Early morning September 2 1666 a fire started in a bakery in East London..
There would be no fire brigades until 1680.To fight fires you use buckets ,sand or you tear down buildings for a fire break
At this time London structures are primarily wood except churches and forts Most are 3 stories high at best. Pop. About 350,000
Many of the streets are maybe 10 feet wide. Land is very expensive so you build your second or 3rd stories cantilevering into that space, so the top floors are very close together to the point you can jump from one to another.
Fire starts in bakery, staff and family go to top floor and jump over,except one maid who is afraid to jump. She is the first casualty.. The winds come up and the fire explodes west and northword. Fire consumes 13,200 houses, 87 churches including St Paul’s. It goes from St Dunstans in the east to St Dunstans in the west
Mayor makes a bad decision to not tear down buildings for fire break and goes back to bed. Fire hits wharf areas that is loaded with tar, and all kind of flammable materials. Poof!
In the short time I’ve been here twice I literally was almost blown off my feet. Wind is blowing east to west. 3 days later the wind drops and the proper fire breaks are created and the fire is brought under control.
Archeological estimates of the fire temperature was 3000 degrees F
People thought by storing their possession in the stone church’s they would be safe. St Paul’s was surrounded by by book sellers, people in the printing, paper making businesses etc
St Paul’s had a huge crypt, so it was soon filled with paper.
The roof caught fire.Remember what we witnessed recently with the Norte Dame fire?
Well the lead heated up, melted, then the ball of molten lead crashed into and though the wooden floor, get out your marshmallows and sticks. That was it for St Paul’s
The baker wormed his way out of blame. One French person was hung because he said he started the fire.
The captain of the ship’ he was on said it couldn’t be him because that ship didn’t dock in London until the day after the fire started.
Guess who signed signed an affidavit that the French guy started the fire?
You got it the baker and his daughter .Maybe tomorrow’s walk will be to the bakers grave so I can take a piss on it.
Not taken by a drone
I’ll write some more when I get down.
Ta Ta
