On October 8, 1871, flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick
and Catherine O’Leary, igniting a two-day blaze that killed
between 200 and 300 people, destroyed 17,450 buildings, left
100,000 homeless and caused an estimated $200 million
(in 1871 dollars; roughly $4 billion in 2021 dollars) in damages.

Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in the O’Leary barn
and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even
a comet may have been responsible for the event that left four
square miles of the Windy City, including its business district, in
ruins. Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets
and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire.

Smokey Bear is a campaign and advertising icon of the U.S.
Forest Service in the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, the 
longest-running public service announcement campaign
in United States history. The Ad Council, the United States
Forest Service (USFS), and the National Association of State
Foresters (NASF), in partnership with creative agency FCB,
employ Smokey Bear to educate the public about the dangers
of unplanned human-caused wildfires.     

A campaign began in 1944 featuring Smokey and the slogan
"Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires".

His slogan changed to "Remember, Only YOU Can Prevent
Forest Fires" in 1947 and was associated with Smokey Bear
for more than five decades, In April 2001, the message was
officially updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires."   
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Lucia Rasbot (left) and Emanuel Cabrales found a man who
was inside the burning Gresham house.

GRESHAM, Ore. (KATU-TV)— A good Samaritan is credited with
saving a man’s life Tuesday morning.

Gresham Fire received multiple calls to 911 reporting a fire in
the 1700 block of SW Orchard Place just before 8:30 a.m.

Lucia Rasbot and Emanuel Cabrales were on their way to work
when they saw the smoke and decided to investigate.

Emanuel says he knocked on the front door, but no one answered.

The husband and wife went around to the backyard and saw the
sliding door was open slightly. Cabrales says he saw the victim
lying on the floor.

“I just went inside and just pulled him out.” Rasbot says “the fire
was pretty close to his head near the door.”

When Cabrales was asked about being considered a hero, he
replied “I think everybody deserves a second chance, no? I
think if I was there, I’d want somebody to take me out of there.
I hope he’s okay.”

The seriously injured victim was taken to the hospital for
treatment.

Officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire, and the
condition of the victim has not been released.

A massive forest fire rages through Minnesota on October 12,
1918, killing hundreds of people, leaving thousands homeless
and burned at least 1,500 square miles.

The fire, known as the Cloquet-Moose Lake fire because that is
where the damage was worst, began at rail lines near Sturgeon
Lake. This region of Minnesota, southwest of Duluth in the
eastern part of the state, was ripe for a major disaster of this
sort. The area’s timber industry used crude slash methods in
the thick forests, leaving behind dry scraps that were perfect
kindling for wildfires. They also tended to leave these scraps
lying around the rail lines that carried wood from the lumber
mills. Since train engines of the time often gave off sparks,
fires were nearly inevitable.

Making matters even worse, the months leading up to October
1918 were very hot and dry. When the fire began, it spread
quickly due to high winds.

     
CAMILLE
BOHANNON

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept
through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September
to Thursday, 6 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval
City of London inside the old Roman city wall. The death toll is
generally thought to have been relatively small, although some
historians have challenged this belief.

The fire started in a bakery shortly after midnight on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly.