The Fire America Forgot Peshtigo, Wisconsin. October 8, 1871. The same night Chicago burned. A firestorm swept the logging town. 1,200 to 2,500 people died in hours. A tornado of flame lifted railcars off tracks. Survivors jumped into the river. Many died of hypothermia instead. Chicago made every front page. Peshtigo got nothing.
Source
Smithsonian Magazine, 2011, 'The Fire That Ate Chicago — and the One That Ate Peshtigo'
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