On the early morning of Sunday September 2, 1666 a fire broke out that swept through the central parts of the English city of London and ended on Wednesday September 5, 1666. About 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches, which were built during the Middle Ages were totally destroyed. London was the city of medieval houses mostly made of oak timber. The Great London fire was a tragedy that affected London in numerous ways, such as how it started, how it affected London’s community terribly and destroyed the structure, and the people who reside there.
The question how the fire all stared still remains in people's mind. According to History.com “The Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II’s baker on Pudding Lane near London
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As the fire aroused, authorities tried to demolish buildings, but the flames overtook it before they could complete their work. Many people fled into the Thames River to get their possessions and the homeless took refuge in the hills of London. In the book The Great Plague and fire of London by Charles J. Shields stated, “The Thames River bordering the London was a huge part of life in the city. The river served as a sewer, a trade route, and as a means of escape.” Residents within the local community tried to escape the fire and hoped by throwing their possessions in the river, they will be able to retrieve them downstream. As the fire continued the light from the fire became stronger and stronger and could be seen 30 miles away, this goes to show how strong and drastic the fire was. The timber construction in London was a major fire hazard and caused the fire to grow drastically, but that wasn’t the only thing. The narrow streets and overcrowding made it impossible for people to evacuate their homes. After 3 devastating days the fire was finally over destroying the community. The day after the fire about two thirds of London was destroyed. Although the fire as over, an area of London bursted into flames again later that night. The surrounding houses were burnt down and destroyed, officially the fire was over. On September 7th, 1666, the next day after the fire ended, the community began to clean
The Chicago Fire of 1871 In the 19th century, the population in Chicago was quickly rising to great numbers. In 1850, the population reached 30,000. Areas in all parts of Chicago started to become extremely over crowded, especially downtown. At this point, all structures were built out of wood, including buildings, streets, and even sidewalks (“Chicago Fire of 1871”). About one hundred days before the great fire occurred, not even an inch of rain had fallen throughout the city, and heavy, strong winds were blowing through Southwest.
high winds. Many of the people were burned and buried in the smashed up bricks
What is the Great Chicago Fire? The fire started on October 8, 1871 (Chicago Historical Society).It burned until October 10. It was a dry and humid night in Chicago. The whole summer of 1871 was very dry, leaving the ground parched and the wooden city vulnerable. Fires, even serious ones were a recurring reality in Chicago in 1871. (AE American History) On average before the great fire there were two fires a day in Chicago. Between July 3rd and October 9th only two and a half inches of rain fell in Chicago. The winds the night of the fire were in excess of thirty miles per hour. All of the houses and sidewalks in Chicago at this time were built out of wood. The fire lasted most of the nigh, and into the next few days. In the end the fire incinerated nearly thirty-three miles of streets, houses, and buildings .Before midnight the fire leapt over the Chicago River. It was said that even the ground itself was on fire that night. (Chicago fire of 1871)The firefighters, exhausted from fighting a fire the night before, at first went to the wrong neighborhood and had to turn around and find the right one, then the waterworks, the only source of water for the firemen, broke. To get water they had to rip up sidewalks and roads, and put them into a steam engine, which took even longer to put the fire out. ...
...rting again. The fire itself was seen for miles and the heat was so intense that there was “hardly a building within a one block radius that was not scorched” (Reporter Front Page). Extinguished fire brands were found in all parts of the Eastern section of the city. Some brands were even found in Lakeside Park. The force of the gas explosions in the garage blew debris from E 2nd and Marr to half way down Ellis St. This shows just how large the fire actually was.
To begin with, during the year of 1870 and 1871 Chicago was facing extreme drought. During that time period the city of Chicago was built mostly from wood, making everything extremely flammable. Richard Bales author of “The Great Chicago Fire” states in an online article, “October 8, 1871, just after nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary at 13 DeKoven Street. How the fire started is still unknown today, but an O'Leary cow often gets the credit.” Although we are not certain what and how the fire started, we know that it quickly spread. Legends say that the O’Leary’s cow knocked over one of the fire lamps therefore starting this massive fire. You might be asking yourself, how is it possible for a small fire to spread so quickly? “Hot air rose from the flames and mixed with the cool air above it, creating convection whirls. Witnesses called them "fire devils." A fire devil could pick up a burning piece of wood and send it flying. New fires started where the flaming objects landed. (McHugh)” Firefighters were exhausted from fighting a large fire the night before; and were sent to the wrong neighborhood at first. After finally arrivin...
Determining whether the God you praise and worship is choleric because of your presence by the sins you’ve created is at never ending battle in the 17th-18th centuries. Upon the Burning of Our House is a poem, with nine stanzas, written by Anne Bradstreet explaining her understanding and ability to live and learn from sin to God. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a work, written as a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, who preaches to all the non-Puritan sinners. His belief is that if they don’t convert and take blame for their sins, God’s anger toward them will be unbearable and force them to the pits of hell. Analyzing Bradstreet’s and Edwards’ works, a reader can distinguish the personality of the two writers and the different views of God
Dry weather combined with many wooden buildings, sidewalks and streets were open to catching fire and eventually led to it happening (Chicago Fire, 1). The fire spread uncontrollably to the northeast and central of the city. The downtown and north of Chicago was taken in flames but the stockyards on the south and west were not touched by the fire (Fire of 1871, 2). 17,500 buildings have been destroyed, a total of 78 miles of pavements were covered in flames (Murphy, 100). That night the wind was at 30 miles per hour, but there were many whirl flames that traveled to and across the city (Great Chicago Fire, 2). Amid the day and age of the fire the populace was assessed roughly around 324,000 individuals. Inside nine years after the decimation the populace was 500,000 (Chicago Fire, 2). Before the tragic event of the fire, the summer of 1871 was extremely hot, and Chicago went threw a horrific drought. From July to the day of the fire there was only three inches of rainfall in Chicago. In fact, one night before the great downfall a different fire began that was battled out by all fire companies to compose it. Many residents felt that Chicago was saved from disaster after putting the fire to rest (The Great Fire, 2). There was a myth that mention that the fire started by a cow tipping over a lantern
"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.
