The deadliest fire in American history happened not in Chicago, but in a small Wisconsin town to the north of Chicago on the exact same day - October 8th, 1871.

Videos:

Watch now: The story of the tabernacle in the Peshtigo Fire

Lake Michigan shipwreck; sank during 1871 Peshtigo Fire

Articles and books:

Firestorm at Peshtigo, by Denise Gess and William Lotz

The Great Midwest Wildfires of 1871

Wisconsin Shipwrecks: The George L. Newman