Reports indicate that the fire began in the night of October 8 when a cow owned by Catherine and

Patrick O’Leary kicked a lantern that was burning in the barn. Being a windy night and coupled with
some human agency, the fire quickly spread to the neighborhood destroying everything on its path.

At this point they realized this was the most unexpected fire. The fire then progressed to the city of
wood also known as the wooden city. Destroying property and some people even took it among
themselves to protect their own home. the fire killed hundreds of people and it cost a lot of money to
rebuild. The fire engines were then sent to the wrong location.

Being a windy night and coupled with some human agency the fire quickly spread to the
neighborhood destroying everything on its way. However, other reports on the origin of the fire point
out that the cow story was not the cause of the fire. These reports from the Chicago Republican
pointed out that although the fire came from the barn it was unclear whether it was by human agency
or fire from the chimney.it is important to know that fire inspector ad the firefighters were not overly
concerned. One of the reasons that the fire was spread very fast is because they were sent to the
wrong location and they did not act immediately.