Information about Great Fire

This is a list of historic fires. Before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities. It does not include historic wildfires or forest fires. See list of forest fires for a list of some of the most severe recorded forest fires.

Building or structure fires

• 586 BC - Temple in Jerusalem the first at Jerusalem burned by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians
• 356 BC - Temple of Artemis at Ephesus burned by arson
• c. 50 BC - Library of Alexandria burned during siege (possibly accidental)
• 70 - Temple in Jerusalem the second at Jerusalem burned by Roman Empire troops under general Titus
• 272 - Library of Alexandria possibly burned during occupation of Alexandria
• 391 - Library of Alexandria possibly burned by order of Roman Emperor Theodosius I
• 640 - Library of Alexandria possibly burned by order of Caliph Umar I

Note: evidence is scant for all four fires, but the library was eventually destroyed

• 1613 - Globe Theatre, London burned due to mishap
• 1652 - Town hall of Amsterdam burnt down. Treasures and important historical charters were destroyed.
• 1666 - Great Fire of London
• 1697 - The medieval "Tre Kronor" Royal Castle in Stockholm burned down and was eventually replaced by the present palace.
• 1794 - Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen
• 1811 - Richmond Theatre Fire, Richmond, VA. 72 dead.
• 1814 - The White House and U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. burned by the British

Note: The White House was already named before the fire, not because scorch marks were painted over

