"Fired" Up for Improvements

I am a little biased being from Chicago because I think that Chicago is quite possibly the greatest city ever. I love the skyline and shopping on Michigan Avenue, and I can't even begin to explain how much I love riding the train into the city to spend some time in "sweet home Chicago." However, Chicago would not be what it is today if it wasn't for the Great Chicago Fire that occurred on October 8, 1871.
It was a regular Sunday evening in Chicago, IL, when, as the story goes, Mrs. O'Leary's cow knocked over a lantern, starting a small fire in the shed around 9 pm. The fire quickly started spreading, but the fire department was not alerted of the blaze until 9:40, when a pharmacy pulled the fire alarm. Since Chicago was going through a drought, all of the dry wood easily caught fire, and this fire started to become out of control. The fire eventually overtook the waterworks building, cutting off water supply to the city, so firefighters had to give up. Finally, on Tuesday morning, the fire extinguished itself because it became too small to continue, and it took down almost 4 miles of the city with it. The fire killed 300 people and left thousands homeless, being forced to rebuild from scratch.
Rebuilding began almost immediately, and many people rebuilt in almost the same place where their homes burned down because they loved Chicago so much. This allowed for the latest and greatest techniques to be used, and because of this, many people were attracted to the city from other places around the country and even around the world. Chicago was eventually built up to what it is today, being one of the most populous and economically important cities in the country. The economy became stronger than it ever was before, and new fire fighting techniques and safety tips also came out because of the fire that were shared throughout the country.
Although the Great Chicago Fire was a complete disaster when it was happening and immediately after, it is now seen as something that helped improve Chicago an immense amount and quite possibly helped other fires be stopped sooner because of the lessons learned from it. I think that part of the reason that I love Chicago so much is the history that it has, and the Great Chicago Fire is something that will never be forgotten.