The Thumb Fire took place on September 5, 1881, in

the Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

area of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The fire, which burned over a million acres (4,000 km²) in less than a day, was the consequence of drought, hurricane-force winds, heat, the after-effects of the Port Huron Fire of 1871, and the ecological damage wrought by the era's logging techniques. The blaze, also called the Great Thumb Fire, the Great Forest Fire of 1881 and the Huron Fire, killed 282 people in Sanilac, Lapeer, Tuscola and

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

counties. The damage estimate was $2,347,000 in 1881, equivalent to $ when adjusted for inflation. The fire sent enough soot and ash up into the atmosphere that sunlight was partially obscured at many locations on the East Coast of the United States. In

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

cities, the sky appeared yellow and projected a strange luminosity onto buildings and vegetation. Twilight appeared at 12 noon. September 6, 1881, became known as ''Yellow Tuesday'' or ''Yellow Day'' because of the ominous nature of this atmospheric event.Yellow Day
at CelebrateBoston.com

History

August and the first days of September 1881 were hotter than usual, and the Thumb had had a rain deficit since April; in Thornville, this period was the driest registered up to 1969. There were forest fires beginning in mid-August, and on August 31, a fire started in northern Lapeer County. It destroyed several buildings in Sandusky and Deckerville in nearby Sanilac County. On Monday, September 5, the town of Bad Axe, in Huron County, burst into flames. Winds spread the fire to Huron City and Grindstone City. The fire continued to spread through Tuesday and Wednesday, September 6 and 7, consuming most of Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac and Lapeer counties.

Relief aid

In 1881 Clara Barton, at the age of 60, founded the American Red Cross. The organization's first official disaster relief operation was its response to the Michigan "Thumb Fire" of 1881. The Red Cross provided money, clothes and household items.Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross
Retrieved 2011-01-30. The fire caused more than 14,000 people to be dependent on public aid. It also destroyed over 2,000 barns, dwellings, and schools.

Fire protection

After the fires of 1881, people started to organize firefighting plans. By the 1900s the timber barons were suffering huge losses from forest fires, so they developed the Northern Forest and Protection Association to manage forest fires in Michigan; it was superseded by the U.S. Forest Service.Sodders, Betty (1997). ''Michigan on Fire'', pp. 239–40. Thunder Bay Press. However, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, which owned large areas of forest, had already established serious conservation and cleanup methods, along with maintaining their own firetowers and timber patrols, in order to discover fires soon after their start. The early settlers used

bucket brigade A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next. The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...

s to protect their houses and barns, but they were no match for the raging fires. In 1917, Michigan purchased its first tractor for firefighting.

References

Sources

* “Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross”. American Red Cross Museum. Oct. 12, 2007 * Haines, Donald A., & Sando, Rodney W., 1969: ''Climatic Conditions Preceding Historical Great Fires in the North Central Region.'' North Central Experimentation Forest Service; US Department of Agriculture. * Nesbit, Joanne. “Michigan History Series”. U-M News and Information Services.Aug. 29, 1996. Oct. 10, 2007 * Sodders, Betty (1997). ''Michigan on Fire''. Thunder Bay Press.

External links