<P> The human habitations were crowded to bursting point, intermingled with these sources of heat, sparks, and pollution, and their construction increased the fire risk . The typical six - or seven - storey timbered London tenement houses had "jetties" (projecting upper floors). They had a narrow footprint at ground level, but maximised their use of land by "encroaching" on the street, as a contemporary observer put it, with the gradually increasing size of their upper storeys . The fire hazard was well perceived when the top jetties all but met across the narrow alleys; "as it does facilitate a conflagration, so does it also hinder the remedy", wrote one observer--but "the covetousness of the citizens and connivancy (corruption) of Magistrates" worked in favour of jetties . In 1661, Charles II issued a proclamation forbidding overhanging windows and jetties, but this was largely ignored by the local government . Charles's next, sharper message in 1665 warned of the risk of fire from the narrowness of the streets and authorised both imprisonment of recalcitrant builders and demolition of dangerous buildings . It, too, had little impact . </P> <P> The river front was important in the development of the Great Fire . The Thames offered water for firefighting and the chance of escape by boat, but the poorer districts along the riverfront had stores and cellars of combustibles which increased the fire risk . All along the wharves, the rickety wooden tenements and tar paper shacks of the poor were shoehorned amongst "old paper buildings and the most combustible matter of tarr, pitch, hemp, rosen, and flax which was all layd up thereabouts ." </P> <P> London was also full of black powder, especially along the river front . Much of it was left in the homes of private citizens from the days of the English Civil War, as the former members of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army still retained their muskets and the powder with which to load them . Five to six hundred tons of powder was stored in the Tower of London . The ship chandlers along the wharves also held large stocks, stored in wooden barrels . </P> <P> Fires were common in the crowded wood - built city with its open fireplaces, candles, ovens, and stores of combustibles . There was no police or fire brigade to call, but London's local militia, known as the Trained Bands, was available for general emergencies, at least in principle, and watching for fire was one of the jobs of the watch, a thousand watchmen or "bellmen" who patrolled the streets at night . Self - reliant community procedures were in place for dealing with fires, and they were usually effective . Public - spirited citizens would be alerted to a dangerous house fire by muffled peals on the church bells, and would congregate hastily to fight the fire . </P>

Which lines refer to the great fire that swept through the city of london in 1666