Answer: Residents were used to fires and did not think that this one was different from any others.
Explanation:
The Great Fire, written by Jim Murphy, is a story about the fire that destroyed the city of Chicago in 1871. Apart from the historical facts about the event, this story describes how it impacted people's lives, and how they managed to restore the city.
In this excerpt, it is stated that fires frequently occurred in Chicago back then. People were used to this situation, and were not aware of the extent of this disaster.
