List of town and city fires

This is a list of major urban conflagrations. Before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities.

For notable fires that involved a single structure, see list of building or structure fires. Other lists record wildfires (including forest fires) and transportation fires, though those that caused significant urban damage also appear on that list.

Antiquity through Middle Ages

16th century

17th century

  • 1615  Great Fire of Wymondham, Norfolk England, two simultaneous fires destroyed 300 properties.
  • 1624  Oslo, Norway, destroyed by fire.
  • 1625  First Great Stockholm Fire, Sweden, burned for three days and destroyed a fifth of the infrastructure.
  • 1652  Glasgow, Scotland, a third of the city destroyed and over 1,000 families left homeless.[2]
  • 1653  Great Fire of Marlborough, England, destroyed the Guildhall, St Mary's Church, the County Armoury, and 224 dwellings.
  • 1654  Delft Thunderclap, an explosion of a gunpowder storage facility killed between 100 and 200 people and destroyed the surrounding area of the city of Delft, the Netherlands.
  • 1656  Fire of Aachen destroys 4,664 houses, kills 17.
  • 1657  Great Fire of Meireki destroys two-thirds of the Japanese capital Edo (modern-day Tokyo).[3]
  • 1663  Great Fire of Nagasaki destroys the port of Nagasaki in Japan.[4]
  • 1666  Great Fire of London of 1666, which originated in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane and destroyed much of London.
  • 1675  Great Fire of Northampton, England. The blaze was caused by sparks from an open fire in St. Mary's Street near Northampton castle. In 6 hours it devastated the town centre, destroying about 600 buildings (three-quarters of the town) including All Saints church. 11 people died and about 700 families were made homeless.
  • 1676  Jamestown, Virginia was burned by Nathaniel Bacon and his followers during Bacon's Rebellion to prevent Governor Berkley from using it as a base.
  • 1677  Fire of Rostock, Germany, destroys 700 houses and accelerates the city's economic decline at the end of the Hanseatic period.
  • 1678  Hardegsen. Germany, experienced a fire during the Christmas fair that destroyed most of the town centre. There were no injuries as people were in church.
  • 1684  Toompea (part of modern Tallinn), a fire destroyed most of the hilltop-town.
  • 1689  Fire of Skopje of 1689, present-day capital of North Macedonia is burned.
  • 1692  Two-thirds of Usingen, Germany, is razed, later replaced by a baroque town centre.
  • 1694  Great Fire of Warwick, England
  • 1696  St. John's, Newfoundland, and 35 other settlements were burned by French forces under Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.

18th century

19th century

1800s

  • 1805  Detroit, Michigan, then a wooden frontier settlement, burned except for a river warehouse.

1810s

1820s

1830s

1840s

  • 1842  Hamburg fire, about a quarter of the inner city destroyed, 51 killed, and an estimated 20,000 homeless.
Views of Pittsburgh the day after the 1845 Great Fire. Detail from William Coventry Wall print, "Great Conflagration at Pittsburgh".

1850s

1860s

1870s

  • 1870  Fire in Medina, Ohio, started in a wooden building with a barber shop and consumed all but two blocks of the business district, nearly wiping out the entire town.
  • 1871  Strong winds fed several simultaneous fires in Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois on October 8–9:
  • 1872  Great Boston Fire of 1872, destroyed 776 buildings and killed at least 20 people.
  • 1874  Chicago Fire of 1874, July 14, was in some respects very similar to the 1871 fire, but was stopped by a new fire-proof wall. It destroyed 812 structures and killed 20 people.
  • 1875  Great Whiskey Fire, Dublin, 18 June, killed 13 people, and destroyed a malt house, a bonded warehouse, houses and a tannery in Mill Street and Chamber Street.
  • 1877 – Paris, Texas, the first of three fires that destroyed much of the town.
  • 1877  Saint John, New Brunswick, fire destroyed 1,600 buildings.
  • 1878  The Great Fire of Hong Kong [15] destroyed 350 to 400 buildings across more than 10 acres (40,000 m2) of central Hong Kong.
  • 1879  Hakodate fire, Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, caused 67 fatalities, 20,000 homeless.[16]

1880s

City of St. John's after the Great Fire of 1892

1890s

20th century

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

  • 1940–1945  Air raids during World War II resulted in many major city fires:
  • 1941  The great fire of Santander, Spain, destroyed the greater part of the medieval town centre.
  • 1944  Destruction of Warsaw by the German army and Waffen SS, as a reprisal for the Warsaw Uprising, included the deliberate burning of many buildings.[28]
  • 1946  Bandung, a city in West Java, Indonesia, was burned on March 24 by Indonesians to prevent the Dutch from retaking the city, an event called "Bandung sea of fire".
  • 1947  Texas City Disaster, two ships explode, igniting fires throughout the city and chemical works, 460–600 killed.
  • 1948  Fukui earthquake with fire, 46,000 buildings and houses lost on June 28.
  • 1949  A fire burned for 18 hours in Chongqing's waterfront and banking district, on September 2, killed 2865 people[29] and left more than 100,000 homeless. 7,000 buildings were destroyed.[30]

1950s

1960s

1970s

  • 1973  Second Great Chelsea Fire on October 14 destroyed 18 city blocks.
  • 1974  Chelsea, Massachusetts, a May 24 fire at the American Barrel Company spread to several other businesses in a two block area.

