How did the fire start?

Thomas Farryner had a bakery in Pudding Lane.  He was known around London as the King's Baker.

He needed to keep his ovens at a steady high temperature, so he kept lots of dry wood in his kitchen.

At about two o'clock in the morning of Sunday 2nd September, this wood caught fire.

The flames spread quickly, and soon all the downstairs rooms in the bakery were on fire. Mr Farryner and his servants had to climb onto the bakery roof and jump across to the house next door. By the time Mr Farryner had woken his neighbours, the whole bakery was on fire.

By dawn that morning, dozens of buildings in the area were alight.