Top 10 largest fires in the history of mankind

The World's Largest Fires in the Last 10 Years: How It Happened

The large-scale fire at the Winter Cherry Mall in Kemerovo killed at least 37 people. The Federal News Agency has prepared a compilation of the largest fires on the planet over the past 10 years.

2009: Fire at the "Khromaya Loshad" Club in Perm - 156 dead

A fire broke out in "Lame Horse" club in Perm during the celebration of the institution's eighth anniversary on December 5, 2009. A fireworks display was organized in the club's premises. According to the official version, the cause of the fire was a violation of safety rules. Although the official capacity of the club was 50 seats, the death toll reached 156. Inspections revealed serious violations of fire safety rules. Officials of different levels have lost their positions. The entire regional government resigned.

2010: Thomas fire in California - 28 dead

One of the largest fires in the history of the state of California caused the death of 28 people. Under the action of elements more than 3.5 thousand structures were destroyed. 150 thousand residents were forced to leave their homes. The cause of the fire was the heat and drought.

2011: fire on a ship in the Red Sea - 197 dead

On July 5, 2011, a ship illegally carrying migrants to Saudi Arabia crashed off the coast of Sudan. The fire started four hours after the departure. 197 people died as a result of the tragedy. Only three survived.

2012: fire at Villagio Mall in Qatar - 19 dead

On May 28, 2012, a massive fire broke out at the Villagio Mall in Doha, the capital of Qatar, killing 19 people, including 13 children and four teachers. Two other victims were civil defense personnel. All the victims of the incident were foreign nationals.

2013: Poultry farm fire in China - 120 dead

On June 10, 2013, a large-scale fire occurred in Jilin Province of the People's Republic of China. 120 people were killed and another 70 were hospitalized. According to official reports, the cause of the accident was a leak of liquid ammonia. Witnesses to the incident who managed to survive reported a loud explosion.

2014: Fire in Trade Union House in Odessa - 42 dead

On May 2, 2014, large-scale clashes occurred in Odessa between neo-Nazi soccer fans and supporters of the federalization of Ukraine. The clashes began in the city center, but the most dramatic events unfolded in the House of Trade Unions on Kulikovo Field. Odessa residents tried to take shelter in the building from radicals. The latter threw incendiary mixtures at the House of Trade Unions. Those who jumped out the window were killed by Nazi. According to official data, 42 people were killed in the fire.

2015: Ghana Gas Station Explosion - 175 Dead

On June 5, 2015, an explosion at a gas station in the Ghanaian capital Accra killed 175 people. The most likely cause of the incident was a fuel leak, which, in turn, was caused by the flood. Many people sought refuge from the elements at the gas station.

2016: Paravoor temple fire in India - 106 dead

A fire at a temple in the city of Paravur in southwestern India broke out on April 10, 2016. Fireworks hit the roof of a warehouse that housed pyrotechnics, killing 106 people and injuring more than 350 as a result of the explosion and building collapse.

2017: Grenfell Tower fire in London - at least 80 dead

A fire in the Grenfell Tower building in the British capital occurred on June 14, 2017. It is believed that the cause of the fire in the 24-story structure was a malfunction of one of the refrigerators. At least 80 people were killed as a result.

Russia's Largest Fires, Dossier

On March 25, the Winter Cherry Mall in Kemerovo caught fire, killing at least 56 people, according to the latest information

On March 25, 2018, at least 56 people were killed in a fire at the Winter Cherry Mall in Kemerovo, according to the latest figures. TASS-DOICE editorial prepared a fact sheet on the largest building fires in the RSFSR and Russia, which killed more than 50 people. There were four such cases in total (not including the fire in Kemerovo).

Lame Horse Club - 156 dead

On December 5, 2009, as a result of careless use of pyrotechnics, a fire broke out in Lromaya Loshad night club in Perm. 156 people died and 78 were injured. The cause of the accident was non-compliance with fire safety rules: about 300 people gathered in a room with 50 seats; the ceiling and walls were decorated with flammable materials; there was no emergency lighting. In April 2013 the court sentenced the club owner, executive director, art director and fire inspector who checked the place to various terms in prison

Fire in the dormitory of the PFUR Institute in Moscow

The institute, which has a large number of foreign students, is a well-known place, but the fire started in the dormitory (#6) of the institution, or more precisely in room 203, where Nigerians were living. The investigation has not yet determined what caused the fire.

