Soap Tropes: Examining The Best Soap Opera Fires

In the soap opera genre, there are several tropes used repeatedly in storylines. Soap Hub examines the various scenarios and why daytime dramas use them regularly in a new series called Soap Tropes. In our second delve into the use of these common story elements, New York Times bestselling author Alina Adams examines how soaps regularly use fires.

Fire Away

The Horton house went up in flames this week on Days of our Lives, but it was hardly the first devastating fire ever in Salem, not to mention all of soap-dom. Just this month, we also had the fire at The Young and the Restless prison, which freed crazy cuckoo pants, Aunt Jordan. Both are just the latest in the long line of daytime drama infernos. Here are some of the most memorable since the genre began.

Days of our Lives

Not only was this not DAYS’ first fire, it wasn’t even Julie’s (Susan Seaforth Hayes) first experience with getting burned. While visiting Maggie’s (Suzanne Rogers) farm in the late 1970s, Julie was burned when Maggie’s stove exploded (we saw a brief clip of this moment during Rogers’ anniversary episode a few weeks ago). Julie’s face was scarred.

Wallowing in self-pity and, obviously, having a very weak opinion of the man she’d married — Julie divorced Doug (Bill Hayes, watch his memorial service here.), sniveling that he deserved better than a hideous wife. (Or, you know, the beautiful Julie with a boo-boo.) Time passed, Julie left town, got plastic surgery, and returned to Salem with nary a mark on her. She ran to Doug to announce they could reunite now…only to meet his fiancee. You snooze, you lose, Julie. It would be years before they got back together for good.

The Bold and the Beautiful

Thorne (then Jeff Trachta) was in love with his brother Ridge’s (then Ronn Moss) wife, Taylor (then Hunter Tylo). Taylor was trapped in a fire. Thorne saved her and helped her recover from her burns. One thing led to another, and Thorne was claiming to be the father of Taylor’s unborn child. Hot!

General Hospital

Anna’s (Finola Hughes) house was recently burned down, though Charlotte (Scarlett Fernadez) swears that was the one crime she didn’t commit against her Papa’s ex-love. We kind of believe her.

Port Charles is particularly flammable. There was the hotel fire of 2004. Zander was presumed dead in it, and his father, Cameron (Lane Davies), did die after letting a beam crush his grief-stricken self. And, in the 1990s, the Bradly Ward house, an orphanage Laura (Genie Francis) was running, was set ablaze by Damian (Leigh McCloskey), who wanted to build a toxic waste incinerator on that exact same spot. (Toxins burn much better when fertilized by orphan tears.)

The Young and the Restless

Sure, these days, Kevin (Greg Rikaart) is a loving husband to Chloe (Elizabeth Hendrickson) and dad to Bella and Miles. Everyone in Genoa City is too polite to remind him of his days as an internet predator who slept with young Lily (Christel Khalil, who is back on set filming).

When Lily’s best friend, Colleen, blabbed to Lily’s parents about it, Kevin decided to get his revenge on Colleen — by setting fire to Gina’s (Patty Weaver) restaurant…and trapping Colleen inside. J.T. (Thad Luckinbill) rescued her. That was before he became a domestic abuser himself. You never know, do you?

Guiding Light

Why burn down a single house (or orphanage) when you can ignite an entire block? Springfield’s Fifth Street went up in flames after young Bill (Bryan Buffington) accidentally started it. It engulfed the Cooper diner, but, hey, at least it also got Vanessa (Maeve Kinkade) to admit her love for Matt (Kurt Robin McKinney). The Cooper family rebuilt. But a few years later, Buzz’s (Justin Deas) granddaughter, Susan, and her boyfriend, Max, burned it down again. And Buzz still hadn’t taken out fire insurance. Dude, that one is on you.

One Life To Live

Llanfair burned down. And then was rebuilt again. (Apparently, with a secret room that still managed to remain secret.) Also, Todd (Roger Howarth) set fire to Angel Square. Decades later, his son, Jack, set fire to Todd’s newspaper office. Instead of either punishing the kid or getting him some professional help, Todd blackmailed Jack into working for dear old dad. And loving him. This was not a well family. Being arsonists was just the tip of the iceberg.

Which was your favorite soap opera fire? Tell us in the comments!