What Was the Great Chicago Fire [Paperback]

Did the Great Chicago Fire really start after a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn? Find out the truth in this addition to the What Was? series.

On Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started on the south side of Chicago. A long drought made the neighborhood go up in flames. And practically everything that could go wrong did. Firemen first went to the wrong location. Fierce winds helped the blaze jump the Chicago River twice. The Chicago Waterworks burned down, making it impossible to fight the fire. Finally after two days, Mother Nature took over, with rain smothering the flames. This overview of a stupendous disaster not only covers the fire but explores the whole history of fire fighting.Janet Pascal is the Executive Production Editor at Viking Children's Books and the author ofWho Was Dr. Seuss?, Who Was Abraham Lincoln?,What Is the Panama Canal?, andWhat Was the Hindenburg?What Was the Great Chicago Fire?
 
 
One dark night when we were all in bed,
 
Old Mrs. O’Leary took the lantern to the shed.
 
And when the cow kicked it over she winked her eye and said,
 
“There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight.”
 
 
 
For 125 years, children have been singing different versions of this rhyme. Many kids think it’s just a funny song. But it tells the story of a terrible tragedy—the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
 
In 1871, Chicago was a rich and thriving city. Soon it might even pass New York as the most important city in the United States.
 
Chicago leaders knew that fire was one of the main risks to a large city. So they had planned ahead. They had a top firefighting force with modern equipment. No matter how big a fire was, they were sure they could stop it.
 
Sadly, they were wrong.
 
On a hot, windy October night, a fire broke out in the barn of a woman namel“r