It was late. Thomas Farriner, the King’s baker, probably just wanted to sleep. He’d checked his ovens at his shop on Pudding Lane, or at least he thought he had. But by 1:00 AM on Sunday, September 2, 1666, his house was full of smoke. He, his daughter, and a servant ended up scrambling out of an upstairs window and crawling across the rooftops to escape. Their maid wasn't so lucky; she became the first victim of a blaze that would eventually swallow 13,200 houses. People always ask how did fire of london start, looking for a grand conspiracy or a massive explosion. The reality is much more mundane, and honestly, a bit frustrating. It was a small pile of fuel left too close to a lingering spark in a bakery oven.
London in 1666 was a tinderbox. No, really. The city had just suffered through a blistering, bone-dry summer. The wooden timber-framed houses were coated in flammable pitch. Streets were so narrow that neighbors could practically shake hands from their upper windows. You had high winds blowing in from the east, pushing air through those narrow corridors like a bellows. It didn't take a genius to see a disaster coming, but the scale of what happened next was almost biblical.
The Spark at Pudding Lane
So, let's get into the weeds of how did fire of london start and why it didn't just stop at one bakery. Farriner insisted until his dying day that he’d put the fire out. He was adamant. But the hearth wasn't cold. In the 17th century, bakeries used "faggots"—bundles of sticks—to heat the massive stone ovens used for baking ship's biscuit for the Navy. One theory held by historians like Adrian Tinniswood is that a stray ember simply rolled out onto a pile of these sticks while the family slept.
Once those sticks caught, the fire moved to the rest of the house. From there, it jumped to the Star Inn at Fish Street Hill. This is where things got "great." The Inn was packed with hay and straw for horses. It was basically high-octane fuel. Within hours, the blaze reached the Thames waterfront. This was the worst possible place for a fire to be. The wharves were stacked with coal, timber, spirits, oils, and tallow. It was a chemical fire before people even knew what that meant.
Why didn't they just put it out?
Incompetence. Pure and simple. Lord Mayor Thomas Bloodworth was summoned to the scene early on. He wasn't impressed. His famous (and incredibly regrettable) quote was that a woman could "piss it out." He refused to authorize the pulling down of houses to create firebreaks because he was worried about the cost of rebuilding and who would pay the rent. By the time he realized the "piss" wouldn't suffice, the fire had grown too large for his authority to matter.
London didn't have a fire brigade. Not in the way we think. They had "fire squirts"—which were basically giant hand-held syringes that held about a gallon of water—and leather buckets. Imagine trying to stop a forest fire with a Super Soaker. That’s what they were up against.
The Role of the Wind and the "Firestorm" Effect
One thing people miss when researching how did fire of london start is the meteorological factor. It wasn't just a fire; it was a weather event. The "East Wind" was relentless. It created what we now call a chimney effect. As the fire grew, it created its own weather system, sucking in oxygen and creating a vacuum that pulled the flames deeper into the city.
The fire moved at a walking pace, but it was relentless. It didn't just burn wood. It melted the lead off the roof of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral. Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, recorded seeing pigeons with their wings burned off falling from the sky. He eventually ended up burying his expensive wine and Parmesan cheese in his garden to save them from the heat. That's a very specific kind of 1660s panic.
The Search for a Scapegoat
Humans hate accidents. We want someone to blame. Even though the answer to how did fire of london start was clearly a negligent baker and a dry summer, the public wanted blood. England was at war with the Dutch and the French. Naturally, rumors spread like... well, wildfire. People claimed "fireballs" were being thrown into windows by foreign agents.
They eventually hung a French watchmaker named Robert Hubert. He confessed to starting the fire as a subagent of the Pope. Here’s the kicker: he wasn't even in London when the fire started. He didn't arrive until two days later. The authorities knew he was likely mentally ill and his story didn't add up, but they needed a warm body to satisfy the mob. It’s one of the darker footnotes of the entire event.
Why the Fire Actually Stopped
The fire didn't die out because the firefighters got better. It stopped because of two things: the wind finally died down on Tuesday night, and the Duke of York (later James II) took charge. He ignored the Lord Mayor and started using gunpowder to blow up entire blocks of houses. By creating massive gaps of empty space, the fire had nowhere to jump.
- Gunpowder firebreaks: This was the turning point. By sacrificing hundreds of homes, they saved the rest of the city.
- The Tower of London: They were terrified the fire would hit the Tower, which held the nation's gunpowder supply. If that had gone up, half of London would have been leveled instantly.
- The Brick Rebuild: After the fire, King Charles II decreed that all new buildings must be made of brick or stone. No more overhanging wooden jetties. No more pitch-coated timber.
Lessons We Still Use Today
Looking back at how did fire of london start, the legacy isn't just a bunch of old ruins. It basically birthed the modern insurance industry. The first fire insurance company, "The Fire Office," was set up in 1667. They realized that if you couldn't stop a fire, you at least needed to be able to afford the aftermath.
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The city also changed its entire layout. While Christopher Wren didn't get to build his "ideal city" with wide boulevards (property rights were too complicated to override), the new building regulations made London the safest city in Europe regarding fire risks for the next two centuries.
Practical Insights for History Buffs and Travelers
If you’re ever in London and want to see the "ground zero" of the disaster, you can visit The Monument. It’s a huge Doric column designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. It stands 202 feet tall. Why 202 feet? Because that is exactly how far it is from the base of the Monument to the site of Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane.
- Visit Pudding Lane: It’s a nondescript street today, but there’s a plaque marking the spot.
- The Museum of London: They have an incredible "Fire! Fire!" exhibit (though check their current location as they’ve been moving to Smithfield).
- St. Bride’s Church: Look at the steeple; it was the inspiration for the tiered wedding cake, another byproduct of the post-fire rebuilding era.
- Check the Weather: If you're researching this for a project, look into the "Little Ice Age" context; the extreme swings between wet and dry years made the 1660s particularly volatile.
The Great Fire was a disaster born of small mistakes. A baker forgot his embers. A Mayor was too worried about his budget. A city was built of wood. It's a reminder that history isn't always moved by great men or massive wars; sometimes, it’s just a pile of sticks in a hot room that changes the world forever. To truly understand the event, look past the flames and look at the city's bones—the way we build, the way we insure our lives, and the way we plan for the worst-case scenario. It all traces back to that one smoky night in September.