Throughout history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was undoubtedly one of the worst fires humanity has ever seen, causing destruction and terror on a massive scale. Samuel Pepys described the fire as "A very noxious bloody flame, like a whole arc of fire above a mile long... the churches, houses, and everything ablaze and burning at the same time, and a horrible noise made by the flames ". (Britain Express 1). Although it began as a small fire in a bakery and the official death toll was low, nevertheless the Great Fire of London had a heavy impact on the social, political and economic history of England because the outcome enabled changes in many topics from building regulations and property insurance to the eventual revival of the English economy. The Great Fire of London, as documented by Samuel Pepys and other writers, began in the early morning of Sunday 2 September 1666 when a fire broke out in Pudding Lane in Thomas Farriner's shop. bakery (Dailey and Tomedi 43). Farriner, who was the king's baker, went to fetch a candle about midnight. As he went to get the candle, Farriner observed that his oven was not lit and that there were no embers. However, two hours later Farriner and his family woke up feeling “almost suffocated by smoke” (Shields 80). Farriner quickly rushed to the top of the stairs and found flames shooting up from the store below. According to Farriner, the fire was not near his place or the woodpile near his house (Shields 81). However this and the actual cause of the house fire are questionable due to the fact that Farriner may have attempted to remove any blame placed on him from the fire by lying in his testimony in the middle of a sheet of paper. .. Bechard 6end London was rebuilt with essentially the same street plan, but with wider streets and no houses blocking access to the River Thames. The citizens and the government were desperate to find a scapegoat on which to place the blame for the fire. An investigation was launched and William Lilly was interrogated like many foreigners. Lilly had predicted that a fire would destroy London on September 3, 1666 years earlier, but the charges against him were dropped when it became clear that he had nothing to do with the fire (Shields 97). The case was closed when Robert Hubert, a French silversmith, was hanged after admitting to starting the fire. However, Hubert was said to be mad and drunk and changed his story several times during the trial, so he was not considered to have anything to do with starting the Great Fire (Shields 102).