Wisconsin inferno of 150 years ago remains America’s deadliest.
While coverage of wildfires in the American West dominates 2021 news coverage, most people don’t know that the deadliest wildfire in the nation’s history occurred 150 years ago along the shores of Lake Michigan, right here in Wisconsin.
On Oct. 8, 1871, the Peshtigo fire killed an estimated 1,200 people, burning up 1.2 million acres on both sides of Green Bay and wiping entire communities off the map.
Lumberjacks, Drought, and a Near-Hurricane Whipped Up the Firestorm
Peshtigo’s location, where the Northwoods meets the Great Lakes, made it the perfect location for lots of lumber mills. Nearly every building was made of wood, and piles of sawdust and branches stripped from trees surrounded the town.
A dry 1870 was followed by an even drier 1871 and a huge, swirling low pressure system blew in from the Great Plains with cyclone-speed winds.