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259:. More than 3,900 square miles (2,500,000 acres; 1,000,000 ha) were burned in Michigan, including the Menominee County area. Not only was the land burnt and left barren, thousands of buildings (houses, barns, stores and mills) were destroyed with no lumber left to rebuild. Hundreds of families were left homeless. The extent of property loss, animal deaths, and forest devastation has never been determined.
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in fact are cold to the touch when they reach the Earth's surface, and there are no credible reports of any fire anywhere having been started by a meteorite. Various aspects of the behaviors of the
Chicago and Peshtigo fires attributed to extraterrestrial intervention have more mundane explanations.
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No external source of ignition was needed; numerous small fires were already burning in the area after a tinder-dry summer and all that was needed to generate the massive blazes in the
Midwest were the winds from the front that moved in that evening.
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The fires of
October 8, 1871, started after a long dry summer. This was the same day as the Great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin. Most areas had had no rain in months, making the dried-up vegetation and logging debris, known as
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Also unknown is the total number of human deaths. Some estimates put the loss of life at fewer than 500, but they were largely based on families reporting their members missing. In 1871 in
Michigan there were hundreds to thousands of
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and salesmen spread out across the state, along with settlers in remote areas, making it impossible to know the total death toll. Because the
Michigan fires occurred during the day, the estimate of the death toll is lower than the
1179:
284:. The theory was revived in a 1985 book and investigated in a 2004 paper to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The key hypothesis is that
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were in operation, producing over 13,000,000 board feet (30,000 m) of lumber. These operations left behind branches, bark and quantities of unused wood.
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221:", fuel for the fires. These fires were the result of hundreds of smaller land-clearing fires whipped together to form a massive wall of flames by
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One speculation, first suggested in 1883, is that the simultaneous fires across the
Midwest were caused by the impact of fragments from
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Nesbit, Joanne. “Michigan
History Series”. U-M News and Information Services. Aug. 29, 1996. Oct. 10, 2007 <E-mail:
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began in
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in 1871. They were possibly caused (or at least reinforced) by the same winds that fanned the
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522:. 2004 Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids. Orange County, CA.
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from the comet provided the fuel for fires across the region to flare out of control.
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Firestorm at
Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History
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361:"Climatic Conditions Preceding Historically Great Fires in the North Central Region"
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430:"The Necessities of the Case': The Response to the Great Thumb Fire of 1881"
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may have started the fires. Several cities, towns and villages, including
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456:. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 153–7.
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685:(1st ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: Historical Society of Michigan.
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Mrs. O'Leary's Comet: Cosmic Causes of the Great
Chicago Fire
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1871 series of wildfires throughout Michigan, United States
189:, which followed part of the same path as the 1871 fires.
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The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
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Did Biela's Comet Cause the Chicago and Midwest Fires?
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
674:"Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross"
609:. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 101–4, 111.
477:MAJOR POST-LOGGING FIRES IN MICHIGAN: the 1800's
370:. Research Paper NC-34, Figure 1. Archived from
450:Dickmann, Donald I.; Leefers, Larry A. (2003).
676:. American Red Cross Museum. October 12, 2007.
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681:Lincoln, James H.; Donahue, James L. (1984).
8:
1180:1871 natural disasters in the United States
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811:Native American use of fire in ecosystems
291:Others dispute this theory, arguing that
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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428:Terrie, Philip G. (September 22, 2005).
239:In addition to the fires originating in
1020:International Flame Research Foundation
492:. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers.
351:
513:Wood, Robert (February 23–26, 2004).
359:Hanines, D. A.; Sando, R. W. (1969).
7:
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712:. AuTrain, MI: Avery Color Studios.
177:also destroyed several towns in the
47:adding citations to reliable sources
399:. Thunder Bay Press. pp. 8–9.
181:. In 1881, much more than half of "
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185:" region was burned over by the
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1150:1871 fires in the United States
801:Control of fire by early humans
575:. July 27, 2001. Archived from
34:needs additional citations for
535:"Was It A Cow Or A Meteorite?"
