This series contains adult language and depictions of graphic violence.

Listener discretion is advised.

The Summer of 1871 was an exceptionally hot one in Chicago.

Drought conditions and strong steady winds from the southwest made for a particularly dangerous combination

with regard to fire danger.

Also of note, more than two-thirds of all buildings in the city of Chicago were made of wood, dry, brittle

wood that hadn't felt rain in months.

By the time autumn rolled around, things hadn't gotten much better.

Temperatures had dropped as could be expected, but still, no rain.

Then, at about 8.30 on the evening of October 8th,

legend tells us that a cow, owned by the O'Leary family,

was eating some hay in a barn just south of the city center when something spooked her.

The cow then inadvertently knocked over a lantern

igniting the dry hay which spread to the shed next to the barn.

That shed was the first structure to be burned in the great Chicago fire.

Over the next three days, the fire would jump the south branch of the Chicago River and

destroy a significant amount of Central Chicago.

Then the fire would cross the main stem of the river and ravage the north side of the city.

Along with the majority of the structures being constructed of wood,

so are the sidewalks and many of the actual roads. The city, now an explosive

hellscape burned for three days, claimed the lives of more than 300 people and consumed 17,000 separate structures.

The path of destruction was nearly a mile wide, four miles long, and covered 2,000 total acres. 73 miles of road, 120 miles of

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