100 Year Anniversary Of A Tragedy in Minnesota

It's hard to think that people would do that... but when you say that, you are probably thinking in today's world.  I'm talking about a giant wildfire that happened in the Moose Lake/Cloquet area in Northern Minnesota 100 years ago today.  

There were over 450 people killed in this disaster.  A lot of them were killed in their cars while they were trying to outrun the fire.  I know that seems ridiculous now, but think about the cars back in 1918.  They didn't really go all that fast.

There were also families who thought they could ride out the fire by hiding out in the root cellars and abandoned wells.  In theory that sounds like a good idea.  The walls are stone, and don't burn. But in a closed off area that in low, the oxygen was sucked out by the fire and all the families died.  One family was completely lost except one person.  That was because he was away at WWI.  When he came home there was no one left.

There is now a monument recognizing the people who lost their lives that day.  Such a tragedy that would probably not happen today.  You think about the wildfires in California, and it's bad.  But people are losing their homes... but mostly they are able to escape the fire.