Dublin whiskey fire
The Dublin whiskey fire took place on 18 June 1875 in the Liberties area of Dublin. It lasted a single night but killed 13 people, and resulted in €6 million worth of damage in whiskey alone (adjusted for inflation). People drank from the deep river of whiskey that is said to have flowed as far as the Coombe. None of the fatalities suffered during the fire were due to smoke inhalation, burns, or any other form of direct contact with the fire itself; all of them were attributed to alcohol poisoning from drinking the undiluted whiskey that had been stored in casks; this alcohol was much more potent than whiskey offered at retail in bottles. Origin The fire is believed to have started in Laurence Malone's bonded storehouse on the corner of Ardee Street, where 5,000 hogsheads () of whiskey were being stored to a value of £54,000 (equivalent to £ in ). The exact cause of the fire is unknown, but it is known to have started between 4:35pm when the storehouse was checked, and 8:30pm when the alarm was raised. At 9:30pm the barrels within the storehouse began to explode with heat, sending a stream of whiskey flowing