This channel always strikes the perfect balance between recognizing the tragedy of situations like this and showing that ingenuity and desire to help others is human nature. Great job as always!
I’ve heard this event told a few times now but I never realised the whiskey was so concentrated, it’s a shame this detail was missed in those tellings. The assumption is that they drank themselves to death and although tragic, it’s partly their own doing. Therefore the stereotype of drinking to excess is perpetuated and the victims are likely to be looked upon with less sympathy than they deserve. It’s incredible how one little detail really changes things. I appreciate you going into such detail, FH!
While I understand that they drank only a small/moderate amount… I still question the logic of someone who chooses to drink anything when it’s on the ground, contained by horse manure, and on fire. Although if it was so very strong, is it possible to get drunk off the fumes? Because being already drunk combined with celebrating containment of the fire could explain why people thought it was a good idea. And/or age. Were they mostly younger? It does sound like college escapades…
The version sways that narrative to the impossible. Normal spirits are 40-50%. Given that you can’t exceed 100% and the highest level created in alcohol distilling is 90%, the reporting of alcohol “many times stronger” is a lie. At most the whiskey would be twice as strong.
@@tmwautier I suppose that it depends on whether they were used to drinking whiskey or beer. If someone had high-proof whiskey expecting it to be similar to beer… isn’t beer only like 5%?
This story has always fascinated me especially as a Dub myself. The whole thing is just a bizarre combination of disasters. I've always thought someone could make a fantastic black comedy out of it, what with absurd situations like a wake having to hastily carry the body away from the flames, the animals running wild, the crowd gathering to witness such a strange sight, people drinking the whiskey while the flood is still ongoing, and even using honest to God horseshit as the eventual solution.
I'd watch that. I want the soundtrack to be every band's version of Rivers of Whiskey. We could have someone cut sad, slowed down version to play as people are being carted off.
Could you imagine being such an alcoholic that you would drink flaming whiskey running down the street filtered through horseshit out of your own shoe.
On drinking undiluted alcohol: absinthe was typically sold undiluted with the assumption that it was going to be cut with water anyway. It is widely believed now that the people who went mad drinking absinthe were succumbing to the effects of repeated alcohol poisoning and their condition had little if anything to do with the wormwood in absinthe.
I would love to hear your source on this madness, as most absinthe documentaries have cited people and companies adding things in to accomplish that green glow, like mercury, lead, and radium, for the crazy reactions and mind issues. Absinthe is back on shelves today, same process of making it, same amount of wormwood, and there's not an influx of people having issues. Last tidbit: even in victorian era recipes, to get hallucinatory levels of wormwood (measured through the thujone chemical compound) means drinking 1-1.5 bottles of absinthe. You'll have alcohol poisoning before anything else, even then. The Federal Alcohol Control Administration had some lovely studies on absinthe when it came back on the market in mid-2000's, may be worth a read. Edit that this view is from the US perspective but that absinthe is legal elsewhere.
@@peterf.229 A lot of things will kill worms but that doesn't mean they'll kill humans in small doses. I could pour 1/2 a tsp of salt onto a worm, killing it but that wouldn't make 1/2 tsp deadly for humans. I would be curious how much thujone is in an average serving of absinthe and how much thujone needs to be ingested per lb or kg of body weight before negative effects show up.
@@batkat0 i believe we do know the amount in mice per kg and thujone is in certain herbal meds whose consumption in high amounts is known to cause health problems
absinthe even if diluted with water and sugar is still potent. just drinking a bunch would cause someone to have hallucinations or other health issues. I still have the majority of an opened bottle to drink but it is so potent I dare not drink a glass of it alone.
@@WalterDiamond I was waiting for someone to determine, that horse shit really adds a somewhat smoothing effect to the whiskey. It is understandable no-one would have experimented with this before, but accidents sometimes produce results. Now we have a secret process to produce really nice whiskey. The most expensive coffee beans pass through a cat's digestive system before humans get it, so it isn't so bizarre.
@@kumaahito3927 literally so nasty lol it's alcohol from the streets and then drinking from your BOOTS? where your nasty feet go???? they just asking to get some disease lmao
I lived near Dublin for many years and had never heard of this. However, I'll add a little - the horses that drew the fire tenders were trained to back into the harnesses when they heard the bell so the firemen just needed to strap them in. The old firestation became a nightclub called "Fireworks" in the 90s as more modern premises were needed.
Years ago, I read a book from the library about the fire horses of San Francisco. It was a fascinating history and description of all the specialized things they did with those horses. In later years, they had simple harnesses suspended above the horses in their stalls, with collars open at the bottom. When the bell rang, the harnesses were dropped onto the horses, a couple latches or buckles fastened, they were hitched up, and away they went!
