Interviewing Ecologist Jed Meunier for "Peshtigo" film
Fourth Wall Films' Kelly and Tammy Rundle travelled to Madison, Wisconsin in June to interview Dr. Jed Meunier for their new documentary Peshtigo: American Firestorm.
Dr. Meunier is an ecologist and research scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, with an interest and expertise in fire ecology. He is also the great-grandson of Aldo Leopold, who is considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology and modern conservation.
“What we learn from the Peshtigo fire is that it was climate and weather driven. We need to be prepared for that to happen again,” Meunier said during his interview.
"Meunier’s research has rewritten our understanding of what happened Oct. 8, 1871, when the Peshtigo fire roared up both sides of the Bay of Green Bay, killing as many as 2,500 people in the deadliest fire in American history. Generations of Wisconsin schoolchildren learned that the lumberjacks were to blame because they left behind piles of flammable pine slash. But it turns out the loggers were just scapegoats. The true story is more complicated. [Grow Magazine, University of Wisconsin-Madison]
During the summer of 2023, the Rundles visited Peshtigo in northeast Wisconsin to meet with the Peshtigo Historical Society, visit the museum, and conduct preliminary research regarding the October 8, 1871 Peshtigo Fire—the most devastating wildfire in American history.
On the same October day in 1871, the city of Chicago caught fire. When the flames were extinguished two days later, three square miles of the city was in ashes, 300 residents were dead, 17,000 structures were lost, and a third of the city’s 300,000 residents were homeless. Aid immediately began to flow into Chicago by train from Wisconsin and other neighboring states.
As Chicago’s fire flickered out on October 10, an urgent message sent by boat from a tiny lumber town arrived in Wisconsin Governor Lucius Fairchild’s office. It read, “We are burning up. Send help.” All told, the Peshtigo fire burned 1.2 million acres and killed an estimated 1,500-2,500 people. The Peshtigo fire, not the Chicago fire, would prove to be the largest and most deadly fire in American history.
Peshtigo director Kelly Rundle said, "It was a privilege to meet and talk with Jed. His scientific insights about the Peshtigo disaster were fascinating. We are very grateful for his participation in the documentary project and anxious for audiences to hear what he and other scholars had to share about the tragic event."
Production on Peshtigo: American Firestorm was funded in part by a 2024 grant from the WISCONSIN HUMANITIES, with funds from the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES.
If YOU would like to support "Peshtigo: American Firestorm" , your timing is perfect! We are in fundraising mode on the documentary film project, and working to raise matching funds to complete the work partially-funded by the Wisconsin Humanities grant. We are deeply grateful for contributions of any size! Your kind support of $50+ will be acknowledged in the end credits of the film. Write to us at FourthWallFilms (at symbol) AOL (dot) com for more details.
