The Peshtigo Fire | The Worst Fire in American History

Peshtigo is a city in Wisconsin in the United States. It's about 45 miles (70 kilometres) northeast of Green Bay, on the Peshtigo River and was founded in 1838. With only 3500 or so residents, Peshtigo is a quiet place, and if you were passing through you would have no clue their sleepy city was the origin on the deadliest fire in united states history history.

The year was 1871, and small controlled fires were frequently used to clear forest land for farming and railroad development. That Sunday was supposed to be no different. The weather had been unusual for that time of year. It was unusually warm for early October, and winds were high. Rainfall during the preceding months totalled just one-fourth of average precipitation causing the conditions to become dry but nothing the railroad hadn’t dealt with in the past.

The railroad workers had lit a few small fires several days before and things were going to plan until, seemingly out of nowhere, A cold front swept in from the west, bringing with it strong winds that fanned the fires out of control creating an unstoppable fire storm which moved at a tremendous speed. Survivors who witnessed the fire stated it was fast, just like a tornado. The residents of Peshtigo had grown accustomed to the smell of ashes and saw nothing unusual as they went to bed on the night of the fire. One hour after the fire had started, Peshtigo had been burned to the ground with only two of their buildings left still standing killing 800 of its residents.
The fire however, did not stop there. It went on to burn down 16 other towns in the surrounding areas, scorching over 1.2 million acres of forest. The fire spread across the Peshtigo River, destroying both sides of town. Terrified residents submerged themselves in water to escape the flames, which sadly resulted in cases of hypothermia and drowning. At one point, it was estimated the firey wind were traveling at 110 miles per hour.

A total of 1,152 people were confirmed deceased, with another 350 suspected to be dead. Because all local records were lost in the fire, a precise death toll has never been established. A further 1,500 people were badly hurt, and at least 3,000 people were left homeless with the damage estimate sitting around 169 million. Bodies were buried in mass graves as many of them were completely unidentifiable due to the fire.

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[SafetyScout]

Being a retired Fire lieutenant I’ve always been a Fire history buff. Knew of this Fire. Thank you for an excellent summary. And thank you for including the livestock and wildlife. People just think of injuries and deaths of humans but not how animals and fauna are hurt but such out of control fires .

[happystarilaugh]

As a wisconsinite, I thank you for doing this one. Such sad day. And by the way you pronounced Wisconsin perfectly! Good job!

[Straswa]

Wow, I'm a Wisconsinite and had no idea of this fire. Thanks for sharing!
I found your channel through Fascinating Horror.

[druidia]

Now we're living in a period of numerous droughts and wildfires, but we have warnings of weather and of fire progress, so hopefully the magnitude of deaths won't be repeated.

[joannawarrens]

That was a really professional video. And I loved the survivors recount. You have come so far is just a couple of months!

[DisasterthonTrueHorror]

Thanks Bilal Shaikh for pointing out the error in the title, it has been a long day

[_triff]

I've never been happier to see ads on a YouTube channel I watch :) keep up the good work!

[Zerinity]

This is so sad. I’ve been a volunteer ff for a longtime and it’s scary what fire can do. It sometimes looks like it can think before it moves…. The horrific situation these ppl went thru….I haven’t the words.
Your channels good stuff sir. Thank you for giving lost tragedies the voice they no longer had. Blessed be. 🙏🏻

[patriciayoung]

Thursdays are always a day to look forward to as I get a new Disasterthon video. Thank you for bringing to our attention another great and often overlooked tragedy in history.

[iamglow]

Well done, very interesting and as you said in video - one I hadn't heard of until now.

[janmcguire]

Thank you for sharing this and bringing to light an event I’m sorry to say I had never even heard of before. So respectfully done!

[ItsJustLisa]

My grandparents built a cottage on a lake in Gresham, 60ish miles west of Peshtigo. The area is very wooded and lumber was a big industry up there. I can see how the fire would have gotten so far out of control.

[Joypyf]

How have I never heard of this?? I live in northern Illinois and have visited very close to this

[michelleroxy]

Whoa. Weird waking up to a video about the town I lived my whole adolescent life & graduated from. It’s such a small place, but I remember being told that it could have been bigger than Chicago today had that fire not happened. In a way I’m kind of glad it did? lol. The deer here are already experiencing enough deforestation.. thanks for covering my hometown 😝

[TheSketch]

How have I never heard of this tragedy?? We must know about history like this so we can remember and respect the people who lost their lives. Remember, Respect, and Change. So tragedies like this don't happen again.

[mimib]

Excellent video, as always. Thank you for your work.

[peterf.]

I found an odd sense of irony in this one … die due to low heat ( hypothermia ) or due to being burned. What a crappy situation for all .

[mczenk]

Keep up the good work, I just found your channel and will be binging your vids.

[DanteTVCom]

I love your work! But please, allow automatic closed captions on your videos.
Keep strong.

[laststraw]

I lived in a small trailer house way up in Argonne, but it is on a tributary of the Peshtigo. I did not know this then, but I once saw an orb and a face. Always wondered if it is connected somehow. Either way, it not only freaked me out but gave me several years of weird ass paranormal type experiences which completely changed my world view.