| Top 10 Costliest Large-Loss Fires In U.S. History |
($ millions)
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Estimated loss (1) |
| Rank |
Date |
Location/event |
Dollars when occurred |
In 2017 dollars (2) |
| 1 |
Sep. 11, 2001 |
World Trade Center (terrorist attacks) |
$33,400 (3) |
$46,300 (3) |
| 2 |
Oct. 8, 2017 |
Northern, CA, wildland urban interface fire |
10,000 |
10,000 |
| 3 |
Apr. 18, 1906 |
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire |
350 |
9,500 |
| 4 |
Oct. 8-9, 1871 |
Great Chicago Fire |
168 |
3,400 |
| 5 |
Oct. 20, 1991 |
Oakland, CA, firestorm |
1,500 |
2,700 |
| 6 |
Oct. 20, 2007 |
San Diego County, CA, The Southern California Firestorm |
1,800 |
2,100 |
| 7 |
Dec. 2017 |
Southern, CA, wildland urban interface fire |
1,800 |
2,100 |
| 8 |
Sep. 12, 2015 |
Valley Fire, CA, wildland urban interface fire |
1,500 |
1,600 |
| 9 |
Nov. 9, 1872 |
Great Boston Fire |
75 |
1,500 |
| 10 |
Oct. 23, 1989 |
Pasadena, Texas, polyolefin plant |
750 |
1,500 |
(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimates exist.
(2) Adjustment to 2017 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: Reproduced with permission, © 2017, National Fire Protection Association https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/US-Fire-Problem. |
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