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. While a few of the most
important wildfires or forest fires are included, this list is not
the primary resource to refer to for the most severe wildfires,
which is summarized in the
List of
forest fires.
City fires
- 64 - Great Fire of Rome
- 406 -
A great fire burns down much of Constantinople

- 532 -
The Nika riots result in the destruction
of much of Constantinople
by fire
- 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
, which originated in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane
and destroyed much of London.
- 1675 The Great Fire of Northampton, England. The blaze was
caused by sparks from an open fire in St. Mary’s Street near
Northampton castle, and devastated the town centre, destroying
about 600 buildings including All Saints church, in 6 hours. Three
quarters of the town was destroyed, 11 people died and about 700
families were made homeless.
- 1676 - Jamestown, Virginia
Nathanial Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown to prevent
Governor Berkley from using it as a base.
- 1689 -
Skopje
, present-day capital of Macedonia, is burned
- 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
- 1752 - June 6 - Fire destroys 18,000 houses in Moscow.
- 1776 - First Great
Fire of New York City
- 1788 - First Great New
Orleans Fire , Good Friday, March 21, 1788, 856 Structures
burned.
- 1788 - Great Fire of Tenmei
- Kyoto, Japan, 150 killed, 37,000 houses burned, on January
30.
- 1794 - Second Great
New Orleans Fire , December 8, 1788. 212 structures
destroyed.
- 1795 - Copenhagen fire of
1795
- 1805
- Detroit

- 1811 - 1811 Great fire of
Podil
- 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 - Second Great
Fire of New York City
- 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
- 1849
- Toronto,
Ontario

- 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 on October 8
- 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
- 1879
- 1879 Hakodate fire, Hakodate, Hokkaidō
, Japan, 67 fatalities, 20,000 homeless.
- 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
- 1898
- Great Fire of New
Westminster
, British
Columbia
- 1883
- El Polvorin, Ponce,
Puerto Rico

- 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
- Great Fire of 1910 (aka Big
Blowup; Big Burn), Washington
, Idaho
and
Montana
, over 3 million acres (12,000 km²), at least
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 - Great Atlanta fire
of 1917, during which over 300 acres (1.2 km²) (73 blocks)
destroyed
- 1917
- Great Thessaloniki
Fire of 1917, Thessaloniki
, Greece
- 1921 - Tulsa Race Riot, 35 city
blocks; 1,256 residences were destroyed by arson
- 1922
- The Great Fire of Smyrna,
Izmir
, Turkey
- 1922
- The Great Fire of 1922 in the
Timiskaming
District, Ontario
, Canada, killed 43 people and burnt down 18
townships.
- 1923
- 1923 Tokyo
fire
following the Great Kantō
earthquake
. James, Charles D. (2002). "The 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and Fire," pp. 2-3. National
Information Service for Earthquake Engineering (NISEE),
University of California, Berkeley.
- 1933
- Tillamook Burn, Oregon

- 1934
- 1934 Hakodate fire, Hakodate, Hokkaidō
, Japan, killed 2,166.
- 1938 - 1938 Changsha Fire,
56,000 buildings burned by the Chinese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War to prevent
the Japanese from getting resources from the city, 3,000 civilians
killed on November 13.
- 1939
- Great Lagunillas Fire at Ciudad Ojeda
, Venezuela
on November 14.
- Air-raids during World War II
resulting in some of the world's deadliest fires
- 1940
- The
Second Great Fire of London
, one of the most destructive air raids of the
The Blitz. 1,500 killed.
- 1943 - Hamburg, 45,000 killed
(largest in an air-raid on Germany)
- 1943 - Kassel,
10,000 killed
- 1944 - Braunschweig, 2,600
killed but 30,000 rescued
- 1944 - Darmstadt, 12,000
killed
- 1944 - Heilbronn, 6,500
killed
- 1945 - Dresden, around 30,000
killed in firestorm during one of the most
controversial Allied air-raids
- 1945 - Pforzheim, a quarter of
the town's population (17,000) killed
- 1945
- Tokyo
, causing the largest urban conflagration in
history. Over 100,000 killed.
- 1945 - Würzburg, 5,000
killed
- 1945 - Kobe,
8,800 killed
- 1945 - Atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two large city fires, one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki
- 1941
- Santander,
Cantabria

- 1947
- Texas City
Disaster
, two ships explode, igniting chemical works, 460 -
600 killed
- 1948 - Fukui earthquake with fire, 46,000
buildings and houses lost on July
- 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[33938]
- 1983 - Ash Wednesday fires
in south-eastern Australia killed 75 people in South Australia and
Victoria.
- 1983
- North Division Street
explosion in Buffalo, New York
kills 5 firefighters and 2civilians and destroys
millions in property.
- 1985
- Isabella Island forest fire, Galápagos
Island, Ecuador
, lost on March.
- 1985 - Annanar forest fire, Portugal, 1,500 km² destroyed,
killing 14.
- 1986
- Chu Ku Tsai village fire, Hong Kong
, 2,000 homeless on Lunar New Year holiday.
- 1986
- Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter
fire, Aberdeen,
Hong Kong
, 150 vessels destroyed, 1,700 homeless and 2
injured on December 25
- 1987
- Greater
Hinggan
forest fire, Heilongjiang
, China, lost, 213 killed on April
- 1988
- Yellowstone
fires of 1988
largest, most expensive wildfire in the history of
the National Park Service, at the world's first National
Park
- 1988
- Great Lashio Fire, Lashio
, Myanmar
, killed 134, 2000 building destroy.
- 1991 - Kuwaiti oil fires
following the Persian Gulf War
- 1991
- Oakland
Hills firestorm
kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and
apartments
- 1991
- Great Meiktila fire, 5,900 buildings and houses burned and kills
thirty-one, Meiktila
, central Myanmar
on April 7.
- 1993
- A Tsunami hit with fire at Okushiri Island
, Japan by 1993 quake, 645 houses lost, 202 killed
on July.
- 1994 - Isabella Island forest fire, Galápagos Island, Ecuador,
12 km² lost on April.
- 1994
- South Canyon Fire on Storm King
Mountain
near Glenwood Springs, Colorado
kills fourteen firefighters on July
6.
- 1995
- Great
Hanshin Earthquake
with fire, Kobe,
Japan
- 1996
- 1996 Pat Sin Leng
wildfire, Pat Sin
Leng
, Tai Po, Hong Kong
; 5 (3 pupils and 2 teachers) killed on February
10
- 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
- 2003 - Cedar Fire destroyed over 550
homes and many acres of land
- 2006 - Day Fire, Los Angeles and
Ventura counties in California.
- 2007 - 2007 Greek forest
fires large fire in Greece
- 2007 - October
2007 California wildfires Fires in California
- 2008 - Camden Market Fire,
which caused severe damage to one of North London's most famous
shopping districts.
- 2009 - Kenyan oil
spill ignition kills at least 111.
- 2009
- In February, at the end of a severe heatwave,
bushfires
swept through the Australian state of
Victoria
killing 173 people, injuring around 500, destroying
at least 2029 homes and wiping entire towns off the map.
They are the deadliest bushfires in Australia's history and also
one of Australia's worst natural disasters.
Building or structure fires
BC
AD through 1800s
- 70 -
Temple in
Jerusalem
(the second) 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
- 1190
- Fire at Clifford's
Tower
, York
, England
kills at least 150 Jews
- 1561 - Fire of Valladolid (21 September) destroys a tenth of
the city, including 440 houses.
- 1568
- The Great Fire of Ferrol
which
reduced to rubble the old medieval town
- 1577
- Fire in the Doge's
Palace
, Venice, destroyed major works by Bellini, Titian and
Tintoretto
- 1608 - First settlement in Jamestown burns
- 1613
- Globe
Theatre
, London burned due to mishap
- 1652
- Town hall of Amsterdam
burnt down. Treasures and important
historical charters were destroyed.
- 1697
- The medieval "Tre Kronor" Royal Castle in
Stockholm
burned down and was eventually replaced by the
present palace.
- 1698
- The Tudor and Stuart Palace of Whitehall
, London burned, except for Inigo Jones's Banqueting
House. The ruins were demolished.
- 1727
- Fire
during puppet show in barn at Burwell,
Cambridgeshire
, England, killed 78 (including 51
children)
- 1731
- Coudenbourg Royal Palace, Brussels
, destroyed and never rebuilt.
- 1734 - The Royal Palace of the Alcazar, Madrid, burned on
Christmas Eve. Eventually replaced by the present royal
palace.
- c.1750-1755 - Wii
Lax K'abit and Lax Ksiluux, two
villages of the Nisga'a people on the
Tseax
River
were destroyed by volcanic
eruption
- 1794
- Christiansborg Palace
, Copenhagen
- 1811
- Richmond Theatre Fire, Richmond, Virginia
. 72 dead.
- 1814
- The White
House
and United States Capitol
in Washington, D.C.
burned by the British
- 1823
- Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the
Walls
, Rome
- 1834
- Palace of
Westminster
, home to Parliament
of the United Kingdom
- 1837
- The Winter
Palace
, St.
Petersburg
, Russia
destroyed except for The Hermitage
- 1841
- Mayagüez,
Puerto Rico
January 30
- 1844
- St. Michael's & St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Churches
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(reportedly due to arson)
- 1845
- Theatre fire in Canton
, China killed 1670
- 1863
- Church of the Company
Fire in Santiago,
Chile
; killed over 2500
- 1864 - Boijmans Museum,
Rotterdam, destroyed 198 Dutch old master paintings
- 1866
- The Great Fire
in Portland, Maine
on July 4
- 1871
- Port Huron Fire of 1871
killed over 200 people in Port Huron, Michigan
on October 8.
- 1871
- Fires deliberately set during the Paris
Commune in May destroyed the Royal Palace of the Tuileries
, the Louvre
Library, the Palais de Justice, the Hotel de Ville, the Gare de Lyon, and the Palais
d'Orsay.
- 1871
- The Great Chicago Fire, killing
hundreds and destroying about of the City of Chicago
.
- 1876
- Brooklyn
Theater Fire
, killed 273 – 300 in Brooklyn, New York
- 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

