Large Fires Throughout History

By Samantha Gleissner

The Black Friday Bushfire – Australia, Victoria state

World’s largest wildfire in recorded history

Date: 13 January 1939

Cause: Dry conditions, strong winds, human actions

Area burned: ~5 million acres (7,800 square miles)

Fatalities: 71 people were killed in this wildfire

Structures lost: ~1,100 buildings burned

Notes: Ash from the Black Friday Bushfire fell up to 2000 miles away in New Zealand. Although many factors were involved in the ignition of the initial blazes that ultimately culminated to 5 million acres the judge’s report stated that the fire was ‘lit by the hand of man.’

The Great Fire of 1910 – United States; Idaho, Montana, and Washington

*2^nd Largest wildfire in recorded US history

Date: 20-21 August 1910

Cause: Dry conditions, strong winds, smaller wildfires, human actions

Area burned: ~3 million acres (4,700 square miles)

Fatalities: 87 people were killed in this wildfire

Structures lost: 109 buildings burned

Notes: Smoke from the Great Fire of 1910 was seen as far away as New York and clouded skies severely 500+ miles away at sea causing sailors using the stars to navigate to have difficulty as the sky was not visible. *Arguably the largest wildfire in US history, rivaled by the Great Peshtigo Fire, which burned in total 3.8 million acres, but only completely burned 1.2-1.5 million acres.

Great Peshtigo Fire – United States; Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois

*Largest fire in recorded US history

Date: 8-14 October 1871

Cause: Dry conditions, strong winds, unattended fires at logging camps

Area burned: ~3.8 million acres (5,938 square miles), 1.2-1.5 million acres completely burned

Fatalities: ~1,200-2,400 people were killed in this wildfire

Structures lost: Unknown number of buildings burned

Notes: The Great Peshtigo fire occurred simultaneously with the Great Chicago Fire, but is less well known due to population density in Chicago being so much larger and so many more lives at stake. It is interesting to note that all of the deadliest fires in US history occurred in the upper Midwest. *Arguably the largest wildfire in US history, rivaled by the Great Fire of 1910.

Miramichi Fire – Canada, New Brunswick & US, Maine

Largest fire in recorded Canadian history

Date: 7 October 1825

Cause: Unknown, human actions, and spruce bud worm infestations have been speculated as causes.

Area burned: ~3 million acres (4,685 square miles)

Fatalities: ~160-3000 (fatalities were highly unaccounted for due to unknown numbers of loggers in the area at the time of the burn).

Structures lost: 312 buildings burned

Notes: The third largest fire in North American history, the Miramichi fire was considered responsible for ending the mast-making industry on the Miramichi River. This wildfire was also the inspiration of a folksong called Miramichi fire, and a novel called Three Million Acres of Flame.

The fires listed here are four of the largest fires in history; each one has had a dramatic impact on the world and has left a mark in history forever. These fires have collectively burned 14.8 million acres (23,123 square miles), which is approximately the size of West Virginia! About 1,521 + buildings were lost, not including the entire Great Peshtigo Fire for which buildings could not be counted due to the extent of the damages and unknown residency at the time of the fire. Finally somewhere between 1,518-5,558 lives were lost in these fires., This figure is approximately 1/100,000^th of the US population in 2012, and while that may seem fairly small today, these fires were almost all early in the settling of the states and entire towns were razed to the ground. Perhaps the most devastating part of these blazes is the commonality amongst the causes. While each wildfire was attributed to severely dry weather and strong winds, with the exception of the Miramichi Fire (which was unknown in origin), the initiation of each fire was in the end attributed to human actions.

It is important when looking at devastating disasters to assess possible causes and potential prevention actions. We cannot control all human actions, but if we can educate people about the negative consequences of our actions and how they can be prevented we may be able to mitigate some disasters in the future.