The Tornado

On this day in history 150 years ago.

On October 8, 1871, the most devastating wildfire in American history swept through northeast

Wisconsin, claiming an estimated 1700 - 2500 lives.  Known as the Peshtigo Fire, history 

doesn’t accord it the same measure of attention as another great fire that occurred 

simultaneously.  Likely a consequence of the other great fire remembered as the great 

Chicago Fire.   

The Wisconsin fire was by far the most tragic. 

It destroyed most of the southern half of the Door Peninsula and adjacent portions of 

Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The largest community in the affected area was Peshtigo, 

Wisconsin. Some incorrectly assume that the fire in Peshtigo jumped across the waters of 

Green Bay – yet the likely cause was a combination of weather conditions and the contribution 

of smaller fires from land-clearing activities on both shores of the bay.

 

 

 

Actually, three separate fires made-up the Peshtigo Fire which occurred on both sides of Green Bay and advanced quickly with the help of a low pressure system and a hot, dry wind.  It moved so fast the vortices of fire were described as a tornado of fire.  Property losses were in excess of  $169 million - about the same as the Chicago Fire.

The wildfire that began south of New Franken spread north through the towns of Union, 

Brussels and Forestville.  In its path was the small settlement of Williamsonville.  Sixty 

residents perished in the conflagration and the settlement was burned to the ground.  Seven 

desperate men sought refuge in a well to escape the inferno with five surviving.  

The firestorm consisted of super-heated flames of at least 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 

advanced on tornado-like winds of 110 miles per hour or stronger. The diameter of such a fire 

ranges from one thousand to ten thousand feet. 

You cannot outrun it.

Twelve communities were obliterated. Over 1.5 million acres (2,400 square miles) of forest 

burned. The true death toll will never be known as all local records were destroyed in the 

conflagration and bodies were incinerated beyond all recognition.

Remembered locally as ‘The Tornado’- it was the greatest wildfire in recorded history.