- 1881
- The Great Michigan Fire,
killed over 200 in Michigan

- 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, mostly women trampled underfoot
- 1897
- Great Windsor Fire, Windsor, Nova Scotia
Canada, destroyed 80% of the town
- 1899
- Windsor Hotel East 47th Street/5th Avenue Manhattan
, New
York
- at least 33 and 45 people killed (estimates
vary)
1900-1950
- 1900 - Hoboken Docks Fire on
June 30 killed 326
- 1903
- Colney
Hatch Lunatic Asylum
fire, London, killed 51 on January 27
- 1903
- Iroquois
Theater Fire
, Chicago
, at least 600 died
- 1904
- Great Toronto Fire, Toronto

- 1905
- Lodging House fire in Glasgow
killed 39
- 1906
- the Great 1906
Earthquake and Fire destroyed 400 city blocks (including
downtown) of the City of San Francisco
burning an estimated 25,000 buildings, and
killing an estimated 3-5,000 people
- 1908
- Rhoads
Theater Fire
, Boyertown, Pennsylvania
killed 170
- 1908
- Collinwood School Fire
, Cleveland, Ohio
killed 175 on March 4
- 1909
- Flores Theater fire, Acapulco
, Guerrero
, Mexico
on February 15, killing 250.
- 1910
- Friedlander Leather Remnants factory fire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. 11 firemen lost their lives in two separate
collapses.
- 1910
- Ököritófülpös
, Hungary
, fire in a barn during a dancing-party killed
312 people.
- 1911 - Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory fire, New York City
- 1911 - Great Porcupine
Fire, Ontario
- 1913 - Binghamton
Factory Fire, New York
- 1916
- Centre Block of the Parliament of Canada
in Ottawa
, Ontario
- 1916 - Matheson Fire, Ontario,
July 29. Six towns destroyed, two more damaged, 223 people
dead.
- 1918
- Norman State Hospital
Fire, Norman,
Oklahoma

- 1918
- Happy
Valley Racecourse
fire, Happy Valley
, Hong
Kong
, over 600 killed on February 26
- 1919
- Mayaguez Theater Fire,
San
Juan, Puerto Rico

- 1922
- Public Records Office fire during civil unrest at the Four Courts
complex, Dublin,Ireland, destroyed much of seven
centuries of official Irish public records
- 1922
- Great Fire of 1922, Northern
Ontario, several towns destroyed including 90% of the City of
Haileybury

- 1923
- Cleveland School Fire, Camden, South Carolina
, killed 77 on May 16
- 1924
- Babbs
Switch Schoolhouse Fire
, Oklahoma
, killed 36 on December 24
- 1925
- Madame
Tussauds
wax museum in
London
- 1926
- Dromcolliher
cinema fire in County Limerick
, Ireland, killed 48 on September 5
- 1927
- Laurier Palace Theatre
Fire, Montreal
, killed 77 children on January 9
- 1928
- Teatro de Novedades theater fire killed 68 or maybe 110,
Madrid
, Spain on 22 September
- 1929
- Gillingham Fair fire
disaster, Kent
, England
kills 15 as firefighting demonstration goes wrong on July
11.
- 1929
- Glen Cinema disaster,
Paisley
, Scotland
killed 71 on December 31 [33939]
- 1929
- Cleveland Clinic fire of
1929, Cleveland, Ohio
killed 123
- 1930
- Jinhae Primary School fire, Jinhae
, Gyeongsangnamdo
, South
Korea
, killed 104 on March 10
- 1930
- Ohio Penitentiary fire, Columbus, Ohio
killed 322
- 1931
- Glaspalast
fire on July 6
- 1931 - Pittsburgh
Nursing Home Fire
- 1933 - Reichstag fire in Berlin,
caused by arson
- 1934
- Hotel Kerns Fire in Lansing,
Michigan

- 1935
- Berlin Fair Fire also damaged
Berlin
Radio Tower

- 1937
- Hindenburg disaster
near Lakehurst, New Jersey
- 1937 - South Tomita Primary School fire, Shirahama, Wakayama,
Japan, killed 81 on 20 December
- 1937 - Antoung Movie Theater fire, China, killed 658 on
February 13
- 1938
- Terminal Hotel Fire in
Atlanta,
Georgia

