Peshtigo fire

And, and James, it, it's fun to get to promote some of the shows that are coming up.

Uh, the, uh, uh, Peshtigo Fire is the subject of next week's show, which is a fascinating topic, and if you haven't seen the picture of, uh, of James A.'s kids when he took them to the museum in, uh, in Peshtigo, you have to see it.

I'm showing it to all my friends because I think it's the same image that all of my kids presented every time I took them to museums.

But James, there is hope Because now they go to museums all on their own, and I think that, I think I must have set some precedents.

And then October 5th we're having an all fire weather show.

Uh, Rick Smith's got a couple people from the Weather Service, along with Tom Hallquist, who's gonna do a weather reanalysis of the Peshtigo fire, which is the largest killer wildfire in United States history.

And I would-

I was so pleased, John Gordon.

We love the show The Gilded Age on, uh, HBO-

Yep

... which just finished its third season, coming back for its fourth, and they referred to the, the, uh, Peshtigo fire in the show.

I was so, so pleased.

Yeah

... of the Peshtigo Fire.

Which you guys-

Yeah

They were like Wisconsin tales.

There's one book about the Peshtigo Fire and, uh, one about the Hodag.

And I thought, "Oh man, I'd love to do that Hodag j-

Yeah

Sure.

But, uh, I just love that o- I, I love history and, uh, especially like Midwestern history.

And they did offer me, I remember at the time after, they offered me to illustrate a book about the Peshtigo fire, which I wish I'd ...

At the time, I couldn't do it.

And they came at a time that was just after the Great Fire.

People call it the Peshtigo Fire, but it affected more than Peshtigo.

A lot of people were rebuilding after that fire.

There was a lot of death and a lot of homes destroyed.

That very same night, a superheated tornado of fire swept through Peshtigo, Wisconsin, trapping thousands of residents in a wall of flames that vaporized entire towns in minutes.

The Peshtigo fire killed more than 2,000 people, remaining to this day the deadliest wildfire in American history, largely overshadowed by the metropolitan tragedy that took place to its south.

Together, that single night of dual disasters permanently altered how American cities were designed and built and protected.

Out of the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire came a total revolution in safety codes and urban architecture, igniting a building boom that created the modern steel frame skyline that we know today.