famous fires in history Archives | The Banality Report

If you haven’t heard, last Monday, a fire that started in the famed spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral raged for most of the day and nearly claimed the entire 800-year-old world treasure. Many believed it would be a devastating total loss, but miraculously, most of the damage was limited to the roof, and the spire itself which collapsed. The main structure of the Cathedral, its storied bell towers, pipe organ, and most of the treasures kept inside survived (thanks to a human chain to remove them). But was it miraculous?

Short answer is no. But if a similar fire had started in any year, in any world city, prior to the 20th century, chances are the devastation would have gone far beyond the loss of a priceless architectural wonder of the world. Fires have devastated dense populations since humans have been building them. The fact that Notre Dame survived this fire is, like the building itself, a testament to human ingenuity. Better building materials, building procedures and codes, huamns learning from past mistakes. And of course, we cannot omit the bravery and skills of the more than 400 firefighters who spent over 9 hours risking their lives to save the building using state of the art technology created by nameless creative and hardworking people who have improved fire prevention and fighting through the ages with past fire events as their guide.

Some of the worst fires in history have claimed thousands of lives, devastated acres of property, and destroyed irreplaceable treasures. Many of them were started when a ubiquitous home or business’s fire got out of hand (though don’t blame Mrs. O’Leary and her cow, that one was made up by a newspaperman looking to get eyeballs on his story), and quickly spread via the tinderbox materials cities have been built with until relatively recently. For instance, in 1212, 3,000 people were killed in London in the Great Fire of Southwark (the more deadly, but less famous London Fire). Last year, the city with the most (recorded) fire deaths was Moscow with 153 for the entire year. We’ve come a long way.

— This has been your very banal report–

For more facts about devastating fires in history, check out the great list of Top Most Famous Fires in History in the sources list, and the 2018 report by the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services for more stats about worldwide fires and fire-related deaths, along with the many other great sources we used for this report.

1666 Fire of London Monument Closeup: Copyright The Banality Report 2018, photo taken by the Banana Prima on her trip to London last year.

monument — 1666 Fire of London Monument: Copyright The Banality Report 2018, photo taken by the Banana Prima on her trip to London last year.

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