The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

On October 8, 1871, the city of Chicago nearly burnt to the ground. The story you have heard, both in song and tales, is not the truth. Why poor Mrs. O'Leary was blamed made one of my former teen patrons in Detroit exclaim " You mean white people hate other white people too?" If you have enjoyed the episode that was part of the When Weather Changed History series or the one that was part of the Unsolved History series, you need to read this. Every good story has heroes, villains, and those who are hard to put in either category. Those who narrowly escaped lived to tell the tales, but it takes science and detective work to tell about those who didn't. Reading the real words of those who survived and seeing the pictures and drawings makes you wonder if this could happen again. Will it happen again? Those living at that time had the most modern equipment of the day to fight fires. But when fire makes it own weather and the city's resources are stretched by cuts and closings, you will need to read this moving true story to make up your mind.