A conflagration is one term for a great and destructive fire that threatens human life, animal life, health, or property. It may also be described as a blaze or simply a (large) fire. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused (wildfire), or intentionally created (arson). Arson can be for fraud, sabotage or diversion, or due to a person's pyromania. A firestorm can form as a consequence of a very large fire, in which the central column of rising heated air induces strong inward winds, which supply oxygen to the fire. Conflagrations can cause casualties including deaths or injuries from burns, trauma due to collapse of structures and attempts to escape, and smoke inhalation.
Firefighting is the practice of attempting to extinguish a conflagration, protect life and property, and minimize damage and injury. One of the goals of fire prevention is to avoid conflagrations.
During a conflagration a significant movement of air and combustion products occurs. Hot gaseous products of combustion move upward, causing the influx of more dense cold air to the combustion zone. Inside a building, the intensity of gas exchange depends on the size and location of openings in walls and floors, the ceiling height, and the amount and characteristics of the combustible materials.
Industrial conflagrations include fires at oil refineries, such as the 2009 Cataño oil refinery fire.
Conflagrations can occur in forests or other wilderness areas, known as Wildfire.
The conflagration of a building is known as a structure fire.
| Place | Date | Conflagration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | 64 | Great Fire of Rome | |
| Alexandria, Egypt | 48BC | Burning of the library of Alexandria | |
| Moscow | 1547 | Great Fire of Moscow, 1547 | 2,700 to 3,700 fatalities; 80,000 displaced |
| Moscow | 1571 | Fire of Moscow, 1571 | 10,000 to 80,000 casualties |
| London | 1613 | Burning of the Globe Theatre | During the Henry VIII (Play), a cannon fire lit the thatched roof on fire burning down the Theatre |
| Edo | 1657 | Great Fire of Meireki | 30,000 to 100,000 fatalities, 60-70% of the city was destroyed |
| London | 1666 | Great Fire of London | 13,200 houses and 87 churches were destroyed |
| Moscow | 1812 | Fire of Moscow (1812) | Estimated that 75% of the city was destroyed |
| Hamburg | 1842 | Great Fire of Hamburg | 25% of the inner-city was destroyed |
| St. Louis, Missouri | 1849 | Great St. Louis Fire | 430 homes and 23 ships were destroyed, but only 3 people died |
| Santiago, Chile | 1863 | Church of the Company Fire | 2,000 to 3,000 fatalities |
| Atlanta | 1864 | Atlanta Campaign during American Civil War | More than 4,000 houses, including dwellings, shops, stores, mills and depots were burned; about eleven-twelfths of the city. Only about 450 buildings escaped damage |
| Peshtigo, Wisconsin | 1871 | Peshtigo Fire | Resulted in most deaths by a single fire event in U.S. history |
| Chicago | 1871 | Great Chicago Fire | 200 to 300 fatalities; 17,000 buildings were destroyed |
| Boston | 1872 | Boston Fire | Over 700 buildings were destroyed |
| Minneapolis | 1874 | Great Mill Disaster | 18 believed fatalities |
| New York City | 1876 | Brooklyn Theater Fire | 273 – 300 fatalities |
| Hoboken, New Jersey | 1900 | Great Hoboken Pier Fire | 4 ships burned, killing up to 400 people |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 1901 | Great Fire of 1901 | An eight-hour fire which destroyed over 2,300 buildings and displaced almost 10,000 people |
| Chicago | 1903 | Iroquois Theater Fire | Deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history with 602 victims |
| New York City | 1904 | Burning of the steamship General Slocum | Over 1000 fatalities |
| San Francisco | 1906 | Result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake | More than 105,000 victims; over 95% of city burned |
| Idaho | 1910 | Massive forest fire known as the Big Burn | 3 million acres burned out |
| New York City | 1911 | Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire | Killed 146 garment factory workers; 4th deadliest industrial disaster in US history |
