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| deadliest fires in us history: Fighting Fire! Michael L. Cooper, 2014-03-04 From colonial times to the modern day, two things have remained constant in American history: the destructive power of fires and the bravery of those who fight them. Fighting Fire! brings to life ten of the deadliest infernos this nation has ever endured: the great fires of Boston, New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and San Francisco, the disasters of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, the General Slocum, and the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, the wildfire of Witch Creek in San Diego County, and the catastrophe of 9/11. Each blaze led to new firefighting techniques and technologies, yet the struggle against fires continues to this day. With historical images and a fast-paced text, this is both an exciting look at firefighting history and a celebration of the human spirit. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Deadliest Fires Then and Now (The Deadliest #3, Scholastic Focus) Deborah Hopkinson, 2022-09-06 Perfect for fans of I Survived and the Who Was series, and packed with graphics, photos, and facts for curious minds, this is a gripping look at the deadliest fires in American history. As the sun sank over the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, one warm October night in 1871, a smoky haze hung in the dry air. There had been little rain, and small fires had been rolling through town continuously since the Summer. For weeks the people had tried to protect their homes and businesses from fire. But they could not protect themselves from what would culminate in the deadliest fire in American history. As industrialization surged across the country, and Westward colonization leveled forests to build cities, fires became a mainstay in American life. And as populations grew, so too did the human toll that fire could exact. Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Americans searched for new and innovative ways to combat the threat of fire. And with climate change threatening to set the whole world aflame, we are once again in a fight for our planet’s future. Through the eyes of scientists, witnesses, and survivors of terrible fires alike, Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson brings the horrific history of deadly fires to life, tracing a line from the Peshtigo and Great Chicago fires of 1871 to the wildfires raging in the western United States today. Filled with more than 50 period photographs and illustrations, facts, and pull-out boxes for eager nonfiction readers. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Great Peshtigo Fire Scott Knickelbine, 2012-08-29 On the night of October 8, 1871, a whirlwind of fire swept through northeastern Wisconsin, destroying the bustling frontier town of Peshtigo. Trees, buildings, and people burst into flames. Metal melted. Sand turned into glass. People thought the end of the world had come. When the “tornado of fire” was over, 2,500 people were dead, and Peshtigo was nothing but a smoking ruin. It was the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history. The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America’s Deadliest Firestorm explores the history, science, and legacy of the 1871 Peshtigo Fire at a fourth-grade reading level. Readers will learn about the history of settlement, agriculture, and forestry in 19th-century Wisconsin. This illuminating text covers a diverse range of topics that will enrich the reader’s understanding of the Peshtigo Fire, including the building and land-use practices of the time that made the area ripe for such a fire, the weather patterns that fostered widespread fires throughout the upper Midwest in the summer and fall of 1871, and exciting first-person accounts that vividly bring the `victims’ stories to life. Connections made between the Peshtigo Fire and the history of fire prevention in the United States encourage critical thinking about issues that remain controversial to this day, such as planned burns and housing development restrictions near forested areas. The Great Peshtigo Fire: Stories and Science from America’s Deadliest Firestorm will inform and captivate its readers as it journeys through the horrifying history of the Peshtigo Fire. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Firestorm at Peshtigo Denise Gess, William Lutz, 2003-06 A novelist and historian team up to tell the story of the October 1871 fire in the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, vividly re-creating the personal and political battles leading to this monumental natural disaster, and delivering it from the lost annals of American history. 16-page insert. 3 maps. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Paradise Lizzie Johnson, 2021 The definitive firsthand account of California's Camp Fire-the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century-and a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfolds ... A cautionary tale for a new era of megafires, Paradise is the gripping story of a town wiped off the map and the determination of its people to rise again-- |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Great Peshtigo Fire Peter Pernin, 2014-10-30 Reverend Peter Pernin was the parish priest for Peshtigo and nearby Marinette, whose churches burned to the ground. He published his account of the fire in 1874. The late William Converse Haygood served as editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History from 1957 to 1975. He prepared this version of Father Pernin's account on the occasion of the Peshtigo Fire's centennial in 1971. Foreword writer Stephen J. Pyne is a professor at Arizona State University in Tempe and author of numerous books on wildland fire, including Fire in America. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Killer Show John Barylick, 2012 The definitive book on The Station nightclub fire on the 10th anniversary of the disaster |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 Captivating History, 2020-05-17 It's likely true that most people picking up this book have never even heard of a place called Peshtigo. This is hardly surprising: this little town on the shores of Lake Michigan is hardly a remarkable place in the modern day. Its residents number less than four thousand, and there's nothing particularly special about it at first glance. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 Charles River Editors, 2014-08-20 *Includes pictures *Includes witness accounts of the fire *Includes a bibliography for further reading Why is this story not known? You see endless stories about Johnstown. What happened at Peshtigo makes Johnstown look like a birdbath. - Bill Lutz, co-author of Firestorm at Peshtigo The air burned hotter than a crematorium and the fire traveled at 90 mph. I read an account of a Civil War veteran who had been through some of the worst battles of the war. He described the sound - the roar - during the fire as 100 times greater than any artillery bombardment. - Bill Lutz In arguably the most famous fire in American history, a blaze in the southwestern section of Chicago began to burn out of control on the night of October 8, 1871. It had taken about 40 years for Chicago to grow from a small settlement of about 300 people into a thriving metropolis with a population of 300,000, but in just two days in 1871, much of that progress was burned to the ground. Due to the publicity generated by a fire that reduced most of a major American city to ash, the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 might fairly be called America's forgotten disaster. Overshadowed by the much better covered and publicized Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same evening, the fire that started in the Wisconsin logging town of Peshtigo generated a firestorm unlike anything in American history. In addition to destroying a wide swath of land, it killed at least 1,500 people and possibly as many as 2,500, several times more than the number of casualties in Chicago. While people marveled at the fact that the Great Chicago Fire managed to jump a river, the Peshtigo fire was so intense that it was able to jump several miles across Green Bay. While wondering aloud about the way in which the Peshtigo fire has been overlooked, Bill Lutz noted, Fires are normally very fascinating to people, but people seem resistant to Peshtigo. Maybe Peshtigo is on such a large scale that people can't comprehend it. Ironically, while Peshtigo is widely forgotten, the fire there is often cited as proof that the Great Chicago Fire was caused by natural phenomena, such as a comet or meteor shower. Those advocating such a theory think it's too coincidental that such disastrous fires were sparked in the same region on the same night, and they point to other fires across the Midwest. Of course, as with the Great Chicago Fire, contemporaries of the Peshtigo fire faulted human error and didn't necessarily link the two fires, if only because fires were a common problem in both Peshtigo and Chicago during the 19th century. The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 chronicles the story America's deadliest fire. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Peshtigo fire like never before, in no time at all. |
| deadliest fires in us history: California Burning Katherine Blunt, 2022-08-30 A revelatory, urgent narrative with national implications, exploring the decline of California’s largest utility company that led to countless wildfires — including the one that destroyed the town of Paradise – and the human cost of infrastructure failure Pacific Gas and Electric was a legacy company built by innovators and visionaries, establishing California as a desirable home and economic powerhouse. In California Burning, Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer finalist Katherine Blunt examines how that legacy fell apart—unraveling a long history of deadly failures in which Pacific Gas and Electric endangered millions of Northern Californians, through criminal neglect of its infrastructure. As PG&E prioritized profits and politics, power lines went unchecked—until a rusted hook purchased for 56 cents in 1921 split in two, sparking the deadliest wildfire in California history. Beginning with PG&E’s public reckoning after the Paradise fire, Blunt chronicles the evolution of PG&E’s shareholder base, from innovators who built some of California's first long-distance power lines to aggressive investors keen on reaping dividends. Following key players through pivotal decisions and legal battles, California Burning reveals the forces that shaped the plight of PG&E: deregulation and market-gaming led by Enron Corp., an unyielding push for renewable energy, and a swift increase in wildfire risk throughout the West, while regulators and lawmakers pushed their own agendas. California Burning is a deeply reported, character-driven narrative, the story of a disaster expanding into a much bigger exploration of accountability. It’s an American tragedy that serves as a cautionary tale for utilities across the nation—especially as climate change makes aging infrastructure more vulnerable, with potentially fatal consequences. