Seventeenth century London was a city susceptible to disaster by way of its flammable and vulnerable housing conditions. As homes were in close proximity and made of timber, if any flames were to threaten the area, residents were instructed to utilize buckets of water to the best of their ability. On September 2, 1666, an oven became engulfed not long before the baker’s remaining house; he escaped, but his assistant became the first fatality. Once one building was ablaze, a tragic domino effect took place and neighboring stores began to also be enveloped. The makeshift firefighters were highly unprepared and resolved to evacuate their loved ones in order to avoid great injury and death. According to accounts of the event, all that took place could have been witnessed from nearly 30 miles in the distance, and it did not come under control until five days later. By the end, around 13,000 homes, 90 churches, and multitudes of public buildings were destroyed; this made up more than four-fifths of the city being in ruins. After 16 casualties, restoration began to take place and new construction involved the use of brick and stone, as well as much more space between establishments. Over the course of thirty years, the area was rebuilt entirely and a monument stands in the place of the original starting point of the Great Fire.
Detail of an etching from a contemporary Dutch broadside on the Great Fire of London, 1666, Trustees of the British Museum, retrieved from https://greatfireoflondon.net/after-the-fire/
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