But strangest of all, the students themselves decided to put out the fire. They failed. The firefighters were called 40 minutes later, but the fire was already raging everywhere.

The result: 44 dead, 182 injured, all students from different countries.

The investigation was short, the violations were evident, and so the management of the institute, including two vice-rectors, were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The building of the PFUR dormitory after the fire

Fire in a boarding school in Makhachkala

This tragedy, too, would not be called a mass fire in Russia. But the boarding school was for the deaf. There were 30 dead and 116 injured.

The reason was the electric kettle left on. The director of the boarding school and his deputy were brought to responsibility. But the court did not limit the freedom of those convicted. The sentence was suspended.

Fire in Minsk on January 3, 1946

On January 3, 1946, in the city of Minsk, which was then part of the USSR, there was a fire in the NKGB club, killing more than 100 people.

Large fires in the USSR in 1956-1961

In 1956 there was a fire in Krasny Yar (USSR) that killed 36 people, including 30 children.

November 5, 1961 in Elbarusovo (Mariinsko-Posadsky district of the Chuvash ASSR, then part of the USSR) there was one of the worst fires of the 20th century, in which 110 people were killed, including 106 children from three to 15 years old.

The first mention in the media of this tragedy was in the late 1990s, before that, during the Soviet period, the authorities were forbidden to talk about disasters with mass deaths.

This tragedy still freezes the souls of eyewitnesses and relatives of the children who died then. And the kids were only a few years old, a lot of first and second graders.

On that day there was a holiday concert, the desks in the wooden school were put up against the windows for the occasion, the entrances were closed. They were repairing a gasoline engine in one of the classrooms, the school principal got cold, decided to heat the stove, accidentally touched a can of gasoline, it spilled, in a second a fire broke out, engulfing the entire school. The wooden building exploded like a match, the first (as usual) to escape were the principal and the school management, no one cared about the children.

They tried to escape by climbing out the window, but the whole crowd rushed in and got stuck in the crush, and most died from the burns.

All were buried in a mass grave, and it was forbidden to speak about what had happened. Bulldozers razed the buried bodies to the ground, the streets of the village were deserted. 140 people died here during the entire war (the Great Patriotic War), and more than 100 children were lost in one day... In some families several children died. Later the school was rebuilt with bricks, and the first monument to the dead was unveiled only in 1994.

Major fires in the USSR in 1968-1972

On May 25, 1968 in Kirov (USSR), 35 people died (29 on the spot, 6 in the hospital) as a result of a fire at the Trudovye Resursy stadium.

In the summer of 1972 in the European part of the USSR as a result of forest and peat fires that arose against the backdrop of a dry summer, burned almost a million hectares of forests, 19 villages, killed 104 people.

Fire in the village of Machinists on September 20, 1980

September 20, 1980 in Samara region (USSR) due to a leak from a railway tank with liquefied gas in the village of Machinistov (according to the official version) and the resulting fire killed 41 people, about 200 people received various injuries.

Fire in Stalingrad, 1942

Fire in 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad, when a Luftwaffe (German air force) air raid destroyed most of the city, killing 40,000 people, 60,000 wounded - is considered, despite the fact that the fire during the Battle of Stalingrad was a military disaster, the largest fire of the 20th century in Russia.

Fire in the village of Bologoye on February 20, 1911

February 20, 1911 in the village of Bologoye in the Russian Empire (then - in Nizhny Novgorod region, today - Tver) was a major fire in the cinema, or rather in Bologovsky cinematograph. 64 people died, of whom - 43 children. The cinema was in a wooden building.

It was Goodbye Sunday, people came with their families to the movie theater, and movies were shown with a movie camera and film. They even sold tickets for standing seats, and the theater was packed... because of careless handling of the movie camera, the film caught fire, and there were gasoline canisters, which exploded from the rapid spread of fire. In seconds the theater was engulfed in flames. The exit was blocked in advance to prevent stowaways, the windows had bars and shutters, meaning people simply could not get out of the firetrap.

They wrote about the incident in the newspapers and Ogonyok, a monument and a chapel were dedicated to the victims.

Fire in Syzran on July 5, 1906

At the beginning of the 20th century in Russia (then the Russian Empire), in Syzran July 5, 1906 there was a major fire which destroyed 5,500 homes, left more than 30,000 people homeless, over 100 people were killed.

