List of fires

This is a list of historic disastrous 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.

Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone.

— Jack London after the 1906 earthquake and fire,

City fires

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Great Fire of London, 1666.

• 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
• 1135 - One of the two Great Medieval Fires of London. This blaze was so severe that it destroyed most of the city between St Paul's and St Clement Danes in Westminster
• 1204 - Constantinople burned three times during the Fourth Crusade
• 1212 - One of the two Great Medieval Fires of London. Also known as the Great Fire of Suthwark, while trying to flee the city, up to 3,000 people died on London Bridge
• 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 - 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. (September 20)
• 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 - Great New Orleans Fire (1788), Good Friday, March 21, 1788, 856 out of 1100 structures burned.
• 1788 - Great Fire of Tenmei - Kyoto, Japan, 150 killed, 37,000 houses burned, on January 30.
• 1794 - Second Great New Orleans Fire (1794), December 8, 1794. 212 structures destroyed.
• 1795 - Copenhagen fire of 1795
• 1805 - Detroit
• 1811 - 1811 Great fire of Podil (Kyiv district)
• 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
• 1820 - Ponce, Puerto Rico Spanish settlement almost completely destroyed on February 27.
• 1820 - Great Savannah Fire burned almost 500 structures, with damages of about $4 million.
• 1821 - Paramaribo (Suriname) over 400 houses destroyed
• 1821 - Fayetteville the Great Fire destroies 500 buildings in the city
• 1827 - Great Fire of Turku
• 1835 - Second Great Fire of New York City
• 1842 - Hamburg fire, about a quarter of the inner city destroyed, 51 killed, and an estimated 20,000 homeless
• 1845 - Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroyed over 1000 buildings
• 1845 - La Playa (de Ponce), the city port of Ponce, Puerto Rico fire, wiped out most of the Ponce vecinity.
• 1846 - St. John's, Newfoundland
• 1849 - St. Louis Fire, first US firefighter killed in the line of duty
• 1849 - First Great Fire of Toronto
• 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.
• 1866 - Portland, Maine Independence Day Fire, commercial district destroyed; 10,000 homeless
• 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
• 1878 - The Great Fire of Hong Kong, destroyed 350 to 400 buildings across more than 10 acres (40,000 m²) of central Hong Kong.
• 1879 - 1879 Hakodate fire, Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, 67 fatalities, 20,000 homeless.
• 1883 - Ocala, Florida Thanksgiving Day Fire A devastating fire occurs in the downtown business district. The Ocala House, Palace Hotel, Ocala Banner and ten stores are destroyed
• 1886 - Great Vancouver Fire, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1886.
• 1889 - Great Seattle Fire
• 1889 - Great Bakersfield Fire of 1889 - destroyed 196 buildings and killed 1 person.
• 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland
• 1894 - Great Fire in Shanghai; over 1,000 buildings are destroyed
  

  

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

• 1898 - Great Fire of New Westminster, British Columbia
• 1899 - El Polvorin Fire occurred on January 25th. The fire started at the U.S. Munitions Depot on the lot currently occupied by the Ponce High School building and grounds. The heroes in that fire, believed to have saved the city from certain annihilation, are remembered to this day with monuments on their tombs as well as a monument in the main city square Plaza Las Delicias.
• 1901 - Great Fire of 1901, Jacksonville, Florida
• 1904 - Great Baltimore Fire
• 1904 - Second Great Fire of Toronto
• 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.
• 1911 - Oscoda/AuSable, Michigan
• 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.
• 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 - Bombing of Rotterdam, 14 May 1940, forcing the capitulation of the Dutch government, 800 killed, 24.000 houses destroyed, 80.000 homeless
  • 1940 - The Second Great Fire of London, one of the most destructive air raids of 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
• 1946 - Bandung, a city in West Java, Indonesia, March 24, 1946, the city was burned by Indonesians to prevent the Dutch from retaking over the city, an event called "Bandung sea of flame".
• 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 June 28
• 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
• 1961 - Bel Air fire, burned 6,090 acres (24.6 km²) and destroyed 484 homes near UCLA in Los Angeles
• 1977 - Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, fire in a nightclub in Southgate, Kentucky, 165 people died, over 200 injured
• 1981 - Arson fire in Lynn, Massachusetts levels downtown factory area under redevelopment; no conviction; $80 million damage estimate
• 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 2 civilians and destroys millions in property.
• 1985 - Isabela Island forest fire, Galápagos Island, Ecuador, 62,500 acres (253 km²) lost on March.
• 1985 - Osage Ave./MOVE Incident, Philadelphia, 65 houses destroyed.
• 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
• 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 buildings destroyed.
• 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 - Isabela 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, Southern California
• 2005 - Yangyang County and Goseong County forest fire, 200 buildings, include Naksansa temple's facilities lost in Gangwon, South Korea on April 5.
• 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 - Black Saturday bushfires 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.
• 2010 – 2010 Dhaka fire kills 117 people in Bangladesh.
• 2011 - Bandra Fire injured at least 11 also affecting railway facility in Mumbai
• 2011 - Great Kesennuma fire by 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on March 11.

