The 10 Most Famous Fires in World History

On Lag BaOmer, fire is the focus of celebrations and joy. But throughout history, fire has also posed a serious threat to humanity. In fact, there is hardly a major city in the world that hasn't been burned to the ground at some stage. Some even burned over and over again: Constantinople, for example, burned no less than five times between 406 and 1204. Each rebuilding seemed to just pave the way for the next fire. So what are the 10 most famous and devastating fires in history? The list is before you, in ascending order of severity.

10. Boston 1872

The fire in Boston in 1872 was likely the most costly fire in the history of the United States. The reason? The fire mainly affected the city's trade and financial districts, causing hundreds of businesses to close and thousands of residents to lose their jobs. Dozens of insurance companies went bankrupt trying to pay compensation to victims. The main reason for the extensive damage – as discovered in an investigation – was the insufficient allocation of resources to local firefighters. In the final result, although only 20 people were killed, 776 commercial buildings were completely destroyed.

The fire that hit London in the early thirteenth century was one of the deadliest in history. No less than 3,000 people were killed, many of them trapped on London Bridge when it caught fire. (Yes, London Bridge did actually exist – and since it was made of wood, it provided excellent fuel for the hungry flames). The fire completely destroyed a third of London at that time.

England's capital suffered frequent fires, mainly due to poor planning and numerous wooden structures. But the most famous fire in history is that of 1666, mainly because of its impact not only on the residents of London but on all of England.

This fire involved quite a bit of luck. The blaze broke out when a servant at a bakery forgot to quench the oven flames at the end of the workday. But there were few casualties: only six people died in the fire, and the part of the city that caught fire was the dirty slums from which the Great Plague had spread the previous summer. This fire effectively sanitized the area and put an end to the plague's spread. In historical hindsight, the fire that broke out in London in 1666 may have left many without a roof over their heads – but it also saved countless lives.

This fire is forever linked with the name of Emperor Nero, although researchers believe he was not responsible for intentionally setting the city ablaze to clear ground for the palaces he wished to build. He also did not play the fiddle while Rome burned – the fiddle had yet to be invented! What's certain is that the infamous emperor likely did not show much sympathy for the citizens who lost their homes, and his name remains infamous as being associated with the fire. This fire, by the way, burned for five days and destroyed ten of Rome's 14 residential districts.

Few fires are as notoriously infamous as the one that started in a barn and devastated much of Chicago in October 1871, destroying 17,000 buildings and leaving 90,000 homeless. Fortunately, the fire spread slowly enough for most residents to escape, but this was small comfort as they faced a frigid winter without shelter.

As in the case of London, however, this fire also brought benefits. Chicago was rebuilt as a strong and impressive metropolis, and its fire department underwent such extensive reforms that to this day, Chicago's firefighters are a symbol of excellence across the United States.

The fire in San Francisco occurred as a combination of natural causes and human failures. The natural cause was the earthquake that shook the city on April 18, 1906. Human failures included the firefighters' ineffective attempts to blow up undamaged buildings to create firebreaks – which only worsened the destruction. Due to a corrupt city government, firefighters lacked the equipment they needed to combat the flames. To make matters worse, their chief died as a result of the earthquake, leaving them without leadership.

It was undoubtedly a very bad day in the history of San Francisco. 25,000 buildings burned, and 3,000 people died. However, San Francisco recovered with remarkable speed: within a decade, signs of the devastation caused by the fire were scarcely visible.

While a fire consumed large parts of Chicago, an even more severe fire raged in Wisconsin. More people died in this fire than in any other fire in US history, and 12 settlements were completely destroyed. The fire raged across a vast rural area, and the community hardest-hit was Peshtigo. Nearly the entire population of 1,700 perished in the fire. How horrible was the blaze? Eyewitnesses reported seeing the fire create a tornado that hurled railroad cars hundreds of feet into the air and threw whole homes from their foundations.

Who would have thought a small fire on a freighter's deck could cause such a problem? Well, that's what happens when the ship carries 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an incredibly flammable substance. The result was the largest industrial explosion in America's history. 1,000 buildings were leveled, and 1,000 people died. The fire also triggered a chain reaction at refineries and chemical plants, compounding the damage. The blast was so intense that windows broke in Houston, 100 kilometers away.

The fire in Halifax occurred during World War I, but this disaster was not the result of sabotage but an operational work accident. On the morning of December 6, 1917, the cargo ship Mont Blanc, loaded with war munitions for Europe, collided with a Norwegian ship in Halifax Harbor and caught fire. Before the flames could be extinguished, the munitions ignited, and the resulting explosion was so massive that it generated a tsunami and an air pressure wave that snapped trees, destroyed railway tracks, and demolished buildings. If that weren't enough, a hailstorm struck the city the next day, complicating rescue efforts for those trapped in homes. The death toll reached 2,000, 9,000 were injured, and most of the city was destroyed. For years after, Halifax Harbor was unsuitable for use.

Like San Francisco 17 years later, Tokyo was first struck by a massive earthquake and then a disastrous fire. The fire that seized the ruins left by the earthquake spread rapidly through the city and caused horrific carnage: estimates speak of 142,000 lives lost. Several factors combined for this devastating outcome: the fire occurred in the early afternoon when most homes were cooking meals on open flames, increasing the fire's spread rate. The fire roared because of strong winds from a nearby typhoon, and the earthquake caused a tsunami that contributed to the disaster. Nearly two million people were left homeless.

Tokyo was rebuilt, of course, just in time to be destroyed again by the bombings of World War II.