List of fires in high-rise buildings

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

BuildingHeight (m)CityCountryDateDeath(s)NotesCentral Tower91 mSan Francisco ?Burned in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquakeMerchants Exchange Building69 mOld Chronicle Building95 mMutual Bank BuildingAsch Building48 mNew York City1911-03-25 March 25, 1911146Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fireThe Sherry-Netherland171 m0Occurred during constructionEmpire State Building381 m14Plane crash due to thick fog40 Wall Street283 m 5Plane crashLa Salle HotelChicago 61Likely an electrical fireWinecoff Hotel59 mAtlanta 119Deadliest hotel fire in U.S. historyRonan Point64 mLondon 4Gas explosion caused partial collapse of the highrise.1 New York Plaza192 mNew York City 2Sparked from a faulty computer connection Taeyongak Hotel72.6 m Seoul 163 Daeyeonggak Hotel fire, deadliest hotel fire in historyAndraus Building115 mSão Paulo 16Sparked from an electrical overloadRault TowerNew Orleans 6Suspected arsonAvianca Building161 mBogotá 4Sparked on the 14th floorCity-Haus142 mFrankfurt 0Occurred during constructionJoelma Building82.5 mSão Paulo 184179–189, Joelma fire1 World Trade Center417 mNew York City 0ArsonCampbell Shopping Complex66 mKuala Lumpur 1Campbell Shopping Complex fireBank BumiputraKuala Lumpur ?MGM Grand Hotel85.8 mLas Vegas 84MGM Grand fireLas Vegas Hilton114 mLas Vegas 8ArsonTorre Santa MaríaSantiago 11Occurred when carpet glue ignited during carpet installation.Al Rasheed Hotel59.4 mBaghdad 1Plane crash-Suicide by F-4 Phantom during Iran-Iraq WarNorthwestern National Bank52.8 mMinneapolis 0Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fireKOMTAR248.7 mPenang 0Likely occurred due to welding sparksPrudential Tower276 mBoston 0A nine-alarm fire in the building spread because of the lack of a sprinkler system.Dupont Plaza Hotel74 mCondado 97Dupont Plaza Hotel arsonSchomburg PlazaNew York City 7Ignited from the plaza's trash compactor roomHotel International85 mZurich 6Deadliest high-rise fire in Swiss historyFirst Interstate Tower261.52 mLos Angeles 1First Interstate Tower firePeachtree 25th Building33 mAtlanta 5Peachtree 25th Building fireOne Meridian Plaza150 mPhiladelphia 3Occurred when rags ignited, fire spread uncontrollably after all fire protection systems failed. Later torn down.UNITIC Twin Towers105.5 mSarajevo *Burned after being repeatedly hit by Serbian incendiary tank shells.Executive Council Building69.3 m *Burned after being repeatedly hit by Serbian incendiary tank shells.Groeneveen and Kruitberg33 mAmsterdam 43El Al Flight 1862 plane crash, Partial collapse1 World Trade Center417 mNew York City 6Bombing which also resulted in 1,042 smoke related injuriesStratosphere Tower350.2 mLas Vegas 0Occurred during constructionWhite House (Moscow)119 mMoscow 147Caught fire from tank shelling during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisisHotel Olympik73 mPrague 8Occurred on the 11th floor within a janitor's closetTower 42183 mLondon 0Occurred during refurbishmentGarley Building52.8 mHong Kong 411996 Garley Building fireUšće Tower115 mBelgrade 0Struck by NATO air strikes during the Kosovo War setting the upper floors on fire.Immigration Tower181 mHong Kong 2ArsonOstankino Tower540.1 mMoscow 3Tallest structure in Europe1 and 2 World Trade Center417 m / 415.1 mNew York City 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 Center190 m0Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 1 (North Tower) of the World Trade Center, resulting in this building also collapsing.90 West Street98.76 m2Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 2 (South Tower) of the World Trade Center130 Cedar Street50 m0Caused by debris from the collapse of Building 2 (South Tower) of the World Trade CenterThe Pentagon23 mArlington County, Virginia125Part of the September 11 attacks. Caused damaged at the southwestern side from one hijacked airliner Flight 77 of the impact and partial collapse.Pirelli Tower127 mMilan 3Plane crashCook County Administration BuildingChicago 6Seven other seriously injured, fire thought to have been arsonAl Rasheed Hotel59.4 mBaghdad 1Twenty-eight 68 mm and 85 mm Katyusha rockets were fired at and struck the hotelParque Central Complex east tower255 mCaracas 0Damage to 34th-44th floorsLaSalle National Bank Building163.1 mChicago 025 injuredHarrow Court56.1 mHertfordshire 3Harrow