This is a list of historic fires. Before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities. It does not include historic wildfires or forest fires. See forest fire for a list of some of the most severe recorded forest fires.

Building or structure fires

• 356 BC - Temple of Artemis at Ephesus burned by arson
• c. 50 BC - Library of Alexandria burned accidentally during siege
• 272 - Library of Alexandria burned by order of Roman emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelian
• 391 - Library of Alexandria burned by order of Roman emperor Theodosius I
• 640 - Library of Alexandria burned by order of Caliph Umar I (This fire is generally felt by historians to be an apocraphyl story from the Middle Ages created as a an christian attack on Muslims.
• 1613 - Globe Theatre burns due to mishap
• 1697 - The medieval "Tre Kronor" Royal Castle in Stockholm burned down and was eventually replaced by the present palace.
• 1814 - The President's House in Washington, DC, today known as the White House, burned by the British
• 1823 - Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy
• 1895 - The Rotunda, University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia
• 1903 - Chicago's Iroquois Theater, at least 600 died
• 1904 - The steamship General Slocum, New York City, over 1000 killed
• 1911 - Triangle Factory fire, New York City
• 1916 - Centre Block of the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario
• 1933 - Reichstag fire in Berlin, Germany caused by arson
• 1937 - Hindenburg disaster near Lakehurst, New Jersey
• 1942 - Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1944 - Hartford Circus Fire in Hartford, Connecticut
• 1967 - Apollo 1 burned during ground tests at Cape Canaveral
• 1973 - 1973 National Archives Fire in St. Louis, Missouri
• 1974 - Joelma Fire kills 188 in São Paulo.
• 1977 - Beverly Hills Supper Club fire kills 165 in Southgate, Kentucky.
• 1984 - Summit tunnel fire in West Yorkshire, England
• 1987 - Kings Cross fire in London, England
• 1988 - Piper Alpha disaster, North Sea
• 1990 - Happyland Fire Arsonist in New York City kills 87
• 1993 - Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, about 80 killed
• 1996 - Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy
• 1998 - October 29, Macedonian Association Discotheque in Gothenburg, killing 63
• 2001 - Volendam, fire in a bar/discoteque; killing 14, injuring 180 (many with lasting scars)
• 2003 - Daegu subway fire in Daegu, South Korea
• 2003 - The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island
• 2004 - Asunción, Paraguay supermarket fire kills at least 464
• 2004 - República Cromagnon nightclub fire in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills at least 175, injures 714.

City or area fires

• 64 - Great fire of Rome
• 1204 - Constantinople burned three times during the Fourth Crusade
• 1666 - Great Fire of London
• 1702 - Uppsala, Sweden, with large parts of the city devastated and the cathedral and Uppsala castle severely damaged.
• 1734 - Montreal, New France
• 1776 - New York City
• 1805 - Detroit
• 1812 - Moscow, to deny shelter to Napoleon
• 1813 - Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• 1813 - Toronto, Ontario burned during the War of 1812
• 1821 - Paramaribo, Suriname, over 400 houses destroyed
• 1835 - Great Fire of New York
• 1864 - Atlanta burned after time given for evacuation of citizens by order of William Tecumseh Sherman
• 1865 - Columbia, South Carolina burned while being occupied by troops commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman
• 1865 - Richmond, Virginia burned by retreating Confederates.
• 1871 - Great Chicago Fire
• 1871 - Peshtigo Fire - Peshtigo, Wisconsin destroyed in a firestorm
• 1872 - Boston, Massachusetts
• 1883 - Ponce, Puerto Rico
• 1889 - Great Seattle Fire
• 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
• 1901 - Jacksonville, Florida
• 1904 - Great Baltimore Fire
• 1904 - Great Toronto Fire
• 1904 - Ålesund Fire
• 1906 - San Francisco earthquake and fire
• 1917 - The Halifax Explosion, largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb
• 1923 - Tokyo, Japan following the Great Kanto earthquake
• 1933 - Tillamook Burn
• 1945 - Bombing of Dresden in World War II
• 1945 - Bombing of Tokyo in World War II
• 1945 - Atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II
• 1945 - Atomic bombing of Nagasaki in World War II
• 1947 - Texas City Disaster, two ships explode, igniting chemical works, 460 - 600 killed
• 1991 - Kuwaiti oil fires following the Persian Gulf War
• 1991 - Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments
• 1998 - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings
• 2001 - September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• 2002 - Edinburgh Cowgate fire
• 2002 - Rodeo-Chediski fire
• 2003 - Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University, Moscow

Other fires

• 1949 - SS Noronic, Canada
• 1962 - Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire begins
• 2002 - Al Ayatt train disaster, Egypt