Highlight statistics about the fire that would be valuable to quote in an essay.

On October 8, 1871, a huge fire started near Chicago's downtown area and burned four square miles to the ground before it was extinguished. The blaze burned homes and shops and left 300 people dead and 500,000 people homeless.

—"The Great Chicago Fire,"
Library of Congress,

Read this quotation: “The blaze burned homes and shops and left 300 people dead and 500,000 people homeless.” How should this quotation be used in an informative essay?

to explain the writer’s viewpoint
to support the fact that the fire was devastating
to support the fact that firefighters were exhausted
to sum up the writer’s points and serve as a conclusion