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Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

^ Fire was the "devil's only friend" that day...in and around Lake Michigan was a bad place 2 B 10/8/1871 [QUOTE] The Peshtigo Fire was a forest fire that took place in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It was a firestorm that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history,and was the deadliest wildfire in recorded history, with estimated deaths of around 1,500 people, possibly as many as 2,500. Occurring on the same day as the more famous Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire has been largely forgotten. On the same day as the Peshtigo and Chicago fires, the cities of Holland and Manistee, Michigan, across Lake Michigan, also burned and the same fate befell Port Huron at the southern end of Lake Huron as well.The combination of wind, topography and ignition sources that created the firestorm, primarily representing the conditions at the boundaries of human settlement and natural areas, is known as the Peshtigo Paradigm. The condition was closely studied by the American and British military during World War II to learn how to recreate firestorm conditions for bombing campaigns against cities in Germany and Japan. The bombing of Dresden and the even more severe one of Tokyo by incendiary devices resulted in death tolls comparable to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [QUOTE] There was no way to fight it and nowhere to run from it. For several hours, it created its own weather, including fire tornadoes that picked up railroad cars and turned burning trees into unguided missiles larger than telephone poles.

Monument in the cemetery. This monument, the nearby mass grave and the Fire Museum are the only reminders of the disaster at Peshtigo.

People didn't just die in Peshtigo. They spontaneously combusted and were cremated by heat that reached 2000 degrees. They succumbed instantly from breathing in poisoned, superheated air. They died of smoke inhalation, were run over by panicked livestock and drowned in the river where they sought refuge. Others were crushed in collapsing buildings, impaled by flying debris and pulverized by all kinds of things dropping out of the sky on top of them. Still others committed suicide rather than face death by fire. There is one known case where a father killed his three daughters and then himself to avoid that fate.

The Peshtigo River was the scene of gruesome irony. People flocked to its frigid waters for protection, but the only way to avoid the heat was to stay underwater. To have a bare head above the water at the height of the fire was deadly. People wet their heads and covered them with wet material to survive. In the process, some died of hypothermia. WEll.... nuthin diabolical goes outta style...in war or peace! Peshtigo Fire

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