Poorpeoplestaying intheir houses aslong astill thevery fire touched them, and then running into boats or clambering from one pair of stair by the waterside to another. And among other things, the poor pigeons I perceive were loath to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and balconies till they were some of them burned, their wings, and fell down.

-Pepys, Samuel
  Diary entry, 2 Sep.The Great Fire of London continued for four days, destroying four-fifths of the total area of the city.