Great Fire of Pittsburgh

The Great Fire of Pittsburgh was a conflagration in Pittsburgh which occurred on April 10, 1845. It was sparked by an unattended fire that ignited a nearby ice shed or barn, and spread due to a number of factors, including the poor water pressure the outstripped infrastructure gave to the ill-equipped volunteer fire companies, the mixture of soot, flour dust, and cotton fibers in the air from industry, the frequent near-gale-force winds hitting the city at midday, and the six weeks before the fire that the city had been deprived of rain.

After the fire, the city was shortly rebuilt. Local ministers and the mayor of the neighboring Allegheny City blamed the disaster on the wrath of God. Two people died, and one author estimates around $12 million in damages at the time in 1845 dollars, placing it at $267 million in 2006 dollars. The state legislature agreed to grant the city $50,000 in relief, to refund taxes from destroyed structures, and to give the whole city a three-year reprive from taxes. The market for replacement homes and household articles further spurred the city's industries, and the fire was eventually held to have "spurred the city to greater growth," an attitude encouraged by the Pittsburgh's industrialists.