- 1938
- Nouvelles Galeries department
store fire, Marseille
, France, killed 73 on October 28
- 1940
- Rhythm Night Club Fire,
Natchez,
Mississippi
killed 209 on April 23
- 1941
- Great Fire of Santander,
Santander,
Cantabria
, Spain
- 1941
- Booth's clothing factory fire in Huddersfield
, England killed 49 on October 31 [33940]
- 1942
- Knights of Columbus
Hostel fire in St. John's, Newfoundland and
Labrador
, kills 99
- 1942
- Cocoanut
Grove fire
in Boston, Massachusetts
kills 492
- 1943 - Cavan Orphanage
Fire, Ireland, kills 36 on 23 February
- 1943
- Gulf Hotel Fire in Houston, TX
kills 55
- 1943
- Hoteiza Theater Fire in
Kucchan, Hokkaidō
, Japan, killed 205 on March 6
- 1944
- Hartford
Circus Fire
in Hartford, Connecticut
killed 168 on July 6
- 1945
- The Empire
State Building
in New York City is set on fire by a B-25 Mitchell that crashed into the building,
killing 14 on July 28
- 1946 - Loebel club fire in Berlin, Germany, killed 89 on
February 8
- 1946
- LaSalle Hotel Fire in Chicago
kills 61
- 1946
- Winecoff Hotel Fire in
Atlanta,
GA
, killed 119 on December 7
- 1947 - Le Select Cinema fire in Rueil-Malmaison, France, killed 87 on August
30
- 1947
- Ballantyne's Department
Store
fire, Christchurch
, New
Zealand
, killed 41 on 18 November
- 1948
- Wing On godown
fire, Hong
Kong
, 139 killed
- 1949
- St. Anthony's Hospital
Fire in Effingham, Illinois
killed 70 on April 5
- 1949
- A fire burning for 18 hours in Chongqing
's waterfront and banking district, on September
2, killed 2865 people and left more than 100,000 homeless.
7000 buildings were destroyed.
- 1950
- Mercy Hospital fire, Davenport, Iowa
, killed 41 on January 7
- 1950
- Kinkakuji
Fire by arsonist in Kyoto,
Japan on July 2
1951-1975
- 1951
- al-Duniya Theater fire in Kano
, present
day of Nigeria
on May 13, killing 100.
- 1953
- Littlefield Nursing Home
Fire in Largo,
Florida

- 1954
- Larkin Warehouse Fire in Buffalo, New York
. Only fire in Buffalo to go to a
General Alarm (Entire department responds)
- 1955 - Elderly home for Catholic church fire in Yokohama, Japan killed 100 on February 16
- 1957
- Warrenton Nursing Home
Fire in Warrenton, Missouri

- 1958
- Our Lady of the Angels School
Fire
, Chicago
killed 95 on December 1
- 1958
- Almacen Vida
Department Store Fire and kills eighty-three and injuring 200
in Bogotá
, Colombia
on December 16.
- 1959
- Stalheim Hotel fire, Norway
, killed 34 on June 23
- 1960
- Kukje Rubber Manufacturing plant 2 fire at Busan
, South
Korea
, killing 68, injured 44, on March 2.
- 1960
- Cheapside Street
Whisky Bond Fire, Glasgow
, Scotland
, killed 19 firefighters on March 28
- 1960 - Guatemala
Mental Hospital Fire, killed 225 on July 14
- 1960
- Syrian Movie Theater
Fire in Amude
(Syria
)
- 1961
- Top Storey nightclub fire in Bolton
, England killed 19 on 1 May
- 1961
- Niterói circus fire in
Niterói
(Brazil
) killed 323 on December 17
- 1963
- Fretz Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, twelve-alarm fire
was largest in city history. 50 homes and multiple
businesses destroyed along with original fire building on January
1.
- 1963
- Le Monde Theater fire at Diourbel
, Kaolack
, Senegal
on May 4, killing 64
- 1963
- Surfside Hotel Fire in
Atlantic
City, New Jersey
on November 18
- 1963
- Golden Age Nursing Home
Fire in Fitchville, Ohio
killed 63 on November 23
- 1963
- Hotel Roosevelt fire in
Jacksonville, Florida
killed 22 on December 29
- 1967
- 1967 Tasmanian fires in
Tasmania
, Australia
- 1967
- Apollo 1 burned during ground tests at
Cape
Canaveral
January 27, 3 astronauts died
- 1967
- Dale's Penthouse restaurant fire in Montgomery, Alabama
killed 25 on 7 February
- 1967
- L'Innovation Department Store
Fire
, in Brussels
killed 322 on May 22
- 1967
- Florida State Prison
Fire, in Jay,
Florida
killed 37 on July 16
- 1968 - Ikenobo Mangetsujyo Hotel fire at Arima Spa, Kobe, Hyogo,
Japan, killing 30 and injuring 44 on November 2
- 1968
- Stern's upholstery factory fire in Glasgow
, Scotland
, killed 24 on November 18
- 1969 - Bandai Atami International Sightseeing Hotel fire, in
Koriyama, Japan, kills 31 on 5
February.
- 1970
- Club Cinq-Sept fire in
Saint-Laurent-du-Pont
, France, killed 146 on November 1
- 1970
- Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson, Arizona
, killed 29 on December 20
- 1971
- Under construction Jumbo Kingdom
industrial fire in Aberdeen Harbour
, Hong
Kong
, killing up to 34 workers on October
30.
- 1971
- Taeyunkak Hotel Fire in Seoul, South Korea
on December 25
- 1972 - Sennichi Department Store Fire in Osaka, Japan, killed 118 on May 13
- 1972
- Hotel Vendome fire in Boston
, 9 firefighters killed on June 17
- 1972
- Coldharbour Hospital fire in Sherborne
, England, killed 30 on July 5
- 1972
- Blue Bird Cafe fire in
Montreal
, firebombed, resulting in 37 deaths on September
2
- 1972
- Robinson Department Store fire, killing twelve and 114-years old
landmark building in Singapore
on November 21.
- 1973
- The nightclub Whiskey Au Go
Go in Brisbane, Australia
firebombed, resulting in 15 deaths on March
18
- 1973
- National Archives Fire in
St.
Louis, Missouri

