In the hot summer of 1666, the city of London was greatly devastated by the worst fire ever recorded in London’s history, destroying almost 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches. Eighty percent of the building's top was erased, no other city had ever burned like this. At that time the city of London was a different place than it is now but even then it was the center of England's trade and finance. The story of the fire is linked to a bakery where the fire accidentally began and took a large part of the city under its grip. The fire swept through the London city from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September, and when the fire was finally controlled, more than four-fifths of London was destroyed, including most of the civic buildings.
The entire story began when the fire broke out accidentally at the bakery of Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane near London Bridge in the early morning hours. Sparks from Farrinor’s bakery jumped across the street and spread rapidly across the City of London in the form of a fierce fire. The major fire fighting technique of the time was used to control the fire but it involved very little skill or knowledge. Because during that time there was no fire brigade to call and therefore long ladders, leather buckets, axes, firehooks (for pulling down buildings), and water squirts were used to fight the fire, which were not considered the effective ways to extinguish the fire. But eventually, after several efforts by firefighters, the fire was taken under control by the 6th of September.
During 1666, the City of London consisted of medieval houses made mostly of oak timber. Some poor houses had tar-covered walls, which prevented rain but caused the structures to catch fire easily by sparks, or flames. Due to the medieval street plan, the streets were narrow and houses were crowded together, causing much disappointment for firefighting efforts. Even under normal conditions, the carts, wagons, and pedestrians were often subject to traffic jams in sub-standard streets. Therefore during the fire, the demolition teams and firefighters struggled to enter the narrow streets, as roads were blocked by people trying to escaping outwards, away from the center of destruction, causing it to took longer to extinguish the fire. The use of water to extinguish the fire was also frustrated, including primitive hand pumps and other water squirts methods, which also prolonged the duration of the fire.
The entire story began when the fire broke out accidentally at the bakery of Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane near London Bridge in the early morning hours. Sparks from Farrinor’s bakery jumped across the street and spread rapidly across the City of London in the form of a fierce fire. The major fire fighting technique of the time was used to control the fire but it involved very little skill or knowledge. Because during that time there was no fire brigade to call and therefore long ladders, leather buckets, axes, firehooks (for pulling down buildings), and water squirts were used to fight the fire, which were not considered the effective ways to extinguish the fire. But eventually, after several efforts by firefighters, the fire was taken under control by the 6th of September.
During 1666, the City of London consisted of medieval houses made mostly of oak timber. Some poor houses had tar-covered walls, which prevented rain but caused the structures to catch fire easily by sparks, or flames. Due to the medieval street plan, the streets were narrow and houses were crowded together, causing much disappointment for firefighting efforts. Even under normal conditions, the carts, wagons, and pedestrians were often subject to traffic jams in sub-standard streets. Therefore during the fire, the demolition teams and firefighters struggled to enter the narrow streets, as roads were blocked by people trying to escaping outwards, away from the center of destruction, causing it to took longer to extinguish the fire. The use of water to extinguish the fire was also frustrated, including primitive hand pumps and other water squirts methods, which also prolonged the duration of the fire.
The fire was definitely extinguished but it caused very huge damage to London city, resulting in the destruction of 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the City authorities buildings. The great fire is responsible for making hundreds of thousands of people homeless, which was terrifying. But miraculously only six people had died, which was a very small death toll behind such a huge disaster.
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