1938 Changsha fire

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1938 Changsha fire
Wenxi Fire
Date(s)	November 13, 1938 02:00 –
Location	Changsha
Impacts
Deaths	30,000
Damage	$1 billion
Ignition
Perpetrator(s)	Kuomintang officials
Motive	To prevent wealth from falling to the Japanese

The Changsha fire of 1938 (Chinese: 長沙大火), also known as Wenxi fire (Chinese: 文夕大火), was the greatest human-caused urban conflagration in Chinese history. Kuomintang officials ordered the city be set on fire in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War to prevent the Japanese from benefiting from its capture. The result of this fire made Changsha one of the most damaged cities during World War II, alongside Stalingrad, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Dresden and others.