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Triangle David Von Drehle, 2003 Describes the 1911 fire that destroyed the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York's Greenwich Village, the deaths of 146 workers in the fire, and the implications of the catastrophe for twentieth-century politics and labor relations. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Winecoff Fire Sam Heys, Allen B. Goodwin, 1993 Describes the fire that destroyed Atlanta's Winecoff Hotel, resulting in considerable loss of life |
| deadliest fires in us history: Monster Fire at Minong Bill Matthias, 2010-09-15 Ignited by a single match on April 30, 1977, the Five Mile Tower Fire raged out of control for 17 hours. It would be one of the largest wildland fires in Wisconsin history, ultimately destroying more than 13,000 acres of land and 63 buildings. As a column of black pine smoke reached high in the sky, citizens from Minong, Chicog, Webster, Gordon, Wascott, Hayward, Spooner, Solon Springs, and other communities began showing up to help. The grassy field designated as fire headquarters quickly became a hub of activity, jammed with trucks, school buses, dozers on trailers, dump trucks, tanker trucks, fuel trucks, and hundreds of people waiting to sign in. More than 900 came in the first four hours, clogging the road with traffic in both directions. Headquarters personnel worked valiantly to coordinate citizens and DNR workers in a buildup of people and equipment unprecedented in the history of Wisconsin firefighting. Based on his own experiences during the long battle, plus dozens of interviews and other eyewitness accounts, Bill Matthias presents an in-depth look at the Five Mile Tower Fire, the brave citizens who helped fight it, and the important changes made to firefighting laws and procedures in its aftermath. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Fire in Paradise: An American Tragedy Dani Anguiano, Alastair Gee, 2020-05-05 The harrowing story of the most destructive American wildfire in a century. On November 8, 2018, the ferocious Camp Fire razed nearly every home in Paradise, California, and killed at least 85 people. Journalists Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano reported on Paradise from the day the fire began and conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts. Fire in Paradise is their dramatic narrative of the disaster and an unforgettable story of an American town at the forefront of the climate emergency. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Wildfire Statistics , 1978 |
| deadliest fires in us history: Granite Mountain Brendan McDonough, Stephan Talty, 2015-05-12 The true story behind the events that inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. A unique and bracing (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 hotshots -- firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires. Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona. Their leader, Eric Marsh, was in a desperate crunch after four hotshots left the unit, and perhaps seeing a glimmer of promise in the skinny would-be recruit, he took a chance on the unlikely McDonough, and the chance paid off. Despite the crew's skepticism, and thanks in large part to Marsh's firm but loving encouragement, McDonough unlocked a latent drive and dedication, going on to successfully battle a number of blazes and eventually win the confidence of the men he came to call his brothers. Then, on June 30, 2013, while McDonough -- Donut as he'd been dubbed by his team--served as lookout, they confronted a freak, 3,000-degree inferno in nearby Yarnell, Arizona. The relentless firestorm ultimately trapped his hotshot brothers, tragically killing all 19 of them within minutes. Nationwide, it was the greatest loss of firefighter lives since the 9/11 attacks. Granite Mountain is a gripping memoir that traces McDonough's story of finding his way out of the dead end of drugs, finding his purpose among the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the minute-by-minute account of the fateful day he lost the very men who had saved him. A harrowing and redemptive tale of resilience in the face of tragedy, Granite Mountain is also a powerful reminder of the heroism of the people who put themselves in harm's way to protect us every day. |
| deadliest fires in us history: To Sleep with the Angels John Kuenster, David Cowan, 1996-02-01 The story of one of the deadliest fires in American history that took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at a Catholic elementary school in Chicago. An absorbing account...a tale of terror. —New York Times Book Review |