| Columbus, Ohio | 1930 | Ohio Penitentiary fire | 322 fatalities, 150 seriously injured |
| Coventry | 1940 | Coventry Blitz | Over 800 fatalities, most of the city was destroyed |
| Stalingrad | 1942 | Firestorm resulting from German air bombardment | 955 fatalities (original Soviet estimate) |
| Boston | 1942 | Cocoanut Grove fire | Nightclub fire killed 492 and injured hundreds more |
| Hamburg | 1943 | Firestorm resulting from air bombardment | 35,000 to 45,000 victims, and 12km² of the city was destroyed |
| Hartford, Connecticut | 1944 | Hartford Circus Fire | Killed 168 and injured over 700 in circus tent fire |
| Dresden | 1945 | Firestorm resulting from Allied bombing | Up to 25,000 fatalities during the three-day bombing; 39km² of the city was destroyed by the fire |
| Tokyo | 1945 | Firestorm resulting from B-29 raids during Operation Meetinghouse | About 100,000 victims and 41km² of the city was destroyed; similar firestorms hit the Japanese cities of Kobe and Osaka following air bombardments |
| Hiroshima and Nagasaki | 1945 | A Firestorm developed 30 minutes after the bombing of Hiroshima, but only a conflagration developed at Nagasaki (see nuclear explosion) | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki |
| Texas City | 1947 | Texas City disaster | Cargo ship Grandcamp caught fire and exploded, destroying most of the harbor and killing 600 people |
| Chicago | 1958 | Our Lady of the Angels School Fire | 95 fatalities, 100 wounded |
| Brussels | 1967 | L'Innovation Department Store fire | 322 victims, 150 wounded |
| Gulf of Tonkin | 1967 | USS Forrestal fire | Fire aboard aircraft carrier during Vietnam War killed 134 sailors and injured 161 |
| Tasmania, Australia | 1967 | 1967 Tasmanian fires | Severe wildfires that claimed 62 lives, 900 injured, displaced 7,000, and destroyed 264,000 hectares of land including 1293 homes |
| Southgate, Kentucky | 1977 | Beverly Hills Supper Club fire | 165 fatalities |
| Minneapolis | 1982 | Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire | Two people were convicted of arson, after setting fire to a Donaldson's department store, which in turn destroyed a full city block of downtown Minneapolis |
| San Juanico, Mexico | 1984 | San Juanico Disaster | Fire and explosions at a liquid petroleum gas tank farm killed 500-600 people and 5,000-7,000 others suffered severe burns; local town of San Juan Ixhuatepec was devastated |
| Bradford, England | 1985 | Bradford City stadium fire | 52 victims |
| London | 1987 | King's Cross fire | Conflagration on London Underground station killed 31 people |
| Dabwali, India | 1995 | Dabwali tent fire | 540 deaths |
| New York City | 2001 | World Trade Center fires | 2,806 victims as fires caused both twin towers of the World Trade Center to collapse, following impacts by hijacked airliners |
| West Warwick, Rhode Island | 2003 | The Station nightclub fire | 100 killed, over 200 injured in fire at rock concert |
| Asunción, Paraguay | 2004 | Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire | Almost 400 fatalities |
| Hemel Hempstead, England | 2005 | Hertfordshire oil storage terminal fire | The largest fire in peacetime Britain |
| Greece | 2007 | 2007 Greek forest fires | 84 victims in over 3,000 wildfires destroying 670,000 acres (2,700 km) of land |
| Victoria, Australia | 2009 | Black Saturday bushfires | 173 victims in over 400 separate bushfires which burned 450,000 hectares |
| Near Haifa, Israel | 2010 | Mount Carmel forest fire (2010) | 44 victims, 12,000 acres (49 km) of bush/forest destroyed |
| Comayagua, Honduras | 2012 | Comayagua prison fire | 382 fatalities |
| Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan |
2012 | 2012 Pakistan garment factory fires | about 315 fatalities, over 250 injured in 2 fires on 1 day |
| Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | 2013 | Kiss nightclub fire | at least 232 fatalities, 117 hospitalized |
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