School in Chuvashia - 110 dead

On November 5, 1961, a fire broke out in a school in the village of Elbarusovo, Maryinsk-Posad district of the Chuvash ASSR (now Chuvash Republic) during a concert on November 7, 1917 October Revolution Day. There was no separate assembly hall in the school; the wall between two classrooms was removed for the concert. Because of the overcrowding (230 preschool age children and students instead of the maximum allowed 115) all the emergency exits were blocked with desks and chairs.

Fire in the "Winter Cherry" shopping center in Kemerovo

It was a day off (March 25, 2018), so many people came to the center for recreational activities. Whole families came, many of whom couldn't leave the building.

The fire started at 1 p.m. Moscow time. The fire could not be put out for many hours until the roof structure collapsed. It turned out that the building was accepted for use with violations of fire safety. But even during its use few people paid attention to this system.

A criminal case was opened against five people. One of them was a CHOP employee who ran away as soon as he received the signal of the beginning of the fire. He also turned off the alarm system, so a large number of people never received any information. This man is now wanted.

But, as practice shows, the biggest fires aren't just started by tenants or property owners. Where did the inspection agencies look when they accepted Winter Cherry into service? Where did the fire department look? Why aren't they in charge?

In this fire 64 people died and 51 were injured.

Fire at the Rossiya Hotel

This tragedy took the lives of 42 people. 52 people were hospitalized with various degrees of burns and poisoning. 13 of them were members of the fire department. The most interesting thing is that several floors, floors 5, 11 and 12, located in the northern building were on fire simultaneously. The tragedy took place in 1977 in February on the 25th.

The fire expertise never found the cause of the fire. Or maybe they hid it. But the version was that the fire was caused by a soldering iron, which was forgotten to be disconnected in the technical room. Two people were convicted: the supervisor and the engineer of the weak current system.

Now about the most severe fires in Russia that have occurred recently.

Hotel "Russia" after the fire

Nursing Home in Krasnodar Krai - 63 dead

On March 20, 2007 in the village of Kamyshevatskaya (Krasnodar region), the Priazovye home for the elderly and disabled caught fire. 63 people died, 29 were injured, the fire area exceeded 1,000 square meters. The fire occurred due to careless handling of fire, people could not be evacuated because of the lack of alarm, warning systems, and protective equipment. In 2009 the Eisk city court found the former director of the home, Galina Korvel and her former deputy Yuri Bozhko guilty of violating fire safety rules and sentenced them to 3 years in prison

The building of the Department of Internal Affairs in Samara - 57 dead

On 10 February 1999, a fire broke out in Samara's main police station: according to the official version, an employee threw an unlit cigarette butt. The fire quickly spread through the wooden ceilings of the five-story 1936 building and completely destroyed it. The evacuation exits were locked, the department ignored earlier orders from the State Fire Supervision Service. Many of the people in the building were forced to jump out the windows. 57 people died and more than 200 received burns and injuries.

Conclusion on the topic

There are many reasons for this, but more often it is non-compliance with fire safety rules. Today the requirements to real estate in the country are becoming stricter, but tragedies happen even now. So an important part of making facilities safer is strict control by Gospozhnadzor.

Forest Fires in Russia: Statistics and Anti-Records

The area of forest fires in Siberia on July 29th makes up 1 million 603 thousand ha, 232 blazes were fixed. The most difficult situation is in Irkutsk region and Krasnoyarsk krai.

July 29, 2019 Siberian District Information Center reported that the area of forest fires in Siberia is currently 1 million 603 thousand hectares, 232 centers were recorded. The most difficult situation is noted in Irkutsk Region (137 fires) and Krasnoyarsk Territory (94). In total, according to the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz), in Russia at the moment about 2.3 million hectares of forest is burning.

Basic information

Forests cover almost two-thirds of Russia's territory. The total area of forest lands, according to the Rosleskhoz, is 1 billion 146 million hectares. Every year in Russia is registered from 9 thousand to 35 thousand forest fires, covering areas from 500 thousand to 3.5 million ha. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry and Rosleskhoz, only from early 1992 to late 2018 in Russia have registered about 635 thousand forest fires, that is affected forest lands.

The average annual loss from forest fires is about 20 billion rubles, of which 3 to 7 billion is damage to the forest industry (timber losses). The other losses are the costs of suppression and subsequent clearing of burnt areas, damage from animal deaths, pollution by combustion products, costs of forest restoration, etc. Forest fires in Russia usually start in April and last until October.

