5 Worst Fires in New England History

They are the stuff of nightmares: fires that can raze a building in minutes or reshape an entire landscape in hours. These terrifying events can not only take lives but also forever change those who survive. Here are five of the worst fires in New England history.

5 Worst Fires in New England History

The Great Boston Fire (1872)

Anyone who left Boston on the evening of Friday, November 8, 1872, and returned Monday morning would not have recognized the city that remained. Over the weekend, the largest and most costly fire in Boston’s history had burned through 65 acres of downtown, including most of the financial district. The fire began a warehouse at Summer and Kingston streets, with the first alarm sounded at 7:24 p.m. Four additional alarm calls went out over the next half hour. Response was slowed by an outbreak of flu among the horses used to haul firefighting equipment, and many calls for help from farther afield were thwarted by the fact that telegraph offices had already closed for the evening. Yet eventually assistance would come from every neighboring community, and from as far away as New Haven, Connecticut. The fire spread from the warehouse through downtown, which included many structures dating back to the Civil War or earlier. It raged for 12 hours, destroying 776 buildings, before firefighters stopped it at the corner of Washington and Milk streets — just before it reached the Old South Meeting House, the famous meeting point for the Boston Tea Party. The toll was staggering: At least 20 people are believed to have perished in the fire, including two firefighters, and property losses were assessed at $60 million, or about $1.5 billion today.

The Cocoanut Grove Fire (1942)

Opened in 1927 by bandleaders Mickey Alpert and Jacques Renard, the Cocoanut Grove emerged as one of Boston’s most popular nightclubs after the repeal of Prohibition. On November 28, 1942, it also became the site of the deadliest nightclub fire in New England history, with 492 people killed and hundreds more injured in a Thanksgiving weekend blaze. By 1942, Alpert and Renard had been squeezed out by financiers with ties to organized crime. Presumably that’s why the club was not only filled to twice its legal occupancy that holiday weekend, but also operating without required building permits and operating licenses. The club had “passed” a fire safety inspection just 10 days before the fire. Located just a few blocks from the Boston Public Garden, the one-and-a-half-story complex was a veritable tinderbox: a maze of dining rooms, dance halls, bars, and lounges with a South Seas motif that included rattan and bamboo wall coverings. So when the fire started shortly after 10 p.m. in a downstairs lounge — perhaps sparked by a discarded match or an electrical problem — it filled the club with smoke and flames within minutes. Some patrons were overtaken so quickly that they died at their tables with silverware still in hand. Many others were injured or killed in the rush to escape, as all but one entrance had been locked (to prevent customers from slipping out without paying) and it soon became jammed with the bodies of those trying to flee. The tragedy would ultimately lead to legal and code reforms as well as major advancements in emergency burn care. Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston City Hospital were both inundated with Cocoanut Grove victims, and that experience was key in doctors’ development of such innovations as the Lund and Browder chart, a tool for estimating burn sizes; the use of fluid treatment in burn therapy; and the use of penicillin in treating burns and preventing infections. See More:Cocoanut Grove Photos from the Boston Public Library Collection

The Day the Clowns Cried (1944)

In the summer of 1944, the circus came to town in Hartford, Connecticut — specifically, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the largest of its time, performing under a tent that could seat 9,000 spectators. During the afternoon performance of July 6, the big top was filled near capacity, with some 7,000 people, mostly women and children, in attendance. The lion and tiger act had just ended when the circus bandleader noticed a small fire on a side wall of the canvas tent, which had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin wax and gasoline. He immediately launched the band into “Stars and Stripes Forever,” a song used to alert employees that something was wrong. But the fire spread rapidly, causing panicked audience members to rush the tent’s four exits, two of which blocked by the chutes used for returning the big cats to their cages. Melting paraffin fell in burning-hot globs, and the roof collapsed less than 10 minutes later, trapping hundreds underneath the burning canvas. The Hartford circus fire killed at least 168 people and injured more than 700, but if anything it’s incredible the numbers weren’t higher. In 2005, a memorial to those who perished was dedicated at the site of the tragedy, behind the Wish School at 350 Barbour Street.

The Year That Maine Burned (1947)

If you’ve ever marveled at the brilliant fall foliage in Acadia National Park, you’ve witnessed the aftermath of one of the most disastrous months in Maine’s history. October 1947 saw wildfires erupt across the state, laying waste to thousands of acres and killing 16 people. In Acadia, blazes wiped out much of the mature evergreen forest, clearing the way for the oaks, birches, and aspens that provide the park’s autumn colors today. There had been a drought in the summer of 1947, so it was no real surprise when small fires broke out on October 7 in the woods near Portland, Bowdoin, and Wells. But the fires quickly grew in number and scope, and by October 16, there were 20 blazing and no end in sight. Mount Desert Island was among the hardest-hit areas: Nearly every mansion on Bar Harbor’s Millionaire’s Row burned, along with five historic grand hotels, and more than 10,000 acres of Acadia National Park. Most of the homes in Shapleigh and Waterboro were consumed, and other towns, including Kennebunk, Biddeford, Wells, and Saco, saw extensive damage. Though brought under control by the end of October, the fires would smolder well into November before finally being extinguished. In total, some 200 fires had burned through 250,000 acres of forest and nine towns, destroying some 850 homes and 400 summer cottages. In the wake of the wildfires, many Maine communities formed their first volunteer fire departments.

The Station Nightclub (2003)

It was a performance by the hard-rock band Great White that sparked the February 20, 2003, fire that destroyed the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and killed 100 people, including the band’s guitarist. Pyrotechnics used during the opening song ignited acoustic foam in the walls and ceiling, but, thinking that the fire was just part of the show, the crowd was slow to react. Just minutes later, with the club filling with thick, toxic smoke, people were panicking. Some 230 were injured in the rush to escape. In the wake of the tragedy, there was plenty of blame to go around. The band’s manager and one of the nightclub co-owners served jail time for their role in the events; the other co-owner received a suspended sentence. Millions of dollars were paid to victims or their families by various civil defendants, too. In 2017 a permanent memorial was installed at the site, renamed Station Fire Memorial Park. How many of these famous New England fires do you remember? This post was first published in 2020 and has been updated.