List of fires in high-rise buildings

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The following is a list of fires in high-rise buildings. A skyscraper fire or high-rise fire is a class of structural fire specific to tall buildings. Skyscraper fires are technically challenging for fire departments: they require unusually high degrees of organization and cooperation between participating firefighting units to contain and extinguish. Skyscraper fires are often multiple-alarm fires.

Notable fires

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.
More information Building, Height (m) ...
Building Height (m) City Country Date Death(s) Notes
Central Tower 91 m[1] San Francisco United States April 18, 1906 ? Burned in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
Merchants Exchange Building 69 m[2]
Old Chronicle Building 95 m[3]
Mutual Bank Building
Asch Building 48 m[4] New York City 1911-03-25 March 25, 1911 146 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The Sherry-Netherland 171 m[5] April 12, 1927 0 Occurred during construction
Empire State Building 381 m[6] July 28, 1945 14 Plane crash due to thick fog
40 Wall Street 283 m[7] May 20, 1946 5 Plane crash
La Salle Hotel Chicago June 5, 1946 61 Likely an electrical fire
Winecoff Hotel 59 m[8] Atlanta December 7, 1946 119 Deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history
Ronan Point 64 m[9] London United Kingdom May 16, 1968 4 Gas explosion caused partial collapse of the highrise.
1 New York Plaza 192 m[10] New York City United States August 5, 1970 2 Sparked from a faulty computer connection[11]
Taeyongak Hotel 72.6 m Seoul South Korea December 25, 1971 163 Daeyeonggak Hotel fire, deadliest hotel fire in history
Andraus Building 115 m[12] São Paulo Brazil February 24, 1972 16 Sparked from an electrical overload[13]
Rault Tower New Orleans United States November 29, 1972 6 Suspected arson[14]
Avianca Building 161 m Bogotá Colombia July 23, 1973 4 Sparked on the 14th floor
City-Haus 142 m Frankfurt West Germany February 1, 1974 0 Occurred during construction
Joelma Building 82.5 m São Paulo Brazil February 1, 1974 184 179–189, Joelma fire
1 World Trade Center 417 m New York City United States February 13, 1975 0 Arson[15]
Campbell Shopping Complex 66 m Kuala Lumpur Malaysia April 8, 1976 1 Campbell Shopping Complex fire
Bank Bumiputra Kuala Lumpur November 4, 1980 ?
MGM Grand Hotel 85.8 m Las Vegas United States November 21, 1980 84 MGM Grand fire
Las Vegas Hilton 114 m Las Vegas February 10, 1981 8 Arson
Torre Santa María Santiago Chile March 21, 1981 11 Occurred when carpet glue ignited during carpet installation.[16]
Al Rasheed Hotel 59.4 m Baghdad Iraq July 21, 1982 1 Plane crash-Suicide by F-4 Phantom during Iran-Iraq War
Northwestern National Bank 52.8 m Minneapolis United States November 25, 1982 0 Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire
KOMTAR 248.7 m Penang Malaysia January 23, 1983 0 Likely occurred due to welding sparks[17]
Prudential Tower 276 m Boston United States January 2, 1983 0 A nine-alarm fire in the building spread because of the lack of a sprinkler system.[18][19]
Dupont Plaza Hotel 74 m Condado Puerto Rico December 31, 1986 97 Dupont Plaza Hotel arson
Schomburg Plaza New York City United States March 22, 1987 7 Ignited from the plaza's trash compactor room[20]
Hotel International 85 m Zurich  Switzerland February 14, 1988 6 Deadliest high-rise fire in Swiss history
First Interstate Tower 261.52 m Los Angeles United States May 4, 1988 1 First Interstate Tower fire
Peachtree 25th Building 33 m Atlanta June 30, 1989 5 Peachtree 25th Building fire
One Meridian Plaza 150 m Philadelphia February 23, 1991 3 Occurred when rags ignited, fire spread uncontrollably after all fire protection systems failed.[21] Later torn down.
