A careless maid, a burning oven and strong east winds came together to cause one of the greatest disasters of the 17th century.

September 2, 1666, London: It was just another day. But, a small fire in Thomas Farynor’s bake shop in Pudding Lane, changed it all. Farynor was baker to King Charles II.

On the night of September 1, the maid did not put out the fire in the ovens completely. The heat from the ovens caused sparks to ignite the Farynor’s wooden home. Seeing the fire, the maid panicked and tried to climb out of the building but failed. She was the first victims of the fire. At 1:00 a.m., another servant woke up to find the house aflame and raised the alarm. The baker and his family managed to escape. But the fire could not be extinguished.

Causing havoc

Houses in London were made of wood and were highly flammable. It did not take long for the fire to spread. The fire leapt to the hay in the yard of the Star Inn at Fish Street Hill, which was close to the bake house. It spread into the Inn. The summer had been hot and dry with no rain. Consequently, the wooden houses and buildings were dry. The wind was strong and sent the sparks flying to the Church of St. Margaret. It then spread to Thames Street near the river. The warehouses and wharves on the banks, filled with hemp, oil, tallow, hay, timber, coal and spirits along with other combustibles provided fodder for the fire to become bigger and stronger. The citizen fire fighting brigades were unsuccessful in containing the fire with their buckets of water from the river. As the fire raged on, people tried to leave the city. They poured down to the Thames in an attempt to escape by boat.

The major fire fighting technique of the time was to create fire breaks by means of demolition; but the Lord Mayor of London Sir Thomas Bloodworth was indecisive. By 8:00 a.m. on September 4, the fire had engulfed half of London. The King joined the fire fighters, passing buckets of water to them in an effort to quell the flames, but the fire raged on.

By the time the Royal command came to create fire breaks, the fire was out of control. The Duke of York (later King James II) ordered the demolition of Paper House which created a fire break. The Trained Bands of London were called in to demolish houses with gunpowder. they got from the garrison in the Tower of London. But the sound of the explosions started rumours of a French invasion were in force creating even more panic.

Finally, the fire stopped near Temple Church. But this was short-lived as it suddenly sprang to life again, continuing towards Westminster. The heat created by the fire was so great that the lead roof on St Paul’s Cathedral melted. Many saw the lead flowing down the streets like a river, and the great cathedral collapsed.

By September 5, the strong east winds had died down and the fire breaks began to take effect. And the next day the fire had been extinguished altogether.

According to the records, loss of life was minimal but over 13,000 houses, 89 churches, and 52 Guild Halls were destroyed in what became known as “The Great Fire of London”. Thousands of citizens found themselves homeless and financially ruined. It was the second tragedy to hit the city in a space of 12 months. The city was just recovering from the Great Plague and the inhabitants were forced to flee once again.

The Great Fire of London, arguably, left a far greater mark on the city when compared to the plague as it changed the face of London forever.