Lessons from the Ashes: What the Great Chicago Fire Means to Fire Safety 150 Years Later

On the morning of October 8, 1871, the city of Chicago could not have been less prepared for the disaster that was about to unfold in a small, hay-filled cow barn later that evening. As National Geographic recalls, the city, with its mostly wooden buildings and streets covered in sawdust, was in the midst of an unusually dry summer. According to the official report, Chicago firefighters and their horse-drawn water pumps were exhausted from putting out the fires that occurred in the preceding days. So, when a small fire in that barn met the hot winds blowing through Chicago’s southwest side, city blocks quickly turned into tinderboxes.

There is a great deal of speculation as to who or what started the Great Chicago Fire, but what is more important is the scale of destruction the fire left in its path when it finally subsided on October 10. Around 300 people lost their lives and an estimated 90,000 lost their homes. More than 18,000 buildings were destroyed as the fire made its way north and into the city’s downtown. To this day, the destruction is mind-boggling.

In its aftermath, the Great Chicago Fire led to sweeping changes to the city’s fire safety and building codes. The city began placing restrictions on wooden buildings, and its new buildings had to be constructed with fireproof materials such as brick, limestone and marble. Iron columns were to be lined with terra cotta for fire protection, which ushered in the city’s skyscraper era.

While it is arguably the most infamous fire in American history, its legend has perhaps outshined other notable fires that changed history and resulted in important contributions to fire safety. For instance, many people don’t realize that the Great Chicago Fire was not the deadliest fire on record. In fact, it wasn’t even the deadliest fire that day. Hours before the Great Chicago Fire started to burn on October 8, a blaze swept through Peshtigo, Wisconsin,?a tiny sawmill town about 250 miles away, and claimed about 1,200 lives, making it the most devastating fire in U.S. history. According to historians, settlers using “slash and burn” farming methods made the area extremely vulnerable to forest fires, and its timber-framed buildings and sawdust-covered streets never stood a chance.

The Great Chicago Fire was the inspiration for the country’s longest-running public health observance, Fire Prevention Week. For nearly 100 years, the National Fire Protection Association has sponsored Fire Prevention Week during the week of October 9 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, and in 1925, President Calvin Coolidge made it a national observance. Each year, Fire Prevention Week serves as a tremendous opportunity for children and adults to learn about fire safety.

From that tragedy, we took away important lessons on how to make buildings more fire-resistant and extend the lengths of streets to contain the flames. That’s why I believe Fire Prevention Week should be a time when we don’t just look back on the strides we’ve made in fire safety, but also acknowledge that fires will always be a part of our lives and we should not only make homes and buildings safer, but also provide the fire safety products and education needed to help save lives. This is why I’m so proud of the work our Kidde teams do every day to continue innovating fire and CO safety products that are focused on protecting lives and providing people the tools they need for a healthy home.

We must continue educating on fire safety with renewed urgency. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), approximately five million U.S. homes do not have one smoke detector. More than seven people die each day in home fires in the United States. Less than 30 percent of U.S. homes meet minimum fire safety standards. Let’s make sure people know the standards which include:

• Homes should have one smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home including basements.
• Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms should be installed outside each separate sleeping area, on every level of the home and in other locations as required.

To help commemorate and continue educating people on the importance of fire safety, Carrier is sponsoring the City of Fire exhibit in the Chicago History Museum and the Peshtigo Historical Society’s Fire Museum.

As leaders in providing fire safety solutions, we embrace the responsibility of education and action. We are committed to helping occupants prevent and recognize danger in the event of a fire or carbon monoxide leak. We are focused on innovations using new technologies to make products more connected so that they become proactive nurturers of home health. As we commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire and countless lessons of safety it has inspired, we are more optimistic than ever for the fire safety advancements of the next 150 years.?