1918: A deadly confluence of influenza and forest fire

The following historical account on the flu pandemic in 1918 comes from the Minnesota Historical Society and its MNopedia project that tracks Minnesota history online and includes the history feature the Pine Knot News publishes weekly. Reporter Mike Creger added information about how the flu hit fire-ravaged Carlton County.

The 1918 influenza pandemic, often referred to as the "Spanish flu," caused an estimated 50 million deaths worldwide. In the United States, an estimated 675,000 deaths occurred; 10,000 were in Minnesota. It's difficult to know what the actual numbers were since knowledge a...