Before the fire broke out on Sunday night, October 8, 1871 there had been a large drought causing everything to be dry and extremely flammable. Many fires had been breaking out in Chicago. Records show that in 1870 the fire fighters went to nearly 600 fires. On Saturday night there had been a large fire that destroyed about four blocks and lasted for 16 hours. Another reason why everything in Chicago was so flammable was because almost the entire city was made out of wood. It was a lot worse in the middle class and poor sections of the town (19). Just about every house was made out of wood. Even buildings that claimed to be fire proof had wood roofs covered with tar. The richer part of town had stone and brick homes, but wooden interiors, wooden stables, and wooden storage buildings (Cromie, 81). Chicago was built on marshland and every time it rained the city flooded, so to help this problem the roads were made out of wood and elevated above the waterline. The day the fire started there were over 55 miles of pine-block street and 600 miles of wooden sidewalks. “Chicago in 1871 was a city ready to burn,” according to Jim Murphy, author of The Great Fire (Murphy, 18).
The Great Fire of London, as documented by Samuel Pepys and other writers, began on the early morning of Sunday, September 2nd 1666 when a fire erupted at Pudding Lane in Thomas Farriner’s bakery (Dailey and Tomedi 43). Farriner, who was the king’s baker, went to fetch a candle some time close to midnight. While going to get the candle, Farriner observed that his oven was not lit and that there were no embers. However, two hours later Farriner and his family awoke feeling “almost choked with smoked” (Shields 80). Farriner quickly dashed over to the top of the stairs and found flames making their way up from the shop below. According to Farriner, the fire was not in the proximity of his over nor the pile of wood close to his house (Shields 81). However this and the actual cause of the fire in the house are debatable due to Farriner possibly attempting to remove any blame placed on him from the fire by lying in his testimony of the in...
Literature focuses on many aspects to form a coherent and captivating story, mainly those aspects retaining to characters and conflict. Within any story, a conflict arises for a character to overcome which drives the whole story. Conflict, the struggle against many forces of multiple varieties, creates the obstacle or issue a character must face to advance past the problem. In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, conflict plays a major role in the story. The conflicts of man fighting against nature and man against himself present the struggles the unidentified man from "To Build a Fire" faces and attempts to overcome. These conflicts of man and nature influence the whole story and the fate of the character.
...lted in the decline of businesses. "The labor shortage was very severe and consequently wages rose. Because of the mortality, there was an oversupply of goods and prices dropped. Between the two trends, the standard of living rose, for those still living. Farms or entire villages died out or were abandoned as the few survivors decided not to stay on" (Knox). "The once positive outlook people had on the life of the thirteenth century had perished along with the many lives the plague took along with it" (Rowling, 188).
Sunday September 2, 1666 at 2 a.m. was the day when the fire began (Cowie, 59). It had all began in a baker’s house due to a spark that was “left” in one of his ovens. ‘”, all that was needed was a spark. This was provided at the house of Thomas Farynor, the King’s baker in Pudding Lane…”’ (“London’s Burning: The Great Fire”, 1). In this area was known as a poor area and it was also very dirty. All the houses were made out of wood, which fed the fire and it started to spread. The baker’s house was the first house to burn down and that is also where the first tragedy took place. The wind was strong during this time and as it blew it would push the fire and help it spread through the city. The people started waking up due to the smell of the smoke and they tried to put the fire out as fast as they could. The fire fighters even tired to stop the fire but it was to big for one truck to handle. One of the residents ran to the Mayors house to warm him of what was happening. When told of what was happening, “…the L...
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
Karen Rhodes analyzed to build a fire in a cultural context. He believed "London's works were written so that he could survive in a world he increasingly came to see as "red in tooth and claw""(1). It is obviously the story of a man fighting the stresses of Nature. According to Rhodes, to build a fire was drawn from the year London spent in Canada's Yukon Territory. London depicted arctic and very cold conditions throughout the story. Rhodes believed to build a fire represented London's Naturalistic Flavor. "It pits one man alone against the overwhelming forces of nature"(Karen Rhodes, 1). He also believed to build a fire can either be interpreted as the Pioneer American experience or can be read as an allegory for the journey of human existence (Karen Rhodes, 1). According to Rhodes, there are two versions of to build a fire; the first one was written in 1902 while the second one was written in 1908. We are studying the 1908 version." It has come to be known as everyman trekking through the Naturalistic Universe"(Karen Rhodes, 1). To build a fire is indeed the story of a man trekking through the universe alone except for his dog. The man's death at the end was the culmination of the story. " His death came through no lapse of observation, no lack of diligence, no real folly but the nature of himself and his environment" (Karen Rhodes, 2). I think his is a fine criticism of London's to build a fire. London had made use of his life experiences in writing the story.