Forest fires are divided into ground fires, top fires and peat fires. Ground fires make up about 90% of the total number of forest fires. They burn the lower parts of trees, grass, dead wood, undergrowth, protruding roots. The speed of spread of a ground fire is 2.5-3.0 m/min. Ground fires are characterized by the rapid advance of the fire through the tree crowns in strong winds. The speed of top fires sometimes reaches 400-500 m/min. Ground fires occur in areas of peat. The spread of such fire is several meters in the day.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the vast majority of forest fires are caused by human error: for example, due to unextinguished cigarettes, improperly lit fires, spring grass fall on forest land or sparks from road or rail transport. On rare occasions, fires are caused by lightning strikes.

As a rule, most forest fires are registered in the taiga, far from populated areas. Such natural disasters get a great public response when the fire gets close to populated areas or when the smog from fires spreads over a wide area, covering large agglomerations.

Fire records in Russia

The year 2002 was record-breaking in the number of forest fires: 43,418 blazes were recorded. The area of forest land covered by fires exceeded 1,369,000 ha. All eight federal districts of Russia were involved in the fire. The total damage was 1 billion 471 million rubles.

The greatest damage was caused by natural fires in 2010, which affected the entire territory of the European part of the country. 34,812 fires were fixed with a total area of about 2 million hectares, including more than 1 thousand peat fires. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, fires and resulting smog affected 17 regions, more than 2.5 thousand families were left homeless, over 60 people died in the fire and from poisoning by combustion products, the damage was estimated at 85.5 billion rubles.

The largest area of fires in the modern history of Russia was observed in 2018. According to "Avialesokhrana", the fire covered 8 million 674 thousand hectares (2.5 times more than in 2017), the number of centers was 12 thousand 121. In addition, according to the Accounting Chamber of Russia, the damage from fires was 20% less than in 2017 and was 20 billion rubles. About 90% all fires fell on the Amur region, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and Zabaikalsky regions, Jewish Autonomous Region. According to the Ministry of Emergencies, the area of potential impact of natural fires fell over 7.5 thousand settlements

10 largest fires in the history of mankind

Primitive people were able to tame fire, it began to warm their homes, food became tasty and varied, the flames of fire deterred predatory animals from caves and homes, but with the first steps toward civilization, fire began to take over people.

Most often it was people who caused the worst fires. This happened during wars and revolutions. The flames destroyed entire cities, cultural monuments and other objects. Thousands of people died, crops were destroyed, famine began. It took more than a year to recover.

A terrible fire in Paris on the night of April 15 to 16, 2019, destroyed the greatest building built back in the 12th century - the world-famous Notre Dame de Paris, aka Notre Dame de Paris. People were in tears watching the news, where they showed a video of the great cathedral, described back in the novel by Victor Hugo, blazing with fire.

Notre Dame de Paris has survived many revolutions and uprisings, the Hundred Years' War, the two World Wars. Statues, frescoes, mosaics and other valuables have been damaged and burned.

In the history of mankind, other cultural objects, architectural masterpieces of world proportions, entire cities and villages have also perished.

In this article we will tell about the 10 most terrible and largest fires of our planet, according to the author of the material, which had both man-made and natural origin, and caused enormous damage to countries and peoples. We decided to keep the principle of chronology, and will tell about the largest fires in the order in which they occurred.

The Great Fire of Rome, 64

Nero looks at burning Rome (Karl Theodor von Piloti, 1861)

In 64 A.D., the Emperor of Rome was Nero, a cruel ruler who loved to sing and made all the Romans listen to his songs. He was also famous for plundering at night and torturing Christians with his cronies.

One July night in '64 a fire broke out in Rome, which some scholars regard as an accident. The emperor himself blamed it on the Christians, who had set fire to the city for their hatred of the governor. The citizens themselves whispered that a mad tyrant ruler had set fire to the main city of the empire.

Nero that night, July 19, 64, watched with joyful face from the balcony as the most beautiful city at that time burned, and many people saw it. The emperor not only watched the terrible spectacle, but sang songs at the time.

Primary sources on the history of the Roman fire of that period have not survived, so its cause is still unclear. The scale of the disaster was catastrophic. The fire burned for 6 days, a strong wind carried the flames throughout the city and destroyed it completely on seven hills.

