What a 350-Year-Old Fire Can Teach Us About Modern Construction
- MCS
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
In 1666, a fire started in a small bakery in London.
Within a few days, it destroyed over 13,000 homes, dozens of churches, and most of the city.
The Great Fire of London wasn’t just a disaster.
It was a turning point.
Why the Fire Spread So Fast
London at the time was built for density—not safety.
Narrow streets
Timber construction
Buildings packed tightly together
Limited organized firefighting
Once the fire started, it didn’t just spread—it accelerated.
Structures fed it. Layout helped it. And there were very few ways to stop it once it gained momentum.
What Changed After
What’s interesting isn’t just the scale of destruction.
It’s what happened next.
They didn’t rebuild the same city. They rebuilt it differently.
New rules were introduced:
Brick and stone began replacing timber
Streets were widened
Building spacing became more intentional
Fire safety became part of design—not an afterthought
These weren’t suggestions.
They were early versions of what we now call building codes.
Why This Still Matters Today
Today, construction is shaped by layers of:
fire codes
material standards
spacing requirements
safety systems
It’s easy to look at these as constraints.
Things that slow projects down. Add cost. Complicate decisions.
But they exist for a reason.
They were written in response to failure—real, large-scale failure.
The Bigger Lesson
The Great Fire of London is a reminder that many of the rules we work within today weren’t created for convenience.
They were created because something went wrong—badly enough that it couldn’t be ignored.
In construction, progress isn’t always driven by innovation.
Sometimes it’s driven by consequences.
A Thought for the Weekend
The next time a code requirement feels overly restrictive, it’s worth asking:
What problem was this designed to prevent?
Because somewhere in the past, that problem already happened.
