List of historic fires
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(Redirected from 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.
Contents |
[edit] Building or structure fires
- 356 BC - Temple of Artemis at Ephesus burned by arson
- c. 50 BC - Library of Alexandria possibly burned accidentally during siege
- 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
- 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 Catholic Churches, by Protestant arson [Philadelphia, PA]
- 1846 - Nantucket July 13
- 1863 - Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús fire in Santiago, Chile, killed over 2000
- 1876 - Brooklyn Theater Fire, killed 295 in Brooklyn, NY
- 1878 - The Eldkvarn flour mill in Stockholm.
- 1881 - Ring Theater Fire, killed 850 in Vienna
- 1884 - Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen
- 1887 - Paris Opera Fire, killed 200 on May 25
- 1887 - Exeter Theater Fire, England
- 1895 - The Rotunda, University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia
- 1897 - Paris Bazaar Fire, killed 150 on May 4
- 1900 - Hoboken Docks Fire, killed 326 on June 30
- 1901 - Great Fire of 1901 (Jacksonville, Fl), 7 killed
- 1902 - Birmingham Church Fire, killed 115 on September 20
- 1903 - Chicago's Iroquois Theater, at least 600 died
- 1908 - Rhoads Theater Fire, Boyertown, PA, 170 killed
- 1908 - Collinwood School Fire, Cleveland, OH 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 - Cleveland Clinic Disaster, Cleveland, OH
- 1930 - Ohio State Penitentiary Fire, Columbus, OH
- 1931 - Pittsburgh Nursing Home Fire
- 1933 - Reichstag fire in Berlin, caused by arson
- 1934 - Hotel Kerns Fire in Lansing, MI
- 1937 - Hindenburg disaster near Lakehurst, New Jersey
- 1938 - Terminal Hotel Fire in Atlanta, GA
- 1940 - Rhythm Night Club Fire, Natchez, MS
- 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 Fire 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 - 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
- 1973 - 1973 National Archives Fire in St. Louis, Missouri
- 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
- 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
- 1985 - 007 stage burns down at pinetree studios in england.
- 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
- 1992 - Windsor Castle, England
- 1993 - Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas, about 80 killed
- 1996 - Teatro La Fenice in Venice
- 1996 - Channel Tunnel fire between France and England
- 1998 - October 29, Macedonian Association Discotheque in Gothenburg, killing 63
- 1999 - Mont Blanc Tunnel fire between France and Italy, 39 killed
- 1999 - The Worcester Cold Storage fire, 6 firefighters killed
- 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.
- 2003 - Daegu subway fire in Daegu (South Korea)
- 2003 - The Station nightclub fire 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.
[edit] 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 - The Great Fire of Boston, Massachusetts, destroyed 776 buildings and killed at least 20 people.
- 1877 - Saint John, New Brunswick Fire destroyed 1600 buildings
- 1883 - Ponce, Puerto Rico
- 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 - Ålesund 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 estimate[1]
- 1983 - North Division Street explosion in Buffalo, New York kills five firefighters and two civilians and destroys millions in property.
- 1988 - Yellowstone Fire of 1988
- 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
- 2006 - Day fire
[edit] 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
- 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
[edit] Other fires
- 1901 - Great fire, Jacksonville
- 1962 - Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire begins
- 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, Indiaja:火災の年表