- 1973
- LA Cocktail Lounge fire in New Orleans, Louisiana
killed 32 on June 24
- 1973
- Summerland disaster
in Douglas, Isle of Man
killed 51 on August 2
- 1973
- Hotel Hafnia fire, Copenhagen
, Denmark
, 35 killed on September 1
- 1973
- Taiyo Department Store Fire in Kumamoto,
Kyūshū
, Japan, killed 104 on November 29
- 1974
- Joelma
Fire
kills 188 in São Paulo
on February 1.
- 1974
- Pui Lai Win Hotel with night club and other facilities fire,
Seoul
, South
Korea
, 89 killed on November 3
- 1975 - Gulf Refinery Fire, Philadelphia, PA. Eight firemen lost their
lives in the inferno. August 17.
1976-2000
- 1976 - Retirement Home Fire, Goulds, Newfoundland and
Labrador. 22 people killed on December 26.
- 1977
- Rossiya
Hotel
fire in Moscow, Russia, 45 killed on February
25
- 1977
- Hotel Polen fire in Amsterdam
, Netherlands kills 33
- 1977
- Beverly Hills Supper Club
fire
kills 165 in Southgate, Kentucky
.
- 1977
- Xinyang cinema fire in Xinjiang, China
killing 694 people
- 1978
- The Cinema Rex Fire (arson)
kills 438 in Abadan
, Khuzestan
, Iran
.
- 1978
The Younkers Department store at the Merle
Hay Mall in Des
Moines, Iowa
kills 10 store employees, the store is closed
and rebuilt a year after the fire.
- 1979
- Old People's Nurse Home fire at Virrat
, Pirkanmaa
, Finland
, at least twenty-six death, January
23.
- 1979
- Hotel Corona de
Aragón fire Fire in Zaragoza
, Aragon
, Spain, kills at least 80
- 1979
- Lakshimki Talkies cinema fire, in Tuticorin
, Tamil
Nadu
, India, kills 73 on July 29.
- 1979
- Hotel Am Augarten fire in Vienna
, Austria, kills 25
- 1979
- Opémiska Community Hall fire, Chapais, Quebec
, Canada, killed 48 on 31 December
- 1980
- A fire in the Eventide Home
for the Aged in Kingston, Jamaica
kills 157 on May 20
- 1980 - Nightclub fire kills 37 in London on 16 August
- 1980
- MGM
Grand fire
in Las Vegas, Nevada
kills 87
- 1980
- Prince Hotel of Kawaji Fire in
Kinugawa
, Japan, kills 45
- 1981
- Nilkanth Mahaden temple fire, Asarwa,
Gujarat
, India, 49 killed on December 6
- 1981
- Keansburg Boarding Home
fire in Keansburg, New Jersey
kills 30
- 1981
- New
Cross Fire
, London, killed 13 on January 18
- 1981
- Stardust
Disaster
, discothèque fire in Dublin
kills 48
- 1981
- 1981 Bangalore circus
fire, circus fire in Bangalore
, India, kills 66
- 1982 - Hotel New Japan fire, downtown of Tokyo, Japan, kills 33
on 8 February
- 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
- Cinema Statuto fire in
Turin,
Italy
kills 64
- 1983
- Alcalá 20 nightclub
fire in Madrid
kills 83
- 1984
- Daea Hotel fire, thirty-six killed and seventy injured in
Busan
, South
Korea
on January 14.
- 1984
- Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great
Adventure
kills 8 teenagers in a fast moving
fire.
- 1984
- Summit
tunnel fire
in West
Yorkshire, England
- 1985
- Valley Parade Ground Stadium
fire in Bradford
, England, 56 die
- 1985
- Saavedra Psychiatric
Hospital fire in Buenos
Aires
, Argentina
, kills 79, injures 247.
- 1986
- Siddharth Continental Hotel fire and kills 44 in Delhi
, India on January 24.
- 1986
- A fire at Sandoz in the
Schweizerhalle industrial area near Basel
, Switzerland
caused heavy pollution problems in the river
Rhine
in November 1986
- 1986
- Dupont Plaza Hotel fire,
set by disgruntled employees, kills 97 in San
Juan, Puerto Rico

