The History Channel's Tech Effect: Chicago Fire on the set | about the show | about the fire | the Rockford premiere In the June of 2004, The Aurora Regional Fire Museum was again asked to assist in the filming of a television documentary about the Chicago Fire. The History Channel's Tech Effect used artifacts and images from the museum's collection, and we were invited to participate as one of the show's historical consultants and technical advisors. Set to air: Tuesday Aug 31, 2004 on the History Channel 8pm (central time) On the set during the filming Many of the historical artifacts featured in the show, and most of the images used, are from the collection of the Aurora Regional Fire Museum. Viewers who pay close attention will see a 1926 photograph of Aurora's Old Central Fire Station towards the end of the episode. Although the History Channel relies heavily on old photographs and period drawings to illustrate its shows, when historical images do not exist, historical reinactments are staged to tell the story. All of the renactment scenes for the Tech Effect: Chicago Fire episode were filmed over three nights at the Midway Village and Museum Center in Rockford, IL. David Lewis, Curator for the Aurora Regional Fire Museum and Matt Lee, a firefighting historian from Plymouth, MI were asked to be "on set" to ensure the show's recreations were as accurate as possible. More about the show From the hammering of the golden spike connecting the country by railroad to the first steps on the moon, the advances that aided Japan in its attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bomb that led to its surrender, each episode of Tech Effect looks at the innovations behind memorable historical events, explores how technological advances made these events possible, and also looks at other inventions that sprang from them. More about the Great Chicago Fire Sunday, October 8, 1871 at 8:30 pm. In a small barn behind the O'Leary home the Great Chicago Fire was sparked. Although no one knows the actual cause of the fire, it is a popular story to think that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern in her wood barn. A disastrous combination of mechanical problems and human error, delayed the fire apparatus from arriving on the scene for nearly an hour, and by then it was too late. Strong winds, a season of dry weather, and a city built almost entirely of wood, had caused the fire to spread quickly in a northeasterly direction. The fire burned all night Sunday and throughout Monday. Late Monday night, a light rain fell and by 3 am Tuesday morning, the bulk of the flames had died down. It took many days to extinguish all the remaining spot fires and cool down the smoldering ruins. The burned out area was roughly five miles long and averaging one mile wide. Over 17,450 buildings were destroyed, nearly 100,000 people were homeless, and between 150-300 lives were lost The Chicago Historical Society's "Web of Fire" http://www.chicagohistory.org/fire/ The Cause of the Great Chicago Fire http://www.thechicagofire.com/ The Great Chicago Fire - Report from the Weather Office http://taiga.geog.niu.edu/nwslot/fire.htm Join us for Premier Night at the Midway Village and Museum Center You are invited to join David Lewis, curator of the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, and Aurora historian Richard Bales, for a special evening program at Rockford's Midway Village and Museum. There will be a screening of the show Tech Effect: Chicago Fire, a chance to interact with some of the actors/reinactors, and a discussion of the causes -- and results -- of the Great Chicago Fire.