The Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy stands on the exact spot where the Great Chicago Fire began on October 8, 1871, killing roughly 300 people and leveling a third of the city.
558 W. DeKoven St, Chicago, IL 60607
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
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Free
The Pillar of Fire sculpture and historical marker are viewable from the public sidewalk; the Fire Academy building is not open to tourists.
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Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalk
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Photos OK
Est. 1871 · Great Chicago Fire origin — October 8, 1871 · Chicago Landmark designation 1971 · Urban history — catalyst for modern Chicago architecture
The fire broke out on the evening of October 8, 1871, at the O'Leary property on DeKoven Street. The immediate cause was never conclusively established in the original investigation. The popular story — that Catherine O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern — was admitted in 1893 to have been fabricated by Chicago Republican reporter Michael Ahern, who thought it made better copy. The true origin remains undetermined. A 1997 Chicago City Council resolution formally exonerated Catherine O'Leary and her cow.
Chicago had been exceptionally dry that summer, and the city was built predominantly of wood. Once the fire took hold in the O'Leary barn, it moved northeast toward the Chicago River, crossing it twice. It burned through the central business district, the Near North Side, and reached the lakefront. The fire ran for approximately 27 hours before rain and lack of fuel stopped it in the early morning of October 10, 1871.
The damage was catastrophic: approximately 17,450 structures destroyed across more than 2,000 acres, roughly 300 deaths confirmed (the actual toll may have been higher), and an estimated $200 million in property losses — about $5 billion in current terms. Around 100,000 residents, roughly one-third of the city's population, were left without shelter. The fire also destroyed city hall, most financial records, and nearly all of the city's newspaper archives.
Rebuild Chicago did so within years, transforming the disaster into an accelerator of modern urban architecture. The site at DeKoven Street sat in working-class neighborhoods for nearly a century. The Robert J. Quinn Chicago Fire Academy opened in 1961 — an operational training facility for the Chicago Fire Department. Edgar Weiner's abstract bronze sculpture 'Pillar of Fire,' installed outside the building, marks the precise location of origin. The city designated the site a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1971, the centennial of the fire.
Sources
The Great Chicago Fire origin site does not carry a strong ghost tradition, which distinguishes it from many Chicago dark history locations. Ghost tour operators occasionally include it as a stop, framing the 300 confirmed deaths and the 100,000 displaced as context for the city's darker history rather than as the basis for apparition stories.
The Catherine O'Leary narrative has generated its own persistent legend — she was blamed publicly for decades despite the fabricated-reporter admission in 1893, and her reputation was not formally restored until the Chicago City Council resolution in 1997. Some tour guides present the injustice done to O'Leary as the emotionally resonant story of the site: a working-class Irish immigrant woman whose life was destroyed by a newspaper lie.
The Pillar of Fire sculpture itself, an abstract 33-foot bronze installed in 1961, carries no specific haunting claims but creates a visual focal point that connects the site to fire history for visitors who encounter it without prior knowledge. The Chicago Fire Academy continues to train active firefighters on the grounds — a continuity that some tour guides note as its own kind of haunting.
Edgar Weiner's 33-foot abstract bronze sculpture 'Pillar of Fire' stands outside the Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy at the precise site of the O'Leary barn where the fire began. A historical marker and Chicago Landmark designation placard are also on site. The Academy building is an operational training facility and not open to public tours.
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