General Resources
Fire in America by Call Number: TH 9115.N28 1976Publication Date: 1976This covers fires in the United States from 1600 to 1976, including sections on many major fires.
Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes the Shaped a City by Call Number: TH9445.P8C43 2001ISBN: 1893121070Publication Date: 2001This book discusses major Chicago fires, including the Great Chicago Fire, Iroquois Theater fire, and Our Lady of the Angels School fire.
IFSI Library Lending Policies
Local Lending (Illinois Residents Only)
- The checkout period is 4 weeks.
- Extensions are considered individually.
- Pick up requested materials at the library circulation desk.
- Bring your photo ID to set up a lending account.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
- The checkout period is 6 weeks.
- IFSI can send materials directly to your local public library through Interlibrary Loan.
- You must have a public library card.
- It may take up to two weeks for items to arrive.
Major American Fires
Photo by John McColgan, fire behavior analyst at the U.S. Forest Service
This guide was produced by the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) library to bring together resources about major American fires. These include books and audiovisual material available at the IFSI Library as well as freely available online material, including articles, websites, and videos. The primary audience of this guide is fire fighters and emergency responders, but students and members of the public with an interest in American history might also find this guide useful. Each tab of this guide contains information about a different fire.
IFSI Library
The IFSI Library houses more than 65,000 items, including books, periodicals, manuals, codes and standards, DVDs, CDs, e-resources, audiobooks and other fire emergency resources. The library exists to serve all first responders in the state of Illinois. Users can request materials in-person, via telephone or email, or through the Online Catalog. The catalog may be searched keyword, title, author, subject, or publisher, and the search can be limited to specific formats. You may enter as many or as few search terms as you would like; the more search parameters the fewer results there will be, but those results will be more specific. You can visit us in person, or, if you live in the state of Illinois and have an Illinois library card, we can send the materials you want to your local library via interlibrary loan.
Deadliest U.S. Public Assembly and Nightclub Fires
| Building | City | Date | Deaths |
| Iroquois Theater | Chicago, IL | 12/30/1903 | 602 |
| Cocoanut Grove Nightclub | Boston, MA | 11/28/1942 | 492 |
| Conway's Theater (Brooklyn Theater) | Brooklyn, NY | 12/05/1876 | 285 |
| Rhythm Club | Natchez, MS | 04/23/1940 | 207 |
| Rhoads Opera House | Boyertown, PA | 01/13/1908 | 170 |
| Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus | Hartford, CT | 07/06/1944 | 168 |
| Beverly Hills Supper Club | Southgate, KY | 05/28/1977 | 165 |
| Station Nightclub | West Warwick, RI | 02/20/2003 | 100 |
| Happy Land Social Club | Bronx, NY | 03/25/1990 | 87 |
| Richmond Theater | Richmond, VA | 12/26/1811 | 72 |
Statistics from the NFPA. Listed Here
Librarian
IFSI Library Information
Library Hours:
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday - Friday
Special operating hours may be held during events.
IFSI Library Staff:
Lian Ruan, Head Librarian: lruan@illinois.edu
Diane Richardson, Reference & User Training Librarian: dlrichar@illinois.edu
David Ehrenhart, Archivist and Metadata Librarian: ehrenha1@illinois.edu