Destroyed By Fire Trivia Quiz

Answer: Belgium

Louvain University was known for having one of the finest libraries in Europe. It was first burned down by German bombing in 1914 during WWI. It was burned down again during the Battle for Leuven in 1940 in WWII. It was re-built in 1951 and became a protected monument in 1987.

Answer: Sixteenth century during the Ottoman Empire

The souk marketplace became a centre for cultural exchange and an important trading centre during the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. It was the main trading centre for soap, spices, and textiles that lasted into the 21st century before it was destroyed by fire.

The fire that destroyed the market occurred in 2012, and was related to fighting between the Syrian government and opposition groups. The other Empires listed in the question all existed in the times given, but in different areas of the globe.

Answer: The Crystal Palace

Sir Joseph Paxton designed the Crystal Palace to house the Great Exhibition that was held in 1851. It was built using plate glass and wrought iron. There were eight miles of display tables in the building, so after the exhibition, the building was relocated to South-East London and used by the Royal Society of Arts to display its collections.

The palace was destroyed by fire in 1936, and was not adequately insured to rebuild. All that remained in 1941 was a tower, and it was destroyed by explosives at that time.

Answer: Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Paleis voor Volksvlijt was a large exhibition hall that was inspired by the Crystal Palace in London. It was built in the mid-1800s as an exhibition hall, but proved impractical in that role. Instead, the 9,000 seat auditorium was used for musical performances until the house orchestra went bankrupt in 1895.

The building consisted of the main hall and an annex with a shopping area and some apartments. The main hall burned down in 1929, but the annex was spared. People continued to live in the apartments until 1960 when the building was finally torn down to make way for a bank.

Answer: Brazil

The fire at the National Museum of Brazil broke out shortly after it closed for the day on September 2, 2018. The uninsured building that was destroyed in the fire was 13600 mē with 122 rooms. It was estimated that approximately 92.5% of the museum's collections were destroyed in the fire, including most of its irreplaceable Indigenous artefacts, and a Roman fresco from Pompeii that had survived the eruption of Vesuvius. Efforts to salvage items re-build the museum started right away in the attempt to store and showcase items that were salvaged.

Answer: California

A covered bridge is a wooden truss bridge that has a roof and siding added to protect the bridge. An uncovered wooden bridge lasts approximately twenty years, while a covered bridge can last over one hundred years. Covered bridges are becoming less popular due to the high cost of maintenance and replacement.

The Honey Run Covered Bridge was built in 1886. It was the only covered bridge in the US with three unequal sections and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It burned down in a Northern California wildfire in 2018. Fundraising efforts to replace the bridge were started shortly after the fire.

Answer: 246

The Royal Clarence Hotel was advertised as "New Coffee-house, Inn, and Tavern, Or, The Hotel, In St. Peter's Church-yard, Exeter" in 1770. Although the building had been used for other purposes before that, 1770 was the first year that it was recognized that the building acted as an inn.

The name of the building was changed in 1827 after a visit by Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence. Other celebrities to stay at the hotel over the years include Beatrix Potter, Thomas Hardy, and actors Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

The hotel was gutted by a fire that started in an adjacent building in 2016. Four years later, the property was sold to new owners who have the goal of restoring the property to a new hotel.

Answer: Ineffective sprinkler system

A fire broke out in the building that housed the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi in April, 2016. Although the cause of the fire is not known, fire specialists have said that the spread of the fire was likely due to the lack of a functioning water system in the building.

The museum was also planning a move at the time of the fire after a 2012 government report raised concerns about the lack of building maintenance. Several irreplaceable artefacts and exhibits were destroyed in the fire, including a 160 million-year-old fossil of a sauropod.

Answer: Empire State Building

On July 28, 1945, a United States Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City while flying in thick fog. The crash and resulting fire caused a lot of damage, but the building's structural integrity was not compromised, so it was considered safe to occupy after the flames were extinguished.

Many floors of the building were open again within 48 hours. One record was set during this accident that is not one to be aspired to: an elevator operator was thrown from the elevator and injured while on the 80th floor. Rescuers placed her in another elevator car for the trip down, but the cables on that elevator had been damaged in the accident and the elevator broke loose and fell 75 stories.

The operator survived the fall with a broken back, pelvis, and neck.

This was the record for the longest survived elevator fall at the time of writing of this quiz at the end of 2020.

Answer: Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world, and is one of the official residences of Queen Elizabeth II. On November 20, 1992, a fire started in the Queen's private chapel when a curtain rested against a hot spotlight that was being used by construction workers.

The fire burned for about fifteen hours before being fully extinguished. Fortunately, the construction that was being carried out in the areas of the building most affected by the fire meant that many valuable paintings and pieces of furniture had already been removed. Queen Elizabeth was not in the castle at the time, but her son Prince Andrew was.

He was not injured in the fire. The castle was restored by November, 1997.