THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

In 1666 a fire broke out in London that lasted from 12 to 16 September, destroyed almost the entire city.
Before that the same definition of "great fire" was used for another great fire that in 1212 had destroyed a
large part of the city.

the Luftwaffe's 29 December 1940 incendiary raid on the city

became known as the second great fire of London.

destroyed 13,200 homes, 87 parish churches, 6 chapels, 44

Company Halls, and many important buildings including,
Saint Paul's Cathedral, and the three city gates. But the
victims were not greater than 20, although today they are
thought to be more.

fire had profound consequences on the history of London,

also from the health point of view because as a result of the death of the rats that propagated the epidemic
determined the end of the great plague of London. Enormous were also the consequences on the city map,
redesigned by Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, and Samuel Pepys at the behest of Charles II of England.

testimonies that served for the reconstruction of the city were given by the Czech engraver Wenceslaus
Hollar.

THE CAUSES
The fire broke out on the morning of a Sunday in September 1666 in the home of Thomas Farrinor a baker
who lived in Pudding Lane. The fire broke out because Farrinor did not turn off the oven before going to
sleep. Around midnight it would have been some burning embers to set fire to wood nearby. She escaped
the fire by coming out of a window on the top floor with her family, but the maid was trapped inside and
was the first victim to lose her life in the fire.

Within an hour of the start of the fire, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth, was
awakened by the news. He was not impressed, in fact he
declared: "a woman could extinguish it with a piss". This is a
famous phrase which was said in the tv series the grat fire of
London.

Many of the buildings in London at the time were built of

combustible, but very fire resistant materials, such as
structural wood, which were surrounded by other highly
flammable materials, such as straw. The sparks from the
baker's shop fell on the adjacent buildings. Once triggered,
the fire began to spread under the pressure of a very strong
wind and very dry air. The spread of the fire was also aided by the fact that the buildings were built too
close to each other, with only narrow alleys between them, in fact in the future it is planned to demolish
many buildings to create large avenues
THE ACTION OF AUTHORITIES
In 1666 London had been hit by the second most powerful plague in its history and for this many had taken
refuge in the countryside out of fear, many houses were uninhabited and few possible volunteers able to
rush.

At that time the typical

procedure to put out fires was
to create a "fire line", in this
case it consisted of destroying
the houses so that the fire
would not spread, but the
mayor was worried about the
costs of reconstruction and
decided to ignore this idea.

The mayor made another

wrong choice of entrusting
teams of volunteers to put out
the fires, but they were in the
pay of wealthy owners who
often turned a blind eye when the fire reached opposing properties.

The fire raged uncontrolled for three days, stopping near Temple Church but continuing towards
Westminster. The Duke of York had the presence of mind to order the demolition of the Library to stop the
flames.

On the fourth day the fire was stopped, when the destroyed area stretched from Whitehall in the west to
the Tower of London in the east.

THE CONSEQUENCES
Before the flames went out, a Dutch baker was dragged out of his bakery as an angry mob tore him to
pieces. A Swedish diplomat was almost hanged, only saved by the Duke of York who saw him by chance and
demanded that he be released. A blacksmith "knocked down" a Frenchman in the street with a violent blow
with an iron bar ". A French woman's breasts were cut by Londoners who thought the chicks she wore in
her apron were incendiary. Another Frenchman was nearly dismembered by a crowd who thought he was
carrying a case of bombs; the bombs were tennis balls. In short, the desire to blame someone was very
strong.

Two commissions, both of three members, were charged with rebuilding the city after the fire: one,
nominated by the King, included Christopher Wren, the other, nominated by the city authorities, included
Robert Hooke. Wren and Hooke played the main part in the reconstruction work both for their public role
and as private architects. The original plan was to rebuild the city in brick and stone, with a grid plan and
with avenues and squares in a "north-continental" style, but since the foundations of many buildings had
survived, legal disputes over ownership of the land put an end to the idea of the grill. Beginning in 1667 the
Parliament raised funds for the reconstruction by taxing coal and the city was rebuilt on the existing street
level, but in brick and stone and with an improved sewer and road system. This is the main reason why
London today is a modern city that maintains a medieval design of the streets. Christopher Wren and
Robert Hooke also rebuilt St Paul's Cathedral 11 years after the fire.
Lessons were learned on fire prevention, and when the present Globe Theater opened in 1997, it was the
first building in London with a thatched roof since the fire.