Why Did The Great Fire of London Spread So Quickly? - A KS1 Guide
The Great Fire of London was an enormous fire that burned in London between the 2nd and 6th September 1666. The fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane and only a few days later four-fifths of London had burned to the ground.
So what was it about London in 1666 that meant this fire could spread so quickly?
Why did the Great Fire of London Spread so Quickly?
A Dry, Hot Summer
The summer of 1666 had been very hot and London had not had much rain for the last 10 months. This meant that everything in the city was very dry and could easily catch fire. It was also very windy in London in September 1666.
Buildings Squashed Together
The houses and buildings in London were built very closely together. This meant that fire could spread from house to house very quickly.
Wooden Buildings
Not many buildings in London were built from stone and bricks like ours are today. Most of them were made from wood, plaster, or even straw and could be set on fire very easily.
People Stored Lots of Things That Set on Fire Easily
People used fires in their homes to cook food and keep warm. People often stored things that burned easily, such as straw, wood, oil, and tar, in their homes. This could be very dangerous and fires would break out on a regular basis.
No Fire Brigade
The Fire Brigade hadn’t been invented yet! There was no Fire Service and no Fire Engines. If there was a fire, it was the job of the people who lived nearby to put it out. They would use leather buckets to carry water and a “Fire Squirt” (a bit like a giant water pistol) to squirt water on the fire.
All of these factors meant that the fire spread around London in a matter of days and nothing could be done to stop it. Find out what happened in our diary of the Great Fire of London here.
If you are a primary school teacher then you'll definitely want Imagining History to bring their 'Great Fire of London' KS1 interactive workshop to your school.
Our Award-Winning sessions combine role-play, storytelling, demonstrations and drama and performance to bring history to life for your students.
Travel back in time to London in 1666 to learn more about the Great Fire in this exciting and educational session for Keystage 1. Topics include:
How & where did the fire start
Fighting fires in 1666
How the people of London reacted
Creating better firebreaks - using dynamite
