Chicago Fire

Have you ever found yourself in a 'survival situation?' Explain how you would build a fire. What do you need? What steps would you take?

October 1871: Chicago is a tinderbox. In three months, only an inch of rain has fallen. For days a strong, hot wind has blown in from the southwest. The city of wooden buildings and woodpaved streets is ripe for the fire that will destroy three-quarters of it. Chicago is about to suffer one of the  worst urban disasters in history. 

Track the path of the fire and read accounts of the people who lived through it, in this interactive timeline and map.

You are part of a special inquiry by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to determine how the fire started, could it have been prevented, and who is to blame?

Record your findings here.