UNITIC Twin Towers 105.5 m Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina May 28, 1992 * Burned after being repeatedly hit by Serbian incendiary tank shells.
Executive Council Building 69.3 m May 28, 1992 * Burned after being repeatedly hit by Serbian incendiary tank shells.
Groeneveen and Kruitberg 33 m Amsterdam Netherlands October 4, 1992 43 El Al Flight 1862 plane crash, Partial collapse
1 World Trade Center 417 m New York City United States February 26, 1993 6 Bombing which also resulted in 1,042 smoke related injuries
Stratosphere Tower 350.2 m Las Vegas August 30, 1993 0 Occurred during construction
White House (Moscow) 119 m Moscow Russia October 8, 1993 147 Caught fire from tank shelling during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis
Hotel Olympik 73 m Prague Czech Republic May 25, 1995 8 Occurred on the 11th floor within a janitor's closet[22]
Tower 42 183 m London United Kingdom January 17, 1996 0 Occurred during refurbishment
Garley Building 52.8 m Hong Kong British Hong Kong November 20, 1996 41 1996 Garley Building fire
Ušće Tower 115 m Belgrade Serbia and Montenegro April 21, 1999 0 Struck by NATO air strikes during the Kosovo War setting the upper floors on fire.
Immigration Tower 181 m Hong Kong Hong Kong August 2, 2000 2 Arson
Ostankino Tower 540.1 m Moscow Russia August 27, 2000 3 Tallest structure in Europe
1 and 2 World Trade Center 417 m / 415.1 m New York City United States September 11, 2001 2,312 Part of the September 11 attacks. One hijacked airliner was deliberately flown into each of the skyscrapers. Both towers experienced a total structural failure within two hours of the plane impacts. Tallest buildings to ever be destroyed.
7 World Trade Center 190 m 0 Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 1 (North Tower) of the World Trade Center, resulting in this building also collapsing.
90 West Street 98.76 m 2 Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 2 (South Tower) of the World Trade Center
130 Cedar Street 50 m 0 Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 2 (South Tower) of the World Trade Center
Pirelli Tower 127 m Milan Italy April 18, 2002 3 Plane crash
Cook County Administration Building Chicago United States October 17, 2003 6 Seven other seriously injured, fire thought to have been arson[23][24]
Al Rasheed Hotel 59.4 m Baghdad Iraq December 26, 2003 1 Twenty-eight 68 mm and 85 mm Katyusha rockets were fired at and struck the hotel
Parque Central Complex east tower 255 m Caracas Venezuela October 17, 2004 0 Damage to 34th-44th floors
LaSalle National Bank Building 163.1 m Chicago United States December 7, 2004 0 25 injured[25]
Harrow Court 56.1 m Hertfordshire United Kingdom February 2, 2005 3 Harrow Court fire
Windsor Tower 106 m Madrid Spain February 12, 2005 0 Partially collapsed; subsequently demolished
Tohid Town Residential 33 m Tehran Iran December 6, 2005 106 Plane crash: 2005 Iranian Air Force C-130 crash
Transport Tower 112.2 m Astana Kazakhstan May 30, 2006 0 Fire destroyed upper floors of 34-story government building
Belaire Apartments 156 m New York City United States October 11, 2006 2 Plane crash
Fortune Tower Dubai United Arab Emirates January 18, 2007 4 Occurred during construction, 57 injured
Shanghai World Financial Center 494.3 m Shanghai China August 14, 2007 0 Occurred on 40th floor during construction
Deutsche Bank Building 157.6 m New York City United States August 18, 2007 2 Occurred during dismantling, demolished due to damage from the September 11 attacks
The Water Club 125.4 m Atlantic City September 23, 2007 0 Occurred during construction.[26]
Monte Carlo Resort and Casino 110 m Las Vegas January 25, 2008 0 Fire affecting top six floors
TU Delft Faculteitsgebouw Bouwkunde 56 m Delft The Netherlands April 13, 2008 0 A broken water pipe on the 8th floor caused a short circuit in a coffee machine a floor below, resulting in a fire.[27] The building was demolished afterwards.
