A conflagration is a particularly large and destructive fire. In the environment, this may describe a fire that spreads via structure to structure, ignition due to radiant or convective heat, or ember transmission.[1] Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A conflagration can begin accidentally or be intentionally created (arson). A very large fire can produce a firestorm, 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, collapse of structures and attempts to escape, and smoke inhalation.
Firefighting is the practice of extinguishing a conflagration, protecting life and property and minimizing damage and injury. One of the goals of fire prevention is to avoid conflagrations. When a conflagration is extinguished, there is often a fire investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
During a conflagration a significant movement of air and combustion products occurs.[2] Hot gaseous products of combustion move upward, causing the influx of more dense cold air to the combustion zone. Sometimes, the influx is so intense that the fire grows into a firestorm.[3]
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.
Wildfires are fires in forests or other undeveloped areas, and may grow into a conflagration.
An urban conflagration is defined as a "large, destructive fire that spreads beyond natural or artificial barriers; it can be expected to result in large monetary loss and may or may not include fatalities. An urban conflagration moves beyond a block and destroys whole sections of a city."[4] Notable examples includes the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Great Fire of Tartu in 1775,[5] the Great Fire of Turku in 1827,[6] and the Great Fire of Hamburg in 1842,[7] and the Camp Fire in Paradise, California in 2018, which burned 18,000 structures and killed 85 people.[8]
On board ships, a large uncontained fire may quickly lead to a ship conflagration.[9]
The conflagration of a building is known as a structure fire.
1,500 buildings destroyed, 11,000 left homeless, when a fire at the Boston Blacking Company was fanned by 40mph (64km/h) winds and raced across the Chelsea Rag District, a several-block area of dilapidated wood-frame buildings housing textile and paper scrap. Half the city was destroyed. Same conditions and origin area of the Second Great Chelsea Fire (1973).
18 city blocks destroyed when a firestorm raced across the Chelsea Rag District, a several-block area of dilapidated wood-frame buildings housing textile and paper scrap. The same conditions and origin area of the First Great Chelsea Fire (1908).
Fire and explosions at a liquid petroleum gastank farm killed 500-600 people and 5,000-7,000 others suffered severe burns; local town of San Juan Ixhuatepec devastated
Occurring on the final day of the Waco siege, resulting in deaths of 76 cult members; question of who actually started the fires remains unanswered[15]
2,606 victims killed in New York City as fires caused both twin towers of the World Trade Center to collapse, following impacts by two hijacked airliners. In Washington, D.C., 125 victims at the Pentagon were killed by the hijacked plane crash and subsequent fire.
On 2 September 2018, a fire broke out at Paço de São Cristóvão in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which housed the 200-year-old National Museum of Brazil. The museum held more than 20 million items, of which almost 90 percent were lost.
The fire of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris was a violent fire that erupted in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It began at the end of the afternoon of April 15, 2019, on the roof of the building, causing considerable damage. The cathedral's needle and roof collapsed, and the interior and artefacts it housed were severely damaged.
Between January 7th and 31st, 2025, 14 destructive wildfires burned in throughout Los Angeles County in California, United States. Due to environmental conditions, the wildfires grew into an urban conflagration.[20] Leading to the death of more than 28 people,[21] with more than 31 missing.[21] More than 17,000 structures were destroyed.[22] These were some of the most destructive fires in California's history.[23]
↑Karl Heinrich Schleiden: Versuch einer Geschichte des großen Brandes in Hamburg vom 5. bis 8. Mai 1842. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1843. (in German).
↑ The Return of the Urban Firestorm ... What happened in Colorado was something much scarier than a wildfire | By David Wallace-Wells | Intelligencer | Jan. 1, 2022
↑"The First Globe". Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The Shakespeare Globe Trust. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
↑Glasstone, Samuel; Dolan, Philip J., eds. (1977), "Chapter VII — Thermal Radiation and Its Effects"(PDF), The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (Thirded.), United States Department of Defense and the Energy Research and Development Administration, p.304, Nagasaki probably did not furnish sufficient fuel for the development of a fire storm as compared to the many buildings on the flat terrain at Hiroshima.
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