October 8, 2015 - Burning Leaves

Fall is the time when, in somewhat recent history, people raked leaves off their lawns and burned those stacks of leaves. The smoke and smell of burning leaves awakes memories of childhood in people of a certain age. In 1871, there was a lot more than leaves burning on October 8th. The Great Chicago Fire burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing 300 and covering about 3.5 square miles. But the Chicago Fire wasn’t the only place burning on that date, although it got most, if not all, of the national press coverage. As any Wisconsinite knows, the Peshtigo Fire was much bigger than the Chicago Fire. The Peshtigo Fire was a forest fire that took place on October 8, 1871 in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It was a firestorm that burned hot enough to fuse sand into glass and before it was over had burned over 1,875 square miles (larger than the state of Rhode Island). It caused the most deaths by fire in United States history, with an estimated number of deaths of around 1,500 people (possibly as many as 2,500). What’s even more interesting is that on the same day these two fires were raging the cities of Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron Michigan were also on fire. All of these fires were the result of a very dry run of weather and then a cold front moving through with gale-force winds that just fanned the flames and kept the fires burning. And now, to segue gracefully from talking about fires to the next part of this column. Hmmm. How about, there are a number of hot titles listed below that will set you afire with their thrilling plot lines? Enjoy!