My wife has written an article about fire horses for when Breyer horses released their horse drawn fire wagon set some years ago. In Southern California there is still a trio pulling a vintage steamer. In America horses were led to stand and the harnesses dropped down onto them and they were quickly strapped in.
I've heard of the London Beer Flood and the Boston Molasses Flood, and here I am learning today that there's yet another drink flood involving flaming whiskey.
@@spacedog12345 Wait is Bud Light the stereotypical American alcoholic drink of choice? Or would it depend on the region? I feel like moonshine could also represent the US, since it has an interesting history.
The title got me at the start. I thought this would be similar to the Boston Molasses flood in which people were drowned, but I got it wrong. And this has to be the worst case of alcohol poisoning in history. RIP to the 13 victims
I’ve heard this story many times, but you’re the first one to tell it in full detail. I nearly thought it was a different incident! Now it makes much more sense why so many would die of alcohol poisoning. Thank you for what you do.
Every other video I’ve seen on this has said the victims died from something akin to gluttonous over imbibing. It’s so great someone finally said this was just stereotyping and explained the real cause. The humanity combined with the detailed accurate history is what makes this channel’s creator outstanding.
@@roxannepearls901 well gluttony didn't help matters. a river of whisky that horse dung was being flung into or that was extremly hot wouldn't be something I would be keen on drinking.
@@toomanyaccounts They were trying to drink it by using their hats and shoes, I think worrying about it's temperature or combining with whatever permeates the streets was not really something they worried about.
I find many channels tend to emphasize the gruesomeness of the events for shock value, I appreciate how you guys always leave clear this are real human tragedies, from we should learn from, not a horror movie for cheap thrills.
That man probably saved so many people.. imagine dealing with raging fires, and people dying all from a liquid that can’t be extinguished easily, and you somehow figure out during all the chaos that horse poop will stop the flaming flooding.
@@YeahNo It's flammability would vary a great deal depending upon its moisture content. Fresh manure would probably work very well for fire fighting, especially with a high fiber content making it clump together well. 🤔
@@YeahNo old dry manure is fire fuel, fresh moist manure is not. Plus when it's packed together it's really difficult to get to burn nicely. Use to burn the manure piles that was forked out of the barn but it a job to keep the fire going so we switch gears and just hauled it out.
"It says here they had a flood of whisky in Dublin," "Oooh, that's good!" "No, that's bad, it caught on fire," "Ooooh, that's bad!" "No, that's good, that's how Dublin got so good at fighting fires," "Oooh, that's good," "No, that's bad, you see all they had were pigs to slow the fire," "Oooh, that's bad!" "No, that's good, 'cause it slowed the burn and saved a bunch of people," "Oooh, that's good!" "No, that's bad, you see, because it slowed the burn down enough that people tried to drink it," "Ooh, that's good" "No, that's bad, 'cause it burned as it went down and killed a bunch of folks," "Oooh that's bad," "Yeah that's bad."
oh that's bad no that's good now you know not to drink whiskey from your boot or hat off the street that's bad no that's good now you know what content the whiskey should be oh that's good no that's bad people still drink to death
I'm incredibly late, but this comment needs more than 71 votes. You perfectly described the fickle nature of humans and hearing news. That's precisely how I respond much of the time. Should I feel good or bad, and how does the person presenting it want me to respond? Well, as I get older I realize that everything is complicated and full of good and bad anyway. You just have to listen carefully and weigh the good and bad over time to decide what is the actual bad.
I believe the Irish youtuber Qxir already made a video about this incident. As I recall, the tone of that video was much more flippant, and certainly more Irish.
You've never heard of Wikipedia? He literally steals all of his copy and imagery. Play this game at home : who can identify the wiki page where each stolen image is sourced from!
I had a shot of the undiluted barrel whiskey when I took a class at the Jamison factory in Ireland. And it CRAZY strong, but also very tasty. They only gave everyone a very small half shot of it. But we talked our guide into giving us two and he did because it was his last class of the day. I left there with my sister and friends very drunk. Good thing they always have cab drivers waiting out front.
@@guymetdrapedes220 That shot wasn't why I was drunk. I took the cocktail making class and was already drunk from those before we went to the barrel room. It was a great time. I'd love to go back.
