List of transportation fires

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The Portuguese frigate Graça Divina e São João Baptista ablaze on the Tagus, in 1771

This is a list of transportation fires where a ship or other transportation has caught on fire.

List of transportation fires

Ship fires

See also: List of maritime disasters

• 1800 – British warship HMS Queen Charlotte — 673 deaths
• 1807 – The slave ship Ann — some 100 deaths

• 1840 – Steamship Lexington in Long Island Sound — 139 deaths
• 1850 – Sailing ship Richard Cobden (1845 ship) in the Indian Ocean – no deaths
• 1865 – Sultana on the Mississippi River, near Memphis, Tennessee — 1,547 deaths
• 1893 – Cargo ship Cabo Machichaco in Santander, Spain — 590 deaths
• 1904 – Steamship General Slocum in New York City — 1,021 deaths
• 1906 – Hankow fire in Hong Kong — 130+ deaths (14 October)
• 1908 – Sardinia in Malta — at least 118 deaths
• 1913 – Volturno burned at sea, later scuttled — 135 deaths
• 1917 – Munitions ship Mont-Blanc burned, drifted and detonated in the Halifax Explosion — roughly 2,000 deaths
• 1924 – City of Singapore at Port Adelaide — 3 deaths, 13 injured
• 1934 – Morro Castle off Asbury Park, New Jersey — 137 deaths, ship gutted and beached
• 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor, sinking USS Arizona (BB-39) and several other ships; extensive fires generated aboard and around ships
• 1942 – Normandie in New York City, ship capsized and sank at pier
• 1944 – Bombay Explosion (1944) — Fort Stikine docked in Bombay, India underwent a fire which caused two explosions and set fire to the area killing around 800 people
• 1944 – Port Chicago disaster — E. A. Bryan docked in Port Chicago, California underwent massive explosions and fire while munitions were loaded. 320 people were killed and 390 were injured.
• 1947 – Texas City disaster — two ships' cargoes of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded, killing 581, more than 5,000 injured.
• 1947 – Xi'an in Hong Kong — 200 deaths
• 1949 – Noronic in Toronto, Ontario Canada — 118 to 139 deaths
• 1958 – Artemis - after collision at Hoek van Holland, port of Rotterdam
• 1963 – Lakonia near Madeira burned — 128 deaths
• 1965 – Yarmouth Castle near Nassau, Bahamas — 90 deaths
• 1965 – Orient Trader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — no deaths or injuries. Was towed from pier into harbour and totally destroyed by fire.
• 1967 – USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin — 134 deaths.
• 1972 – STV Royston Grange — Collided at Río de la Plata with Tien Chee, a tanker carrying 20 000 tons of crude oil. – 83 deaths
• 1972 – RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong, ship sank in harbour
• 1980 – Leonardo da Vinci, capsized and burned for three days
• 1985 – Chidambaram off the Malabar coast of India — 34 deaths.
• 1987 – Doña Paz in the Philippines — an estimated 4,000 deaths
• 1989 – Princess of Scandinavia, fire broke out on board during a crossing to Harwich
• 1990 – Scandinavian Star off Norway — 159 deaths
• 1991 – Moby Prince disaster in Livorno, Italy. 140 killed.
• 1994 – Achille Lauro near Somalia
• 2001 – Windoc in Allanburg, Ontario, Canada — Bridge lowered on the ship, this tore off the wheelhouse and funnel and caused a fire that burned out the aft cabins and engine room. No deaths.
• 2006 – Star Princess in the Caribbean — one death
• 2007 – Cutty Sark, 19th-century clipper in dry dock as a museum ship in Greenwich, London, extensively damaged while undergoing restoration on May 21
• 2011 – Nordlys, Norwegian cruise ship, September 15, two deaths
• 2014 – Norman Atlantic in Strait of Otranto, Greece — 12 deaths confirmed (including two rescue crew members who died indirectly), 18 others believed dead.
• 2019 – MV Conception, dive boat in California's Channel Islands – 34 deaths.
• 2020 – New Diamond about 65 kilometres (35 nmi) east of Sri Lanka in the Sangaman Kanda Point - 1 death
• 2021 – MV X-Press Pearl anchored 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km; 10.9 mi) off Colombo Port in Sri Lanka
• 2022 – Superyacht Princess in Torquay, sank in harbour
• 2023 – Port Newark disaster, cargo ship catches fire in Newark, New Jersey — 2 firefighters killed.
• 2023 – MV Fremantle Highway caught fire off the coast of the Dutch island of Ameland around 11.45 pm (CET) on 25 July 2023 while en route from Bremerhaven, Germany, due to arrive in Egypt's Port Said on 2 August 2023.