Building or structure fires

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

BC

• 586 BC - Temple in Jerusalem (the first) burned by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians
• 480 BC - Acropolis of Athens burnt during Second Hellenic-Persian War
• 356 BC - Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, arson by Herostratus
• 330 BC - Persepolis destroyed by fire after its capture by Alexander the Great
• c. 50 BC - Library of Alexandria burned during siege (possibly accidental)

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

  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.
• 1671 - Much of the monastery of the Escorial outside Madrid burned in a fire lasting 15 days, destroying large numbers of artworks, books and manuscripts.
• 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

J. M. W. Turner watched the fire of 1834 and painted several canvases depicting it, including The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835).

• 1794 - Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen
• 1808 - Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. Fire caused the dome of the Rotunda to collapse and smashing the Edicule's exterior decoration.
• 1809 - St. James's Palace, London. Much of the south and east portions of the palace were destroyed and not rebuilt.
• 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 - Peshtigo Fire killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people on October 8. Deadliest fire in US History.
• 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 Hôtel de Ville, the Gare de Lyon, and the Palais d'Orsay.
• 1871 - The Great Chicago Fire, killing hundreds and destroying about 4 square miles (10 km²) 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
• 1886 - the Great Vancouver Fire destroyed most of that city's original core, dozens of lives lost
• 1887 - Paris Opéra Fire on May 25 killed 200
• 1887 - Theatre Royal, Exeter Fire, England on September 5 killed 186
• 1889 - The First Great Lynn Conflagration. About 100 buildings destroyed, costing over $160 million in damage in today's dollars.
• 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland, destroyed by that city's Great Fire
• 1895 - The Rotunda, University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia
• 1897 - Fire at the Bazar de la Charité, Paris on May 4 killed 126, mostly women
• 1897 - Great Windsor Fire, Windsor, Nova Scotia Canada, destroyed 80% of the town
• 1898 - New Westminster, British Columbia, completely destroyed by fire
• 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
• 1900 - Sandon, British Columbia, Canada, destroyed by fire
• 1903 - Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum fire, London, killed 51 on January 27
• 1903 - Iroquois Theater Fire, Chicago, at least 600 died
• 1904 - Great Fire of Toronto (1904)
• 1904 - In January a fire in the library of the Turin National University Library Italy resulted in serious damage to its Manuscripts Department.
• 1905 - Watson Street Lodging House fire in Glasgow killed 39 on 19 November
• 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 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10
• 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. 13 firemen and one policeman lost their lives in two separate collapses. December 21–22.
• 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
• 1915 - St. Johns School Fire, Peabody, Massachusetts, October 28.
• 1916 - Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the capital of 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 - Mayagüez 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 [6]
• 1929 - Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929, Cleveland, Ohio killed 123
• 1929 - Study club fire of 1929, Detroit, Michigan Kills 22
• 1930 - Jinhae Primary School fire, Jinhae, Gyeongsangnamdo, South Korea, killed 104 on March 10
• 1930 - Ohio Penitentiary fire, Columbus, Ohio killed 322
• 1931 - Glaspalast (Munich) fire on July 6
• 1931 - Half of downtown Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, is destroyed by fire
• 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
• 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 - Peru, Biblioteca Nacional in Lima. In May, a fire completely destroyed the National Library, with the loss of 100,000 volumes as well as 40,000 manuscripts.
• 1943 - Gulf Hotel fire in Houston, Texas 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, Georgia, 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 - Kinkaku-ji 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)
• 1954 - Charles Berg Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Storage tank explosion and ensuing release of toxic fumes kills 10 fireman. October 28.
• 1955 - Elderly home for Catholic church fire in Yokohama, Japan killed 100 on February 16
• 1956 - McKee refinery fire killed 19 firefighters
• 1957 - Warrenton Nursing Home Fire in Warrenton, Missouri
• 1957 - Browns Lane plant fire, Coventry on 12 February
• 1958 - Our Lady of the Angels School Fire, Chicago killed 95 on December 1 and injured another 107, 77 seriously
• 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 - School fire (Elbarusovo, Soviet Union, November 5, 109 killed
• 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
• 1964 - The Bellflower Street Conflagaration fire destroyed nineteen apartment buildings and damaged eleven in square-block conflagration in Boston
• 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 - Andraus Building Fire kills 16 in São Paulo on February 24.
• 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 Café 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 - Upstairs Lounge in the Upstairs Lounge, a gay bar, 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
• 1974 - Worsley Hotel fire, Maida Vale, London, case of arson, resulting in attendance of over 25 appliances and killed 7 people on 12 December.
• 1975 - Gulf Refinery Fire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eight firemen lost their lives in the inferno. August 17.