After the fire, all the blame fell on the unfortunate Christians, who were punished in public and their bodies were left for all to see on crucified crosses. The Christians at that time were adherents of a young, newly emerging religion, and were severely persecuted by the authorities of Rome.

Fires in Amsterdam, 1421 and 1452

Fires in Amsterdam

In the fifteenth century, almost all the buildings in Amsterdam were wooden. It was a terrible century in the history of the European city: in a century there were as many as two fires. One generation of Amsterdamers survived the horrors of the "great fire" in 1421, but their children and grandchildren also felt the fear of an even greater disaster.

A fire in 1452 destroyed three-quarters of the buildings, leaving people homeless and in poverty. The Amsterdam tragedy forced the authorities to sign an edict that only the front and back of the house should have wooden elements in the buildings.

The Great Fire in London, 1666

London fire on the evening of September 4, 1666 (painting by an unknown artist)

The owner of a London bakery, T. Farriner, noticed fire in his bakery in the middle of the night on September 2, 1666. In those years, to prevent the spread of flames, buildings in the vicinity of the fire were destroyed, but in 1666 the London authorities did not take this step, as a result, by the morning of September 3 the flames had spread from Padding Lane (where the fire began) to the northern part of the city, which burned almost entirely.

Migrants were named as the perpetrator of the disaster; some people believed that foreigners, presumably Dutch or French, had committed the arson. Both countries were enemies of England in the Second Anglo-Dutch War going on at the time.

The city had to be rebuilt practically from scratch. The fire also helped get rid of the Great Plague, which had been raging in London since 1665.

The City of Stone

The Great Fire of London raged for four days and left 100,000 people homeless

When a fire broke out in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane in the early morning hours of September 2, 1666, no one could have imagined the devastation it would cause.

In a city where open flames were used for both lighting and heating, fires were commonplace.

So familiar, in fact, that the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir Thomas Bladworth, seeing the flames burning out of the window, yawned and went to sleep.

But a fateful set of circumstances: high winds, cramped buildings, and too warm weather (which caused the wooden beams used to build the houses to dry out thoroughly and catch fire like matches) caused the area along the Thames, more than two kilometers long, to burn out completely.

The old buildings on Putting Lane loomed over each other like these surviving old houses in York

But that's what made it possible to completely rebuild the city.

King Charles II issued a special decree forbidding the development of the burned area until a general master plan was approved.

And in 1667 the Building Law was enacted, in which the authorities tried to eliminate the risks of similar disasters in the future.

For example, the upper floors could no longer overhang the street and had to fit strictly within the dimensions of the lower floors.

Hanging ads were banned after the fire and replaced with flat signs like this

But most importantly, the building material changed as well. The law said that no one could erect a house or building that was built out of materials other than brick or stone.

The treatment of violators was simple: buildings that did not comply with fire safety regulations were simply demolished to the very foundations.

Water pipes of the 17th century were made of wood

The second problem was that before 1666 not only houses were built of wood, but also water pipes were made. After the fire, the plumbing network of the English capital was also completely destroyed.

When a fire broke out, the townspeople tried to put it out with tap water, but it was impossible to take water from the taps without blocking the pipe. The cramped construction made it almost impossible to get to the river.

Desperate townspeople broke water pipes to get to water, but most of the water leaked into the ground, and that didn't stop the fire.

After the fire, it became clear that something had to be done about the water system. As a result, London was almost the first European capital city to have a system of fire hydrants.

In 1668 the Lord Mayor of the City issued an edict stating that "water posts should be placed in the most convenient places in each street, and all the inhabitants should be notified, so that the disorderly destruction of the pipes could be avoided.

New St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral today: London's jewel and center of tourism

No one disputes that St. Paul's Cathedral as it stands today is one of London's most famous buildings, but in 1666 it looked quite different.

The medieval cathedral, more than 500 years old in the year of the fire, was quietly deteriorating. To be honest, it was in such disrepair that Oliver Cromwell's troops used it as a stable during the Revolution.

This engraving depicts the old St. Paul's Cathedral, built in 1087

The architect Sir Christopher Wren was, just before the fire, engaged in a project to renovate the medieval cathedral. In particular, he proposed cladding all the walls with limestone, the so-called Portland stone, and replacing the existing tower with a dome.

The old cathedral was ruined by the fact that, first, it was very old indeed, and second, it was falling apart before our eyes, so the sagging walls were propped up by strong logs.

