The History of Urban Fires: From Ancient Cities to Today

From ancient times to the present, urban fires have wrought havoc on cities, causing destruction and death on a massive scale. Whether caused intentionally or by an accidental spark, they have changed cities forever and sometimes even the course of history.

Dealing with such conflagrations has been part of human existence since the dawn of civilization when the first towns and cities were built. Despite thousands of years of advancement, the threat of fire is still ever-present. Within moments, vibrant city scenes can still be reduced to something nightmarish and apocalyptic.

Urban fires can be natural or man-made disasters. The latter is certainly true in times of war when they are used as potent weapons against civilians in densely populated areas. For thousands of years, their destructive power was used not just to win conflicts but also to make powerful statements of capability and intent.

In 587 BCE, the Babylonians razed Jerusalem by burning it. In 330 BCE, Alexander the Great burned Persepolis to the ground after capturing it. Similarly, the Romans did the same to the city of Carthage in 146 BCE.

Of course, war wasn’t the only cause of fire. More often than not, fires were, and often still are, started by careless accidents. In 64 CE, the Great Fire of Rome started in merchant shops around the chariot stadium and burned for several days, leaving massive destruction in its wake.

For thousands of years, before the advent and introduction of electricity, fire was the main source of light and warmth. With growing cities made primarily of flammable materials like wood and thatch, fiery disaster was always just around the corner.

Some cities are prime examples and have experienced many fires in their histories. London is certainly a well-known case. In 60 CE, Queen Boudica burned the city to the ground. The devastation was so severe that there is a layer of ash in the city’s geological strata. During Saxon and Norman times, the city also experienced conflagrations, notably in 1133 and again in 1212.

The most famous fire to rip through the city was the Great Fire of 1666, which started in a bakery on Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on September 2. Attempts at creating firebreaks, in the form of removing buildings directly in the path of the flames, were delayed. By the time such measures were undertaken, high winds had fanned the flames and overwhelmed initial attempts to extinguish them.

Despite the destruction, the official death toll was stated as just six, although this claim has been challenged by modern historians. Urban fires have, of course, the ability to cause massive loss of life. Just six years prior to the Great Fire of London, a fire in Istanbul destroyed two-thirds of the city and killed an estimated 40,000 people.

Fighting firestorms is a chaotic business at best. People in ancient times through to the pre-modern era had creative ways of organizing and dealing with the flames. Bucket brigades were ubiquitous in this endeavor. Firefighters and regular citizens formed lines and passed buckets, transporting water from the source to the fire and then sending the buckets back to the source. Before hand-pumped fire engines proved their efficiency, bucket brigades were the obvious choice for putting out fires. Such was the effectiveness of this technique that it is still used today in various contexts, especially when modern equipment is unavailable.

Firebreaks were also created by removing buildings in the path of the fire. Before bulldozers were around, this had to be done with poles and hooks. The Romans even used siege equipment such as catapults and ballistas to do the job. To directly combat the flames, the Romans also used patchwork quilts soaked in water or vinegar, which they would use to smother the flames.

The use of pumps was also an important part of Roman firefighting techniques. They even used a horse-drawn fire engine called a sipho, which contained a reservoir of water and pumps.

All of these techniques were not simply the job of the ordinary citizenry. Organizations have been around since the days of the Roman Republic. In the early 1st century CE, on the orders of Augustus, slaves were organized into firefighting units called vigiles which were responsible for firefighting and coordinating efforts.

Techniques employed by the Romans were inherited by the rest of Europe and continued throughout the Middle Ages. Europe, however, was not the only place where firefighting techniques were needed. Other parts of the world came up with methods and inventions of their own. In China, a device called a jitong was used. Made from bamboo, the jitong was essentially a large hand-held water pump. It could be filled with water, and then the operator could spray water onto the fire by pushing on one end of the device. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi instituted the first fire department.

Similar to the jitong, the earliest forms of fire extinguishers were used in Europe and were called squirts. In the event of a fire, whole communities would pitch in, aiding volunteer fire brigades and transporting water via carts and leather buckets while church bells sounded the alarm and called people to action.