1976-2000

• 1976 - Four alarm Barson's Overbrook restaurant fire in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Four firemen perish when floor collapses, sending them into the flaming basement. May 16.
• 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. Third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history.
• 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
• 1979 - Fire destroys the Woolworths department store in central Manchester, England, killing 11.
• 1980 - A fire in the Eventide Home for the Aged in Kingston, Jamaica kills 157 on May 20
• 1980 - A fire on the third floor of the Extendicare Ltd. nursing home in Mississauga, Ontario kills 21 residents on July 14.
• 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 - Dorothy Mae Apartments arson fire in Los Angeles kills 25 people, highest structure fire death toll in city history.
• 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 on February 21
• 1988 - A fire at Hotel International in Oerlikon (Zürich) kills 6 on February 14
• 1988 - First Interstate Tower 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
• 1991 - Bright Sparklers Fireworks fire, killed 26 and injured over 100 on May 7, 1991.
• 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, 81 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 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 - 1997 Aisin fire, Kariya, Aichi, Japan on February 1.
• 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 City, 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 - One story Sealand Youth Training Center fire at Hwaseong killing 23, injured 5 on June 30
• 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 30
• 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- Xiamen, Fuji electric factory, 8 females.
• 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 - Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire 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

2001-2011

• 2001 - Kyanguli Secondary school fire, Machakos, Eastern Province, Kenya, 68 killed on March 26
• 2001 - Erwadi fire incident, Tamil Nadu, India, 25 killed on August 06
• 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 airliners 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 airliner was 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 - Peoples' Friendship University of Russia fire, Moscow, Russia, 36 killed on November 24
• 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 - San Pedro Sula prison fire, Honduras, killed 103 on May 17
• 2004 - Momart warehouse fire, numerous significant contemporary work of arts destroyed by fire, 24 May 2004, Leyton, East London.
• 2004 - Sri Krishna Aided Higher Secondary School fire, Kumbakonam, Tamil-Nadu, India, killed 94 on July 16
• 2004 - Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire, Asunción, 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
• 2005 - Beni Suef Cultural Palace fire in Egypt and kills 46 on September 5.
• 2005 - Aardman Animations storage depot fire, 10 October
• 2005 - 11 die in a fire at 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 a store in Ormoc City, Philippines kills 24
• 2007 - Nursing home fire at Kamyshevatskaya, Krasnodar, southern Russia, killed 63 on March 19
• 2007 - Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire in Charleston, South Carolina; 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 - Historic Quebec City Armoury destroyed by fire, Quebec, Canada, on April 4
• 2008 - Four-story Rosamor Furniture factory fire, Lissasfa, Casablanca, Morocco, killing 55 on April 25
• 2008 - Historic Alma College (St. Thomas) 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.
• 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.
• 2009 - Perm Lame Horse Night club fire in Perm, Russia kills 125 people and injures over 160 on December 4.
• 2009 - Medan Karaoke bar fire in Medan of the Indonesian island of Sumatra kills 20 on December 4
• 2010 - 2010 San Bruno explosion in San Bruno, California, six-alarm fire from a gas main killing at least 4 and destroying dozens of homes on September 10.
• 2010 - 2010 Shanghai fire, high-rise apartment building fire kills at least 53.
• 2010 - A fire in a prison in Santiago, Chile kills at least 81 inmates; the country's deadliest ever prison incident
• 2010 - The 2010 Dhaka fire was a fire in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 3 June 2010 that killed at least 117 people. The fire occurred in the Nimtali area of Old Dhaka.
• 2011 - Devastating fire in Manila, Philippines leaves about 8,000 people homeless and nine injured in a Makati City squatter community.
• 2011 - A widespread fire in Central Texas, U.S.A. left many homeless as the fire spread. (To this date) Nobody knows how it started.

