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 Fire of 1910 great number of problems contributed to the destruction caused by the Great Fire of 1910. The fire season started early that year because the spring and summer of 1910 were extremely dry and the summer sufficiently hot to have been described as "like no others". The drought resulted in forests that were teeming with dry fuel, which had previously grown up on abundant autumn and winter moisture. Hundreds of fires were ignited by hot cinders flung from locomotives, sparks, lightning, and backfiring crews. By mid-August, there were 1,000 to 3,000 fires burning in Idaho, Montana, and Washington. August 20 brought