Global & Disaster Medicine

9/2/1666: The Great Fire of London

HxC

Lasted 4 days before it was extinguished, destroying 4/5 of London. 
“……The Great Fire of London was a disaster waiting to happen. London of 1666 was a city of medieval houses made mostly of oak timber. Some of the poorer houses had walls covered with tar, which kept out the rain but made the structures more vulnerable to fire. Streets were narrow, houses were crowded together, and the firefighting methods of the day consisted of neighborhood bucket brigades armed with pails of water and primitive hand pumps…..”

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