When the smoke cleared, little was left intact. It was almost as if a town had never even existed there. Some broken china and a tabernacle survived the inferno. So did a Bible. The Good Book was charred by the flames and petrified by the intense heat, but found intact — and opened to Psalms 106 and 107.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” the beginning of Psalm 106 and 107 reads, a haunting declaration that may seem to contradict the tragedy that unfolded one fateful night in northeastern Wisconsin but serves as a reminder of a dark chapter in American history 150 years ago, the country’s deadliest fire.
