Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac
Edward Sorin, CSC -- Translated by John M. Toohey, CSC, 1895

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1856

pg 303                                    8.  Fire
                  On December 17 towards two o'clock in the morning fire broke 
             out in the stable, and in spite of all efforts, the building and 
             all that belonged to it were swept away in some hours.  Two horses 
             were reduced to ashes, with a quantity of corn, oats, salt, meat, 
             harness, farm implements, etc.  Hardly anything could be saved, 
             and the loss was 15,000fr.  There was no insurance.  It appears 
             that the fire started in the room next to the horse stables where 
             candles were made.
                  The farm house which was only twenty feet from the fire was 
             saved with difficulty.  If the wind had been blowing in the 
             direction of the granary, the loss would have been twice as great, 
             and would have been inevitable.
                  The flames rose in a terrifying manner to more than fifty 
             feet; the air was afire with sparks which the wind drove towards 
             the college and the church.  For nearly an hour a constant cloud 
             of burning materials was passing over the church and the college, 
             a rain of fire falling on the roofs.