London Falls to Ashes: The Great Fire of London A little before midnight of September 2, 1666, there was a devastating fire that broke out in one of London’s houses. On Thursday, September 2, 1666 an accidental fire broke out in Thomas Fraynor’s bakery. He claimed to extinguish the fire, but three hours later at 1:00am his house was on fire. The fire spread when a strong dry wind blew past. The fire killed six people. The fire had spread all throughout London. The fire lasted and spread for three days then extinguished itself when it went into the river. Thirteen thousand homes and 373 acres were destroyed and burned (Chipley Slavicek, Louise 1). The fire supposedly broke out in Thomas Fraynor’s oven that he forgot to turn off. Before the fire he was the cook for King Charles ll. Thomas Fraynor had forgot to turn the oven off and he awoke to the smoke all around him. One of his maids saw the fire and tried to escape. But she fell out of the building to her death (“Great Fire of London Begins”1). When the fire was all done, …show more content…
The city as a whole could have prevented the deaths if they had made plans in advance for fires or other disasters. They could have remained calm and got everyone out, so there would not be any deaths. The town at first started jumping to conclusions because they were in a panic. They did not now who started the fire, or if it was a accident. If something like this was to happen today, we now have smoke detectors and firefighters to help prevent the fire (Billings, Billings, and Dramer 48). In conclusion, The city of London has evolved since the fire. They are not using as much wood in their homes and are very cautious. It is very unlikely another fire like this would happen again. They have upgraded since and have metal and other sturdy materials. Since the fire the city has probably have planned what to do if a fire does happen (Billings, Billings, and Dramer
On the fateful and unforgettable afternoon of June 17, 1972 Hotel Vendome experienced yet another fire. Actually it experienced several fires in different locations on this date. Electricians working on the first floor reported smoke coming from the upper floors, and a bartender reported smoke in the basement. All occupants in the basement café were safely escorted out, and 3 engine companies, 2 ladder companies, and 1 District Chief arrived on scene noticing ...
The Our Lady of Angels school house was a type 3 construction. The school was divided into two wings the north and south wings. The fire started in the basement of the north wing near the boiler room and burned undiscovered in a stairwell until the heat of the fire became too great and broke a window adjacent to the staircase under demolition by fire and caused an influx of new oxygen to fuel the flames. Some important things to note about the construction of the school are: One, that all major exits and the stairwells were made of combustible materials. Two, that there was only one fire exit located at the end of the hall on the second floor in an unprotected corridor Near the stairwell close to the source of the fire. Lastly, there was no fire protection, there were no sprinklers or fire pull stations located in the north wing and all of the 5 extinguishers that were present were located seven feet off of the ground which made access to them incredibly difficult even for adults.
In the 19th century, the population in Chicago was quickly rising to great numbers. In 1850, population reached a great 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. Fires were a very common obstacle at the time, but nothing was even close to the fire of 1871. On October 8th, firemen received a call from the neighbor of Catherine O’Leary. Neighbors reported seeing a number of flames appearing from the cow barn. Firemen instantly spotted the fire but miscalculated how big it really was. This event became historically known as the Chicago Fire of 1871 (“People 7 Events”). The three effects of the Chicago Fire of 1871 were the financial and political
'Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?’ ‘No. Houses. have always been fireproof, take my word for it.’ ‘Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames.’ He laughed.
Many events led up to the spreading of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 including difficulties at the fire department, the weather, and the types of buildings in Chicago. The cause of the fire is still indefinite today; however, there are many theories how it started. Some believe a cow kicked over a lantern inside a barn while some believe a meteorite fell to the Earth creating the fire. Despite all theories, the inferno became uncontrollable when it could have been put out fairly quickly (Smith).
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)
In the case, “Facing a Fire” prepared by Ann Buchholtz, there are several problems and issues to identify in determining if Herman Singer should rebuild the factory due to a fire or retire on his insurance proceeds. I believe that this case is about social reform and self-interest. I think that Singer needs to ask himself, what is in the firm’s best economic interests. There are several things to question within this case, what should Herman Singer do and why, should he rebuild the factory or begin retirement, if he rebuilds, should he relocate the firm to an area where wages are lower and what provisions, if any, should Singer make for his employees as well as for the community?
The Cleveland Clinic Fire of 1929 was one of the most devastating fires in Cleveland’s history and also in the U.S. Many people lost their lives because of hazardous materials not being stored safely and properly. The fire changed the way we think about fire safety forever. Fire fighters are now required to wear breathing equipment when responding to every fire. It also changed the requirements of hazardous equipment storage in every building in Cleveland and the way insurance companies enforce the new laws. Though many lost their lives on this day, it taught us a lot about fire safety and will hopefully save lives in the future.
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...
The fire started by someone was smoking and they throw it away and it started the fire. The fire safety in 1911 was not good the fire safety was not safe at all. The safety was like no easy escape, the owners locked the doors so no one can come in late , the hose had no water, and they had oil and scrapes under the desk. The scrapes made the fire worse and made it bigger. Building where made out of wood. Doors opened inwards and they could not leave because it was so crowded. (The elevators shafts became tunnel).
The Great Chicago Fire started on October 8th, 1871 and is said to be one of the biggest events in Chicago’s history. To this day, nobody really knows how the fire was started; however, most say it started in a barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. There are claims that their cow was the cause, but that’s just one of the many myths that were started. The way that most of the buildings were built during this time, it was only a matter of time before a major fire happened. With all the catastrophic events that took place during the fire, there were also many great effects that occurred after the fire was over and the reconstruction process began.
This thrilling event happened in New York on the late afternoon of March 25, 1911. The tendentious Max Blank and Isaac Harris owned the top three floors in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in the Asch Building. Most of the workers were Italian and European Jewish woman immigrants. It was near closing time for the young workers until that calm afternoon quickly turned into a frightening moment for everyone. At this moment people’s lives were flipped upside down forever when the fire broke out on the eighth floor in the Asch Building. To this day, there is no set cause as to why the fire started. All they have is that people heard an explosion that came from the eighth floor followed by bundles of clothes falling from the sky. The people soon noticed that not only were there bundle of clothes falling but those ‘bundles of clothes’ were actually some of the young workers jumping and falling from the window seals. The outburst of the fire was horrible, woman were falling through the ceiling while other taking their lives by jumping out the windows. Female workers found themselves in trouble when they tried to open the ninth floor doors to the Washington Place stairs but the doors appeared to be locked. On the other ...
...iend of Bilney. He was held at the Guildhall where many friends were allowed to visit. He was taken to “The Lollards Pit”, an area in the Bishops Gate in the year 1531. Bilney knelt in a private prayer after a short peroration to the people of the crowd. He was then chained to the stake after casting off his jacket and doublet. The friars and monks continued to rail at him and even ask him to proclaim it wasn’t their fault because they were filled with avarice and greed. Bilney was surrounded by many others. The fire was lit but took a while before his stake caught fire because of wind blowing it away from him.
Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).
Cowie, Leonard W. “Plague and Fire London 1665-1666.” East Sussex: Wayland Publishers, 1970. 56-63. Print.