Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary: A very long time ago, the only way to put out a fire was with neighbors using buckets of water. Then hoses and fire trucks were invented, but the people who used them were volunteers who competed against other fire fighters for who got to put out the fire and get the money for their hard work. Finally, fire fighters were hired by cities. In Chicago, the city everyone knew would burn to the ground one day, they had everything in place to limit the spread of the inevitable fire. But a series of major mistakes caused it to spread and spread and spread. What started it? What were the mistakes? Where did people go? How many people died? How did they rebuild?

Setting: Chicago, 1871

Characters: none

Recurring Themes: fire prevention, cities, history, fire fighting, recovery

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: This was a good explanation but definitely only gave some basic details. I learned a few things but I also think many things were left out, such as how Chicago took the opportunity to plan the city rebuilding thoroughly.

Genre: Narrative non-fiction

Pacing: fast
Characters: none
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Storyline:

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