A tragic case of a natural disaster and modern utilities led to at least 3,000 casualties including the Fire Chief Dennis T. Sullivan during the first few seconds of the quake. On April 26, 1942, one of the worst mining accidents in history occurred at the coalmine near Benxi Lake, killing 1,549 miners. Starring Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges and Miles Teller, the film follows the “Hotshots” as they run towards the danger rather than fleeing, and explores themes of brotherhood, sacrifice and redemption and what happens when you confront the reality of a terrifying wildfire. The flames spread to the ceilings before many noticed the fire and by then it was too late. When he fought wildfires in the 1980s, a 50,000-acre was considered “huge.” “Now, look, we have fires that grow that large in a matter of hours,” Bendix said. There, clearing and burning land for agriculture is the primary cause of fires. As devastating as the Yarnell Hill Fire was, it’s not the worst that can happen. Strong winds combined with drought conditions saw it spread rapidly to a raging 8,300 acres. To extinguish the fire the mine's operator closed the pithead to starve the fire of oxygen. This year, other countries have also experienced their worst wildfires in decades, if not all of recorded history. Now, as the Southern Hemisphere heads into spring, Australians are bracing themselves for a new season of blazes. Which brings us up to the here and now. In June, Brazilian officials called the Amazon fires the worst in 13 years. Getting the fire under control was made more difficult by the fact that the earthquake had destroyed the city's water mains. World Trade Center, New York, NY: On September 11, 2001, two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers killing everyone aboard and thousands of those working in the buildings (official death toll set at 2,752). The worst fires on record are burning now in the Pantanal wetlands in the country’s south. Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia's devastating bushfires -- almost triple the figure estimated in January -- according to a report released Tuesday. Lasting only 28 seconds, it left over 250,000 Americans homeless, over half of the city's population. A number of fires are the result of humans' own mistakes. It took 10 days to remove the bodies, unidentifiable; mourners buried them in a mass grave in the General Cemetery of Santiago. Only the “Granite Mountain Hotshots” – 20 men with axes, saws and shovels – stood between it and the 40,000 residents at risk. The number of fire casualties vary, either because of different records, a lack of records, and even deception. These Places Are Also on Fire. Without a surviving captain, the question of why the ships didn't see each other in the clear, moonlit night will remain unknown. To find out more, go to onlythebravemovie.co.uk. Still on duty following a three-alarm fire before the earthquake, Sullivan died when the Dome of the Great California Theater crashed into the Bush Street Fire Station. This summer, portions of the Arctic shattered wildfire records set just last year, which at the time was the worst fire season in 60 years. The thousands lost to fires over the past few centuries have helped save the lives of millions since. Spreading from a … They used all the water from the sewers, but it wasn't enough to stop the fire. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. The oldest fire on the list, nonetheless, it's the deadliest recorded in London's history and marks the second time the London Bridge burned. “One, obviously, is a deep one. Nature can indirectly lead to large-scale fires after earthquakes and tornadoes from broken gas lines, downed power lines, or even winds blowing hot ash onto wooden structures. 1. In the US, “Hotshots” are the country’s most experienced wildland firefighters. The overcrowded building's doors were closed to prevent interruptions in the mass, panic set in as burning pieces of the ceiling fell on the crowds, catching their hair and clothing on fire. An explosion caused by coal dust rocked the mine, sending flames throughout the mine that exited the mine's entrance. “It’s easy for fires to leave the perimeters of someone’s property and just burn huge areas,” said Virginia Iglesias, a research scientist at the Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder who lived in Argentina most of her life. The tragedy of the Dona Paz is two-fold, one, the number of deaths, over 4,000 people, including 1,000 children. Wildfires are devastating the American West, but the United States isn’t the only place on Earth that’s burning. In a blast so great, Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer studied it while developing the atomic bomb. The Khanty-Mansi region of western Siberia in July. A fresh take on sports: the biggest news and most entertaining lists. A scorched section of the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil on Monday. When she's not typing away on her laptop, she enjoys gardening, screaming at the Buffalo Bills and NFL refs, or getting lost in her SimCity Empire. The coal-fired steam freighter built in Middleborough, England in 1899 met with disaster in the Halifax Harbor on December 6, 1917. While this puts out the fire, anyone inside that survived the blast and fire, suffocated. Consuming 2,400 square miles of the two states, the fire took the lives of an estimated 1,200 to 2,400 lives. The Yellowstone fires of 1988 were collectively the largest wildfire ever to have enveloped the Yellowstone National Park in the US, with more than 9,000 firefighters battling the flames at its peak. Spreading from a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, it raged for five days through the cramped streets. Maria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times. On December 20, the overcrowded Filipino passenger ferry Dona Paz, collided with the MT Vector, a fuel tanker carrying 8,000 barrels of petroleum. Unlike the wildfires in California, which burn tree canopies, fires in the Amazon often creep along the forest floor “essentially no higher than my knee,” said Jennifer Balch, an associate professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the university’s Earth Lab. Whatever the flames leave behind, the deadly smoke-filled with carbon monoxide finishes off, sucking the remaining life away.