Abraj Al Bait Towers 601 m Mecca Saudi Arabia October 28, 2008 0 Occurred during construction; fire consumed nine floors
Beijing Television Cultural Center 159 m Beijing China February 9, 2009 1 Beijing Television Cultural Center fire
Bashundhara City Tower 62.7 m Dhaka Bangladesh March 13, 2009 4
Abraj Al Bait Towers Mecca Saudi Arabia May 1, 2009 0 Occurred during construction
Lakanal House 46.2 m London United Kingdom July 3, 2009 6 Lakanal House fire
Rabobank Bestuurscentrum 105 m Utrecht Netherlands June 27, 2010 0 Occurred on the 25th and 26th floor during the construction. The exact cause of the fire has never been identified.[28]
Wooshin Golden Suites Busan South Korea September 1, 2010 0 Wooshin Golden Suites fire
Dijon residential complex 79.2 m Dijon France October 14, 2010 7 [29][30]
Unnamed high-rise apartment block 85 m Shanghai China November 15, 2010 58 Occurred during renovation; 2010 Shanghai fire
Dynasty Wanxin building complex Towers A and B (Tower C was unaffected) Shenyang February 3, 2011 0 Started from fireworks during Chinese New Year Celebrations.[31]
EVN Headquarters Tower 1 147 m Hanoi Vietnam December 16, 2011 0 Fire occurred during construction, 11 workers injured.[32]
Uncompleted high rise block Kuala Lumpur Malaysia January 18, 2012 0 [33]
Fico Place Bangkok Thailand March 3, 2012 0 Two firemen injured[34]
Federation Tower (East Tower) 450 m Moscow Russia April 2, 2012 0 Occurred while the building was under construction
Al Tayer Tower Sharjah United Arab Emirates April 28, 2012 0 [35]
Polat Tower Residence 138.6 m Istanbul Turkey July 17, 2012 0 [36]
Tamweel Tower 160 m Dubai United Arab Emirates November 18, 2012 0 [37]
Oko Tower 1 354.1 m Moscow Russia January 25, 2013 0 Fire occurred on 24th floor during construction, one worker was injured.[38]
Torre Ejecutiva Pemex Tower 214 m Mexico City Mexico January 31, 2013 33 Gas explosion affecting the main building's 14-story annex Torre Ejecutiva Pemex explosion
Grozny-City Towers 150 m Grozny Russia April 3, 2013 0 [citation needed]
Guangzhou Jianye Building Fire Guangzhou China April 3, 2013 0 [39]
The Strand New York City United States January 5, 2014 1 [40]
One57 306 m New York City United States March 14, 2014 0 Fire broke out in the loading dock, then spread to the courtyard and a neighboring property.[41]
Mermoz Tower 52.8 m Roubaix France May 14, 2012 0 [42]
Lotus Park building Mumbai India July 18, 2014 1 [43]
Lacrosse Apartments Melbourne Australia November 25, 2014 0 Fire started on an 8th floor balcony and rapidly spread up the facade cladding.[44]
The Wedgwood 30 m Castle Hills United States December 28, 2014 5 The fire occurred on one wing of the third floor causing extensive smoke damage.[45][46]
The Marina Torch 336.8 m Dubai United Arab Emirates February 21, 2015 0 At least 7 people were injured.
