Up to 2,500 people lost their lives in the Peshtigo Firestorm, October 8, 1871. Though the headlines were stolen by the Great Chicago Fire the same day, the Peshtigo Fire Storm of 1871 remains the deadliest fire in recorded U.S. history.

Described as a wall of flame a mile high and five miles wide traveling up to 100 miles an hour, the fire was so intense it jumped the waters of Green Bay as well as the Peshtigo River, burning both sides of the town. Survivors reported a fire tornado that threw rail cars and houses into the air. Residents fled to the river and other nearby bodies of water, leading to several drowning. Photo by Kathy Alexander.