Great Fire of London (1666) and the Plague: Fire Reduced Vectors, Didn't "Kill" the Bacterium

The Great Fire (Sept 2–6, 1666) destroyed ~13,200 houses in the City of London.

• Plague cause: Yersinia pestis (bacterium) transmitted by rat fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis).
• Fire effect: Eliminated rat harborage, food sources, and flea populations in the burned area.
• Not eradication: Plague persisted in suburbs, returned in later centuries; final London epidemic was 1665–66 (pre-fire peak).

The fire accelerated the epidemic's end locally by ecological disruption, not by directly killing the pathogen.