Cultural and Historic Heritage Losses in the World: 2025 List
This article compiles online reports of fires and other losses of historic or cultural heritage buildings. While it doesn’t capture...
Fire Effects on Heritage Stone: Temperature Thresholds and Assessment
Introduction Stone has long been considered one of the most fire-resistant building materials in architectural history, providing inherent protection to...
The Reconstruction of the Glasgow School of Art following the Second Fire
In the evening of June 15, 2018, a catastrophic fire engulfed the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School...
Two Fires in Rome’s Historic Centre: Specific Risks in Churches
On Sunday 25 January 2026, two separate fires within minutes of each other affected churches in the very heart of...
Montreal: when a Forgotten Industrial Landmark burns
In the early hours between 20 and 21 January 2026, a major fire tore through the former Barsalou/Familex factory in Montreal, a...
Wildfires in Chile Damage Historic Heritage
Large-scale wildfires and other widespread emergencies are usually narrated in terms of hectares burned, people evacuated, houses destroyed and victims....
Review: A Study about Guangzhou Fire Protection Strategies and Technologies for Heritage Buildings
In an era when historic city centres across the globe are at risk—not only from large-scale redevelopment and neglect, but...
Fire in Historic District in Netherlands
A major fire broke out in the historic centre of Leeuwarden (West Frisian, Netherlands) between 12 and 13 January 2026....
Natural Heritage Fire in Patagonian Forests
Los Alerces National Park is a large protected area established in 1937 to preserve Fitzroya cupressoides forests, a type of...
Fire Resilience for Heritage in a Changing Climate: Priorities for Site Managers
International bodies such as UNESCO warn that climate-driven factors including heatwaves, droughts and extended fire seasons are intensifying fires at...
Why COST Action C17 still Defines the Agenda for Fire Safety in Historic Buildings
The 2019 Notre-Dame fire and the 2018 Glasgow School of Art disaster revealed a troubling reality: despite decades of advancement...
The Hidden Vulnerability: Fire Risk in Cultural Heritage Storage Facilities
On October 1, 2025, a devastating fire broke out at the main warehouse of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) in Bhiwandi,...
Fire Safety Lessons from the 2026 Crans-Montana Bar Fire for Heritage and Historic Venues
The New Year’s Eve fire at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana is a tragic reminder that crowd-intensive venues in heritage settings...
New Year’s Eve Fire in a Historic former Church in Amsterdam
In the early hours of January 1, 2026, a violent fire devastated the Vondelkerk, the neo-Gothic church overlooking Vondelstraat, a...
Attacks on Worship Sites: the Need for Specific Fire Design Scenarios
Attacks on churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship have become a worrying global trend, and they increasingly strike...
Christmas Markets under Pressure: from Terror Plots to “Ordinary” Disasters
Across Europe, Christmas markets are more than seasonal shopping events. They are recurring public rituals that each year re‑occupy historic...
Do Traditional Fire Codes Fall Short in Protecting Cultural Artifacts? The Notre Dame des Champs Case
When discussing fire safety in cultural heritage buildings, such as churches, museums, and historic monuments, we often rely on standards...
The Laborie Estate Fire – Heritage Resilience and WUI in Paarl (South Africa)
Date of Incident: December 20, 2025 Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa Site Classification: Grade II Provincial Heritage Site (Cape Dutch Werf) Laborie Wine...
Why Cost–benefit Analysis matters for Historic Buildings
When deciding how to protect a historic building, it is not enough to ask “Is this measure technically effective?” The...
Fire and Destruction of a Traditional Village in Sumba (Indonesia)
Kampung Adat Waru Wora in West Sumba is a village that suffered a devastating fire on 5 December 2025 that...
Heritage Sites Destroyed by Floods in Sumatra
Since late November 2025, extreme monsoon rains, intensified by deforestation resulting from logging and mining activities, have caused catastrophic floods...
Rebuilding a Canadian Heritage Village with Fire-Resilient Principles
On June 30, 2021, during a record-breaking heat dome, the Village of Lytton, British Columbia (Canada) — home to about...
New Zealand Heritage Wildfire
In early December 2025, a human-caused wildfire ignited within Tongariro National Park, a dual World Heritage landscape recognized for its...