The wind blew burning splinters onto the wooden roof of the cathedral, which immediately caught fire, and the wooden supports gave the fire additional strength.

The complete destruction of the cathedral was also aided by the locals, who for some reason decided that St. Paul's Cathedral was in no danger, so they filled the entire courtyard with wooden furniture, which towered along the walls in several rows.

The local paper and writing supply guild filled the entire basement with paper and books, then closed and sealed the doors to prevent anyone from stealing the valuable goods. Can you imagine the fire raging in the crypt when the burning roof collapsed there!

According to eyewitnesses, the temperature in the burning cathedral was so high that the stone sculptures were bursting like grenades.

The publicist John Evelyn later wrote of this time in his diary: molten lead flowed down the streets in torrents from the roofs, and even the sidewalks were red-hot.

This is what the north courtyard of the cathedral might have looked like before the fire

The fire meant that Wren was given the opportunity to completely rebuild the cathedral. It must be admitted, however, that he was not overly concerned with preserving what could still be saved.

Despite his great love of mathematical precision and symmetry, Wren moved the building slightly to the west to get away from the old foundation. Wren didn't trust the old foundation.

It was also the first cathedral built in Protestant England, and the architect tried to get as far away from Catholic architectural canons as possible.

The stone column from the old cathedral is still standing, but its color has been completely changed by the fire

It is unlikely that the medieval St. Paul's Cathedral would have survived much longer, but the fire allowed Wren to fully realize his vision for London's new cathedral.

Engraved on the architect's tombstone in St. Paul's Cathedral is the Latin dictum: "If you're looking for what his life was remembered for, look back!"

And other famous buildings

Christopher Wren built this column in memory of the Great Fire - Monument

Five architects, including Christopher Wren, presented five detailed plans for how to rebuild the City.

It was almost impossible to fully implement them because most homeowners still owned the land on which the burned houses stood, and were not going to part with it for nothing.

In all, Wren was responsible in varying degrees for the rebuilding of 52 churches, 36 shop corporation buildings, and the column commemorating the Great Fire, the Monument.

The birth of the insurance business

One of the first insurance policies signed by Nicholas Barbon

The fire destroyed more than 13,000 homes, and yet insurance did not exist at that time.

The authorities even created a special "Fire Court," which dealt with disputes about who owned what property and who should pay for the reconstruction. It had enough work for a decade.

Physician Nicholas Barbon was able to seize the opportunity and founded the first insurance company - "The Fire Office" in 1667.

His company even maintained its own fire brigade, which came to the aid of those who had insured their property with the Fire Company.

Policy holders were given special signs that were hung on the walls of houses so that firefighters would know which building to save first.

The example of Barbon was not slow to take advantage of other entrepreneurs. So, for example, in 1710 was founded by the firm Sun Fire Office, which exists to this day and is the oldest insurance company in the world.

The Association of British Insurers believes that the Great Fire led to the creation of the insurance industry in its modern form.

Fire departments

This leather fireman's bucket is preserved from 1666.

In 1666 there were no fire brigades, no hydrants, and no protective clothing in London. Every parish church kept leather buckets and fire hooks in case of fire.

There is a record in the archives that on the eve of the Great Fire, 36 buckets and one ladder were stored in St Botolph's Church in Billingsgate, less than a mile from Pudding Lane. Clearly, this modest equipment had no effect on extinguishing the fire.

The seventeenth-century fire engine was a rather primitive device

The first fire engines were large barrels on wheels, which gave out about three liters of water for each movement of the pump handle. They were difficult to get to the place, and in general, you could not count on their help.

After the fire, new rules were introduced requiring each parish to have two fire pumps, leather buckets, and other firefighting equipment.

The new rules required all homeowners to keep open access to the Thames to avoid water shortages.

The process culminated in the creation of the London Fire Brigade, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary this year.

Copenhagen Fire, 1728

 

Map of Copenhagen by Joachim Hassing, 1728 (burned houses in yellow)

For three whole days in October 1728 a fire raged in the Danish city of Copenhagen. It was the largest fire in Danish history. Unfortunately, the flames destroyed many historical and cultural monuments. Museum pieces, valuable archival documents, ancient ceramics, priceless copies of books and many other antiquities that would now delight history buffs were destroyed.

