The Fire of 1771
We learn about the fire of 1771 in the report of the Czar's functionary who oversaw the taking of the 1775 census. In his notes attached to the census he reported that a total of 38 homes and outbuildings were "burned in the fire of 1771." If the fire was started in the cropland, or in the village itself, we have no way of knowing. Only four years before the site had been barren scrub land. To have lost nearly one in every five house must have been a setback to the colony which was only four years old at the time.
These are the families who lost their homes: Johannes Scharf, Heinrich Brill, Johann Heinrich Hessler, Heinrich Kinsler, Conrad Spiegel, Johannes Hölzer, Conrad Hölzer, Johannes Hinkel, Johannes Wilhelm. Nicolaus Müller. Johannes Schwindt. Johann Heinrich Dörr. Heinrich Brill. Heinrich Betz, Eva Helwig, Johannes Spady, Carl Eberling, Johannes Eberling, Taugott Schwartz, Peter Heinrich, Eckart Richter, Valentine Priester, Georg Feuerstein, Jacob Nagel, Melchior Burbach, Friedrich Koch, Johannes Hauser, Heinrich Fischer, Friedrich Wolf, Philipp Reuscher, Melchior Hahn, Jacob Glantz, Johannes Glantz, Wolf Dietrich Biehn, Philipp Peter Rothau, Peter Jorg, Conrad Krieger, Adam Seder, Adam Reifschneider, and Johann Georg Müller.
The fire may have come about when the dry cropland surrounding Norka ignited and was carried by the wind to the settlement (as in a prairie fire) or the fire could have begun in the village itself where the mostly wooden structures were built side by side (as in the Chicago fire). In either scenario, a bucket brigade system would have been of limited use.
These are the families who lost their homes: Johannes Scharf, Heinrich Brill, Johann Heinrich Hessler, Heinrich Kinsler, Conrad Spiegel, Johannes Hölzer, Conrad Hölzer, Johannes Hinkel, Johannes Wilhelm. Nicolaus Müller. Johannes Schwindt. Johann Heinrich Dörr. Heinrich Brill. Heinrich Betz, Eva Helwig, Johannes Spady, Carl Eberling, Johannes Eberling, Taugott Schwartz, Peter Heinrich, Eckart Richter, Valentine Priester, Georg Feuerstein, Jacob Nagel, Melchior Burbach, Friedrich Koch, Johannes Hauser, Heinrich Fischer, Friedrich Wolf, Philipp Reuscher, Melchior Hahn, Jacob Glantz, Johannes Glantz, Wolf Dietrich Biehn, Philipp Peter Rothau, Peter Jorg, Conrad Krieger, Adam Seder, Adam Reifschneider, and Johann Georg Müller.
The fire may have come about when the dry cropland surrounding Norka ignited and was carried by the wind to the settlement (as in a prairie fire) or the fire could have begun in the village itself where the mostly wooden structures were built side by side (as in the Chicago fire). In either scenario, a bucket brigade system would have been of limited use.
Source
Krieger, Jerry. The Norka Newsletter, Autumn 2009, page 21.
Last updated July 10, 2021.