Historical Fire Case Studies | F.I.R.E. Education

Lessons Archive

Case Studies That Shaped Fire Safety

Explore more than 100 historical fire incident case studies, examining how fires developed, the lessons learnt and their impact on fire safety and engineering.

From new legislation and regulation arising from serious fires of recent times to the historical lessons learnt from incidents in the past, here you can learn more about how these fires developed and, crucially, how those lessons learnt can help prevent recurrences.

2014

Glasgow School of Art fire

What happened to the Glasgow School of Art in 2014? On 23 May 2014 a fire broke out at the Glasgow...

1996

UNC Chapel Hill Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house fire

What happened at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1996? On 12 May 1996 a fire broke...

1990

UC Berkeley fraternity house fire

What happened at the UC Berkeley fraternity house in 1990? On 8 September 1990 a fire broke out at...

1958

Our Lady of the Angels school fire

What happened at the Our Lady of the Angels school, Chicago? On 1 December 1958 a fire broke out at...

1908

Collinwood School fire

What happened at Lake View School in Collinwood, Ohio? On 4 March 1908, a fire quickly spread throu...

2013

Port of Tyne fire

What happened at the Port of Tyne in 2013? On 11 October 2013 a fire broke out at the Port of Tyne....

2013

Slaughterhouse factory fire

What happened to the Slaughterhouse/meat processing plant in Mishazi in 2013? On 3 June 2013 a fire...

2013

Vuhlehirska Power Station fire

What happened to the Vuhlehirska Power Station? On 29 March 2013 a fire broke out at the Vuhlehirsk...

2011

Magnablend Chemical Plant fire

What happened at the Magnablend Chemical Plant facility in 2011? On 3 October 2011 at around 10:30a...

2007

Warwickshire warehouse fire

What happened at the warehouses in Warwickshire in 2007? On 2 November 2007 a fire broke out in war...

2006

Marlie Farm Festival Fireworks incident

What happened at Marlie Farm in 2006? On 3 December 2006 a fire broke out at the Festival Fireworks...

2005

Buncefield oil storage facility fire

What happened at the Buncefield oil storage facility in 2005? On 11 December 2005 a number of explo...

2002

Morledge Street factory fire

What happened at Morledge Street, Leicester in 2002? On 31 October 2002 a fire broke out at a disus...

1992

Hickson & Welch factory explosion

What happened at the Hickson & Welch factory in 1992? On 21 September 1992 an explosion occurre...

1992

Allied Colloids Limited warehouse fire

What happened at the Allied Colloids warehouse? On 21 July 1992 a fire broke out at the Allied Coll...