The townspeople then lost half of their property and most of them were left homeless, almost all the buildings were beyond repair and were demolished.

The Great Fire in New York, 1776

 

A drawing by an artist of the time, published in 1776

In 1776, there was no independent U.S. state. America was a British colony, and Americans were fighting a just war of independence against European colonizers. In the summer of 1776, the British were already in New York. Suddenly some of the revolutionary officers had the idea that instead of fighting against the British they should burn the city down along with the colonizers sitting there.

Most American commanders rejected the idea, but a week later the city did catch fire. The fire started in a New York City café, with the wind rushing from one building to another, burning nearly 500 homes and killing many occupants. Revolutionary army officers had already left the city by that time.

Catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 1986

Duration: 24 hours of fire, 3 months of high level radiation

It is one of the bloodiest fires in the history of the planet. It happened on a few square meters, and it destroyed thousands... thousands of kilometers, cubic meters of air, people, animals, and even thousands of technical machines.

The spring of 1986 was fateful: there was an explosion at unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Gas burned and metal melted. Inhaling radiation fumes burned internal organs, any contact with the walls of the plant damaged clothing and caused skin to fall off. Living corpses are more than an oxymoron. It is true.

In the spring of 2019, the sensational film "Chernobyl" was released: 5 episodes of brutal truth. The perpetrators were denounced, the chronology of actions was restored, the real consequences were revealed. It is a firestorm that shows what rash actions, following hubris and lust for power can lead to. Soviet officials could have prevented this explosion, could have saved lives and fates, could have changed the course of destiny.

Damage Dozens of dead, hundreds irradiated. At this point, the nuclear power plants have been redesigned.

Fire at Notre Dame de Paris

Duration: more than 10-15 hours.

"- ...higher than the famous Notre Dame de Paris, which translates as 'Notre Dame de Paris'.
- What mother?
- of Paris...Mother God..."

Quote from the movie "Operation Y and Other Adventures of Shurik", remember? Now that building is definitely taller than the Cathedral.

A powerful fire engulfed Notre Dame de Paris in the spring of 2019, and that's when the hearts of those who cared shook. Instagram is full of photos of those who had a chance to look at the landmark live. The words of sorrow and regret are everywhere.

For several years, the cathedral was under restoration and was wrapped in wooden scaffolding, which spread the flames. For dozens of minutes the fire curbed the bells, disfigured the stained glass windows, bells and frescoes. Tourists "wait out" the restoration of the Cathedral, because how to come to Paris, and not capture the main attraction?

All the forces of France are thrown into the restoration of the historic landmark of the city.

DamageThe roof of the cathedral was burned, the spire collapsed, and the icons and interior decorations were damaged.

Copenhagen (1728)

A larger fire occurred in Copenhagen, which raged for almost three days. In the end, one of the most beautiful cities in Denmark was almost completely destroyed. This fire was the largest in the history of the country, because it not only left 20% residents without a home, but also destroyed the cultural heritage of Copenhagen. The fire caused irreparable damage to both the architecture of the city and the historical documents.

Fire in aircraft L-1011

Duration: 40 minutes

Is there anything scarier than a fire at altitude? There are many known cases of fires on board airplanes, and they have been occurring more frequently lately. But the worst stain in aviation history was the fire in airplane L-1011.

L-1011 flew out of Riyard after refueling, and nothing foretold trouble. But just minutes later, 301 people were burned alive. According to recovered data, the fire broke out in the cargo compartment and was seen by flight attendants. The pilots managed to land the ship, but evacuation has not begun.

No one on board left the plane. When the rescue service arrived, there was no one to help. The whole plane was engulfed in fire and smoke. Hundreds of dead, thousands of mourners and a century of pain for aviation. What happened during the minutes of landing in the plane will remain unknown forever.

Damage301 people died.

Moscow Fire, 1812

The Moscow Fire of 1812 (painting by Francesco Vendramini)

The Russian Empire in 1812 waged a war of liberation against the "Grand Army" of Napoleon. In June 1812 the French emperor and his army brazenly attacked Russia and the war took on a domestic character for the Russians. Napoleon's defeat at the famous Battle of Borodino prompted the conquering commander to seize Moscow, one of the two main Russian cities at the time.

