Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History

While overshadowed by the great Chicago fire which took place on the same day, October 8, 1871, the firestorm that obliterated Peshtigo, Wisconsin was a tragedy of unprecedented proportion - one of those events evoking the reaction "why didn't I know about this"? Aside from the horror of the fire, which literally cannot be described in words (how can one adequately describe the impact of a 1,000 foot-high wall of fire moving at speeds exceeding 100 miles-per-hour), "Firestorm at Peshtigo" offers fascinating insight to life in the north-central timber forests of the mid-nineteenth century, as well as the infant science of meteorology and the physics of a true firestorm. Notwithstanding, the books primary appeal lies in the almost ghoulish detail in which the incomprehensible devastation of the firestorm is drawn. While the final loss of life will never be known, 2,200 deaths is an accepted estimate in a fire that raged over 2,400 square miles - a conflagration so intense that even the soil burned. Given the primitive state of medicine of the day, the limited communications and access to the relatively remote Green Bay area, and the total destruction of the land and infrastructure, one wonders if the survivors of the fire, scarred both physically and mentally by the fire and loss of family and community, weren't the true victims. In short, a brutally fascinating nugget of American history, proving again that fact is indeed stranger, and in this case, more lurid, than fiction.

Galveston, Johnstown, and Peshtigo rank as the greatest `natural' disasters in American history. Excellent books on the first two tragedies are now joined by another great study of the third.Galveston suffered from a hurricane over one hundred years ago, perhaps 8,000 people died. The dam bursting in Johnston even earlier killed over 2,000 people in western Pennsylvania. The terrible fire that howled through northeastern Wisconsin on October 8, 1871 killed over 1,000 people and, by some estimates, killed more than the flood in Pennsylvania.Gess and Lutz provide good background to the tragedy. This area of Wisconsin was booming due to the strong demand for lumber and the massive forests that covered the northern half of the state. Times were pretty good and getting better until the summer of 1871, when the lack of rain foretold a horrific fall. In hindsight, the inevitable, terrible combination of wood and fire may have been foreseeable. But not likely preventable.Fire is an especially nasty force. Combined with extremes in the weather - low pressure, high winds, low humidity, lightning and a tornado - this was an especially pernicious threat and the cause of rapid, terrible death for hundreds and hundreds of poor, unsuspecting, fleeing people, some of them very recent immigrants.The date of the event, its relatively rural location and the somewhat primitive communication and media of the time makes a complete understanding of the tragedy difficult yet Gess and Lutz work hard and admirably to dig up and re-construct weather reports, personal accounts, old newspapers, and other primary sources of information. There are fifteen pages of detailed and highly readable footnotes and scores of source documents cited.There is always a tone of overwhelming sadness to such tales. Peshtigo is no exception. But it is fascinating history and well worth reading.

This book has the elements of good horror--suspenseful narrative, innocent victims, and a relentlessly evil villain. The difference is that this page-turner actually happened. The story is a piece of our history, the victims were real people, and the villain is a substance we regard daily. Read Firestorm at Peshtigo and your reaction to flame will be forever altered.

This book had much of the same effect on me as Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. This is a beautiful tribute to the more than 2,500 people who lost their lives in Peshtigo and the surrounding countryside. I always think one of the worst/best things about a good book is that you want more. And I wanted more. I wanted to know all of the people who died and know all the things we don't know. The townspeople who are depicted come alive on the page. The events are related so well, so beautifully, that of course it seems deceptively simple. What happened in October, 1871 is a story so big, so terrible, it needed a wider audience. The people who died,those who were horribly injured, the countless lives that were changed forever deserve to have their story told. And here, it is told honestly,thoughtfully and with attention to research. Peshtigo is also a parable for our times. It is possible lives could have been saved if our actions had been different, if we had not ignored some of the science available at the time.

The moment I picked this book up I couldn't put it down again. I felt the same way about THE HOT ZONE and INTO THIN AIR. It's a gripping account of an event every American should know about. In human terms the Peshtigo fire was the most destructive in our history, very like the Civil War was our most destructive war. Gess and Lutz tell this story in a way to make the reader feel like he or she is present as each moment unfolds. My senses were tuned to the taste and smell of the air and as events began to build I too began to wonder where I could find shelter. This was one of America's greatest tragedies but it would be a bigger tragedy if the victims and their story remain obscure. These people deserve the same attention from us as the victims of 9-11. And one more thought. There are monsterous fires in the news every day. They remind us that nature can overpower our most heroic efforts. This account of Pestigo can to a degreeteach us things we need to prevent it from happening again.