Baker Ignites Great Fire of London in 1666 (Destroying 80 Percent of City): Thomas Farriner was a humble London baker who didn't properly extinguish embers in his oven one night. For the next three days, a fire raged throughout London, gutting 13,200 homes, 87 churches, and the livelihoods of 80,000 Londoners. Light from the fire could be seen more than 30 miles away. Farriner was asleep. However, after he was woken up and informed of the fire, he replied, "A woman could piss it out," and went back to sleep.