On Nov. 9, 1872, the Boston Fire began on a Saturday and end ended Sunday destroying 776 buildings across 65 acres with the assessed value of the properties at nearly $13.5 million and personal property loss of of $60 million dollars. The fire department at the time was dealing with an epizootic, a disease which affects equine animals, requiring the firefighters themselves, rather than the horses, to pull the heavy fire apparatus, slowing the response time.

The Great Epizootic is known as the most destructive recorded episode of equine influenza in history. The illness infected horses in nearly every major urban center in Canada and the U.S. over a 50-week period beginning in late September 1872.