes were puffed out
from heat and cinders, their voices were gone, and their
clothing burned off of them. They had to feel their
way from place to place. They stumbled and fell from exhaustion,
and even then crawled to the front and fought on.
(09:25):
How did they begin to make progress? While they started
exploding buildings with gunpowder to create a fire break and
stop the fire's advance in several directions. A newspaper editor said,
we heard the detonations and it gave us all heart.
Imagine people feeling encouraged because somebody was blowing up houses
in the midst of the city. And then early Tuesday
(09:48):
morning rain began to fall and the fire was halted.
The rain also threatened the health of thousands of people
with nowhere to go, but they weren't going to burn,
as the crowds real they had survived, they say, people
covered with sand and soot encouraged each other, and everyone
said Chicago will be rebuilt immediately. At most three hundred
(10:12):
people died, and ironically, a much lesser known fire happened
the exact same day, killing eleven hundred people. It was
a forest fire in a lumbertown near Peshtigo, Wisconsin, but
the Chicago fire is what we remember. It still ranks
fifth on the list of US fires causing the most
property damage, ahead of it at number one the two
(10:34):
thousand and one attack on the World Trade Center at two.
The fire caused by the nineteen oh six San Francisco
earthquake and at three and four the California forest fires
of twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen, but it's very likely
the twenty twenty five LA fires we've just watched will
top the list. Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele.
(11:02):
I would love it if you would subscribe or follow
for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel
free to dm me if you have a story you'd
like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and
on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The back
Stories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group,
(11:24):
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
back Story with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you
(11:45):
didn't know you needed to know
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