a little trivia

This week is Fire Prevention Week....know why?

     It's the week that contains Oct. 8, the day of the Great Chicago Fire.
     When I taught, I used to ask an extra credit trivia question: What fire on Oct. 8, 1871, killed at least 1,500 people and destroyed a town?  I would give the kids a couple of weeks to answer it, and few of them did.
     Most people will say the Great Chicago Fire.  You would be wrong.  True, that fire killed about 300 people while destroying most of the city.
     But the Great Peshtigo Fire happened the same day.  Somewhere between 1,500-2,500 people died in that fire, which destroyed the town of Peshtigo and several other communities in northern Wisconsin.
     Timing is everything.
     People heard about Chicago, but Peshtigo was in the north woods, past Green Bay.  Communications were terrible and it took days of the disaster to reach the more populated areas.
     By then, it was to late.  Chicago got all the attention, and rightly so due to its size and importance, even then.
     I have visited the Peshtigo Fire Museum a couple of times because honestly, the disaster fascinates me. 
     One time when I was in the museum another guy was in looking around and said to the lady, "You don't have much from the fire on display."  The lady paused and said, "That's because it all burned."
     And no, that was not me who asked.
     There is a mass grave where about 300 people were buried.  They were burned beyond recognition, so they were buried together.
     It had to be a horrific experience.
     Sherlock Holmes said there are no coincidences.
     Peshtigo and Chicago on the same day.  Also the Great Michigan Fire.  And the Huron fire.  All Oct. 8, 1871.
     A book I recently bought puts the blame of these fires on fragments of an asteroid that passed the earth.  The fragments landed in areas hit by a drought and ignited.
     But scientists debunk that, saying there has never been a case where a fire can be blamed on space debris.
     There are no coincidences.
     So there.....a mini lesson on Fire Prevention Week and the Great Peshtigo Fire.
    You are welcome.
    Go Cubs!!