| THE TEN MOST COSTLY LARGE-LOSS FIRES IN U.S. HISTORY |
($ millions)
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Estimated loss (1) |
| Rank |
Date |
Location/event |
Dollars when
occurred |
In 2012
dollars (2) |
| 1 |
Sep. 11, 2001 |
World Trade Center (terrorist attacks) |
$33,400 (3) |
$43,300 (3) |
| 2 |
Apr. 18, 1906 |
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire |
350 |
8,900 |
| 3 |
Oct. 8-9, 1871 |
Great Chicago Fire |
168 |
3,200 |
| 4 |
Oct. 20, 1991 |
Oakland, CA, fire storm |
1,500 |
2,500 |
| 5 |
Oct. 20, 2007 |
San Diego County, CA, The Southern California Wildland Fires |
1,800 |
2,000 |
| 6 |
Nov. 9, 1872 |
Great Boston Fire |
75 |
1,400 |
| 7 |
Oct. 23, 1989 |
Pasadena, Texas, polyolefin plant |
750 |
1,400 |
| 8 |
May 4, 2000 |
Los Alamos, NM, Cerro Grande wildland fire |
1,000 |
1,300 |
| 9 |
Oct. 25, 2003 |
Julian, CA, Wildfire (Cedar) |
1,100 |
1,300 |
| 10 |
Feb. 7, 1904 |
Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Conflagration |
50 |
1,300 |
(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimates exists.
(2) Adjustment to 2012 dollars made by the NFPA using the Consumer Price Index, including the U.S. Census Bureau's estimates of the index for historical times.
(3) Differs from inflation-adjusted estimates made by other organizations due to the use of different deflators.
Source: National Fire Protection Association. |
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