- 1987
- A fuel tanker truck ran into an ice
cream parlour and exploded in Herborn
, Germany, setting 12 houses on fire, killing 6
on July 7
- 1987
- King's
Cross fire
in the London
Underground killed 31 on November 18
- 1988
- Chung
King Mansions
fire, Tsim Sha Tsui
, Hong
Kong
, 11 killed in February
21
- 1988
- A fire at Hotel International in Oerlikon
kills 6 on February 14
- 1988
- First Interstate Bank Building in Los
Angeles, California
catches fire on May 4, killing one
- 1988
- A fire at a Ford dealership in Hackensack, New Jersey
, killed five firefighters from the Hackensack Fire Department on
July 1.
- 1988
- Piper
Alpha
disaster, North Sea
on July 6
- 1988
- A fire in Lisbon
, Portugal destroyed 7 blocks of houses (7,500
m²) on August 25
- 1989 - Hotel Bethlehem, Bethlehem PA on January 27 caused by
faulty iron cord, kills 5 people
- 1989
- Premier Studio of Mysore fire, Mysore
, Karnataka
, India, 62 killed on February 8
- 1990
- Flying discothèque fire at Zaragoza
, Aragon
, Spain, 43 killed on January 14.
- 1990
- Happy
Land Fire
(arson) in the Bronx
, New York City, kills 87 on March
25
- 1990
- 1991
Hamlet chicken plant fire
kills 25 people
- 1991
- One
Meridian Plaza
February 23 -24 fire caused by oil-soaked rags,
Philadelphia
, United States, killed 3
firefighters
- 1992
- Shek Kong Vietnamese refugee detention
centre fire, Hong
Kong
, 26 killed, injuring 26
- 1992
- Windsor
Castle fire
, England
- 1992
- A part of the roof and the upper floor of the Hofburg
Imperial Palace
in Vienna
, Austria burned down on November 26
- 1993
- a ten-story of Hsinhua building fire, Taipei
, Taiwan
, 34 killed on January 18
- 1993
- Linxi department store fire, Tangshan
, Hebei
, China, 79 killed, 51 injured on 14
February
- 1993
- Branch Davidian church in
Waco,
Texas
, about 80 killed
- 1993
- Kader Toy Factory fire, Bangkok
, Thailand
, 189 killed on May 10
- 1993
- Madimak Hotel fire, Sivas
, Turkey
, killing 35, on July 2.
- 1993
- Zhili Toy Factory fire, Kuiyong, Shenzhen
, China, 87 killed on November 20
- 1993
- Gaofu Textile Factory fire, Fuzhou
, Fujian
, China, 61 killed on December 13
- 1993
- Fireworks factory fire, Hong Kong
, 27 killed on August 29
- 1994
- HSBC
Shek Kip Mei branch fire, Shek Kip Mei,
Hong
Kong
, 12 killed (firebomb attack) on January 10
- 1994
- Fuxin Discothèque fire at Fuxin
, Liaoning
, China, 234 killed on November 27
- 1994
- 1994 Karamay theater fire, Karamay
, Xinjiang Uygur,
China, 324 killed on December 10
- 1995
-Wei Er Kang Restaurant fire at Taichung
, Taiwan
killing 64
- 1995
- Anshan hotel fire, Anshan
, Liaoning
, China, killing 30 on March 14
- 1995
- Urumqi fire, Urumqi
, Xinjiang, China,
killing 51 on April 24
- 1995
- Gyeonni Women Technical School fire, Yongin
, Gyeonggi
, South
Korea
, killing 38.
- 1995
- Dayananda Anglo Vedic
private school fire, Mandi Dabwali
, Haryana
, India, 538 killed on December 23
- 1996
- Teatro La
Fenice
in Venice
- 1996
- Ozone
Disco Club fire
, Quezon City
, Philippines
, 162 killed, 95 injured on March 18
- 1996
- Kebon Kembang shoppong mall fire, Bogor
, Jawa
Barat
, Indonesia
, 78 killed on March 28
- 1996
- Düsseldorf International
Airport
fire killing 17 on April 11
- 1996
- The Garley
Building fire, Hong
Kong
, 40 killed on November 20
- 1996
- residential building fire, Shanghai,
China
, arson attack, 36 killed on November
27
- 1997
- Top One Karaoke Fire, Tsim Sha Tsui
, Hong
Kong
, 17 killed in arson attack on, January
25
- 1997
- Brihadiswara temple fire by visitor
using firecracker, at Thanjavur
, Tamil
Nadu
, India, 60 killed, 200 injured on June
8
- 1997
- Uphaar cinema fire, Green
Park
, New
Delhi
, 59 killed on June 13
- 1997
- Pattaya Royal Resort
Hotel fire, in Thailand
, killing 88, on July 11
- 1997
- shoe factory fire, Jinjiang, Fujian
, China
, 32 killed in arson attack by employee,
September 21
- 1998
- Bombolulu Girls High School of dormitory fire, Mombasa
, Kenya
, 24 killed on March 25
- 1998
- Gothenburg nightclub fire
in Gothenburg
, Sweden
, killing 63 on October 30
- 1998
- Orphanage fire in Manila
, Philippines
, kills 28 on December 3
- 1999 - Mont Blanc Tunnel fire
between France and Italy, 39 killed
- 1999
- The
Worcester Cold Storage
fire, 6 firefighters killed
- 1999
- Two-story buildings with cinema complex fire at Yogyakarta
, Central Java
, Indonesia
, killing 75 on September 24
- 1999
- Four-story complex buildings with Sun-Hun Choe karaoke room fire
at Incheon
, South
Korea
, killing 54, injuring 70 on October 31
- 1999
- Jilin hotel fire, Changchun
, Jilin
, China , killing 20 on December 26
- 2000
- Immigration Tower fire, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
, 47 injured on August
2
- 2000
- Tiantang cinema fire in Jiaozuo
, Henan
, China, killing 74 on March 29
- 2000
- Qingzhou chicken processing plant fire, Qingzhou
, Shandong
, China
38 workers killed on April
22
- 2000
- Enschede
fireworks disaster
, Enschede
, Netherlands
, 22 (including 4 firemen) killed on May
13
- 2000
- fireworks factory fire, Guangdong
, China
, 36 killed on June
30
- 2000
- Fire on Ostankino Tower
, Moscow
- 2000
- Backpackers hostel in Childers
, Australia on June 23. 15 killed in
arson attack.
- 2000
- December 25, Dongdu Commercial
shopping center fire in Luoyang
, Henan
, China, killing 309
2001-2010
- 2001
- Kyanguli Secondary school fire, Machakos
, Eastern Province, Kenya
, 68 killed on March 26
- 2001
- Ramanathapuram Badasha mental Home fire, Erwadi
, Tamil
Nadu
, India, 25 killed on August 13
- 2001
- Manor Hotel fire, Quezon City
, Philippines
, 75 killed on August 17
- 2001 - Myojo 56 building
fire, Tokyo, Japan, 44 killed on September 1.
- 2001
- September 11 attacks - two
planes deliberately flown into the World Trade Center
Twin Towers in New York City, sparked fires on
multiple floors. The Twin Towers both completely collapsed
56 and 103 minutes later. Debris from the collapse of the North Tower
sparked fires on multiple floors of World Trade Center Building 7
