This month marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. Over 80% of the central city was destroyed. Houses were built of wood and reached across narrow streets. It was also a hot summer with a drought. Traditionally few people were thought to have died but modern historians believe that hundreds or perhaps thousands died. The damage in modern currency would run into many €billions.

London was rebuilt in non-combustible materials and buildings were not allowed to encroach over the streets. Terraced houses have firewalls which protrude 30cm above the roof to prevent fire spread from one to another. Yet today combustible construction is back in fashion, with large numbers of new houses and some apartment buildings being made of wood. The UK has seen large fires in these buildings and once fire gets into the structure, firefighters struggle to prevent it spreading throughout the building. Sprinklers would help reduce the risk by preventing an internal fire from getting into the building structure.