History of firefighting Europe at the time, was the scene of several great fires in the 16th century. As a consequence, King Charles IX disbanded the residents' night watches and left the king's watches as the only one responsible for checking crimes and fires. London suffered great fires in 798, 982, 989, 1212 and above all in 1666 (the Great Fire of London). The Great Fire of 1666 started in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane, consumed about two square miles (5 km²) of the city, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Prior to this fire, London had no organized fire protection system. Afterwards,
Great Oulu fire of 1916 Great Oulu fire of 1916 The great Oulu fire of 1916 was Finland’s last urban fire, which left 200 people homeless. The fire started during the night of July 19 in an outbuilding located at the back corner of Kirkkokatu 39. No reason for the fire was ever determined. The fire destroyed nearly all of the buildings in the city block delimited by the streets of Kirkkokatu, Sepänkatu, Isonkatu and Albertinkatu that the district of Vanhatulli was located on; the block is currently home to Oulu’s Mannerheim Park. The buildings across the streets from the city block were also damaged