page_title: Historical fires of Stockholm
section_title: Fires since 1900
hierarchical_section_title: Historical fires of Stockholm / Fires since 1900
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Brandskyddsmöte vid Brunkebergstorg i maj 1921
context_page_description: Stockholm has largely escaped looting and natural disasters, but the city's major scourges have been fires, which in the worst cases have wiped out entire neighborhoods. The population of Stockholm has historically lived in constant fear of the outbreak of fire, because the risk of fires in the 16th- and 17th-century Swedish cities was great. The question was not whether it would burn, but when.
  Each citizen remained on night watch well into the 19th century. The worst fire in the history of Stockholm was the fire of Clara in 1751, which evolved into a firestorm spreading from Riddarfjärden to Södermalm.
  Only through fire retardant buildings, organized fire services, better fire fighting equipment, and running water from fire hydrants, could fires be reduced and maintained. However, aside from the misery and damage that large fires caused in Stockholm, there were also benefits, such as the planning of new districts, neighborhoods, and streets.
context_section_description: The Djurgården Theatre at Skansen on Djurgården Southern was twice ravaged by fire. Fire broke out at the old Djurgården Theatre on May 19, 1865, destroying the building just when the theatre was beginning its second season.  It was rebuilt and re-inaugurated on 20 June 1867. On 21 June, 1929, the building went up in flames again and the wooden building disappeared in a few hours. The fire had begun in the kitchen area and spread quickly. Although the people who were in the building managed to save themselves, some firefighters had minor injuries. How the fire started could not be clarified.
  One of the worst fires the Stockholm Fire Brigade experienced since its formation in 1875 was a fire in 1937 in the central dairy at Torsgatan. The fire broke out on February 8, 1937, caused by a welder working in the attic above the fourth floor. He first attempted to extinguish the fire himself, but failed. The fire brigade was alerted and quickly arrived on the site. The men not only had to fight the fire, but also work under difficult conditions, including heavy ice (the temperature was 10 degrees below zero) and a wax layer of 3,500 kg, which began to melt and burn, and hindered the firefighters considerably. Two firefighters were cut off by the fire. One hung outside a window and fell, later dying of his injuries. The other was rescued at the last minute. Some acetylene cylinders exploded, injuring another firefighter. A stairwell threatened to collapse and officers had to withdraw the men. In the end, all of Stockholm's firefighters engaged in fire extinguishing, and all the firefighters were called to duty. In total, there were 70 people on the site, including managers, the fire chief, firefighters, and teachers from officers' school. Only after seven hours was the fire considered to be under control. The damage cost over a million dollars and Stockholm's milk supply was threatened.
  On September 5, 1970, IKEA's furniture warehouse at King's Curve burned. The cause of the fire was a short circuit in the large billboard. Codan paid an indemnity of 23 million; it was at that time the largest insurance loss in Sweden.
  During the night of May 17, 1990, Catherine's Church burned for the second time. The church tower collapsed and went through the church vault. All that was left was the church walls, but a few valuable textiles and church silver were saved. An investigation into the cause of the fire was inconclusive.
  Another notable fire hit Stockholm in 1990. On 28 September 1990, there was a large fire in the iron trade, John Wall's premises at the corner of Drottninggatan and Slöjdgatan. The fire destroyed the historic hardware store and a large part of the settlement in the district of Adam and Eve.
  At two o'clock on the night of June 5, 2008, a fire broke out on the third floor of Town Hall's west wing. It took up to 70 firefighters about three hours to control. The fire in the Town Hall was dramatic and, when emergency services arrived at the building, it was a fully developed fire, five- to 10-foot-high flames reached out of the windows. The fire department estimated that the entire third floor of the south wing was destroyed by fire.  Since renovation work was being carried out, the building was empty and no people were hurt.
caption: Fire Meeting on Brunkebergstorg 1921
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