OK...I cheated and did some homework....it was the Peshitigo Fire of Oct 8 through Oct 14 1871 in Peshitigo Wischonsin....1500 people were killed...it occurred at the same time as the Great Chicago fire......oops typo on he State....sorry
The Peshtigo fire was so intense it jumped several miles over the waters of Green Bay and burned parts of the Door Peninsula, as well as jumping the Peshtigo River itself to burn on both sides of the inlet town.
Surviving witnesses reported that the firestorm generated a tornado that threw rail cars and houses into the air. Many of the survivors of the firestorm escaped the flames by immersing themselves in the Peshtigo River, wells, or other nearby bodies of water. Some drowned while others froze to death in the frigid river.
Alas, while this fire was indeed huge and often overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire on the same day, the largest fire (in area) burned an area twice the size…..
OK..as in everything else I get carried away...#1...Peshtigo Fire Wisconsin 1871 #2...Great Chicago Fire 1871 #3...Iroquois Theater Fire Chicago 30 Dec 1903 #4...Coconut Grove Fire Boston Mass. 28 Nov 1942 #5...Brooklyn Theater Fire Chicago Dec 5,1876.......Thanks...I love history and it "made" me do some research.... All rated from worst to less....
The 2005-2006 wildfire of Texas and Oklahoma. I have to call my Chief to find outhow much really burned, I think he still has the report form when they ran it. I think it was over 5 million acres.
Ohhhh... ok.....not the worst fire, but the largest fire?
Then my answer in the world trade center attack. Lost many lives, biliions of $$ in damage, emotional damage was off the charts, and will be remembered for ever as fathers and grandfathers tell the story to their children.( sorry, and mothers and grandmothers as well)
You guys are all giving it a kick-ass try, so here's a hint: firefighters from across the nation are gathering in remembrance of this fire this weekend....