Train and rail fires

• 1866 – Welwyn Tunnel rail crash in Hertfordshire, England causes a major fire in the tunnel, killing 2 on June 9
• 1903 – Paris Métro train fire kills 84
• 1910 – Hawes Junction rail crash in Cumbria, England kills 12 chiefly through fire on December 24
• 1913 – Ais Gill rail crash in Cumbria, England kills 14 chiefly through fire on September 1
• 1915 – Quintinshill rail crash in Scotland kills 227 chiefly through fire on May 22
• 1915 – St Bedes Junction rail crash near Jarrow, England, kills 19 chiefly through fire on December 17
• 1928 – Charfield railway disaster in Gloucestershire, England kills 16 chiefly through fire on October 13
• 1939 – Three freight cars loaded with explosives caught fire at Peñaranda de Bracamonte station, on the railway from Ávila to Salamanca. Cars exploded and the explosion extend to a store in which had 319 tonnes of aircraft bombs that exploded too. Almost 100 killed and 1500 injured, on July 9.
• 1944 – An accident with a mail train travelling from Madrid to la Coruña and Vigo in a tunnel in Torre del Bierzo, near León, Spain. 100 killed on January 3.
• 1951 – Sakuragicho commuter train fire, Yokohama, Japan, 106 killed on April 24
• 1964 – New York City Subway fire at Grand Central Station, which started on an automated shuttle train and destroyed several subway cars, some platforms, and station support beams on April 21.
• 1965 – A mail train from Madrid to Barcelona caught fire in Grisén, near Zaragoza, Spain. 34 killed and 33 injured on February 10.
• 1972 – Hokuriku railroad tunnel fire in Tsuruga, Japan, 31 killed and 637 injured
• 1974 – New York City Subway fire at the BMT's Metropolitan Avenue Station of the Myrtle Avenue Line in Middle Village, Queens NY 11379, resulting in the complete destruction of the station's entire wooden island platform, destroying R27's 8202–03, 8237, R30 # 8512 in the process, with partial fire damage to R32 # 3659 as well on July 16.
• 1974 – Magude train disaster on March 27 in Magude, Portuguese Mozambique, 70 killed and 200 injured
• 1978 – Taunton train fire on British Rail kills 12 on July 6
• 1984 – Summit tunnel fire in West Yorkshire, England
• 1987 – King's Cross Underground Station fire, London, England, 31 killed, 100 injured on November 18
• 1995 – 1995 Baku Metro fire kills over 200
• 1996 – Channel Tunnel fire between France and England on November 18
• 1998 – Yaoundé train explosion fuel train explosion, kills 120 people
• 2000 – Kaprun disaster, Austrian funicular train fire, kills 155 people
• 2001 – Fairview DART Depot fire, 2 trains scrapped
• 2002 – Al Ayatt train disaster, Egypt
• 2002 – The Godhra train burning at Godhra, Gujarat, India took place which left 59 people dead leading to the 2002 Gujarat violence
• 2003 – Daegu subway fire in Daegu (South Korea) Train fire caused by arson killed at least 198 people and injured at least 147
• 2003 – Ladhowal train fire, India
• 2008 – Channel Tunnel fire, between France and England
• 2012 – Nellore train fire kills 32 passengers on the Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, India
• 2013 – Lac-Mégantic rail disaster kills 47 when an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil rolled downhill and derailed. More than 30 buildings in the town's centre, roughly half of the downtown area, were destroyed.
• 2014 – Several tanker cars carrying crude oil caught fire along the James River in Lynchburg, Virginia.
• 2015 – L'Enfant Plaza smoke incident, one dead and 84 injured on a Washington, DC Metro train
• 2015 – Valhalla train crash, six killed after train collides with car at grade crossing
• 2017 – MTR fire, the suspect was killed months later after setting fire on an MTR train
• 2019 – Tezgam train fire, 74 killed in Rahim Yar Khan District, Panjab province, Pakistan
• 2020 – 2020 New York City Subway fire kills the train's motorman and injures 16