, which also completely collapsed later in the
day. A third plane crashed into the
Pentagon
, starting
fires in that building.
- 2001
- Fire during a New Year party in De Hemel bar/discothèque in
Volendam
, Netherlands killed 14 and injured
180
- 2001
- Mesa Redonda shopping center fire,
Lima
, Peru
, 291
killed on December 29
- 2002
- Shree Lee International footwear factory fire, Agra
, Uttar
Pradesh
, India, 42 killed on June 26
- 2002
- Heppi Karaoke bar fire, Palembang
, South
Sumatra
, Indonesia
, 42 killed on July 9
- 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
- 2002
- Sidi Moussa prison fire, El Jadida
, Morocco
, killing 50, on November 2
- 2002
- La Coajira nightclub fire at Caracas
, Venezuela
, 47 killed on December 1
- 2003
- Daegu
subway fire
in Daegu
(South
Korea
)
- 2003
- The
Station nightclub fire
96 died at the scene; 4 died from injuries at local
hospitals in West Warwick, Rhode Island
- 2003
- Patrice
Lumumba People's Friendship University
, Moscow
- 2003 - 2003
Okanagan Mountain Park Fire, British Columbia
- 2004
- Rangarajapuram wedding hall fire and kills fifty-five in Sri Rangam
, Tamil
Nadu
, India on January 23.
- 2004
- Zhongbai Commercial
Plaza fire, Jilin
, northeastern China, killed 53 on February
16
- 2004
- Sri Krishna
Aided Higher Secondary School fire, Kumbakonam
, Tamil-Nadu
, India, killed 94 on July 16
- 2004
- Ycuá
Bolaños
supermarket fire, Asuncion
, Paraguay
, kills 370, injures 500 on August 1.
- 2004
- República Cromagnon nightclub
fire
in Buenos Aires
kills 194, injures 714 on December
30.
- 2005
- Arq Mosque fire in Teheran
, Iran
,
fifty-nine killed on February 14.
- 2005
- The Windsor
Tower
Building Fire (Spain), February 14-15 [33941][33942]
- 2005 - Beni Suef
Cultural Palace fire in Egypt and kills 46 on September 5.
- 2005
- 11 die at a fire in the detention center of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
on October 27.
- 2005
- Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal
fire
, a major explosion at Hertfordshire Oil Storage
Terminal
in Hemel Hempstead
, United Kingdom injures 43 on December
11.
- 2005
- Liaoyang City Central Hospital fire, Liaoyang
, Jilin
, China, 39 killed on December 12.
- 2006
- KTS Composite Textile factory fire, at Chittagong
, Bangladesh
, 65 killed, 100 injured on February 24.
- 2006 - Kolkata
leather factory fire kills at least nine people in India on
November 22.
- 2006 - Moscow hospital
fire kills 46 December 9.
- 2006
- Fire at store in Ormoc
City
, Philippines
kills 24 [33943]
- 2007
- Nursing home fire at Kamyshevatskaya, Krasnodar
, southern Russia, killed 63 on March 19
- 2007
- Warehouse fire in Charleston, SC
; 9 firefighters were killed battling the
blaze.
- 2007
- Warehouse fire in Atherstone-on-Stour
, Warwickshire
when four firefighters were killed
- 2007
- Warehouse fire in Mexico City, Mexico
where five people were killed
- 2008
- Under constructing Korea 2000 refrigerated warehouse fire,
Icheon
, Gyeonggi-do
, South
Korea
, 40 killed, on January 7.
- 2008
- Namdaemun fire
with collapse at Seoul
, South
Korea
on February 10.
- 2008
- Quebec City Armoury fire, Quebec
, Canada, on April 4
- 2008
- four-story Rosamor Furniture ameublements plant fire, Lissasfa,
Casablanca
, Morocco
, killing 55 on April 25
- 2008 - Historic Alma
College in Canada burnt down by arsonists on May 28
- 2008 - Texas Governor's Mansion heavily damaged during an
extensive renovation; thought to be arson
- 2008
- Cornwall Court Fire in
Hong
Kong
on August 10 killing 4 people, including 2
firefighters.
- 2008
- Wuwang Club fire in Shenzen
, China
on September 20,
killing 43
- 2008
- Video Parlour Cats fire by arsonist in Nanba, Osaka, Japan
, killing fifteen and injuring ten on October
1
- 2009
- Santika
Club fire
, Bangkok
, Thailand
, kills 66 on January 1.
- 2009
- Nakumatt supermarket
fire, Nairobi
, Kenya
, kills 29 on January 28.
- 2009 - Great
Beijing Mandarin Oriental Hotel fire of February, 2009 caused
by fire works. One death occurring during disaster.
- 2009
- Bashundhara City
mall fire killed 7 people on March 13, 2009 in
Dhaka
, Bangladesh
- 2009
- Homeless hostel fire
in Kamień Pomorski
, Poland
kills 23 on April 13.
- 2009
- ABC daycare center
fire kills 47 in Hermosillo
, Mexico
on June 5.
- 2009
- Lakanal House tower block
fire
kills 6 in Camberwell
, London
, United Kingdom
on July 3.
- 2009
- Three alarm fire at a deli in Buffalo, New York
kills Lieutenant Charles "Chip" McCarthy of Rescue
1 and Jonathan "Sim" Croom of Ladder 7 on August 24 .
- 2009
- Taldykorgan Regional Drug
Rehabilitation Hospital fire in Almaty Province
, Kazakhstan
, kills 38 on September 13.
Ship fires
See also: List of ship and
ferry disasters
- 1800 - British warship Queen Charlotte — 700
deaths
- 1840
- Steamship Lexington
in Long
Island Sound
— 139 deaths
- 1865
- SS Sultana on the Mississippi River, near Memphis
, Tennessee
— 1,547 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
- off Asbury
Park, New Jersey
— 137 deaths, ship gutted and
beached
- 1941
- Attack
on Pearl Harbor
, sinking and several other ships; extensive
fires generated aboard and around ships
- 1941 - in New York City, ship capsized and sank at pier
- 1949
- in Hong
Kong
— 149 deaths
- 1949
- in Toronto
, Canada — 118 to 139 deaths
- 1963
- Lakonia near Madeira
— 128 deaths
- 1965
- near Nassau,
Bahamas
— 90 deaths
- 1967
- in the Gulf of
Tonkin
— 134 deaths.
- 1972
- in Hong
Kong
, ship sank in harbour
- 1987
- Doña Paz in the Philippines
— an estimated 4,000 deaths
- 1990
- 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
Transport fires
- 1903 - Paris Métro train
fire kills 84
- 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
- 1916
- Black
Tom explosion
(fires led to the explosion)
- 1951
- Sakuragicho
commuter train fire, Yokohama, Japan, 106 killed.
- 1955
- Le Mans
24 hour race disaster
, Le
Mans
, France
, over 80 killed on June 11
- 1962
- Centralia, Pennsylvania
mine fire begins
- 1967
- Apollo 1 Cape
Canaveral, Florida