Ship fires

See also: List of maritime disasters

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

• 1800 - British warship Queen Charlotte — 673 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
• 1906 – SS Hankow fire in Hong Kong — 130+ deaths (14 October)
• 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, ship gutted and beached
• 1941 - Attack on Pearl Harbor, sinking USS Arizona (BB-39) and several other ships; extensive fires generated aboard and around ships
• 1941 - SS Normandie in New York City, ship capsized and sank at pier
• 1947 - SS Xi'an in Hong Kong — 200 deaths
• 1949 - SS Noronic in Toronto — 118 to 139 deaths
• 1963 - Lakonia near Madeira burned — 128 deaths
• 1965 - SS Yarmouth Castle near Nassau, Bahamas — 90 deaths
• 1965 - {{Orient Trader}} in Toronto, Ontario, Canada— no deaths or injuries. Was towed from peir into habour and was totally destroyed by fire. 1960 ORIENT TRADER, Orient Mid-East Great Lakes Services, Piraeus. 21st Jul.1965 Caught fire Toronto harbour, CTL. 1966 Scrapped Valencia.
• 1967 - USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin — 134 deaths.
• 1972 - RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong, ship sank in harbour
• 1987 - Doña Paz in the Philippines — an estimated 4,000 deaths
• 1990 - MS 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
• 2011 - MS Nordlys, Norwegian cruise ship, September 15, 2 deaths

Transport fires

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

• 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 on April 24
• 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. One of the deadliest bus disasters in US history.
• 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.
• 1995 - 1995 Baku Metro fire kills over 200
• 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.
• 1999 - 1999 Mont Blanc Tunnel fire - 39 deaths, caused by the cargo of a transport truck catching fire while in the tunnel.
• 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.
• 2006 - A bus caught fire on a street in Rio Grande, Brazil. 28 people were injured, but no-one was killed. The cause of the fire was a can of paint thinner under the driver's seat, which ignited following a short-circuit.
• 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 Balé 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.
• 2011 - Xinyang bus caught fire in Henan Province, China, killed 41 person, on July 22.

Forest and countryside fires

• 1921 - 1921 Mari wildfires, 35 killed
• 1935 - Kursha-2, 1200 killed
• 1949 - Landes Mountain forest fire, 256,000 acres (1,040 km²) 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
• 1987 - 1987 Daxing'anling wildfire in People's Republic of China, burned for a month
• 2006 - Pilliga forest fire burned out 740 km² on just its first day
• 2010 - 2010 Russian wildfires, 2000 buildings, 8000 km² destroyed, 54 killed.
• 2011 - Fires across parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, during the Easter holidays, destroying many parks and forests.
• 2011 - Summer fire outbreak across Texas claimed almost 4 million acres in over 21,000 fires. Approximately 7,000 homes were lost and approximately 50,000 homes in direct danger were saved by fire departments across the state.

See also

• List of accidents and disasters by death toll