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,
Pudding Mill Lane DLR station tunnel portal to the east of the original Pudding Mill Lane site. The ramp from the portal to track level at Stratford station will pass directly through the original Pudding Mill lane station site, thus requiring a replacement station to be built on a new viaduct nearby. The original station was demolished to make way for the new ramp, funded as part of the Crossrail project. This work also permitted the upgrade of the only significant stretch of single track left on the DLR to be doubled. In July 2011, Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee approved plans by architect Weston