Wisma Kosgoro Jakarta Indonesia March 10, 2015 0 Fire destroyed floors 16–20.[47]
Franklin Tower, 100-101 Terr. Boieldieu, Tower A 120 m Puteaux, Paris France March 17, 2015 0 Unstated cause, ignition on 40th flr in technical room, contained by 30 firefighters via internal wet column (a pressurized vertical pipe).[48][49]
Unnamed Highrise Baku Azerbaijan May 19, 2015 16 See 2015 Baku residence building fire
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas 184 m Las Vegas United States July 25, 2015 0 Fire occurred on the pool deck fueled by cabanas and artificial trees; two people were treated for smoke inhalation.[50]
Unnamed Residential Tower Sharjah United Arab Emirates October 1, 2015 0 Fire burned building facade, 19 treated for smoke inhalation.[51]
John Hancock Center 457 m Chicago United States November 21, 2015 0 A two-alarm fire broke out on the 50th floor. Five injured.[52]
The Address Downtown Dubai 306.2 m Dubai United Arab Emirates December 31, 2015 1 Occurred on New Year's Eve, 14 injured.[53]
Tour Anvers (in Les Olympiades residential complex) 104 m Paris France January 12, 2016 1 16th of 31 flrs, contained to apt without spreading, 1 killed, 31-year-old woman with muscle disability.[54][55]
An unidentified tower on avenue Romain-Rolland 33 m Saint-Denis France January 13, 2016 1 [56][57]
158 bd Davout 21 m Paris 20e France June 1, 2016 1 3rd through 7th of 7 flrs, 8 injured.[58]
Sulafa Tower 288 m Dubai UAE July 20, 2016 0
Plasco Building 42 m Tehran Iran January 19, 2017 21 The 17-story building collapsed after a fire started on the ninth floor. Seventy injured.[59]
Grenfell Tower 79.2 m London United Kingdom June 14, 2017 72 The 24-storey tower block fire spread from the second floor to the top of the building.[60] See Grenfell Tower fire
Pamchal Chitgar Building 66 m Tehran Iran June 14, 2017 0 The residential 20-storey tower – four injured
Marco Polo Apartments 118.8 m Honolulu United States July 14, 2017 3 Blaze started on the 26th floor of the 36-story apartments. Fire quickly spread to three more floors, making it a 5-alarm fire. This is the deadliest high-rise fire in Hawaii's history.
Rotana Hotel Building 66 m Mashhad Iran July 22, 2017 0 Under construction 20-storey hotel
The Marina Torch 336.8 m Dubai United Arab Emirates August 4, 2017 0
Trump Tower 202 m New York City United States April 7, 2018 1 6 firefighters injured
Almas Tower 360 m Dubai United Arab Emirates April 30, 2018 0
Trump International Hotel and Tower (Baku) 108.9 m Baku Azerbaijan April 30, 2018 0 Involved two separate fires the same day
Wilton Paes de Almeida Building 79.2 m São Paulo Brazil April 30, 2018 8 7–9, building collapsed shortly after blaze
Paramis Building 69.3 m Tehran Iran July 22, 2018 0 21-storey residential building
Bank of Lisbon building 108 m Johannesburg South Africa September 6, 2018 3 Building demolished/Imploded in November 24, 2019
FR Tower Dhaka Bangladesh March 28, 2019 25 FR Tower fire
AXA Equitable Center 229.3 m New York City United States June 10, 2019 1 2019 New York City helicopter crash
Unnamed Highrise 47.9 m Prešov Slovakia December 6, 2019 8 Natural gas explosion, 40 injuries[61]
Abbco Tower United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates May 5, 2020 1 25 injuries, likely started by a discarded cigarette or shisha coals[62]
Tower block at 1158 Nerudova street 42.9 m Czech Republic Czech Republic August 8, 2020 11 Bohumín arson attack
Ulsan Samhwan Art Nouveau apartment building 108.9 m South Korea South Korea October 9, 2020 0 92 residents and 1 firefighter injured. Ulsan Samhwan Art Nouveau Fire [ko][63]
Helsinki Tower, 50 rue du Disque ~100 m Paris France August 13, 2021 1 18th of 33 flrs, apt possibly linked to Diogenes syndrome (hoarding), spread prevented via compartmentation, contained after 2 hrs, ~70 firefighters, 2 hoses, 1 killed (carbonized body), 4 injured (2 were firefighters with heatstroke).[64]
Torre dei Moro 60 m Milan Italy August 29, 2021 0 Fire event similar to the Grenfell Tower disaster[65]
Cheng Chung Cheng Building Kaohsiung Taiwan October 14, 2021 46 2021 Kaohsiung tower fire
World Trade Centre Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong December 15, 2021 0 13 injured, over 300 trapped on roof[66][67][68]
Twin Parks North West, Site 4 New York City United States January 9, 2022 17 2022 Bronx apartment fire
Lotus Garden China Telecom Building 218 m Changsha, Hunan China September 16, 2022 0 (fire extinguished. Under investigation.)
