Some Observations on the Great Fire of London, 1666

Abstract

1966 marks the tercentenary of the Great Fire of London. In reading descriptions of this fire, I was impressed by the facts that only four people died directly as a result of the fire and that only 436 acres were burnt in 87 h. The London fire is dwarfed when compared, for example, with the Chicago ‘Mrs. O'Leary's Cow’ fire of 1871 when 2,124 acres and 17,450 buildings were burnt between October 8 and 10, 250 people were killed and about 100,000 left homeless. Although fire-fighting techniques had become more advanced and buildings more widely separated than they were in the London of 1666, the Chicago fire was a much faster spreading and more destructive fire.