- Conflagration
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Conflagration
A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused (wildfire), or intentionally created (arson). Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of pyromania. During conflagration the property is damaged or destroyed by fire. Sometimes the conflagration produces a firestorm, in which the central column of rising heated air induces strong inward winds, which supply oxygen to the fire. Conflagrations can result in casualties, deaths, or injuries from smoke inhalation or burns.
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.
Contents
Definitions
- a destructive fire, usually an extensive one[1]
- a very intense and uncontrolled fire[2]
- a large disastrous fire[3]
The causes and types of conflagration [4]
Forest fireDuring 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.
Notable conflagrations
- Main article: List of historic fires
A fire in a school in Aberdeen, WashingtonPlace Date Conflagration Notes Rome 64 Great Fire of Rome Alexandria, Egypt 46–120 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[5] 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 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 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 San Francisco 1906 Result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake More than 105,000 victims; over 95% of city burned Barnaul, Russia 1917 Conflagration 34 victims, 60 quarters destroyed Columbus, Ohio 1930 Ohio Penitentiary fire 322 fatalities, 150 seriously injured 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 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 Nuclear pyroclastic storms (see nuclear explosion) Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 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 Moscow 1977 Conflagration in the Rossiya Hotel 42 victims, 50 injured 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[6] 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 km2) 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 km2) of bush/forest destroyed Chelsea Massachusetts October 14, 1973 18 city blocks destroyed: several businesses (mostly rag shops) and homes of one, two, and three story wood frame and metal clad construction Chelsea Massachusetts May 24, 1974 a fire at the American Barrel Company spread to several other businesses in a two block area See also
- Dublin Farm fire. Caused by oil spill which led to sheep been set a light and running into an oil tank and blowing up.
References
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
- ^ WordNet 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
- ^ Merriam Websters' Dictionary
- ^ Great Soviet encyclopedia, ed. A. M. Prokhorov (New York: Macmillan, London: Collier Macmillan, 1974–1983) 31 volumes, three volumes of indexes. Translation of third Russian edition of Bol'shaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya.
- ^ Shakespeare's Globe Theatre [1]
- ^ Item 55 in Large Building Fires and Subsequent Code Changes
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Background [2]
External links
- Conflagration on map (AccidentMap.com Accident on map)
Categories:- Firefighting
- Fire
- Types of fire
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