533:Calfee, Mica (February 2003).
1:
1165:Natural disasters in Michigan
125:was a series of simultaneous
710:Voyages Into Michigan's Past
368:United States Forest Service
638:Gess, D.; Lutz, W. (2003).
565:"Meteorites Don't Pop Corn"
272:'s estimated 250-300 dead.
179:Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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601:Bales, Richard F. (2005).
434:Michigan Historical Review
306:List of Michigan wildfires
257:Menominee County, Michigan
227:
209:forests. By 1854, sixteen
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749:Wildland Fire In Michigan
708:Massie, Larry B. (1988).
1025:The Combustion Institute
644:. New York: Macmillan.
603:"Debunking Other Myths"
453:The Forests of Michigan
439:(subscription required)
395:Sodders, Betty (1997).
311:Port Huron Fire of 1871
1175:19th-century wildfires
867:Spontaneous combustion
1170:Wildfires in Michigan
228:Further information:
58:"Great Michigan Fire"
488:Waskin, Mel (1985).
43:improve this article
579:on October 27, 2011
334:Great Hinckley Fire
230:Great Fires of 1871
123:Great Michigan Fire
539:Meteorite Magazine
322:Great Chicago Fire
270:Great Chicago Fire
245:Peshtigo firestorm
203:Eastern white pine
139:Great Chicago Fire
1160:Fires in Michigan
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1046:List of wildfires
651:978-0-8050-7293-8
616:978-0-7864-2358-3
340:1918 Cloquet Fire
197:In the mid-1830s
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377:on 2012-02-08
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54:Find sources:
48:
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32:This article
30:
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20:
1058:Firefighting
999:Fire worship
842:Fire ecology
709:
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583:November 10,
581:. Retrieved
577:the original
569:NASA Science
568:
559:
549:November 10,
547:. Retrieved
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379:. Retrieved
372:the original
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251:crossed the
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235:Consequences
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127:forest fires
122:
120:
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99:January 2011
96:
86:
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53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1088:Fire making
1004:Terra preta
978:Firefighter
852:Flash point
847:Fire piston
683:Fiery Trial
282:Comet Biela
265:lumberjacks
1144:Categories
1129:Wiktionary
1068:Fire whirl
966:Pyromanias
924:By country
876:Components
832:Combustion
463:0472068164
381:2008-03-14
346:References
328:Thumb Fire
293:meteorites
187:Thumb Fire
171:Port Huron
69:newspapers
1073:Blue lava
1063:Firestorm
1053:Backdraft
1041:Wildfires
994:Cremation
862:Pyrolysis
249:Wisconsin
183:the Thumb
175:Wisconsin
151:lightning
1107:Category
728:18311171
701:11763445
660:52421495
625:68940921
415:12343999
300:See also
241:Michigan
211:sawmills
207:hardwood
167:Manistee
153:or even
145:and the
131:Michigan
1118:Commons
987:Culture
929:By year
919:By type
820:Science
793:History
336:of 1894
330:of 1881
324:of 1871
318:of 1871
286:methane
199:logging
193:Origins
163:Holland
133:in the
83:scholar
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1111:
1100:
959:People
888:Oxygen
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436:: 1–2.
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243:, the
169:, and
159:Alpena
141:, the
85:
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1034:Other
971:Child
945:Arson
938:Crime
903:Smoke
898:Flame
520:(PDF)
375:(PDF)
364:(PDF)
219:slash
121:The
90:JSTOR
76:books
893:Heat
883:Fuel
785:Fire
737:>
724:OCLC
714:ISBN
697:OCLC
687:ISBN
656:OCLC
646:ISBN
621:OCLC
611:ISBN
585:2011
573:NASA
551:2011
494:ISBN
458:ISBN
411:OCLC
401:ISBN
223:gale
62:news
1078:Ash
545:(1)
247:in
45:by
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