As the tale goes, Miss O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern and started the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, burning about 3 square miles of the city, destroying 17,500 buildings and killing around 300 people.
What can firsthand accounts teach us about the fire?
Host Scott Tong speaks with Robert Loerzel, a Chicago-based freelance journalist, about his reporting.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.