Chicago Fire Research Paper

On October 8, 1871 a fire broke out that caused much misfortune and destruction to the city of Chicago. While the true cause of the fire is unknown, there are things that are well documented such as some reasons why the fire got so big so quickly, the effects the fire had, and the aftermath of the fire. The Great Chicago Fire was a large fire that burned out of control because many mistakes were made that lead to horrible consequences that would bring many changes to the society.

One of the first reasons the fire burned out of control was because people did not report the fire. One man in particular refused to give out the key to the alarm box saying that a fire truck had already passed. Mathias Schaffer at the courthouse saw the smoke but just dismissed it thinking it was just from the previous night’s fire. When Mathias looked back and saw actual flames, he tried to determine where they were coming from, when he thought he knew where they were he had his assistant strike box 342 and sent the firefighters to the wrong place, almost a mile away from the fire. By the time the firefighters saw the actual fire and were able to get there it was already out of control. Also, due to the gusty winds the fire rapidly …show more content…
Building laws were changed to make buildings more fireproof. Some of the less fortunate people, homeowners and business owners, were crowded from the city because they could not pay for the more expensive fireproof materials. Soon after the fire, rebuilding the city of Chicago started taking place. Terra-cotta clay was a new building material used in the reconstruction that made the rebuilt city of Chicago “one of the most fireproof cities in the nation.” The Chicago fire department added several boats equipped to fight fires, they added a telegraph system to improve communications, and added the Hayes Patent Turntables to their fire engines so that they could reach higher parts of tall