legeros.com > History >NC Largest Fires |
Last updated April 19, 2009
See Deadliest
Fires Database for fires with large loss of
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Year | Date | Location | County | Loss (K) | Blocks | Buildings | Notes |
1816 | Jun 11 | Raleigh | Wake | 51 | Destroyed 51 buildings in first two blocks of Fayetteville Street. | ||
1819 | Nov | Wilmington | New Hanover | Large section of town. | |||
1831 | May 29 | Fayetteville | Cumberland | 600+ | Over 600 structures. | ||
1835 | New Bern | Craven | Several blocks destroyed. | ||||
1837 | New Bern | Craven | Several blocks destroyed. | ||||
1843 | New Bern | Craven | Several blocks destroyed. | ||||
1849 | Jan | Greensboro | Guilford | Business district destroyed. | |||
1854 | Dec 18 | Statesville | Iredell | Half of town destroyed or damaged. | |||
1860s | Washington | Beaufort | Large part of town, after Northern troops set fire to stockpile of naval stores. | ||||
1864 | Nov 19 | Wilmington | New Hanover | 20+ | Fire on wharf destroys more than 20 buildings. | ||
1869 | Sep 4 | Goldsboro | Wayne | 13 | Wayne House, Masonic Hall, lumberyard, ten warehouses. Source: NYT. | ||
1872 | Greensboro | Guilford | Larger portion of town. | ||||
1873 | Apr 6 | Enfield | Halifax | Two railroad warehouses, and other structures. | |||
1880 | Dec 1 | Durham | Durham | 200 | Half of the town, loss over $200,000. Source: NYT. | ||
1886 | Nov 16 | Durham | Durham | Large portion of town destroyed. | |||
1886 | Wilmington | New Hanover | Waterfront fire, burned for several days, destroyed many buildings. | ||||
1887 | Mar 27 | Clinton | Sampson | 49 | 49 dwellings, started in F. Reichmann's store. | ||
1888 | Durham | Durham | Fire 1 of 2, destroyed two blocks or more. | ||||
1888 | Durham | Durham | Fire 2 of 2, destroyed two blocks or more. | ||||
1890 | Thomasville | Davidson | Nearly every business on East Main Street. | ||||
1892 | Jan 7 | Raleigh | Wake | 30 | Destroyed 30 buildings. | ||
1892 | Oct 5 | Clinton | Sampson | Entire block of Wall Street. | |||
1899 | May 5 | Greenville | Pitt | 25 | 25 stores and offices. | ||
1900 | Sep 14 | Washington | Beaufort | Business district destroyed. | |||
1902 | Clinton | Sampson | 43+ | Entire southern section of town, including 43 stores. | |||
1907 | Apr 7 | Salisbury | Rowan | 5 | Five manufacturing plants. | ||
1911 | Jun 12 | Apex | Wake | Business district destroyed. | |||
1912 | Black Mountain | Buncombe | Most of downtown business district around Depot and Cherry streets. | ||||
1913 | Feb 6 | Rolesville | Wake | 10 | Business section of town, ten buildings destroyed. | ||
1914 | Mar 23 | Durham | Durham | Large portion of business district destroyed. | |||
1918 | Jul 2 | Charlotte | Mecklenburg | 48 | 48 homes, 250 homeless, started on Caldwell Street. | ||
1918 | Burlington | Alamance | Downtown. | ||||
1922 | Dec 1 | New Bern | Craven | 2,000+ | 40 | 1,000+ | Destroyed 40 blocks and left 3,000 people homeless. |
1923 | Oct 4 | Blowing Rock | Watauga | Large part of business district. Destroyed "entire block of business houses." Led to formation of fire department. Source: Statesville Landmark, 08OCT23. | |||
1933 | May 29 | Charlotte | Mecklenburg | Virginia Carolina Chemical Company, West Tremont Avenue. Source: yearbook. | |||
