41-Page FREE Historic Fires Notebooking Research Journal

Fires have changed lives and landscapes throughout history. Help students learn about more than 40 fires, both natural and those started by people, with this FREE Historic Fires Notebooking Research Journal. 

This FREE Historic Fires Notebooking Research Journal takes a look at fires from 1041 through 2020. These fires also span six continents and include countries such as: 

Students can research and record:

• when the fire happened
• where it happened
• what the cause of the fire was
• additional interesting facts about the fire

It’s a great way to encourage independent work, and when the students are done, they’ll have a completed notebook of their own. 

Free Resources for Learning About the Great Chicago Fire

To get you started on your research, we’re adding some resources about one huge fire in US History – the Great Chicago Fire.

How the Great Chicago Fire Started

No one is exactly sure why this devastating fire started. This enormous fire in U.S. history started on October 8, 1871, in Chicago, Illinois, and burned for two days until October 10, 1871. It finally ended because of the rain that came to this day.

It began as nine completely separate fires that ended up destroying 3.3 square miles and $192 million in property damages. About 100,000 people were left homeless and three hundred people died.

It is rumored and is a legend that the fire started from… a cow. It is said that a cow knocked over a lantern in Catherine O’Leary’s barn on De Koven Street.

That isn’t the only story about how the fire started. Some say it started with some gamblers in the barn, maybe someone stealing milk from the barn, or even a meteor shower.

This is a hard fact that brings a lot of concern because there was a large fire the night before, firefighters were too tired to quickly put out the fires. They even were said to have been sent to the wrong home originally.

Free Great Chicago Fire Resources

We recommend using these resources along with others you find to do your research about the fire. Be sure to grab our FREE research journal pack at the bottom of this page to record your findings.

1)Great Chicago Lesson Plan at Sparky School House – The NFPA has a great lesson plan complete with a video & handouts to learn more about the fire.

2)I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 – This book is by Lauren Tarshis. and brings the history of this terrifying fire to life for a boy named Oscar. Will he survive?

3)The Great Fire – A Newberry Award willing book that is another great resource to read as a family or independently for students approximately 9 and up.

If you have another great resource about the Chicago fire of 1871 that you’d like to recommend to other homeschoolers, please let us know. We’d love to hear form you and add it to this list.

In Conclusion

The Chicago fire was just one of many fires you can learn more about with our research journal. We encourage your students to grab the journal below and then research different types of fires all across the world.

Who knows it may even inspire a career as a firefighter, inspector or EMT!