livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
A Glimpse of Hell
Tucked away in the forests of eastern Wisconsin is a town with a story that is horrific beyond belief. Peshtigo is five miles upriver from the western shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay and 40 miles north of Lambeau Field. The history books have largely forgotten what happened here on October 8, 1871. Many of the references will note that Peshtigo was destroyed by fire and a lot of people died and isn't it strange how it happened the same night as the Great Chicago Fire?
Peshtigo wasn't destroyed. It was incinerated by a fire of biblical proportions. A perfect storm of wind, drought, terrain and combustion stirred up a witch's brew for weeks that finally exploded into a cataclysmic firestorm very much like those that destroyed Dresden and Tokyo in World War II. 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. Survivors later remarked that "...this must be what Hell looks like." When it was done, there was nothing left but ashes. There was no way to fight it and nowhere to run from it.
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.
Dozens more died from burns and injuries in the days that followed. It was hard to get word out about the disaster and the local medical services were totally overwhelmed.
The Peshtigo Fire actually burned up and down both sides of the Green Bay and into the upper peninsula of Michigan. It is called the Peshtigo Fire because they got the worst of it. When it was all over, more than 2500 people were dead. More than one million acres of virgin old growth forest were turned to ashes as were over a dozen communities. Some never re-built and the ones that did were never the same. It was the deadliest fire in American history and remains so to this day.
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Peshtigo burns the same night as the Great Chicago Fire - only worse
Tucked away in the forests of eastern Wisconsin is a town with a story that is horrific beyond belief. Peshtigo is five miles upriver from the western shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay and 40 miles north of Lambeau Field. The history books have largely forgotten what happened here on October 8, 1871. Many of the references will note that Peshtigo was destroyed by fire and a lot of people died and isn't it strange how it happened the same night as the Great Chicago Fire?
Peshtigo wasn't destroyed. It was incinerated by a fire of biblical proportions. A perfect storm of wind, drought, terrain and combustion stirred up a witch's brew for weeks that finally exploded into a cataclysmic firestorm very much like those that destroyed Dresden and Tokyo in World War II. 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. Survivors later remarked that "...this must be what Hell looks like." When it was done, there was nothing left but ashes. There was no way to fight it and nowhere to run from it.
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.
Dozens more died from burns and injuries in the days that followed. It was hard to get word out about the disaster and the local medical services were totally overwhelmed.
The Peshtigo Fire actually burned up and down both sides of the Green Bay and into the upper peninsula of Michigan. It is called the Peshtigo Fire because they got the worst of it. When it was all over, more than 2500 people were dead. More than one million acres of virgin old growth forest were turned to ashes as were over a dozen communities. Some never re-built and the ones that did were never the same. It was the deadliest fire in American history and remains so to this day.
More at ..
Peshtigo burns the same night as the Great Chicago Fire - only worse