- 1972 - Hokuriku railroad tunnel fire, Tsuruga, Japan, 31 killed, 637 injured.
- 1975
- Tent site at Mina, Saudi Arabia
, 138 killed
- 1978
- Taunton
train fire
on British Rail
kills 12 on July 6
- 1978
- Los
Alfaques Disaster
kills 217 on a campsite near Tarragona
, in Spain on July 11
- 1986
- General Mining Union Kinross
gold mine fire, Transvaal
, South Africa, 177
killed, 230 injured on September 16.
- 1988 - Carrollton, Kentucky bus
collision - 27 deaths on May 14, 1988.
- 1992 - Chien-Kang Bus Fire
(健康幼稚園火燒車事件) 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.
- 1996
- Channel
Tunnel fire
between France and England on November
18
- 1997
- bus fire, Guangdong
, China
, bus caught fire on expressway, killing 39
passengers
- 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 - Chun-Lung Bus Fire
(尊龍客運高速公路火燒車事故) - a charter bus caught fire at Taipei County killing 6 and injuring 4.
- 2006
- Brand India Fair at Meerut Victoria Park fire, Meerut
, Uttar Pradesh
, India, 100 killed on April 10.
- 2007
- Comilla
bus caught fire in Bangladesh, at least
fifty-five killed on January 6.
- 2008
- Channel
Tunnel fire
, between France and England on 11 September
- 2008
- Lower
Saxony
bus caught fire by a passenger smoking on the
A2 Autobahn (Expressway) in Germany, twenty killed on November
4.
- 2008
- Boromo
bus caught fire in Bale Province, Burkina Faso
, sixty-seven killed on November 15
- 2008
- Firozabad
bus caught fire in Uttar Pradesh
, India, killing sixty-three on December
9.
- 2009
- 2009 Kenyan oil spill
ignition resulted in the deaths of at least 111 people and
infliction of gruesome injuries to countless hundreds more on 31
January, following a road accident in Molo
, Kenya
.
Forest and countryside fires
- 1949
- Landes
Mountain forest fire, lost, 240 killed, include
82 firefighters, on August.
- 1963
- Paraná
forest fire, 20,000 square kilometres
destroyed, killing at least 110, with 5,000 houses burned on
September.
- 1966
- Serra de
Sintra
forest fire,outskirt of Lisbon
, Portugal, 26.6 km² destroyed, killing
26.
- 1971
- 1971 Kure forest fire, Kure,
western Honshū
, Japan, 18 firefighters killed on April
27
See also
References