Editing Duluth, Minnesota (section)

====1918 Cloquet Fire====
In 1918, the [[1918 Cloquet Fire|Cloquet Fire]] (named for the nearby city of [[Cloquet, Minnesota|Cloquet]]) burned across Carlton and St. Louis Counties, destroying dozens of communities in the Duluth area. The fire was the worst natural disaster in Minnesota history in terms of the number of lives lost in a single day. Many people died on the rural roads surrounding the Duluth area, and historical accounts tell of victims dying while trying to outrun the fire. The ''News Tribune'' reported: "It is estimated that 100 families were rendered homeless by Saturday's fire in the territory known as the Woodland District... In most cases, families which lost their homes also lost most or all of their furniture and personal belongings, the limited time and transportation facilities affording little opportunity for saving anything but human life."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Duluth: the Homecroft City – Zenith City Online |url=http://zenithcity.com/duluth-the-homecroft-city/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221215309/http://zenithcity.com/duluth-the-homecroft-city/ |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |access-date=June 9, 2013}}</ref> The [[Minnesota National Guard|National Guard]] unit based in Duluth was mobilized in a heroic effort to battle the fire and assist victims, but its troops were overwhelmed by the enormity of the fire.

Retired ''Duluth News Tribune'' columnist and journalist Jim Heffernan<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Heffernan – Zenith City Online |url=http://zenithcity.com/author/hef/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904233603/http://zenithcity.com/author/hef/ |archive-date=September 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> wrote that his mother "recalled an overnight vigil watching out the window of their small home on lower Piedmont Avenue with her father, her younger sisters having gone to sleep, ready to be evacuated to the waterfront should the need arise. The fire never made it that far down the hill, but devastated what is now Piedmont Heights, and, of course, a widespread area of Northeastern Minnesota."<ref>{{Cite web |title=West End confidential: Goat Hill to Slabtown – Zenith City Online |url=http://zenithcity.com/west-end-confidential-goat-hill-to-slabtown/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906111841/http://zenithcity.com/west-end-confidential-goat-hill-to-slabtown/ |archive-date=September 6, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In the fire's aftermath, tens of thousands of people were left injured or homeless; many of the refugees fled into the city for aid and shelter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yesterday's News » Blog Archive » "Monday, Oct. 14, 1918: Hundreds die in Cloquet fire" |url=http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/oldnews/archives/45 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702024929/http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/oldnews/archives/45 |archive-date=July 2, 2012}}</ref>