The Great Fire of London 1666

In times before electricity, all societies relied on some form of fire for just about everything from warmth, to light, to the way food was prepared. Today, we still use fire for these things at our convenience, but years ago, it was a necessity.

Unfortunately, containing fire to one location has always been a challenge, and the many great fires of the world are proof of the destruction that can be caused when fires get out of control. Massive fires such as the Great Chicago Fire of 1887, The Seattle Fire of 1889, and The San Francisco earthquake fire of 1906 were all devastating fires with tragic and lasting results. Each one changing something about the way fires are contained today. However, as massive and devastating as these fires were, none compare to the Great Fire of London in 1666.

On September 2nd, 1666, Thomas Farynor, King Charles the II's Baker, failed to completely put out the fire in his oven before he went to bed. The result was one of the most tragic and devastating destructions by fire in the world's history.

Several hundred years prior to the Great Fire of London, King William the Conqueror created a law that stated all fires must be put out at night, because of the fact that so many homes were built of wood and while sleeping, the flames could not be watched to assure they did not spread. There had been a large London fire that had massive consequences, and King William wanted to assure this did not ever happen again. The law, which was called Couvre-feu, is where the word curfew was derived.

William's law decreased the number and intensity of fires until 1212, when there was a large fire that killed 3,000 people. When the Great Fire in 1666 happened, it seemed the law King William enacted had all but been forgotten.

It's not possible to determine how many deaths occurred during the 1666 fire, but many believe there were very few. Some sources say 6, some say 16, but regardless, the number of deaths seem to be minimal compared to the property and land destruction the fire caused. The first known death was Thomas Farynor's maid, who was paralyzed by fear when the rest of the inhabitants of the home were escaping through an open window. The maid was afraid and stayed behind, thus causing her death.

The property destruction of the great fire was devastating and monstrous. More than 13,000 houses, 80 churches, and 50 livery halls were wiped out in a span of well over 400 acres. People were left completely poverty stricken and homeless following the destruction and it took years to repair the damage done. So many homes were made of wood, and when rebuilding the city after the fire, these building materials were replaced with stone and brick, much more solid materials against fires.

One of the worst of the destructions of property was the falling of St. Paul's Cathedral. Famous architect Christopher Wren was commissioned by the king to oversee the rebuilding projects of over 50 of the destroyed churches and was responsible for the new architecture and rebuilding of the famous church. The St. Paul's of today is Christopher Wren's creation. The king also had Wren design a monument to the fire which now stands in the place where the bakery once stood on a street called Monument Street.

Although the Great Fire of London was a devastating event, there is always a silver lining, and in this, it was the final destruction of the Black Plague. In the past several years prior to the fire, London was dealing with a horrible strain of bubonic plague carried by diseased rats. The plague killed tens of thousands of people, but the fire killed all the rats carrying the disease, thus finally wiping out the plague.

The Great Fire of London, as well as the other great fires in our history are responsible for the organized laws that now govern fighting fires. Thanks to these devastating events, we now have teams of fire fighters with equipment capable of quickly wiping out fires and saving lives that would have been lost otherwise. Destructive fires will probably never be eliminated, but as technology progresses, we will hopefully find more effective ways of fighting these fires and even further limiting the destruction they bring about.

http://www.angliacampus.com/education/fire/london /history/greatfir.htm
http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/greatfire.h tm
http://www.astrologyweekly.com/data-archive/famous -fires.php