To Napoleon's surprise, his army entered the city easily and without resistance. At first there was a small fire in Moscow, which grew into a huge one. Historical scholarship does not yet know on whose initiative such a disaster occurred. Some believe that the Russians themselves burned the city so that the enemy froze there, starved, felt ill and eventually left the country. By the way, this is what happened: the French began to freeze in Moscow, food and fuel began to run out, epidemics began.

Other historians blame the French soldiers who negligently or deliberately set fire to a number of buildings, as a result of which the wooden Moscow caught fire very quickly and the fire quickly spread to other building sites. The fire killed at least 12,000 people and also caused damage to the Russian economy, as 75 % of Russian capital was burned in the flames.

The Great Fire in Chicago, 1871

The Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire lasted from October 8 to October 10, 1871. It started when a little cow overturned a kerosene lamp in one of the barns with her paws. The wooden structure caught fire and tragedy ensued. The number of fire victims is still not exactly known, but at least three hundred.

The slow spread of the fire through Chicago caused most of the wooden structures to burn to the ground, leaving more than ninety thousand people homeless. Incidentally, some historians believe that the barn caught fire not because of a pet but because of a smoker and the ash from his cigarette.

The Great Fire in Boston, 1872

The Great Fire in Boston

This is the worst fire in the history of the American city of Boston. In 1872 the city was engulfed in flames. Office buildings, stores, markets, and citizens' homes burst into flames. The city's economy was severely damaged. 20 people died and thousands were out of work. The property damage was so enormous that this fire is considered the most expensive in American history.

San Francisco Fire, 1906

San Francisco after the earthquake

In April 1906, in the American city of San Francisco there was the worst earthquake in U.S. history. Because of this natural cataclysm in the city there was a major fire. Everything was complicated by the death of the chief firefighter living in the city, who thanks to his great experience knew how to properly lead the work of extinguishing fires.

After the accident, the firefighters, without a leader and with very little funding, were unable to cope with the elements. The flames from the earthquake engulfed all the homes of the citizens. The firefighters lacked the necessary equipment to extinguish the fire.

Soon the city quickly recovered from the catastrophe. New buildings began to be constructed, and ten years later there were no more reminders of the recent apocalypse.

Fire in Tokyo, 1923

Consequences of the 1923 Tokyo earthquake and fire

In 1923 in the Japanese city of Tokyo there was a major earthquake. The catastrophe, caused by the forces of nature, led to many pockets of fire in the city. The fire and the consequences of the earthquake were the worst in Japanese history. 38 thousand people were killed in the fire, and all victims of natural disasters in 1923 were 142 thousand Japanese people.

The largest forest fires in the world

USA, 1871

A painting by Michael Kishner illustrating the fire of 1871

A fire in a forest near Chicago is called mystical, the result of an unexplained natural phenomenon. First there was a rumble in the sky, and moments later, according to witnesses, fire began to fall directly from above. The firestorm instantly engulfed not only the forest, but also nearby settlements.

In just an hour and a half almost the entire area around the forest was burned out. The death toll could not be accurately determined because there were Indians living in the area, who were not part of the census.

Indonesia, 1997-1998

 

More than 2 million hectares of forest were destroyed by fires on the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra. The fires remained burning for eight months from August 1997 to March 1998 because farmers deliberately burned the land to make it available for planting.

Some 240 Indonesians died from carbon monoxide, and at least 300 more were victims of air, sea and river accidents due to low visibility.

Australia, 1983

 

The Ash Wednesday Fires were the name given to the series of fires that broke out in Australia in 1983. 186 wildfires were recorded in a half day in two states, destroying four thousand buildings, leaving three thousand people homeless and killing 75 people, 17 of whom were firefighters.

Greece, 2007

During the entire summer, from June to September 2007, the Greek authorities were unable to subdue the elements. Because of the abnormal heat the situation got out of control. 84 people were killed and more than 270,000 hectares of forest were destroyed as a result of the fires.

Israel, 2010

More than five thousand hectares of protected area were destroyed by a fire in Israel in 2010 during a severe drought. Five million trees and 250 cottages were burned. 44 people were killed, 39 of them cadets who were surrounded by fire in a bus.

Portugal, 2017

Near Lisbon in June 2017, a major forest fire broke out, killing 66 people and injuring 200 more.

USA, 2017

About a year ago, also in the state of California, wildfires almost completely destroyed the Kofi Park area in the city of Santa Rosa, as well as several nearby communities. 44 people were killed, about 100,000 were evacuated. The total area of the fire was more than 99,000 hectares.