Forgotten Fires of Chicago
The Lake Michigan Inferno and a Century of Flame
Published on 23. January 2019
144 pages
978-1-62585-302-8 (ISBN)
Description
A historical journey through the city's catastrophic fires, and the stories of the heroes who fought them.
Chicago's war against cinder, flame, and smoke did not end with the Great Fire of 1871. In 1909, fire ripped through the dynamite room of a staging facility a mile and half off the Lake Michigan shoreline, transforming the pipe-laying operation into a raging inferno. During the World's Columbian Exposition, thousands of fairgoers watched in horror as twelve firefighters were trapped in a blazing ice warehouse. An opera-goer left a smoking bomb under his seat at the Auditorium Theater in 1917. And the newly invented smoke ejector arrived too late to save firemen and laborers cut off in a sewer in 1931.
Join John F. Hogan and Alex A. Burkholder for the history of these forgotten fires-and those who responded to them.
"A must-read not only for first responders but also all history buffs, especially those interested in Chicago history." -Robert Hoff, retired fire commissioner, Chicago Fire Department, from the foreword
Chicago's war against cinder, flame, and smoke did not end with the Great Fire of 1871. In 1909, fire ripped through the dynamite room of a staging facility a mile and half off the Lake Michigan shoreline, transforming the pipe-laying operation into a raging inferno. During the World's Columbian Exposition, thousands of fairgoers watched in horror as twelve firefighters were trapped in a blazing ice warehouse. An opera-goer left a smoking bomb under his seat at the Auditorium Theater in 1917. And the newly invented smoke ejector arrived too late to save firemen and laborers cut off in a sewer in 1931.
Join John F. Hogan and Alex A. Burkholder for the history of these forgotten fires-and those who responded to them.
"A must-read not only for first responders but also all history buffs, especially those interested in Chicago history." -Robert Hoff, retired fire commissioner, Chicago Fire Department, from the foreword
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2014
Arcadia Publishing (SC)
€21.00
No shipping information available
Persons
A retired on-air reporter for WGN-TV/ Radio, John Hogan is the author of A Spirit Capable: The Story of Commonwealth Edison."Alex Burkholder was an investigative news producer for WGN-TV/Radio. He is a founding member of the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago."
Content
- Intro
- Front Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- 1. Fire and Ice: The Lake Michigan Crib Inferno
- 2. The Second Great Chicago Fire
- 3. Terror at the World's Fair: The Cold Storage Fire
- 4. Showers of Sparks, Sheets of Flame: The Northwestern Grain Elevator Fire
- 5. Warnings Ignored: Portents of the Iroquois Theatre Fire
- 6. Volcanoes on the River: The Burlington Grain Elevator Fire
- 7. Steep Price for Negligence: The L. Fish Furniture Fire
- 8. The Man in K-28: The Auditorium Theatre Bomb
- 9. Death from Above: The Wingfoot Blimp Crash
- 10. "We Nearly Lost the West Side": The Burlington Office Building Fire
- 11. Good Friday Arson: The Curran Hall Fire
- 12. Trapped! The Sanitary District Tunnel Fire
- 13. In the Shadow of the O'Leary Barn: Taylor Street Arson
- 14. Another Lesson Never Learned: The General Clark and LaSalle Hotel Fires
- 15. The Heavy Cost of a Botched Renovation: The Haber Corporation Fire
- 16. Revenge: The Seeley Club Arson
- 17. "Built for an Eternity": The McCormick Place Fire
- 18. "Worst Since Mrs. O'Leary": The Central Manufacturing District Fire
- Bibliography
- About the Authors