The Huge Changes of the Industrial Revolution

The boom in technology and manufacturing processes heralded a new era in Europe. Such was the marked increase in fire hazards that, in the late 17th century, the first fire insurance companies were established.

Combustible materials, vast arrays of machinery, poor safety standards, and exhausted workers were a deadly mix that increased the chances of fires. Of significant note was the danger posed by cotton mills, filled with their flammable product. Oiled spinning machines, coal-fueled steam boilers, frequent sparks, and the popularity of cigarettes all added to this deadly mix. While some fires were confined to a small area or a single building, fires could often rage out of control and end up engulfing vast areas of urban landscape.

Even when confined to a relatively small area, urban fires can be extremely deadly. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911 claimed the lives of 146 people but was confined to just three floors of a single building.

October 8, 1871 was a particularly bad day for fires in the United States. The Great Chicago Fire was an urban conflagration that destroyed 17,500 buildings, killed approximately 300 people, and left 100,000 homeless. On the same day, northeastern Wisconsin was ablaze. The Peshtigo wildfire burned 1,200,000 acres and killed between 1,500 and 2,500 people. The towns of Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron were also battling serious fires on the same day. Drought, dry weather, and high winds all contributed to the fires.

While the chances of an inferno breaking out were increased, the Industrial Revolution also brought with it new technologies to help combat the flames. Horse-drawn fire engines made use of steam power to pump water. Horses were later replaced with gasoline engines, while fire hydrants popped up all around urban areas, giving firefighters immediate and invaluable access to the city’s water supply.

Of course, during this period, not all fires were related to industrial practices, nor were they the result of casual mistakes. In 1812, the Russians set fire to Moscow to deny Napoleon’s army much-needed shelter. This was just one of many huge fires that the city faced in its almost 900 years of history.

War, as always, would play a huge part in the history of urban fires in the following century.

The first half of the 20th century was characterized by war on a massive scale. Urban fires were commonplace during the conflicts, and many cities were razed as a result of massive fires sweeping through the urban areas. Many cities in Germany and Japan were the targets of intense bombing raids that resulted in huge losses of civilian life. Forty-five thousand were killed in Hamburg, while the 1945 firebombing of Dresden killed around 30,000. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki also left their targets in flames.

Natural disasters have also played a major role in causing fires, especially in places like Japan, where earthquakes are frequent. One major example was the Great Kantō earthquake on September 1, 1923, which caused a firestorm in Yokohama and Tokyo, resulting in the deaths of over 140,000 people.

The 20th century also saw a massive leap in fire detection and improved communication systems, aiding greatly in the ability to respond to fires. Electronics revolutionized the industry, with fire alarms and smoke detectors becoming commonplace not just in public buildings but in individual homes as well. Better fire safety procedures have also helped mitigate injury and loss of life in the event of a fire. Fire drills have become standard practice in schools and businesses around the world.

The advancement in technology, however, did little to stop careless actions. Accidents and negligence continued, as they do today, to be a great factor in causing urban fires. On April 16, 1947, in Texas City, a fire suspected to be caused by a discarded cigarette led to a series of fires and explosions that killed at least 581 people, leading to the first class action lawsuit against the government of the United States.

In the US, California has long been a hotspot for wildfires, which have turned into urban fires upon reaching settlements and cities. The majority of California’s most destructive fires have occurred in recent years, and the trend continues to worsen. There are, of course, many hotspots around the world that suffer regular fires. Poor fire control, climate change, weather, expanding populations, and flora are some of the factors that play a part.

Of major concern is the factor of climate change. Trends show that rising temperatures will increase the risk of wildfires, which can easily become urban fires if unchecked. Drier vegetation and less rainfall will contribute significantly to this dynamic.

Technology, however, is constantly evolving and greatly aids the ability to control and eradicate fires. Resistant materials used in the building industry can reduce the spread of fires in urban areas, while drone technology greatly aids in locating and combating fires. Artificial Intelligence even plays a part in being able to assess potential risks by analyzing vast amounts of data.

As the world changes and climatic events alter the course of human history, the risks posed by urban fires continue to grow. The human species, however, is dynamic and adaptable, with advancing technology that is able to deal with the fiery challenges ahead.