Newfie swish. Take one of the empty barrels and pour water in, the water draws the old alcohol out of the wood. You can hardly get it in ya but it gets ya some drunk
I love how this channel does things. It presents the event, what happened before the event, the aftermath, and the rules that were made because of it. My favorite saying is "rules are written in blood", just to remind myself that there's a reason for certain rules to be in place, no matter how ridiculous they seems
When I visited Ireland in the nineties this story was told to us. I thought it was a joke until the details were told to me. Having worked in the hospitality industry and liking a drink myself, I totally understood the situation that had happened & the flammability of the whisky & also the danger of the 100%proof condition of what people thought was safe to have a drink of! It was quite a significant amount of damage that resulted & most people don't believe it! The odd things that can cause disasters!!!!❤️🇦🇺
When you started talking about how drinking the whisky made the residents sick, I was almost sure it was due to the manure. Forgot about the alcohol content
I thought that at first too, but actually, it would probably be safe to drink manure after it’s been purified with such high proof, flaming whiskey. That’s going to kill pretty much anything that would try to kill you.
Whoever said you should never change the intro/outro music was spot on. The perfect balance of dread and tragedy without being creepy. I didn’t know that pure alcohol would be so deadly.
This reminds me of a similar incident that took place on the 7th of July 1987 in the town of Herborn, Germany where 34.000 Liters of extremly flammable liquids were shed in the streets and into the sewerage leading to explosions and a major fire. Maybe you could make a documentary about it? 🙂
Yeah the Dublin fire was exacerbated also because of the burning whiskey entering storm drains causing secondary fires behind the fire brigade's lines.
Imagining folks tryna sort out the aftermath. “So this a fire or a flood?” Everyone at once: “fire”, “flood” *arguing* “Alright alright, we’ll tally the damage and decide on which caused more damage.” “That’s stupid” *more arguing*
It was this time last year that I discovered your channel, and since then I've come across a fair few others that produce similar content. However, I still prefer your style the best; succinct, informative, insightful and respectful, with none of those punchy effects or dramatisations that ruin other videos. You do fantastic work, good sir :)
This was not the first time the streets of Dublin were flooded with whiskey and it probably won’t be the last. Cheers. Seriously though RIP to those lost including the whiskey. 🥃🇮🇪❤️
Once I was done watching this, my curiosity was piqued about other types of non-water floods. Most of the ones I came across were more inconveniences than deadly floods. Only two would be interesting topics for future episodes. I also learned that there was a molasses spill in Honolulu that killed a bunch of sea-life.
Hmm if I had a nickle for every time there was a molasses spill in the US that ended up in the death of animals I'd have two nickles, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice
Fascinating Horror, I was anticipating your upload. You never have content that's anything less than amazing. 💯💯 Even if most of the content that has terrible loss of life. ☹
Reminded me of an old joke... Mrs Sullivan was at home making dinner one evening when there was a knock on the door. She answered it to find a police officer standing there, hat in hand. "Ma'am," he said, "I'm afraid I have terrible news. There was a terrible accident at the distillery where your husband works, and I'm afraid your Jimmy drowned in a vat of whiskey." Shocked, the woman cried "no, not my Jimmy! Please at least tell me he didn't suffer." The cop replied "well, I'm pretty sure he didn't since he got out to take a piss three times before finally going under."
There's also a variation of that joke where a man falls into a vat of beer in a brewery, and despite the brave efforts of his workmates, he resists all attempts to be saved.
I never heard of this, having lived in Dublin 10 years after schooling in Cork for the previous 17 years. I'm past 60. Very interesting. Amazing that ex US fire guy had such vast experience in 1875. The pictured fire wagon could easily put out more than 2 candles by itself. Easy to joke about the Irish and alcohol, but they were innocent and it was an awful way to die or suffer permanent illness and injury from what was really chemical poisoning - for want of a better description. There was a case of a hotel barman leaving bleach in a glass on the bar in the eighties and it was a horrible death for the poor soul who mistook it.
I really appreciate the fact that you take every story with utmost seriousness, even when other channels would be making jokes to lighten the mood. Everything from this, to the X-Ray disaster you covered a while back, to the Legionnaire’s Disease epidemic, to tragic crushes and industrial accidents. You never let us forget that these disasters had real, human costs, both small and large, and that makes you one of the best and most ethical RU-vidrs in this genre, in my opinion.
Great video. I love learning about my country's history. We weren't taught about this in school. Imagine learning it on a foreign RU-vid channel! :) Not much has changed, except we have fire extinguishers. Alcohol and floods are a huuuuge part of Irish culture. 😜
It's terrible that anyone died, but man you've really got to question your judgement when you're drinking liquor that's literally being held in place on the filthy ground by horse manure.