The Centaurus 110 m Islamabad Pakistan October 9, 2022 0 2022 The Centaurus Mall Fire Incident[69]
RiverCourt 108.1 m New York City United States November 5, 2022 0
8 Boulevard Walk 123 m Dubai United Arab Emirates November 7, 2022 0
Jixiangyuan community ~60 m (21 floors) Ürümqi China November 26, 2022 11 2022 Ürümqi fire
The Kimpton 175 m Hong Kong Hong Kong March 2, 2023 0 Occurred during construction
Unnamed Apartment Block Hanoi Vietnam September 12, 2023 56 2023 Hanoi building fire
Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower 65.72 m Khartoum Sudan September 17, 2023 ? Occurred during War in Sudan (2023)
Unnamed Highrise València Spain February 22, 2024 10 2024 València residential complex fire
Unnamed Highrise Nanjing China February 23, 2024 15 2024 Nanjing building fire
Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall Dhaka Bangladesh February 29, 2024 46 2024 Dhaka Bailey Road fire
Tver Russia March 14, 2024 0 Occurred during construction
Botanik Torre Flora Recife Brazil March 28, 2024 0 Occurred during construction
Asia of Ivry (fr, Asie d'Ivry) 21 m Paris France September 17, 2024 0 Wholesaler Chinese Pastry, 50 Av. de la Prte d'Ivry[70], 7th flr (attic)
The 12th District Town Hall 36 m Paris France January 27, 2025 0 Top flrs, possible electrical short in attic, 150 firefighters saved main structure, tower stabilized after collapse risk.[71]
Grand Kartal Hotel Bolu Turkey January 21, 2025 79 2025 Kartalkaya hotel fire
Marina Pinnacle 280 m Dubai United Arab Emirates June 13, 2025 0 [72]
18 Jardin de Guillaume Bouzignac/18 Mail Gustave Flaubert 60 m Tours, Indre-et-Loire France October 10, 2025 1 [73]
Tuzla Retirement Home Tuzla Bosnia and Herzegovina November 4, 2025 17 Tuzla retirement home fire
Vjesnik Building Zagreb Croatia November 17, 2025 0 Fire started at the 15th floor by high school students. The building was vacant at the time of the fire, and will be demolished.[74]
Wang Fuk Court[75] 93-108.5 m Tai Po Hong Kong November 26, 2025 168[76][77] Edit this on Wikidata Wang Fuk Court fire

Deadliest apartment fire in history[citation needed]

11 Thorncliffe Park Drive Toronto Canada November 27, 2025 0 Stubborn 5-alarm fire burning inside walls and electrical conduit. All 408 units evacuated. [78][79]
Burj Al Arab Dubai United Arab Emirates March 1, 2026 0 Fire following an Iranian suicide drone attack
6 East 43rd Street New York City United States March 17, 2026 0 Fire started in an HVAC system on the roof. Building was in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade's route.[80]
Total (minus deaths caused by September 11)2072
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  • During the violent civil war the building was likley vacated before the shelling that started the fires.

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