1980s

  • 1981  Arson fire in Lynn, Massachusetts levelled downtown factory area under redevelopment.[37]
  • 1982  Keane fire, Alberta, Canada, consumed more than 500,000 hectares of forest[38]
  • 1982  Village of Lopez, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, United States, entire business district, including two hotels and the fire department leveled by a wind-whipped fire. It also sparked a 100 acre forest fire nearby.
  • 1983  1983 Buffalo propane explosion in Buffalo, New York kills five firefighters and two others and destroys millions in property.
  • 1983  Dushore, Pennsylvania A fire destroyed two blocks of the historic business district, eight businesses and four homes. The fire was intentionally set.
  • 1984  Oil spill set fire to the shantytown of Vila Socó, Cubatão, São Paulo, Brazil, on February 25; official death toll is 93 people although speculation is more than 200.
  • 1985  MOVE incident in Philadelphia destroyed 65 houses on Osage Avenue and left 250 homeless.
  • 1985  Annanar forest fire, Portugal, 1,500 km2 destroyed, killing 14.
  • 1986  Chu Ku Tsai village fire, Hong Kong, left 2,000 homeless on Lunar New Year holiday.[31]
  • 1986  Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter fire, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, 150 vessels destroyed, 1,700 homeless and 2 injured on December 25.[31]
  • 1988  Great Lashio Fire, Lashio, Myanmar, killed 134 and destroyed 2,000 buildings.
  • 1988  A fire in Lisbon, Portugal, destroyed 7 blocks of houses (7,500 m2) on August 25.
  • 1988  The Perkasie, Pennsylvania, fire destroyed one and a half blocks of its historic downtown.

1990s

21st century

2000s

2010s

  • 2010  Dhaka fire kills 117 people in the Nimtali area of Old Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • 2011  Devastating fire in Manila, Philippines,[40] leaves about 8,000 people homeless and 9 injured in a Makati City squatter community.
  • 2012  Hurricane Sandy caused a six-alarm fire that destroyed 121 homes in Breezy Point, Queens, New York.
  • 2013  Yarnell Hill Fire burned over 13 square miles, destroyed over 100 homes,[41] and killed 19 firefighters.[42]
  • 2013  Lac-Mégantic derailment caused an explosion and fire in the town centre that destroyed over 30 buildings and killed 46.[43][44] The event was the deadliest train accident in Canada since 1864.[45]
  • 2013  Boardwalk fire in Seaside Heights & Seaside Park, New Jersey, US. At least 19 buildings destroyed, 30 businesses lost, no major injuries.[46]
  • 2014  Valparaíso wildfire devastated several areas of Valparaíso, Chile, destroying 2,500 homes and killing at least 15 people.
  • 2015  Tianjin Port fire and explosions killed at least 173 people, damaged 300 buildings and over 10,000 vehicles.
  • 2016  Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta destroyed approximately 2,400 homes and buildings, and forced a complete evacuation.[47]
  • 2016  The Gatlinburg Fire began as a wildfire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and spread into the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, killing 14.
  • 2017  October 2017 Iberian wildfires. A fire started in Galicia, a province with high risk of wildfire and spread dangerously quick thanks to Hurricane Ophelia (2017) through Spain and Portugal.
  • 2017  In October, 17 separate fires raged across five counties in Northern California, causing extensive damage in Sonoma and Napa Counties. The fires burned 160,000 acres, destroyed 5,700 buildings, and killed 43. The two largest fires were the Tubbs Fire and Atlas Fire. The city of Santa Rosa, California sustained heavy damage, with over 2,800 buildings destroyed.
  • 2018  Kemerovo fire at the Winter Cherry complex mall in Kemerovo, Russia, killed 60 people. The blaze started on the top floor of the four-story complex, and people were seen jumping from windows to escape it.[48][49]
  • 2018  Camp Fire. California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire left at least 81 people dead and torched more than 152,000 acres. The fire burned through the towns of Paradise and Concow and other populated areas including Magelia, CenterVille and Butte Creek Canyons, and destroyed the historic Honey Run Covered Bridge, one of the last three-tier bridges that stood in the United States.
  • 2018  Between July 23 and July 25 Greece experienced a national tragedy when a huge fire near Marathon in Attika killed 100 people. The inefficient fire service is said to have been a major factor for the disastrous outcome. The fire broke out in a nearby forest and quickly expanded to the surrounding towns.
  • 2019  Another Dhaka fire kills 78 people on February 20 in Churihatta, Chawkbazar area of old Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2020s

