Great Fire of London both recorded the events and their own reactions day by day, and made great efforts to keep themselves informed of what was happening all over the City and beyond. After two rainy summers in 1664 and 1665, London had lain under an exceptional drought since November 1665, and the wooden buildings were tinder-dry after the long hot summer of 1666. A fire broke out at Thomas Farriner's bakery in Pudding Lane a little after midnight on Sunday 2 September. The family was trapped upstairs but managed to climb from an upstairs window to the house next door, except for a
Thomas Bloodworth 1665. In the early hours of 2 September 1666, a fire broke out in the house of Thomas Farriner (sometimes spelled Farynor), a baker. The methods of firefighting at the time included the use of long sticks with hooks on the end, which were used to pull down buildings adjacent to those burning. This was meant to contain the fire by not giving it any material to spread to. However, this was also destruction of property and was considered a serious matter, so the mayor was summoned to permit it to take place. When Bloodworth arrived, he refused to allow