The Great Fire of London
After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Charles II formulated some of the first fire prevention and Building Control legislation when it was ordered that there should be regulated distances between buildings. The Great Fire of London started at 2am on the Sunday of 22 September 1666. It burned for four days, during which time five-sixths of the country’s greatest port and city were destroyed.
The available fire protection was the buckets,
hooks and squirts, under the nominal charge of parish officers, the lead
and wooden water pipes in the streets, a few primitive fire engines and
the new building regulations (which were partly unenforced). The person in
charge was the Lord Mayor, his
Council and Officers. Six hours after the outbreak of the
fire, 300 houses were alight and the fire was burning slowly into the city
centre. By noon, orders were given for houses around the perimeter to be
pulled down to make a fire break. The damage was extensive, five-sixths of the
City destroyed, 13,200 houses burnt, together with 84 churches, 44 livery
company halls and most of the public buildings. Over a hundred thousand
people were made homeless, thousands of citizens were ruined, and a great
proportion of the country’s wealth was lost. Strangely enough there were
only six fatal casualties.
An Act of the City Council passed in 1667 for fire prevention and attack of fires, stated that the City be divided into four quarters and each quarter was to be provided with 800 leather buckets, 50 ladders (10 of which were to be 42 feet long), 24 pickaxes, 40 shod shovels and as many hand squirts of brass as would furnish two for every parish in the quarter. These to be provided at public expense. The Act only made provision for more fire appliances and some additional fire prevention legislation. It did not engage a body of men to form any type of fire brigade.