| deadliest fires in us history: Beyond Tranquillon Ridge Joseph N. Valencia, 2004 For too long, the details of this tragedy have been shrouded in a fog of secrecy. Beyond Tranquillon Ridge is a story that recounts the firefighting efforts during a frenzied 24- hour period known as the Honda Canyon Fire. It is a history of the strategies and tactics used and it includes many first-hand accounts of the conditions that firefighters and the military faced on the front lines-including the tragic deaths of their comrades. Joseph Valencia offers a brilliant look back; re-creating the sights and sounds of actual firefighting; descriptive overviews of the landscape of South Vandenberg, with rich profiles and command level decisions of the brave men who fought it. In the end, this one day in 1977 stands out as the pivotal time when wind and fire combined into a firestorm and where past compromises affected an outcome. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Big Burn Timothy Egan, 2009-10-19 National Book Award–winner Timothy Egan turns his historian's eye to the largest-ever forest fire in America and offers an epic, cautionary tale for our time. On the afternoon of August 20, 1910, a battering ram of wind moved through the drought-stricken national forests of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, whipping the hundreds of small blazes burning across the forest floor into a roaring inferno that jumped from treetop to ridge as it raged, destroying towns and timber in the blink of an eye. Forest rangers had assembled nearly ten thousand men to fight the fires, but no living person had seen anything like those flames, and neither the rangers nor anyone else knew how to subdue them. Egan recreates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire with unstoppable dramatic force, and the larger story of outsized president Teddy Roosevelt and his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot, that follows is equally resonant. Pioneering the notion of conservation, Roosevelt and Pinchot did nothing less than create the idea of public land as our national treasure, owned by every citizen. Even as TR's national forests were smoldering they were saved: The heroism shown by his rangers turned public opinion permanently in favor of the forests, though it changed the mission of the forest service in ways we can still witness today. This e-book includes a sample chapter of SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER. |
| deadliest fires in us history: What Should I Do? If There Is a Fire Wil Mara, 2011-08-01 Readers learn what to do if they are caught in a burning building, how to prepare for such events ahead of time, and how to react to firefighters. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Minnesota, 1918 Curt Brown, 2018 A story of trauma, tragedy, and perseverance in a year that proved to be a turning point in the making of modern America. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Survive a Fire Patrick Perish, 2017 Engaging images accompany information about how to survive a fire. The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 3 through 7-- |
| deadliest fires in us history: Fighting Fire! Michael L. Cooper, 2016 Presents an overview of ten of the deadliest fires in American history and how the techniques for combating them have changed. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Chicago's Great Fire Carl Smith, 2020-10-06 A definitive chronicle of the 1871 Chicago Fire as remembered by those who experienced it—from the author of Chicago and the American Literary Imagination. Over three days in October, 1871, much of Chicago, Illinois, was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history. Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago had grown at a breathtaking pace in the intervening decades—and much of the hastily-built city was made of wood. Starting in Catherine and Patrick O’Leary’s barn, the Fire quickly grew out of control, twice jumping branches of the Chicago River on its relentless path through the city’s three divisions. While the death toll was miraculously low, nearly a third of Chicago residents were left homeless and more were instantly unemployed. This popular history of the Great Chicago Fire approaches the subject through the memories of those who experienced it. Chicago historian Carl Smith builds the story around memorable characters, both known to history and unknown, including the likes of General Philip Sheridan and Robert Todd Lincoln. Smith chronicles the city’s rapid growth and its place in America’s post-Civil War expansion. The dramatic story of the fire—revealing human nature in all its guises—became one of equally remarkable renewal, as Chicago quickly rose back up from the ashes thanks to local determination and the world’s generosity. As we approach the fire’s 150th anniversary, Carl Smith’s compelling narrative at last gives this epic event its full and proper place in our national chronicle. “The best book ever written about the fire, a work of deep scholarship by Carl Smith that reads with the forceful narrative of a fine novel. It puts the fire and its aftermath in historical, political and social context. It’s a revelatory pleasure to read.” —Chicago Tribune |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Hartford Circus Fire Michael Skidgell, 2019-04-08 Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies. Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the Greatest Show on Earth quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Fire in the Grove John C. Esposito, 2006-10-10 On Saturday night, November 28, 1942, Boston suffered its worst disaster ever. At the city's premier nightspot, the Cocoanut Grove, the largest nightclub fire in U.S. history took the lives of 492 people--nearly one of every two people on the premises. A flash of fire that started in an imitation palm tree rolled through the overcrowded club with breathtaking speed and in a mere eight minutes anyone left in the club was dead or doomed. The Grove was a classic firetrap, the product of greed and indifference on the part of the owners and the politicians who had knowingly allowed such conditions to exist. Against the backdrop of Boston politics, cronyism, and corruption, author John C. Esposito re-creates the drama of the fire and explores the public outcry that followed. In retelling the horrific events of one of America's most cataclysmic tragedies, Esposito has fashioned both an incomparably gripping narrative and a vibrant portrait of the era. But it is the intense, detailed narrative of the fire--harrowing yet compulsively readable--and the trials that followed that will stay with the reader well after they finish this remarkable book. [Esposito] reminds us that the cautionary tale of the Cocoanut Grove is still relevant today. (New York Law Journal) |
| deadliest fires in us history: Damn the Old Tinderbox! Matthew J. Prigge, 2019-03-01 In the dead of an unassuming January night in 1883, Milwaukee’s Newhall House hotel was set on fire. Two hours later, the building—once among the tallest in the nation—lay in ruins and over seventy people were dead. It was a tragedy that brought global notice to Milwaukee, with daring escapes and rescues and heart-wrenching tales of victims burned to death or killed as they leapt from the burning building. From the great horror emerged an even greater string of mysteries: Who had set the fire and who was to blame for the staggering loss of life? The Newhall’s hard-luck barkeeper? A gentleman arsonist? What of the many other unexplained fires at the hotel? Had the Newhall’s management neglected fire safety to boost their profits? Damn the Old Tinderbox! is the gripping tale of one of the Gilded Age’s forgotten calamities, a fire that remains among the deadliest unsolved arsons in American history, and a significant chapter in both the history of Milwaukee and the Midwest. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Richmond Theater Fire Meredith Henne Baker, 2012-03-14 On the day after Christmas in 1811, the state of Virginia lost its governor and almost one hundred citizens in a devastating nighttime fire that consumed a Richmond playhouse. During the second act of a melodramatic tale of bandits, ghosts, and murder, a small fire kindled behind the backdrop. Within minutes, it raced to the ceiling timbers and enveloped the audience in flames. The tragic Richmond Theater fire would inspire a national commemoration and become its generation's defining disaster. A vibrant and bustling city, Richmond was synonymous with horse races, gambling, and frivolity. The gruesome fire amplified the capital's reputation for vice and led to an upsurge in antitheater criticism that spread throughout the country and across the Atlantic. Clerics in both America and abroad urged national repentance and denounced the stage, a sentiment that nearly destroyed theatrical entertainment in Richmond for decades. Local churches, by contrast, experienced a rise in attendance and became increasingly evangelical. In The Richmond Theater Fire, the first book about the event and its aftermath, Meredith Henne Baker explores a forgotten catastrophe and its wide societal impact. The story of transformation comes alive through survivor accounts of slaves, actresses, ministers, and statesmen. Investigating private letters, diaries, and sermons, among other rare or unpublished documents, Baker views the event and its outcomes through the fascinating lenses of early nineteenth-century theater, architecture, and faith, and reveals a rich and vital untold story from America's past. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Forestry in Minnesota Samuel Bowdlear Green, 1898 |
| deadliest fires in us history: Smokejumpers Jim Gigliotti, 2022-08 Smoke appears over a remote forest . . . and the smokejumpers leap into action! Ride along with these brave men and women and learn about how they do this dangerous job. Additional features include informative captions and sidebars, a Think-About-It section, a phonetic glossary, sources for further research, a table of contents, an index, and an introduction to the author. |
| deadliest fires in us history: The Cocoanut Grove Edward Keyes, 1984 Provides a minute-by-minute account of the fire in Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub in 1942. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Chicago Death Trap Nat Brandt, 2006-08-03 A blow-by-blow account of the deadliest fire in American history retraces the final days of the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, a supposedly indestructible building that burned killing more than six hundred people. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Year Book of the State of Colorado , 1925 |