1934 | Jan 28 | Wrightsville Beach | New Hanover | Northern end of island. | |||
1935 | Jun 22 | Washington | Beaufort | Moss Planning Mill Company. Five commercial buildings and four homes destroyed, and one firefighter killed. | |||
1936 | May | Lexington | Davidson | United Furniture Corporation. Fire fought over 12 hours. | |||
1940 | Feb 7 | Knightdale | Wake | 6 | Business section of town. Six structures destroyed. | ||
1941 | Newport | Carteret | Business district. | ||||
1944 | Jan 14 | Greensboro | Guilford | Gasoline tanker explodes, burns houses in 1000 block of Gorrell Street. Source: yearbook. | |||
1944 | Apr 8 | N/A | Pasquotank | 450 | Forman-Derrickson Lumber Company. $450,000 loss. | ||
1946 | Mar 7 | Fuquay Springs | Wake | Main block of downtown. Four businesses destroyed, five others damaged. | |||
1949 | Jan 21 | Wilmington | New Hanover | 399 | 7 | Orton Hotel, plus six adjacent buildings, $399,298 loss. | |
1953 | Mar 9 | Wilmington | New Hanover | Warehouses and other buildings. | |||
1954 | Jun 24 | Charlotte | Mecklenburg | Southern Railway Freight Terminal, South College Street. Building, 23 freight cars, 7 autos. Source: Yearbook. | |||
1956 | Feb 14 | Winston-Salem | Forsyth | 1,490 | B. F. Huntley furniture plant, $1,490,000 loss. | ||
1959 | Jun 28 | Greensboro | Guilford | New Home Building Supply Company, South Mendenhall Street. Estimated $250,000 damage. Source: yearbook. | |||
1961 | Sep 26 | Morehead City | Carteret | Navy tanker explodes and burns in Newport River, at Radio Island aviation fuel farm. | |||
1964 | Oct 19 | Charlotte | Mecklenburg | Doggett Lumber Company, South Boulevard & East Park Avenue. Last general alarm fought by CFD. Source: Yearbook. | |||
1964 | Dec 23 | Burlington | Alamance | Downtown. | |||
1965 | New Bern | Craven | Hotel William Tryon. Crews on scene for 43 hours. | ||||
1969 | Apr | Asheville | Buncombe | Bank of Asheville and Dunham's Music House buildings downtown. | |||
1970 | Oct 14 | Greensboro | Guilford | Greensboro Bonded Warehouse. Source: yearbook. | |||
1978 | Aug 8 | Rocky Mount | Nash | Kaiser Agricultural Chemical Company. Source: RMFD yearbook. | |||
1979 | May 25 | Shelby | Cleveland | Block destroyed, four firefighters killed. | |||
1985 | Apr 13 | Greensboro | Guilford | 7 | Seven buildings at 300 S. Davie Street. | ||
1985 | Apr 23 | Charlotte | Mecklenburg | Royster Fertilizer Company, 2300 LaSalle Street. Three alarms. Estimated loss $7 million. Source: CFD yearbook. | |||
1989 | Oct 4 | Swepsonville | Alamance | Old Virginia Mills plant. | |||
1998 | Aug 27 | Winston-Salem | Forsyth | R.J. Reynolds Plant #256, 13 engines, 5 ladders, 9 hours to control. | |||
2003 | Jan 29 | Kinston | Lenoir | West Pharmaceutical Plant explosion and fire. Over half of 150,000 square-foot plant destroyed. | |||
2003 | Sep 3 | Swannanoa | Buncombe | Beacon Manufacturing Plant, 32 fire departments, 24 engines, 7 ladders, 7 tankers, 522 personnel. | |||
2007 | Feb 22 | Raleigh | Wake | Townhouse community, 27 destroyed, 11 damaged, 72 people displaced. | |||
2008 | Aug 17 | Robbins | Moore | At least 45 firefighters from 5 counties at former textile plant. |
Copyright 2017 by Michael J. Legeros