• 1823 - Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome
• 1834 - Palace of Westminster, home to Parliament of the United Kingdom
• 1844 - St. Michael's & St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Churches Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (reportedly due to arson)
• 1845 - Theatre fire in Canton, China killed 1670
• 1846 - Nantucket July 13
• 1863 - Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús fire in Santiago, Chile, killed over 2000
• 1866 - The Great Fire in Portland, Maine on July 4
• 1871 - Peshtigo Fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin on October 8, killed over 1200 people and burned 1.5 million acres.
• 1871 - Port Huron Fire of 1871 killed over 200 people in Port Huron, Michigan on October 8.
• 1871 - The Great Chicago Fire on October 8.
• 1876 - Brooklyn Theater Fire, killed 295 in Brooklyn, NY.
• 1878 - The Eldkvarn flour mill in Stockholm.
• 1878 - The Washburn "A" Mill flour mill explosion and fire in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 1881 - Ring Theater Fire, killed 850 in Vienna
• 1884 - Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen
• 1887 - Paris Opéra Fire on May 25 killed 200
• 1887 - Theatre Royal, Exeter Fire, England on September 5 killed 186
• 1895 - The Rotunda, University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia
• 1897 - Paris Bazaar Fire on May 4 killed 150
• 1899 - Windsor Hotel East 47th Street/5th Avenue Manhattan, New York - at least 33 and 45 people killed (estimates vary)
• 1900 - Hoboken Docks Fire on June 30 killed 326
• 1902 - Birmingham Church Fire on September 20 killed 115
• 1903 - Iroquois Theater Fire, Chicago, at least 600 died
• 1908 - Rhoads Theater Fire, Boyertown, PA killed 170
• 1908 - Collinwood School Fire, Cleveland, Ohio on March 4
• 1911 - Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, New York City
• 1916 - Centre Block of the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario
• 1918 - Norman State Hospital Fire, Norman, OK
• 1919 - Mayaguez Theater Fire, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• 1929 - Glen Cinema disaster, Paisley, Scotland killed 71 on December 31 http://www.glencinema.org.uk/
• 1929 - Cleveland Clinic Disaster, Cleveland
• 1930 - Ohio State Penitentiary Fire, Columbus
• 1931 - Pittsburgh Nursing Home Fire
• 1933 - Reichstag fire in Berlin, caused by arson
• 1934 - Hotel Kerns Fire in Lansing, MI
• 1936 - The Crystal Palace fire, London, England
• 1937 - Hindenburg disaster near Lakehurst, New Jersey
• 1938 - Terminal Hotel Fire in Atlanta, GA
• 1940 - Rhythm Night Club Fire, Natchez, MS
• 1941 - Great fire of Santander, Santander,Cantabria, Spain
• 1941 - Booth's clothing factory fire in Huddersfield, England killed 49 on October 31 http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0330features/tm_headline=booth-s-inferno-remembered&method=full&objectid=17958411&siteid=50060-name_page.html
• 1942 - Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1943 - Gulf Hotel Fire in Houston, TX
• 1943 - Hoteiza Theater Fire in Kucchan (Japan) killed 205 on March 6
• 1944 - Hartford Circus Fire in Hartford, Connecticut
• 1946 - LaSalle Hotel Fire in Chicago
• 1946 - Winecoff Hotel Fire in Atlanta, GA
• 1949 - St. Anthony's Hospital Fire in Effingham, IL
• 1953 - Littlefield Nursing Home Fire in Largo, FL
• 1954 - Larkin Building Fire in Buffalo, New York First fire in Buffalo's history to go to a general alarm
• 1957 - Warrenton Nursing Home Fire in Warrenton, MO
• 1958 - Our Lady of the Angels School Fire, Chicago
• 1958 - Vida Store Fire in Bogotá
• 1960 - Guatemala Mental Hospital Fire, killed 225 on July 14
• 1960 - Syrian Movie Theater Fire in Amude (Syria)
• 1961 - Grand North American Circus arson in Niterói (Brazil) killed 323 on December 17
• 1963 - Surfside Hotel Fire in Atlantic City, NJ on November 18
• 1963 - Golden Age Nursing Home Fire in Fitchville, OH killed 63 on November 23
• 1963 - Hotel Roosevelt fire in Jacksonville, FL killed 22 on December 29
• 1967 - 1967 Tasmanian fires in Tasmania, Australia
• 1967 - Apollo 1 burned during ground tests at Cape Canaveral
• 1967 - L'Innovation Department Store Fire, in Brussels killed 322 on May 22
• 1967 - Florida State Prison Fire, in Jay, FL killed 37 on July 16
• 1971 - Taeyunkak Hotel Fire in Seoul, South Korea on December 25
• 1972 - Hotel Vendome Fire in Boston, 9 firefighters killed on June 17
• 1973 - National Archives Fire in St. Louis, Missouri
• 1973 - Summerland disaster in Douglas, Isle of Man killed 51 on August 2
• 1974 - Joelma Fire kills 188 in São Paulo.
• 1977 - Beverly Hills Supper Club fire kills 165 in Southgate, Kentucky.
• 1978 - The Cinema Rex Fire kills over 400 in Abadan, Iran.
• 1980 - MGM Grand Hotel fire in Las Vegas, Nevada kills 87
• 1981 - Keansburg Boarding Home fire in Keansburg, New Jersey kills 30
• 1981 - Stardust Disaster, discotheque fire in Dublin kills 44
• 1982 - Connecticut Street Armory Fire in Buffalo, NY
• 1982 - Salang tunnel fire kills between 150 and 1,000 people in Afghanistan's only road tunnel
• 1982 - Caldecott Tunnel fire kills 6 and severely damages major road tunnel in Oakland, California
• 1982 - Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire destroys the Northwestern National Bank building and former Donaldson's flagship store.
• 1983 - Turin Movie Theater fire in Turin kills 64
• 1983 - Madrid Discotheque fire in Madrid kills 83
• 1984 - Summit tunnel fire in West Yorkshire, England
• 1985 - Valley Parade Ground Stadium fire in Bradford, England, 56 die
• 1986 - Dupont Plaza Hotel fire, set by disgruntled employees, kills 97 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
• 1987 - King's Cross fire in the London Underground
• 1988 - Piper Alpha disaster, North Sea
• 1990 - Happy Land Fire (arson) in the Bronx, New York City, kills 87
• 1990 - 1991 Hamlet chicken plant fire kills 25 people
• 1991 - Meridian Plaza 22nd Fl. fire caused by oil-soaked rags, Philadelphia
• 1992 - Windsor Castle, England
• 1993 - Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas, about 80 killed
• 1995 - 衛爾康餐廳Wei Er Kang Restaurant at Taichung, Taiwan killing 64
• 1996 - Teatro La Fenice in Venice
• 1996 - Channel Tunnel fire between France and England
• 1996 - The Garley Building fire (20 Nov 1996), Hong Kong, 40 killed.
• 1998 - October 29, Gothenburg nightclub fire in Gothenburg, Sweden, killing 63
• 1999 - Mont Blanc Tunnel fire between France and Italy, 39 killed
• 1999 - The Worcester Cold Storage fire, 6 firefighters killed
• 2001 - On January 3, the largest loss of life ever recorded in a single family dwelling occurs in Oak Orchard, Delaware when a pot of grease left unattended on a kitchen stove leads to the loss of 11 family members.
• 2001 - September 11 Terrorist Attacks in New York City and Arlington, Virginia
• 2001 - Volendam, fire in a bar/discoteque; killing 14, injuring 180 (many with lasting scars)
• 2001 - Fan Lin school explosion, fire breaks out in firework store, resultant explosion kills 41 children.
• 2002 - Ho Chi Minh City ITC Inferno, Vietnam, over 60 killed, over 100 missing and 500 injured in a luxurious department store fire and collapse
• 2003 - Daegu subway fire in Daegu (South Korea)
• 2003 - The Station nightclub fire, 96 died that night; 4 died from their injuries at local hospitals in West Warwick, Rhode Island
• 2003 - Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University, Moscow
• 2004 - Asunción supermarket fire kills at least 464
• 2004 - República Cromagnon nightclub fire in Buenos Aires kills 194, injures 714.
• 2005 - Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal in Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom, a major explosion injures 43.
• 2005 - 11 die at a fire in the detention center of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
• 2005 - Windsor Tower The Windsor Tower Building Fire, 14-15 February 2005 Spain http://www.elmundo.es/documentos/2005/02/windsor/index.htmlhttp://www.concretecentre.com/main.asp?page=1205
• 2006 - 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire kills at least nine people in India.
• 2006 - Moscow hospital fire kills 45 drug addicts in a rehabilitation centre.
• 2006 - Fire at store in Ormoc City, Philippines kills 24 http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/25/philippines.fire.ap/
• 2007 - Warehouse fire in Charleston, SC; 9 firefighters were killed battling the blaze.

City or area fires

• 64 - Great Fire of Rome
• 847 - Borgo, the area around Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
• 1204 - Constantinople burned three times during the Fourth Crusade
• 1421 - First Great Fire of Amsterdam
• 1452 - Second Great Fire of Amsterdam, three quarters of the city destroyed
• 1547 - Moscow fire which sparked a rebellion
• 1571 - Moscow fire occurred when the forces of the Crimean khan Devlet I Giray raided the city
• 1657 - Great Fire of Meireki - Edo (modern-day Tokyo)
• 1666 - Great Fire of London
• 1676 - Jamestown, Virginia Nathanial Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown to prevent Governor Berkley from using it as a base.
• 1694 - the Great Fire of Warwick
• 1696 - St. John's, Newfoundland and 35 other settlements burned by French forces under Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
• 1702 - Uppsala, Sweden, large parts of the city devastated and the cathedral and Uppsala Castle severely damaged.
• 1728 - Copenhagen Fire of 1728, two fifths of the city burned down during three days. 3,650 families became homeless.
• 1734 - Montreal, New France
• 1776 - New York City
• 1788 - Great New Orleans Fire
• 1794 - New Orleans
• 1795 - Copenhagen fire of 1795
• 1805 - Detroit
• 1812 - Moscow, to deny shelter to Napoleon
• 1812 - Buffalo, New York burned during the War of 1812
• 1813 - Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• 1813 - York, Upper Canada burned during the War of 1812
• 1814 - Burning of Washington during the War of 1812
• 1817 - St. John's, Newfoundland
• 1821 - Paramaribo (Suriname) over 400 houses destroyed
• 1827 - Great Fire of Turku
• 1835 - Great Fire of New York
• 1845 - Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroyed over 1000 buildings
• 1846 - St. John's, Newfoundland
• 1849 - St. Louis Fire, first US firefighter killed in the line of duty
• 1850 - Kraków, Poland, 10% of the city area
• 1852 - Vaasa, Finland
• 1854 - Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead: a spectacular explosion leads to the great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead, killing 53 and levelling substantial property in both towns.
• 1862 - Troy, New York, over 500 buildings destroyed
• 1864 - Atlanta burned after time given for evacuation of citizens by order of William Tecumseh Sherman
• 1865 - Columbia, South Carolina burned while being occupied by troops commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman
• 1865 - Richmond, Virginia burned by retreating Confederates.
• 1871 - Great Chicago Fire, destroyed the downtown area and paved the way for new building ideas
• 1871 - Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fire, several towns destroyed in a firestorm, 1500-2500 dead, same day as Chicago Fire
• 1872 - Great Boston Fire of 1872, destroyed 776 buildings and killed at least 20 people.
• 1877 - Saint John, New Brunswick Fire destroyed 1600 buildings
• 1883 - Ponce, Puerto Rico
• 1886 - Great Vancouver Fire, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1886.
• 1889 - Great Seattle Fire
• 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland
• 1894 - Great Fire in Shanghai; over 1,000 buildings are destroyed