| deadliest fires in us history: Encyclopedia of Terrorist, Natural, and Man-made Disasters Michael I. Greenberg, 2006 Encyclopedia of Terrorist, Natural, and Man-Made Disasters is the first and only reference compiling all major toxicological incidents, both man-made and environmental in nature. Many of the man-made incidents resulting from occupational or industrial accidents have also led to environmental contamination, illness, and death for a great number of victims. Now for the first time, these occurrences with hazardous material are documented in a single index -- Encyclopedia of Terrorist, Natural, and Man-Made Disasters. An ideal resource for emergency physicians, EMS professionals, public health professionals, and toxicologists, this encyclopedia describes incidents that can be traced through history. Each event has been researched and reference citations are included. With over 1200 entries, the entire encyclopedia can be searched by source, date, or type of disaster! Book includes a CD-ROM! |
| deadliest fires in us history: Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services Arthur E. Cote, 2003 Apply the experience of dozens of leading authorities with the new Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services. This special fire service edition of NFPA's Fire Protection Handbook is comprised of 35 informative chapters that present the big picture in a single volume. All the topics fire service managers and fire and life safety educators need to know about are here including: Fire and fire science basics including fire data collection and databases, and use of incident data and statistics Information on fire and life safety education including how to reach high-risk groups, understanding media, and evaluation techniques Guidance on fire department administration and operations, pre-incident planning, EMS, training, apparatus and equipment, PPE, managing response to haz-mat incidents, rescue operations, fireground operations, and more! Order your copy today and put time-tested knowledge to work for you! |
| deadliest fires in us history: Wide-Open Town Diane Mutti Burke, Jason Roe, John Herron, 2018-11-29 Kansas City is often seen as a mild-mannered metropolis in the heart of flyover country. But a closer look tells a different story, one with roots in the city’s complicated and colorful past. The decades between World Wars I and II were a time of intense political, social, and economic change—for Kansas City, as for the nation as a whole. In exploring this city at the literal and cultural crossroads of America, Wide-Open Town maps the myriad ways in which Kansas City reflected and helped shape the narrative of a nation undergoing an epochal transformation. During the interwar period, political boss Tom Pendergast reigned, and Kansas City was said to be “wide open.” Prohibition was rarely enforced, the mob was ascendant, and urban vice was rampant. But in a community divided by the hard lines of race and class, this “openness” also allowed many of the city’s residents to challenge conventional social boundaries—and it is this intersection and disruption of cultural norms that interests the authors of Wide-Open Town. Writing from a variety of disciplines and viewpoints, the contributors take up topics ranging from the 1928 Republican National Convention to organizing the garment industry, from the stockyards to health care, drag shows, Thomas Hart Benton, and, of course, jazz. Their essays bring to light the diverse histories of the city—among, for instance, Mexican immigrants, African Americans, the working class, and the LGBT community before the advent of “LGBT.” Wide-Open Town captures the defining moments of a society rocked by World War I, the mass migration of people of color into cities, the entrance of women into the labor force and politics, Prohibition, economic collapse, and a revolution in social mores. Revealing how these changes influenced Kansas City—and how the city responded—this volume helps us understand nothing less than how citizens of the age adapted to the rise of modern America. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Trial by Fire Scott James, 2020-10-27 In only 90 seconds, a fire in the Station nightclub killed 100 people and injured hundreds more. It would take nearly 20 years to find out why—and who was really at fault. All it took for a hundred people to die during a show by the hair metal band Great White was a sudden burst from two giant sparklers that ignited the acoustical foam lining the Station nightclub. But who was at fault? And who would pay? This being Rhode Island, the two questions wouldn't necessarily have the same answer. Within 24 hours the governor of Rhode Island and the local police commissioner were calling for criminal charges, although the investigation had barely begun, no real evidence had been gathered, and many of the victims hadn't been identified. Though many parties could be held responsible, fingers pointed quickly at the two brothers who owned the club. But were they really to blame? Bestselling author and three-time Emmy Award-winning reporter Scott James investigates all the central figures, including the band's manager and lead singer, the fire inspector, the maker of the acoustical foam, as well as the brothers. Drawing on firsthand accounts, interviews with many involved, and court documents, James explores the rush to judgment about what happened that left the victims and their families, whose stories he also tells, desperate for justice. Trial By Fire is the heart-wrenching story of the fire's aftermath because while the fire, one of America's deadliest, lasted fewer than two minutes, the search for the truth would take twenty years. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Believers Lisa Wells, 2021-07-20 An essential document of our time. —Charles D’Ambrosio, author of Loitering In search of answers and action, the award-winning poet and essayist Lisa Wells brings us Believers, introducing trailblazers and outliers from across the globe who have found radically new ways to live and reconnect to the Earth in the face of climate change We find ourselves at the end of the world. How, then, shall we live? Like most of us, Lisa Wells has spent years overwhelmed by increasingly urgent news of climate change on an apocalyptic scale. She did not need to be convinced of the stakes, but she could not find practical answers. She embarked on a pilgrimage, seeking wisdom and paths to action from outliers and visionaries, pragmatists and iconoclasts. Believers tracks through the lives of these people who are dedicated to repairing the earth and seemingly undaunted by the task ahead. Wells meets an itinerant gardener and misanthrope leading a group of nomadic activists in rewilding the American desert. She finds a group of environmentalist Christians practicing “watershed discipleship” in New Mexico and another group in Philadelphia turning the tools of violence into tools of farming—guns into ploughshares. She watches the world’s greatest tracker teach others how to read a trail, and visits botanists who are restoring land overrun by invasive species and destructive humans. She talks with survivors of catastrophic wildfires in California as they try to rebuild in ways that acknowledge the fires will come again. Through empathic, critical portraits, Wells shows that these trailblazers are not so far beyond the rest of us. They have had the same realization, have accepted that we are living through a global catastrophe, but are trying to answer the next question: How do you make a life at the end of the world? Through this miraculous commingling of acceptance and activism, this focus on seeing clearly and moving forward, Wells is able to take the devastating news facing us all, every day, and inject a possibility of real hope. Believers demands transformation. It will change how you think about your own actions, about how you can still make an impact, and about how we might yet reckon with our inheritance. |
| deadliest fires in us history: Fire Angels Elizabeth Kern, 2016-11-01 This “heartbreakingly engrossing” novel explores the true events surrounding the Our Lady of the Angels school fire in 1958 Chicago (Foreword Reviews). Three weeks before Christmas, on December 1, 1958, one of the most horrific fires in American history broke out at Our Lady of the Angels elementary school in Chicago, claiming the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns. Fire Angels is a fictional account of that fire. It’s a story of arson; of bravery by parents, nuns, firefighters, and medical professionals; of a falsely accused janitor; of a cover-up within the Catholic Church; of a judge who, in having to determine the juvenile arsonist’s fate, is torn between loyalty to his church and justice; of a tight-knit community changed forever; and of two survivors who fall in love. Fire itself is also a central character in this story, a cunning observer that comes to life whenever a flame is lit. |
| deadliest fires in us history: On the Burning Edge Kyle Dickman, 2015-05-12 The definitive account of one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, which killed nineteen elite firefighters of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and also inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. “A tear-jerking classic.”—Outside • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by Men’s Journal On June 28, 2013, a single bolt of lightning sparked an inferno that devoured more than eight thousand acres in northern Arizona. Twenty elite firefighters—the Granite Mountain Hotshots—walked together into the Yarnell Hill Fire, tools in their hands and emergency fire shelters on their hips. Only one of them walked out. An award-winning journalist and former wildland firefighter, Kyle Dickman brings to the story a professional’s understanding of how wildfires ignite, how they spread, and how they are fought. He understands hotshots and their culture: the pain and glory of a rough and vital job, the brotherly bonds born of dangerous work. Drawing on dozens of interviews with officials, families of the fallen, and the lone survivor, he describes in vivid detail what it’s like to stand inside a raging fire—and shows how the increased population and decreased water supply of the American West guarantee that many more young men will step into harm’s way in the coming years. Praise for On the Burning Edge “Dickman weaves a century of fire-management history into the fully realized stories of the men’s lives—the sweat, the adrenaline, the orange glow of fire within their aluminum shelters, and the chewing gum that hotshot Scott Norris left in the shower before telling his girlfriend, Heather, ‘I’ll take care of it later. I promise.’”—Outside “Dickman offers a riveting account of a dangerous occupation and acts of nature most violent—and those who face both down.”—Library Journal |
DEADLIEST Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of DEADLY is likely to cause or capable of producing death. How to use deadly in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Deadly.
