In October 1997 , as Huels resigned in the SDI scandal , and amid calls for Burke 's resignation , Burke sponsored a resolution exonerating Kate O'Leary and her cow Daisy of culpability for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . The resolution cited research blaming the fire on an O'Leary neighbor , Daniel " Peg Leg " Sullivan . Burke argued in favor of passage of the resolution , In 1871 , journalists , eager to sensationalize the events of the Great Fire , were quick to find in Mrs. Kate O'Leary an easy scapegoat for the calamitous inferno . As a working-class immigrant and a woman , Kate O'Leary was an easy target for those publications who always found it comfortable to vilify Irish Catholics who had not yet assimilated into the dominant American middle-class culture . The resolution was unanimously recommended by the City Council 's Police and Fire Committee on October 6 , 1997 and passed unanimously by the full City Council on October 28 , 1997 . Other Burke legislative initiatives include protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke , mandating pet-spaying , and regulating fatty restaurant food
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Edward M. Burke