• 1901 - Great Fire of 1901, Jacksonville, Florida
• 1904 - Great Baltimore Fire
• 1904 - Great Toronto Fire
• 1904 - Ã…lesund Fire
• 1906 - San Francisco earthquake and fire
• 1910 - The Big Blowup or Great Fire of 1910, Washington, Idaho and Montana, over 3 million acres (12,000 km²), 85 dead. This fire set new policies, and created new organizations for fighting wildfires.
• 1914 - Great Salem Fire of 1914
• 1916 - Matheson Fire, Matheson, Ontario
• 1917 - The Halifax Explosion, largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb
• 1917 - Over 300 acres (1.2 km²) (73 blocks) destroyed in Great Atlanta fire of 1917
• 1917 - Great Fire of 1917, Thessaloniki, Greece
• 1921 - Tulsa Race Riot, 35 city blocks; 1,256 residences were destroyed by arson
• 1923 - Tokyo following the Great Kantō earthquake
• 1933 - Tillamook Burn
• 1941 - Santander, Cantabria
• 1945 - Bombing of Dresden in World War II
• 1945 - Bombing of Tokyo in World War II, the largest urban conflargation in history.
• 1945 - Atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II
• 1945 - Atomic bombing of Nagasaki in World War II
• 1947 - Texas City Disaster, two ships explode, igniting chemical works, 460 - 600 killed
• 1949 - Mann Gulch fire
• 1951 - Tung Tau fire, fire in a squatter area in Hong Kong, up to 25,000 homeless, led to the Comfort Mission riot
• 1953 - Shek Kip Mei Fire, fire in a squatter area in Hong Kong, 58,000 homeless
• 1961 - Bukit Ho Swee Fire, flames erupt in a squatter settlement in Singapore, making 16,000 homeless
• 1981 - Arson fire in Lynn, Massachusetts levels downtown factory area under redevelopment; no conviction; $80 million damage estimatehttp://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/news/view.bg?articleid=13753
• 1983 - North Division Street explosion in Buffalo, New York kills 5 firefighters and 2civilians and destroys millions in property.
• 1988 - Yellowstone fires of 1988 largest, most expensive wildfire in the history of the National Park Service, at the world's first National Park
• 1991 - Kuwaiti oil fires following the Persian Gulf War
• 1991 - Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments
• 1994 - South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mt. near Glenwood Springs, Colorado kills fourteen firefighters on July 6.
• 2000 - Jasper Fire in The Black Hills of South Dakota burns 93,000+ acres (380 km²), the largest fire in Black Hills history
• 2002 - Lagos armoury explosion causes fire which destroys half of Lagos and killed 1,100 people
• 2002 - Edinburgh Cowgate fire
• 2002 - Rodeo-Chediski fire
• 2003 - Canberra bushfires fire that killed 4 and destroyed over 500 homes
• 2006 - Day Fire, Los Angeles and Ventura counties in California.
• 2007 - 2007 Greek forest fires large fire in Greece

Ship fires

See also: List of ship and ferry disasters

• 1800 - English warship Queen Charlotte — 700 deaths
• 1840 - Steamship Lexington in Long Island Sound — 139 deaths
• 1893 - Freighter Cabo Machichaco in Santander, Spain — 500 deaths .
• 1904 - Steamship General Slocum in New York City — 1,021 deaths
• 1917 - Munitions ship Mont-Blanc burned, drifted and detonated in the Halifax Explosion — roughly 2,000 deaths
• 1934 - SS Morro Castle off Asbury Park, New Jersey — 137 deaths
• 1941 - SS Normandie in New York City
• 1949 - SS Noronic in Toronto, Canada — 118 to 139 deaths
• 1963 - Lakonia near Madeira — 128 deaths
• 1965 - SS Yarmouth Castle near Nassau, Bahamas — 90 deaths
• 1972 - RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong
• 1987 - Doña Paz in the Philippines — an estimated 4,000 deaths
• 1990 - M/S Scandinavian Star off Norway — 159 deaths
• 1994 - Achille Lauro near Somalia
• 2006 - Star Princess in the Caribbean — 1 death
• 2007 - Cutty Sark, 19th-century clipper in dry dock as a museum ship in Greenwich, London extensively damaged while undergoing restoration on May 21

Other fires

• 1913 - Ais Gill rail crash in England kills 14 chiefly through fire on September 1
• 1915 - Quintinshill rail crash in Scotland kills 227 chiefly through fire on May 22
• 1962 - Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire begins
• 1978 - Taunton train fire on British Rail kills 12 on July 6
• 1992 - 健康幼稚園火燒車事件Chien-Kang Bus Fire one bus carrying 50 kindergarten students, teachers, and parents caught fire at Taoyuan on their way to the Leofoo Amusement Park killing 23 and injuring 9.
• 1998 - Yaounde train explosion fuel train explosion, kills 120 people.
• 2000 - Ibadan tanker truck explosion multiple car pile-up explodes 100-200 killed.
• 2000 - Kaprun disaster, Austrian funicular train fire, kills 155 people
• 2002 - Al Ayatt train disaster, Egypt
• 2003 - Ladhowal train fire, India
• 2003 - 尊龍客運高速公路火燒車事故 Chun-Lung Bus Fire- a charter bus caught fire at Taipei County killing 6 and injuring 4.