On June 22, 1969, a train passing over a trestle in Cleveland created a spark that caused a fire on the Cuyahoga River. That spark brought nationwide attention to the river 50 years ago, and it鈥檚 tainted Cleveland鈥檚 reputation for decades. Since then, fact and fiction have often mixed in the popular history of the fire.
Cleveland Metroparks historical interpreter Doug Kusak and Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler provide some context to the myths surrounding the river鈥檚 story.
Myth #1: Rivers Can Burn
No they can鈥檛. Rivers don鈥檛 burn, because liquid鈥檚 don鈥檛 burn.
鈥淲e did not have a burning river, we had a fire on our river,鈥� explained Kusak.
Myth #2: Time Magazine Published a Photo of the 1969 Fire
A photo of the 1952 fire [Cleveland Press Collection at Cleveland State University Library]
In August 1969, a Time magazine story reported on cities with polluted rivers. The accompanying photo captured a fire on the Cuyahoga River from 1952. The story was buried in the magazine鈥檚 environment section, but its cover story on Edward Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident was even bigger news than the moon landing. That story helped elevate the myth of the burning river.
Adler says no one has seen a real picture of the 1969 fire.
鈥淎s best we can tell, no one arrived on June 22, 1969, to actually catch a picture of the fire,鈥� said Adler. 鈥淭he picture that ran in the local papers is a picture of the clean-up operation.鈥�
Plain Dealer coverage of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire [Plain Dealer archive]
Myth #3: The 1969 Fire Was the Only One on the Cuyahoga River
Kusak says by most estimates, there were 13 fires on the Cuyahoga.
鈥淏y the standards of river fires, the 1969 fire was nothing,鈥� said Adler. 鈥淭here had been some real infernos that had burned docks, that burned facilities, that killed people.鈥�
A 1912 fire killed five and ruined several boats. In 1922, according to Adler, there was another fire in the same spot. And in 1952, a huge weekend fire caused thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Back then, pollution was seen as the cost of having successful industry.
Myth #4: The Cuyahoga River Was the Only "Burning River"
The Cuyahoga wasn鈥檛 the only river burning 50 years ago.
鈥淚鈥檝e found accounts of fires in Columbus, in Detroit, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore Harbor,鈥� said Adler.
Myth #5: The Fire Was a Sign of Things Getting Worse
Adler says things in Cleveland were actually getting better. Voters had approved a $100 million bond issue to clean up the river in 1968, a year before the famous fire.
And the 鈥�69 fire wasn鈥檛 the only reason Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and passed the Clean Water Act in 1972.
鈥淭here were a handful of events 鈥� the '69 fire, the Santa Barbara oil spill and so on,鈥� said Adler. 鈥淭hat really captured the nation's attention and crystallized the sense that something was very wrong environmentally.鈥�
The EPA itself says the conversation around protecting the environment started in the 1960s. To Kusak, the spotlight on Cleveland pushed the federal government to act.
鈥淚t was kind of like that wake-up call to the country, we鈥檝e got to change things,鈥� said Kusak.
The Fire's Reputation 50 years later
People still get parts of the Cuyahoga River鈥檚 story wrong. Adler sees it mostly with folks outside of Cleveland, like the TV channel that used a photo of a burning river in Russia to represent Cleveland during the Indians鈥� post-season in 2016.
TBS used a pic of a burning river to show CLE during Indians coverage. Should they apologize? 鈥� Cleveland 19 News (@cleveland19news)
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a cultural meme that won鈥檛 go away,鈥� said Adler. 鈥淚鈥檝e certainly tried and spent a lot of the last 10, 15 years trying to educate people about the more complete history.鈥�
Kusak wants to see more focus on how far the river has come since that last fire in 1969. He calls the river the region鈥檚 defining resource, but says people must continue to protect it.
鈥淐leveland has the Cuyahoga River,鈥� said Kusak. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why Cleveland鈥檚 here, that鈥檚 why the suburbs are here. So if we don鈥檛 take care of that, we鈥檙e not taking care of ourselves.鈥�
Note: A previous version of this story stated Kusak believed there were 12 fires on the Cuyahoga. He says most estimates indicate there were 13. The audio version of this story has been corrected.
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