Top 10 facts about The Great Fire of London

The fire started on Pudding Lane.

The fire started in London, on Pudding Lane, in a bakers.

Sunday 2nd September 1666 was the day it started.

The fire started on Sunday, 2 September 1666. It lasted for 4 whole days.

The bakers oven could have caused the fire.

We think the fire was started by a spark from the oven that could have come into contact with some fuel.

The Navy put the fire out by blowing up buildings!

Back in 1666, they didn’t have proper firefighters like we have today which meant they didn’t have many tools to stop fires.

Six people sadly lost their lives.

70,000 people had their homes destroyed. However, only 6 people lost their lives.

13,200 houses were burnt down.

The fire totally ruined London. A total of 13,200 house and 87 churches were destroyed.

The fire travelled 1 and a half miles.

The wind caused the fire to spread fast. It ended up travelling 1 and a half miles in length.

It got VERY hot!

There was a piece of pottery that was found by archaelogists. It had melted which told them that the fire had to have got up to 1,700 °C.

Businessmen saw this as an opportunity to make money.

Businessmen started insurance companies. They had to be careful because if another fire started they could lose a lot of money.

New building regulations became law.

Building regulations had to be brought in to stop this happening again. Instead of wood, brick had to be used on all houses.