The baker went to bed, and sometime around midnight sparks from the smouldering embers ignited firewood lying beside the oven. Before long, his house was in flames. Farrinor managed to escape with his family and a servant out an upstairs window, but a bakery assistant died in the flames – the first victim.
The Great Fire of London engulfed 13,000 houses, nearly 90 churches, and scores of public buildings. An estimated 100,000 people were left homeless.
