Could The Great Fire Of London Have Been Avoided With Castors?

By Author: Mike Gerrish
Total Articles: 56
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The Great Fire of London is one of the seminal events in the history of the capital city and indeed in the history of England. Occurring on September 2, 1666 and lasting three days, it began in a bakery on Pudding Lane and swept through the city, destroying more than 13,200 homes and important buildings including St Paul's Cathedral. Although the death toll is unknown because the poorer classes were not counted, it is though that thousands died in the fire. What is known, though, is that the Great Fire of London could have been stopped had the authorities not hesitated to take action. In fact, had they had modern technologies like Castors then it need not have happened at all.

Yes, castors could have helped to prevent the Great Fire of London. No matter how unlikely this may seem, it is completely logical and completely true. As there were no fire brigades back then, or at least none that resembled those that are around today, the policy that the authorities in London used to prevent the spread of the fire was to demolish the buildings around the fire so as ...
... to remove its source of fuel. Unfortunately, it was almost 24 hours after the fire starting that the mayor, Sir Thomas Blood worth, ordered the demolition to begin. Getting the equipment into the city to demolish a perimeter around the fire was no easy feat and it took significantly longer than expected. When time was of the essence, the authorities failed... but they would not have done had they been more mobile, which is where the castors come in.

In short, there are huge numbers of tasks that Castors fulfil and all are related to movement so imagine how they could have helped the people dealing with the Great Fire of London.

They could have used them to move the demolition equipment and remove the rubble from the site. They could have used trolleys to get water to put out the smaller fires that had been started by arsonists. They could have moved people out of high risk areas more easily. In short, they could definitely have helped to stop the Great Fire of London in its tracks.

Castors were obviously not invented in 1666 but the huge advantages they offer could have prevented the incredible level of damage caused as the fire took hold of the city. Heavy duty versions can carry weights of up to 11,500kgs and are designed to support them no matter what the challenges of the terrain. The trolleys, cages and other industrial transporting tools fitted with them are easy to move and last for years. As such, they would have been ideal for use during the tragedy. If castors could stave off such disaster though, just imagine what they can do for you today.