Thumb Fire, Michigan (1881)

Aftermath

Some individuals employed strategic tactics to escape the Thumb fire by hiding in wells, fleeing into Lake Huron, or dousing various forms of shelter with water. Unfortunately, despite best efforts to escape, the speed and intensity of the fire had devastating effects.

The Michigan population had increased significantly after the land-clearing fires of 1871, leaving the Thumb densely populated with new settlers. The death toll reached 282 as a direct result of suffocation and burning. Over 5,000 individuals were left homeless, and 14,000 completely dependent upon public aid. Reports list the loss of 1,480 barns, 1,521 homes, and 51 schools. Damages exceeded $2.25 million. Each county in the Thumb was affected: Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola, Lapeer, and St. Clair. Villages entirely burned included Bad Axe, Verona, Forest Bay, Richmondville, Charleston, Anderson, Decersville, Harrisonville, and Sandusky. Significant portions of Port Hope, Minden, and Ubly were also burned.

Telegraphic communications in the regions most affected by the fire were entirely cut off during the fire, making it difficult to disseminate information to surrounding areas. Detroit papers quickly began to report heavily with incomplete stories by Tuesday, September 6. The following day, much more detailed stories of the destruction were printed. By Friday, September 9, the extent of devastation had been realized, and a nationwide appeal sent from Port Huron, signed by Mayor E. C. Carleton and U.S. Senator Omar Conger, was printed on the front pages of major national publications. For weeks following the fire, headlines across the nation described the death and destruction of “The Great Thumb Fire,” naming it a “national calamity.” Before fires were completely exhausted, details spread quickly, and sufferers' urgent necessities became a primary concern to surrounding counties and states.

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