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Estimated loss (1) |
| Rank |
Date |
Location/Event |
Dollars when occurred |
In 2008 dollars (2) |
| 1 |
Sep. 11, 2001 |
World Trade Center (terrorist attacks) |
$33,400 (3) |
$40,600 (3) |
| 2 |
Apr. 18, 1906 |
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire |
350 |
8,300 |
| 3 |
Oct. 8-9, 1871 |
Great Chicago Fire |
168 |
3,000 |
| 4 |
Oct. 20, 1991 |
Oakland, CA, fire storm |
1,500 |
2,400 |
| 5 |
Oct. 20, 2007 |
San Diego County, CA, The Southern California Wildland Fires |
1,800 |
1,900 |
| 6 |
Nov. 9, 1872 |
Great Boston Fire |
75 |
1,300 |
| 7 |
Oct. 23, 1989 |
Pasadena, Texas, polyolefin plant |
750 |
1,300 |
| 8 |
Oct. 25, 2003 |
Julian, CA, Wildfire (Cedar) |
1,100 |
1,200 |
| 9 |
May 4, 2000 |
Los Alamos, NM, wildland fire |
1,000 |
1,200 |
| 10 |
Feb. 7, 1904 |
Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Conflagration |
50 |
1,200 |
(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimate exists.
(2) Adjustment to 2008 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 estimates from other sources.
Source: National Fire Protection Association. |