Deadliest - definition of deadliest by The Free Dictionary
1. causing or tending to cause death; lethal. 2. aiming to kill or destroy; implacable: a deadly enemy. 3. like death. 4. excruciatingly boring. 5. excessive; inordinate: deadly haste. 6. extremely …
DEADLIEST definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
It was like being caught in a riptide - the wind was pulling as hard as the deadliest current. The commander was an English gentleman Communist, the kind that he had come to think of as the …
The Top 10 Deadliest Animals In The World
Jan 30, 2025 · The mosquito is the single deadliest, most dangerous animal in the world and also one of the smallest. Mosquitoes are estimated to cause between 750,000 and one million human …
What does deadliest mean? - Definitions.net
Definition of deadliest in the Definitions.net dictionary. Meaning of deadliest. What does deadliest mean? Information and translations of deadliest in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions …
66 Synonyms & Antonyms for DEADLIEST - Thesaurus.com
Find 66 different ways to say DEADLIEST, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
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Apr 19, 2023 · Read on to see 10 of the deadliest diseases worldwide. 1. Ischemic heart disease, or coronary artery disease. The deadliest disease in the world is coronary artery disease (CAD). Also...
What is another word for deadliest - WordHippo
Find 2,354 synonyms for deadliest and other similar words that you can use instead based on 12 separate contexts from our thesaurus.
List of animals deadliest to humans - Wikipedia
This is a list of the deadliest animals to humans worldwide, measured by the number of humans killed per year. Different lists have varying criteria and definitions, so lists from different sources …
DEADLIEST in Thesaurus: 1000+ Synonyms & Antonyms for DEADLIEST
What's the definition of Deadliest in thesaurus? Most related words/phrases with sentence examples define Deadliest meaning and usage.
DEADLIEST Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of DEADLY is likely to cause or capable of producing death. How to use deadly in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Deadly.
Deadliest - definition of deadliest by The Free Dictionary
1. causing or tending to cause death; lethal. 2. aiming to kill or destroy; implacable: a deadly enemy. 3. like death. 4. excruciatingly boring. 5. excessive; inordinate: deadly haste. 6. …
DEADLIEST definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
It was like being caught in a riptide - the wind was pulling as hard as the deadliest current. The commander was an English gentleman Communist, the kind that he had come to think of as …
The Top 10 Deadliest Animals In The World
Jan 30, 2025 · The mosquito is the single deadliest, most dangerous animal in the world and also one of the smallest. Mosquitoes are estimated to cause between 750,000 and one million …
What does deadliest mean? - Definitions.net
Definition of deadliest in the Definitions.net dictionary. Meaning of deadliest. What does deadliest mean? Information and translations of deadliest in the most comprehensive dictionary …
66 Synonyms & Antonyms for DEADLIEST - Thesaurus.com
Find 66 different ways to say DEADLIEST, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
The Top 10 Deadliest Diseases in the World - Healthline
Apr 19, 2023 · Read on to see 10 of the deadliest diseases worldwide. 1. Ischemic heart disease, or coronary artery disease. The deadliest disease in the world is coronary artery disease …
What is another word for deadliest - WordHippo
Find 2,354 synonyms for deadliest and other similar words that you can use instead based on 12 separate contexts from our thesaurus.
List of animals deadliest to humans - Wikipedia
This is a list of the deadliest animals to humans worldwide, measured by the number of humans killed per year. Different lists have varying criteria and definitions, so lists from different sources …
DEADLIEST in Thesaurus: 1000+ Synonyms & Antonyms for DEADLIEST
What's the definition of Deadliest in thesaurus? Most related words/phrases with sentence examples define Deadliest meaning and usage.
