| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 01.09.11 23:39l 46 Lines 1943 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 11501_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 1
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<N9PMO<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110901/2107Z 11501@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Sep 1, 1894:
Minnesota town burns
The town of Hinckley, Minnesota, is destroyed by a forest fire on
this day in 1894. A total of 440 people died in the area.
The upper Midwest was particularly vulnerable to devastating
fires at the end of the 19th century as European settlers cleared
the land for agriculture and timber and new railroad lines were
built through heavily wooded areas. Hinckley was a new lumber and
rail town built along the Grindstone River in Minnesota near the
Wisconsin border. The town's settlers felled trees for lumber
using slash cutting techniques that left behind large amounts of
wood debris_excellent fire fuel. Further, they set up lumber
yards very close to the rail lines. This proved a dangerous
combination when sparks from trains set the wood debris ablaze.
In the summer of 1894, drought conditions in the Upper Midwest
made a deadly fire even more likely. On the afternoon of
September 1, fires near two rail lines south of Hinckley broke
out and spread north. As the raging fire reached the town's train
depot, 350 of the townspeople got on a train to escape. The train
had to pass right through flames, but reached safety in West
Superior, Wisconsin.
Other Hinckley residents sought refuge in the swamps near town,
but many in this group were killed, some from drowning. About 100
other residents fled to a gravel pit fill with water; most
managed to survive. A train that was entering Hinckley from the
north reversed direction to avoid the blaze, but still caught
fire. The only survivors were those who managed to jump from the
train into a lake.
In all, 300,000 acres of town and forest burned in the fire,
causing about $25 million in damages. In Hinckley, 228 people
died. More than 200 others in the surrounding areas also
perished, including 23 Ojibwa natives.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
Using Outpost Version 2.5.0 c33
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
