Tammy Rundle interviews artist Marvin Carl Marotz about his family connection to the Peshtigo fire.
Emmy award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films were back in Peshtigo, Wisconsin to film interviews with descendants of several of the survivors of the deadly 1871 wildfire. The firestorm claimed the lives of approximately 2,500 people and incinerated 1.2 million acres. It is considered the deadliest fire in American history.
Peshtigo Historical Society's Mary Jo Seidl, Peshtigo Mayor Katie Berman and filmmakers Tammy and Kelly Rundle.
Interviews were held at the Peshtigo Municipal Building thanks to the assistance of Peshtigo Mayor Katie Berman.
"We are very grateful to Mayor Berman for arranging a quiet space in the building in which to conduct these important interviews," said producer Tammy Rundle. "It was truly a pleasure to meet her and we appreciated her kind support of our work on the film project."
Tammy and Kelly Rundle with Jenna Albrecht following her interview about the Albrecht family survivors.
Dramatic stories about their ancestors' experiences surviving the devastating horrors of the fire were shared during on-camera interviews with Marvin Carl Marotz (the Seymour/Leslie family), Jenna Albrecht (the Albrecht family), and Bridget Lokken (the Meyer/Felch family).
Bridget Lokken during her interview session talking about the Meyer/Felch survivor stories.
PESHTIGO: American Firestorm combines vintage photos, artists renderings, limited re-enactments and archival materials with eye-witness accounts and perspectives from present-day historians, conservationists, wildfire experts, scholars and survivor descendants to tell the dramatic story of America’s deadliest firestorm.
Filmmaker Kelly Rundle photographs archival materials and historic images for the film at the Peshtigo Fire Museum.
PESHTIGO is funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as generous donations to the project.
"We are very grateful to all of our supporters, historians, scholars, interviewees, and those who submit visual materials for the film," said Director Kelly Rundle. "All of them help us tell this compelling story."
Add your name to the film's credits! You can make a tax-deductible contribution for $100 or more via our Fiscal Sponsor, the Peshtigo Historical Society. Visit their website here: Peshtigo Historical Society to join our growing list of supporters. And, thank you so much for considering helping us preserve and tell this important, but little known, Midwestern history story. The documentary is slated for a "Sneak Preview" in October 2026. More details later this summer.