Bus fires

• 1929 – Fire in a bus in Villafranca de Córdoba, Spain. 14 killed, on September 10.
• 1966 – AEC Routemaster RM1768 catches fire at Marble Arch, London on July 30; all the passengers, along with the driver and conductor, escape without injury. The cause was an overheated flywheel
• 1988 – Carrollton, Kentucky, bus collision—27 deaths on May 14, one of the deadliest bus disasters in US history
• 1992 – 1992 Taoyuan County tour bus fire (健康幼稚園火燒車事件) – one bus carrying 50 kindergarten students, teachers, and parents caught fire at Taoyuan City (now Taoyuan District) on their way to the Leofoo Amusement Park, killing 23 and injuring 9
• 1996 – A bus caught fire after crash into a car near Bailén, Spain, killing 29, on February 28.
• 1997 – Bus fire, Guangdong, China – bus caught fire on expressway, killing 39 passengers.
• 2003 – Chun-Lung Bus Fire (尊龍客運高速公路火燒車事故)—A charter bus caught fire at Taipei County killing 6 and injuring 4
• 2005 – On September 23, a bus caught fire in Wilmer, Texas while evacuating nursing home residents from incoming Hurricane Rita.
• 2007 – Comilla bus caught fire in Bangladesh, at least fifty-five killed on January 6.
• 2008 – Lower Saxony: A bus caught fire due to a technical malfunction on the A2 Autobahn (Expressway) near Garbsen in Germany, 20 killed on November 4
• 2008 – Boromo bus caught fire in Balé Province, Burkina Faso, sixty-seven killed on November 15
• 2008 – Firozabad bus caught fire in Uttar Pradesh, India, killing sixty-three on December 9.
• 2009 – Chengdu bus fire, a mass murder–suicide attack Chengdu, Sichuan, China, results in 27 deaths on June 5
• 2010 – During the Mount Carmel forest fire, a bus that was transporting prison guards was caught up in a wildfire as they made their way to evacuate a nearby prison, resulting in the death of 40 guards as flames overwhelmed the bus
• 2011 – Xinyang bus fire kills at least 41 people in Xinyang, Henan, China, on 22 July.
• 2013 – A bus fire in Xiamen, China, believed to be an act of arson, killed 47 and injured 30.
• 2013 – Volvo bus fire killed 45 Hyderabad-Bengaluru Highway in India.
• 2014 – Colombia bus fire killed 32 children who had just attended a church service in the city of Fundación 18 May 2014.
• 2014 – Six people died and dozens were injured in a bus terminal fire near Seoul, South Korea on 26 May 2014.
• 2016 – Taoyuan City coach fire killing 24 Mainland Chinese tourists with its Taiwanese driver and tour guide.
• 2016 – New York State Adirondack Trailways bus destroyed by brake fire.
• 2018 – 52 passengers died in 2018 Kazakhstan bus fire, all Uzbek migrants travelling to Russia.

Road fires

• 1982 – Salang tunnel fire kills between 150 and 3,000 people in Afghanistan's only road tunnel
• 1982 – Caldecott Tunnel fire kills six and severely damages major road tunnel in Oakland, California
• 1991 – Multiple collision of 25 vehicles due to fog in A-8 Highway from Bilbao to Behobia near Amorebieta, Spain. Several vehicles caught fire, killing 18, on December, 6.
• 1999 – 1999 Mont Blanc Tunnel fire—39 deaths, caused by the cargo of a transport truck catching fire while in the tunnel

Tanker truck fires and explosions

• 1973 – Kingman Explosion, propane tanker BLEVE incident kills 13, injures 107.
• 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster kills 217 on a campsite near Tarragona, in Spain on July 11.
• 1990 – 1990 Bangkok gas explosion caused 88 deaths.
• 2000 – Ibadan tanker truck explosion multiple car pile-up explodes 100–200 killed.
• 2009 – 2009 Kenyan oil spill ignition resulted in the deaths of at least 111 people and infliction of gruesome injuries to countless hundreds more on 31 January, following a road accident in Molo, Kenya.
• 2010 – Catastrophe of Sange in the Democratic Republic of the Congo caused at least 230 deaths and 196 injured.
• 2012 – Okobie road tanker explosion in Nigeria killed at least 95 people and injured 50 others.
• 2012 – Chala LPG tanker disaster in Kerala, India, 21 fatalities.
• 2016 – Caphiridzange explosion in Mozambique resulted in 80 deaths.
• 2017 – Bahawalpur explosion in Pakistan killed 219 people.
• 2018 – 2018 Borgo Panigale explosion, a road tanker BLEVE that killed 2 and injured 145 in Bologna, Italy.
• 2021 – Cap-Haïtien fuel tanker explosion in Haiti killed at least 75 people.

Other fires

• 1916 – Black Tom explosion (fires led to the explosion)
• 1937 – Hindenburg disaster near Lakehurst, New Jersey
• 1955 – Le Mans 24 hour race disaster, Le Mans, France, over 80 killed on June 11
• 1967 – Apollo 1 burned during ground tests at Cape Canaveral January 27, 3 astronauts died
• 1980 – Saudia Flight 163 A plane catches fire and is destroyed after landing, killing all on board

See also

• List of fires

Bibliography

• Marshall, Prince. Wheels of London; The story of London's street transport. The Sunday Times Magazine, 1972. ISBN 0-7230-0068-9.
• Rolt, L.T.C. Red for Danger. Pan. 1966 ed. ISBN 0-330-25555-X.