High-Rise Fire List

Recent Fires 2023

Silver Springs, Maryland: 1 fatality, 12+ injuries

Chicago, Illinois: 1 fatality, 4 injuries

Salisbury, UK: Sprinklers save family

United Arab Emirates: 36-story building

Toronto, Canada: 1 fatality, 13-story building

Bronx, New York: 1 fatality, 21-story building

Bronx, New York: 1 firefighter injury, 6-story building

Fires in 2022

Bronx, New York: 17 fatalities, 44+ injuries - Third-worst residential fire in the United States in four decades.

TOP 13 Worst High-Rise Fires

  1. Joelma Building, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1974: 180 fatalities

  2. Winecoff Hotel, Atlanta, GA, 1946: 119 fatalities, 90 injuries

  3. *DuPont Plaza, San Juan,PR, 1986: 98 fatalities, 140 injuries

  4. *MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, 1980: 85 fatalities

  5. Unnamed, Shanghai, CN, 2010: 58 fatalities, 70+ injuries

  6. Grenfell Tower, London, UK - 2017: 80 fatalities, 70 injuries

  7. Walter Bragg Smith Apartments, Montgomery, AL - 1967: 25 fatalities

  8. Twin Parks Northwest, Bronx, NY, 2022: 17 fatalities, 44 injuries

  9. Andraus Building, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1972: 16 fatalities, 375 injuries

  10. John Sevier Center, Johnson City, TN - 1989; 16 fatalities

  11. *Hilton International, Las Vegas, NV - 1981: 8 fatalities, 350 injuries

  12. Lakanal House, London, UK - 2009: 6 fatalities, 20 injuries

  13. Marco Polo, Honolulu, HI, - 2017: 4 fatalities, 12 injuries

*These three hotel fires, along with a number of others, convinced the hospitality industry to voluntarily retrofit thousands of hotel buildings with fire sprinklers. In 1990, the federal government required (Hotel/Motel Fire Safety Act) sprinklers in all hotels >3 stories to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers.