The Great Chicago Fire (oct 8, 1871 – oct 10, 1871)

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A large fire completely destroyed Chicago, wiping out people and houses, costing about 222 million dollars in repairs. The fire started in a barn and was able to spread quickly because of a long drought and the fact that most the building in the city were made of wood. The fire department responded fast but were sent the wrong address so they were not able to stop the fire in time. Some buildings managed to survive the fire and are now historic landmarks. Rebuilding after the fire lead to the ability to add a sewer system, making Chicago one of the first cities to have one. This also brought about new fire standards to help prevent this from happening again in the future.

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