The Inferno Wedge

The South Water West Side is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, bounded on the north by I-290 near the Clinton subway station, and south near the Halsted Street Metra Station. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 began here, in O'Leary's barn behind 137 DeKoven Street — today 558 West DeKoven Street — where the city built the Robert J Quinn Fire Academy in 1961. A massive bronze flame sculpture, Tongues of Flame, marks the point of origin on the sidewalk. The historic South Water Market warehouse complex, built in 1925, along West 15th Street and the railroads on the south has been transformed into the University Commons loft condominiums. - AsNotedIn

Fun Fact: The O'Leary property belonged to Patrick and Catherine O'Leary. While the great fire leapt from their barn and drove north through the city, the family's front cottage survived the initial blaze because the winds pushed the flames away from it.