what year was the great san francisco fire?
1906 San Francisco earthquake
entailment
 At 5 : 12 am on April 18 , 1906 , a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California . As buildings collapsed from the shaking , ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across the city and burned out of control for several days . With water mains out of service , the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks . More than three @-@ quarters of the city lay in ruins , including almost all of the downtown core . Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives , though modern estimates put the number in the several thousands . More than half of the city 's population of 400 @,@ 000 was left homeless . Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park , the Presidio , on the beaches , and elsewhere . Many fled permanently to the East Bay . 

contradiction
 The 1939 California tropical storm , also called the 1939 Long Beach tropical storm , El Cordonazo , The Lash of St. Francis was a tropical cyclone that hit Southern California in September , 1939 . Formerly a hurricane , it was the only tropical storm to make landfall in California in the twentieth century . The only other known tropical cyclone to directly affect California is the 1858 San Diego Hurricane , and only three other eastern Pacific tropical cyclones have caused gale @-@ force winds in the continental United States . The tropical storm caused heavy flooding , leaving many dead , mostly at sea . 

contradiction
 The Great New York City Fire of 1845 was the last of three particularly devastating fires that affected the heart of Manhattan , the other two occurring in 1776 and 1835 . While very destructive , the 1845 fire confirmed the value of building codes restricting wood @-@ frame construction . In 1815 , city officials had banned new construction of wood @-@ frame structures in the densest areas of the city . The 1845 fire demonstrated the efficacy of these restrictions , as the progress of the fire was checked when it spread toward areas rebuilt after the 1835 fire with such materials as stone , masonry , and iron roofs and shutters . In spite of general improvements , the 1845 fire prompted public calls for a more proactive stance in fire prevention and firefighting . 

contradiction
 The 79 AD eruption was preceded by a powerful earthquake seventeen years beforehand on February 5 , AD 62 , which caused widespread destruction around the Bay of Naples , and particularly to Pompeii . Some of the damage had still not been repaired when the volcano erupted . The deaths of 600 sheep from " tainted air " in the vicinity of Pompeii indicates that the earthquake of 62 may have been related to new activity by Vesuvius 

contradiction
 The Omaha Easter Sunday Tornado of 1913 destroyed much of the city 's African @-@ American community , in addition to much of Midtown Omaha . 
