The history of the "Great Fire of 1871", known locally as the Peshtigo Fire, will be revisited on its 152nd anniversary next month. Barb (Englebert) Chisholm, a fifth-generation American of Belgian descent with ancestors who survived the devastating fire, will speak at the Belgian Heritage Center during the Remembrance of the Great Fire. Dressed in character as her great-great-grandmother, Chisholm shares the story of the Englebert family's survival.
Chisholm will re-enact her program on Saturday, October 7 at 11 a.m. Prior to that, Green Bay Metro Fire Chief David Siegel will also speak about the unique aspects of the Great Fire and why it was so deadly for many. The blaze swept through Northeastern Wisconsin and claimed over 1,200 lives. The fire devastated a large part of the Belgian settlement in one of the worst natural disasters in United States History on October 8, 1871.