Commentary As the summer months are fast approaching, the fire season will again be a primary concern of Australia’s fire services. The memories of the disastrous bushfires of December 2019 and January 2020, only eclipsed by the COVID-19 pandemic, are still fresh in people’s minds. The dangers associated with fires alert people to the necessity to have safeguards in place and the need to follow the advice of the fire services. Now is also the time to reflect on the Great Chicago Fire, which devastated Chicago 150 years ago, and to consider what we can learn from that conflagration. The Great Chicago Fire started on Oct. 8, 1871, in Catherine O’Leary’s barn. O’Leary and her husband, Patrick, were Irish immigrants. Because of the dry conditions and strong wind, the fire spread and ravaged a large part of the city. The fire destroyed the downtown area and the north side of …