Court fireWindsor Tower106 mMadrid 0Partially collapsed; subsequently demolishedTohid Town Residential33 mTehran 106Plane crash: 2005 Iranian Air Force C-130 crashTransport Tower112.2 mAstana 0Fire destroyed upper floors of 34-story government buildingBelaire Apartments156 mNew York City 2Plane crashFortune TowerDubai 4Occurred during construction, 57 injuredShanghai World Financial Center494.3 mShanghai 0Occurred on 40th floor during constructionDeutsche Bank Building157.6 mNew York City 2Occurred during dismantling, demolished due to damage from the September 11 attacksThe Water Club125.4 mAtlantic City 0Occurred during construction.Monte Carlo Resort and Casino110 mLas Vegas 0Fire affecting top six floorsTU Delft Faculteitsgebouw Bouwkunde56 mDelft 0A broken water pipe on the 8th floor caused a short circuit in a coffee machine a floor below, resulting in a fire.. The building was demolished afterwards.Abraj Al Bait Towers601 mMecca 0Occurred during construction; fire consumed nine floorsBeijing Television Cultural Center159 mBeijing 1Beijing Television Cultural Center fireBashundhara City Tower62.7 mDhaka 4Abraj Al Bait TowersMecca 0Occurred during constructionLakanal House46.2 mLondon 6Lakanal House fireRabobank Bestuurscentrum105 mUtrecht 0Occurred on the 25th and 26th floor during the construction. The exact cause of the fire has never been identified.Wooshin Golden SuitesBusan 0Wooshin Golden Suites fireDijon residential complex79.2 mDijon 7, p=161Unnamed high-rise apartment block85 mShanghai 58Occurred during renovation; 2010 Shanghai fireDynasty Wanxin building complex Towers A and B (Tower C was unaffected)Shenyang 0Started from fireworks during Chinese New Year Celebrations.EVN Headquarters Tower 1147 mHanoi 0Fire occurred during construction, 11 workers injured.Uncompleted high rise blockKuala Lumpur 0Fico PlaceBangkok 0Two firemen injuredFederation Tower (East Tower)450 mMoscow 0Occurred while the building was under constructionAl Tayer TowerSharjah 0Polat Tower Residence140 mIstanbul 0Tamweel Tower160 mDubai 0Oko Tower 1354.1 mMoscow 0Fire occurred on 24th floor during construction, one worker was injured.Torre Ejecutiva Pemex Tower214 mMexico City 33Gas explosion affecting the main building's 14-story annex Torre Ejecutiva Pemex explosionGrozny-City Towers150 mGrozny 0Guangzhou Jianye Building FireGuangzhou 0The StrandNew York City 1One57306 mNew York City 0Fire broke out in the loading dock, then spread to the courtyard and a neighboring property.Mermoz Tower52.8 mRoubaix 0Lotus Park buildingMumbai 1Lacrosse ApartmentsMelbourne0Fire started on an 8th floor balcony and rapidly spread up the facade cladding.The Wedgwood30 mCastle Hills 5The fire occurred on one wing of the third floor causing extensive smoke damage.The Marina Torch336.8 mDubai 0At least 7 people were injured.Wisma KosgoroJakarta 0Fire destroyed floors 16–20.Franklin Tower, 100-101 Terr. Boieldieu, Tower A120 mPuteaux, Paris 0Unstated cause, ignition on 40th flr in technical room, contained by 30 firefighters via internal wet column (a pressurized vertical pipe).Unnamed HighriseBaku 16See 2015 Baku residence building fireCosmopolitan of Las Vegas184 mLas Vegas 0Fire occurred on the pool deck fueled by cabanas and artificial trees; two people were treated for smoke inhalation.Unnamed Residential TowerSharjah 0Fire burned building facade, 19 treated for smoke inhalation.John Hancock Center457 mChicago 0A two-alarm fire broke out on the 50th floor. Five injured.The Address Downtown Dubai306.2 mDubai1Occurred on New Year's Eve, 14 injured.Tour Anvers (in Les Olympiades residential complex)104 mParis 116th of 31 flrs, contained to apt without spreading, 1 killed, 31-year-old woman with muscle disability.Paris Brigade of Sappers & Firefighters [(BSPP, Paris' Bravest) ...] Issuance of an intervention report: [...] Picked up: 12/01/2016 14:28:52 [...] Intervention: 10215748 [...] Call address: 32 Javelot St (High-Rise Building Antwerp Tower) 75013 13th District [...] [demarche.numerique.gouv.fr/commencer/demande-de-rapport-d-intervention-de-la-bspp, Wikidata]An unidentified tower on avenue Romain-Rolland33 mSaint-DenisFrance 1Paris Fire Brigade [(BSPP, Paris' Bravest) ...] Issuance of an intervention report: [...] Picked up: 13/01/2016 [Redacted ...] Intervention: [Number redacted ...] Call address: [Redacted] avenue Romain-Rolland St (High-Rise Building [Redacted] Tower) [...]