At first I kinda chuckled, because of the title. But now I'm saddened by not just the loss of life (both human and animal), but also the loss of homes and businesses. Great video.
As someone who is part Irish I enjoyed this story but sad to hear of the 13 lives lost from drinking whiskey to celebrate the fire being put out. I would love to visit Ireland one day. Every picture or movie made there, it looks stunningly beautiful. That fireman who had the idea to use 🐎 💩 was a genius. I can't imagine the smell in Dublin during this event and the clean up.
Thank you for always showing respect to those who lost their lives in these tragic events. Please take a look into the Johnstown Flood of 1936, also know as the Saint Patrick’s Day flood.
As soon as I found out this existed 1 min ago I immediately went to look if you posted a video about it, you’re my favourite account with this kind of content! I love all the informative videos!
I look forward every week to Tuesday for my dose of Fascinating Horror! Please don't ever change a thing! Suggestion for a story: The Great Chicago Fire. Thanks for all your great work!
I personally do not like Scotch Whiskey. More than likely due to an unfortunate overdrinking of my parents supply in my early teens. 🤔 That said, I really enjoy Irish Whiskey. Even more than I like Bourbon, which as an American I am obliged to like. Thank you for the great videos you keep making. I really appreciate the research you put into them, as well as the direct narration. So much better than channels that try to add drama with their narration. Take it easy.
This is one of my favourite channels. Always so informative. Have you covered the 1982 Hotel New Japan fire in Tokyo? I used to work in a building opposite its burnt-out shell ten years after the event. The boarded-up ruin was supposed to be haunted.
The same thing happened in my hometown when I was younger. Heaven Hill went up in flames creating a long river of burning bourbon. The whole county smelled like bourbon for a week. Fortunately this occurred away from residences and businesses and I don't recall any injuries and deaths---also no one showed up with a boot in hand.
@@AJWRAJWR You mean the Latvian potato famine? The same bug was killing potatoes all over europe but the Irish were the ones making the biggest deal about it. And no, they werent the worst effected.
As much as I dislike government regulation in general, we have come a long way since the old days. Storing highly flammable liquid in wood barrels with no means of fire suppression would never fly today.
Well, this is one I've never heard of. Wonder how that fire started. All that alcohol, it wouldn't have taken but a spark to light it up, I imagine. I feel sorry for those poor pigs. 😞
A few years ago, one of the bars caught fire by the pier in Hermosa Beach, California. They had a bunch of high-proof liquor stored in the attic above the bar. This made it really hard for the firemen to put out. I think they managed to keep it spreading to all the adjacent businesses. Lots of thick, black smoke.
Deffo the saddest part - and it still happens - fire ripping thru Manchester dogs home ~ 60 dogs died - needlessly. Fell sheep - freezing to death - needlessly. We have anti animal cruelty laws - but they're not used !
I studied Higher level history in school here in Ireland and this event was never even mentioned. (5th and 6th year is study of Irish history from 1700's to 1950's with a focus on the political situation). Thanks for the info.
I've been a subscriber for 2 years and I'm so happy to be. Your stories are always so good! This one reminds me of the molasses flood except it's concentrated whiskey. Potent stuff! Thanks for consistently great content!
Not sure if it was intentional, but the part about the wake and having to remove the body in a hurry got me. Unintentional black comedy? Either way, the warehouse was abomb, the casks bombs, the alcohol was on fire. And the solution was to use horse shit which explodes on its own even /without/ fire being involved. I've seen piles of horse manure self combust, so how there wasn't a giant horse crap blast is beyond me...but that was either brilliant, genius, or sheer desperation that worked out fine. Poor dog, too. Poor, poor doggo, but it's worth pointing out that even into the modern day, there's still areas where it's safer to drink alcohol, even diluted, than the local water supply. Remember where society was at the time as far as water and their understanding of how to make it safe and drinkable. EDIT: I guess the whiskey really...really wasn't in the jar I'll see myself out of the comments section... EDIT 3: Oh and not mentioned, only 61 barrels survived. THe ones that didn't get burned or explode, were looted. Yes. Yes. Looters were in among the flames and impromptu night out. So, yes. Looters happened, though I can't find if the barrels were recovered or not. You'd assume the drunk looters would just keep the evidence or later really
Another fascinating disaster I'd barely heard of before. For a truly bizarre natural disaster you must do one on the Cameroon Lake Nyos tragedy of 1986.
I'd like to think that Philip DeFranco decided to give his viewers something that would redirect them here to help bolster your channel, but...I think that may have just been a coincidence. Regardless, well done as always. An informative documentary, explaining everything a viewer would need to know about a terrible event of history. Keep up the great work.
