Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fire

The site here is the Peshtigo Fire Museum which has sections detailing the fire and its history.

Extent of the fire in red

The October 8, 1871 Peshtigo Fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, was a firestorm which caused the most deaths by fire in United States history, killing as many as 1,500, possibly as many as 2,500.^[2] Occurring on the same day as the more infamous Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire is mostly forgotten.^[3][4] On the same day as the Peshtigo and Chicago fires, or on the ensuing night, the cities of Holland and Manistee, Michigan, across Lake Michigan, also burned, and the same fate befell Port Huron at the southern end of Lake Huron.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fire