The Deadliest Wildfire You’ve Never Heard Of

The same day as the Great Chicago Fire, a separate, deadlier blaze burned 250 miles away. What can we learn from it now?

If I asked you where the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history took place, where would you guess it happened? California? Oregon? Somewhere else out west, like Montana or Idaho?

Any of those states would be a strong contender for playing host to one of the worst burns in history. Even in recent years, they've all experienced devastating blazes — one of the most recent being the January 2025 wildfires in L.A., which killed at least 29 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.

We all know that fire season is just part of living in the West. But in recent years, it’s only been worsened by factors like higher temperatures and more frequent droughts, which can be attributed to climate change.

The official FEMA wildfire risk index puts most counties in the western half of the country at a “relatively moderate” to “very high” burn risk, compared to the eastern half of the country, where it’s generally much lower. The Midwest, especially, boasts some of the lowest wildfire risk index scores in the entire country.

And yet, the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history happened in northeastern Wisconsin.

It was called the Great Peshtigo Fire. The date was October 8, 1871 when a massive blaze handily tore through the thick forests around Green Bay, up into Door County, and through part of Michigan’s upper peninsula. The city of Peshtigo, where the fire started, completely burned to the ground. In total, at least 1500 lives were lost and 1.5 million acres of land obliterated. Some of the people who survived thought they had witnessed the end of the world.

In a cruel twist of irony, the Great Chicago Fire happened the same day, just 250 miles south of Peshtigo. When I was growing up in Michigan, we learned about the Chicago Fire and how it ravaged the city and claimed hundreds of lives. But my teachers were mum about the Peshtigo fire — which killed more than triple the amount of people as the Chicago Fire and burned millions more acres of land.

That’s not to say the Chicago Fire wasn’t a big deal — it absolutely was. It altered hundreds of thousands of lives, destroyed massive swaths of what was then an up-and-coming city, and ultimately became a catalyst for improving Chicago’s building codes so that future fires wouldn’t spread so quickly. Chicago would not be the same place it is today without that fire. But the Peshtigo fire, like other massive blazes that occurred in the Midwest during the fall 1871, just aren’t remembered in the same way.

Artist’s depiction of people fleeing the Chicago Fire. Credit: Chicago Historical Society via Wikimedia Commons

I only learned about the Peshtigo Fire a few years ago when I moved to northeastern Wisconsin. We have more controlled burns here compared to when I lived in the Milwaukee area, which I’ve found interesting. Plus, we’ve had some pretty dry springs/summers lately. There was one year that I ended up witnessing a few brush fires in town, which is what made me curious about all this fire stuff.

The first local fire I “witnessed” was one I saw through the grapevine. The grass on the highway median a few miles from my apartment caught ablaze, and I followed along as people posted about it on Facebook until it was finally put out. The second happened when I drove by the beach and saw the grass smoking. It turns out someone had set off fireworks while we were in a drought, so it was no surprise that the dry vegetation lit right up.

Thankfully the fire department was able to contain that blaze before it got much worse. Seeing that small fire made me wonder about the likelihood of my town burning to the ground (yes, dramatic, I know). So I got to researching the present and past of Wisconsin’s wildfires.

Map of the 1871 Peshtigo Fire. To give you a sense of how big this fire was, it takes an hour and a half to drive from Peshtigo (left side of Green Bay, near the Michigan border) to Sturgeon Bay (just above the edge of the fire line on the right). Source: National Weather Service

Did you know that Wisconsin has its own wildfire season? A few years ago I did not, but learning about it made so much sense to me. Once the snow melts, which usually happens in March, the ground beneath it is pretty brittle and prone to fire. In that time between the last snow melting and the first spring rainstorms falling, we’re much more susceptible to things going up in flames than at other times of year.

Our risk of fire often stays elevated as summer heats up — but it’s not as bad as other regions. Oftentimes our summers are too humid for fires to spread, but droughts can make us more prone to blazes. Fall carries some risk thanks to all the dry vegetation on the ground when leaves fall from trees. But that cool air and rain/snow during autumn can keeps us protected from uncontrolled burns.

This year, wildfire season has been off to a surprisingly active start. There’s barely any snow on the ground right now and spring feels like it’s here a little early. Plus, the changing temperatures have brought very high winds. Dryness + warmth + strong breezes = perfect wildfire conditions.

Pie chart of Wisconsin’s wildfire season risk. Spring is when we’re most likely to see things burn. Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

About a week ago, I heard about a blaze that started just miles from my old apartment in Waukesha County. Thankfully, fire crews were quickly able to put that out, but many people had to evacuate their homes out of an abundance of caution. Some cars were damaged at a car dealership, but thankfully no one was injured and no one lost their homes. It was a very close call, though.

I think most people in Wisconsin don’t realize that wildfires pose a genuine threat here. We certainly don’t face the same level of risk as many western states do, but burns do present a very real and present danger to our livelihoods. It would be naive to think we’re completely safe from destruction, especially when the weather gets unseasonably hot, dry, or windy (like it is right now).

Knowing more about wildfire season in Wisconsin and witnessing the dryness we’ve had in recent years does make me a little worried that we might be stumbling into the perfect conditions for another Peshtigo Fire. That being said, I feel thankful when I see local crews doing controlled burns and hear about the fast response from fire departments when a blaze starts going out of control.

I really don’t know what the future holds for us, but I think it’s important to remember our history so that we don’t repeat it.

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