I'd heard of the London Beer Flood and the Boston Molasses Flood, but this is the first time I've heard of the Dublin Whiskey Flood. It's ironic that all the fatalities in this one were from drinking ultra-concentrated whiskey, rather than being drowned or burned by the flood itself.
Me, reading title: Whisky flood? What? *sees Dublin* Oh that makes sense "Now, with the immediate danger out of the way, some of them chose to celebrate by sampling the whisky that ran through the streets." I- why...
When I read the title, I thought, this must have been the dream of an Irishman. In fact, it turned into a tragedy, especially for those unlucky pigs and fish in the rivers. Nevertheless, a fascinating story with a very clever way to stop the flood.
Thank you for your informative & interesting historical videos. I expectedly appreciate how you highlight the lessons learned & improvements made to help avoid these same catastrophes again.
I was just listening to a podcast about this this morning! I chose that podcast because I remember this event was covered by Qxir a while ago. I must admint Qxir's coverage was probably the best - because he's Irish himself.
I’ve seen his as well. I would say it’s a good one to watch as long as you are okay with dark humor. I enjoyed it but I would understand if someone thought his videos was terrible for making jokes about the situation. I think this video here is a good for the opposite reason
Thank you, I’d never heard of this one! Is there someplace we can suggest topics for future videos? I’d love to know more about the Hardin Cemetary disaster from 1993. I recently learned I had distant family involved in that situation and I’d like people to learn about it in the respectful way you present topics, especially those with living descendants. Thanks again for the great content.
"A river of whiskey on fire, flowed through Dublin like a mire The squeal of hogs and sti, sent the people running, oh my The people they stomped and watered the flame, yet it kept burning untamed But when bricks and gravel just weren't it, the firemen had an idea, and simply used manure" There's my limerick.
@@spiritmatter1553 Well excuse me for being out of the loop for poetic names. I always thought a limerick was a fairly unstructured poem made mostly for fun. Sure it mostly rhymes, but I wouldn't call this a rhyme.
I distill my own alcohol. I've done it through a pot still & a reflux still that I own. No hangover is had if you do it right. It's far BETTER than what you can buy in ANY store. This story is CRAZY to think that much high proof alcohol was in the streets on fire. It probably was 70%-80% alcohol if it came from a pot still.
Dude I come back and your channel is HUGE. I’m so happy for you man. Love seeing people that provided me so much entertainment get the blow up they deserve. I hope monetization is working well for you.
This is a true horror story, I can hardly imagine people confronting with an unstoppable torrent of flaming liquid. And those drinking it from boots and hats, we must put things into context: people were much poorer back in the day, liquor was pretty much a luxury item and the chance of getting drunk for free must have been irresistible to some.
Why is it only bad if the pigs died in this way, but acceptable if they are killed by humans? The same pigs in this video were the same ones that would later be slaughtered anyways. As you heard in the video they died quickly during the incident so that doesn't make the difference.
@@bouncycastle955 I asked why it is acceptable that pigs are killed in the current way, which is not only by knife but also way more painful ways like gassing. And you replied by saying 'because fire is a worse way than with a knife'. But just the fact that a knife is less painful than fire killing doesn't mean that it is acceptable to kill persons with knifes. If someone asked if they could kill you with a knife because that's a better way than killing you with fire, you wouldn't agree either.
@@Stichting_NoFap pigs are usually sliced. But I'm not a pig, so it's pretty irrelevant. You think it's acceptable to kill a potato but not a human. Maybe the fact that it isn't human is relevant 🤔 P.s. being gassed is one of the least painful ways to go...
@@bouncycastle955 The point was not potatoes who don't have feelings, or if gassing pigs is painful or not which it is. The fact that one way of killing is less painful than the other, doesn't mean that is now acceptable. If someone threatens you to kill you with a knife but they tell you that it is less painful that killing you with fire, you wouldn't let them do it only because it is less bad. You agree that it's both bad enough no matter if it's a knife or fire and that's why the same applies to pigs as well.
@@Stichting_NoFap here's some relevant differences, killed in the fire, no one can eat them so they died for nothing. Their meat was wasted so people lost money. It is far more painful (and being gassed is among the least painful ways to die, not that anyone was using that method back then...). They are pigs, so why would they be involved in a question of morality anyway? There are many relevant differences, acting like there isn't is just you being obtuse.
I know I shouldn’t laugh, but the thought of everyone surviving such a monumental blaze only to die from drinking the whiskey in celebration, is the most Irish thing that could’ve happened.