See also

References

  1. Daily Life in China by Jacques Gernet, 34–35
  2. "17 June 1652 - Great Fire of Glasgow". glasgowlife.org.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  3. Blusse, Leonard & Cynthia Vaillé (2005). The Desjima Dagregisters, Volume XII 1650–1660. Leiden
  4. "Cultural Properties", Official site, Nagasaki: Thomeizan Kofukuji, retrieved 23 December 2016
  5. http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/great-boston-fire-1787.htm
  6. Screech, Timon (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. Routledge. pp. 152–154, 249–250. ISBN 978-0-7007-1720-0.
  7. Caminate Guiada Centro Historico de Ponce: Calle Isabel II. (In Spanish). Retrieved December 4, 2009.
  8. Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce.' By Dr. Eduardo Neumann. 1913. (In Spanish) Reprinted by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (1987)Page 194.
  9. Puerto Rico. Cuerpo de Bomberos. Historia. Datos Historicos. (In Spanish) Archived 2005-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  10. E. Merton Coulter, "The Great Savannah Fire of 1820", Georgia Historical Quarterly 23:1–27
  11. James C. Massey, Exec. Vice Pres., and Shirley Maxwell, Associate, National Preservation Institute (National Building Museum) Washington, D.C. and the Federal Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury. (Washington, D.C.) January 7, 1988. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form—U.S. Custom House, Ponce. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 88000073. February 10, 1988.
  12. Kalbfleisch, John (12 July 2003). "The Great Fire of Montreal". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  13. "Destructive fire in Auckland". Taranaki Herald - archived by PapersPast. 24 July 1858. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  14. "Population of the four main cities, 1858–1936". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand - teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  15. Adam Nebbs (2010-09-20). "The Great Fire of Hong Kong". Open Library. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  16. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. (1879). "Commercial Reports by Her Majesty's Consuls in Japan", Parliamentary papers, Volume 91, pp. 2–5.
  17. Eli D. Oquendo Rodriguez. De criadero a partido: Ojeada a la Historia de los Origenes de Ponce, 1645-1810. Lajas, Puerto Rico: Editorial Akelarre. 2015. page 43.
  18. Dato' Haji Muhammad Saleh bin Haji Awang (Misbaha) (1983). Sejarah Darul Iman hingga 1337H = 1918M. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd. pp. 218–219. ISBN 9789676100115. OCLC 23565321.
  19. "Shorthand Report of the Legislative Council". Straits Times Weekly Issue. 11 October 1883. p. 10.
  20. Great Spokane Fire of 1889
  21. "Great Lynn Fire of 1889". Celebrateboston.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  22. "25 de Enero Fire. Noticias Online. Ponce conmemora 110 años de los héroes del Polvorín, (In Spanish). By Jose Fernandez Colon. Published January 24, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009". Noticiasonline.com. 2009-01-24. Archived from the original on February 2, 2015. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  23. "Great 1902 Confligration". www.patersonfirehistory.com. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  24. https://www.nytimes.com/1904/05/26/archives/2000000-fire-in-yazoo-city-area-of-twelve-blocks-in-length-and.html
  25. James, Charles D. (2002). "The 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and Fire" (PDF). Nisee.berkeley.edu. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-16.
  26. "Item Display". usg.edu. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  27. Special Correspondent (3 September 1939). "World War 2: 1,500 reported dead as German war planes drop bombs in Poland". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  28. Editors. "Warsaw Uprising". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 30 September 2016.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  29. Death Toll in Chungking Fire Is Put at 2,865, Chicago Daily Tribune (October 3, 1949)
  30. New blows suffered by Chiang regime, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 5, 1949)
  31. Fung, May; So, Sanna (1997-01-26). "Black days in HK's history". The Standard. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  32. ja:岩内大火 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved date on 19 November 2019.
  33. Salvini, Emil R. (June 30, 2009). "The Freeman Pier Fire- 1955– Seaside". Tales of the New Jersey Shore and its Environs.
  34. "Seaside begins rebuilding as fire ashes cool". The Star-Ledger. Seaside Heights. 1955.
  35. "Fire Loss High, Insurance Low; Concessions Listed". Seaside Heights. 1955.
  36. "California Wildfires – 1961 Bel Air-Brentwood fire – Bel Air Brush Wildfire – Stone Canyon, Roscomare Rd". Cccarto.com. 1961-11-06. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  37. Tymstra, The Chinchaga Firestorm (1950), p. 63-4
  38. Seenan, Gerard (8 December 2002). "Fire devastates Edinburgh's Old Town". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  39. Tina Santos (19 April 2011). "Makati fire displaces 2,500 families". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  40. Lee, Amanda (2013-07-05). "Yarnell Hill Fire cut off Hotshots' access to safety zone | azfamily.com Phoenix". Azfamily.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  41. "The Basics". www.YarnellFallenFireFighters.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  42. "Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec" (PDF). mmarail.com. 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  43. "Search resumes in Lac-Mégantic for 5 still missing". cbc.ca/. 2013-07-21. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  44. "Canada train derailment: Death toll at 50; Lac-Megantic residents jeer rail CEO". Associated Press. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2013-07-11.
  45. Double Down (September 12, 2013). "Seaside Businesses Impacted by the Boardwalk Fire". WKXW, New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio.
  46. "Fort McMurray fire largely contained thanks to rain, firefighters' efforts". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  47. "Russia fire: Children killed in Kemerovo shopping centre blaze". BBC News. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  48. "Fire tragedy at Kemerovo shopping mall leaves at least 64 dead". TASS. 26 March 2018.
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