The Great Fire of Warwick was a major conflagration that swept through the small town of Warwick, England, beginning at 2:00 p.m. on 5 September 1694 and lasting for six hours. The fire started from a stray spark from the blacksmith located in High Street. The town's small population, the close-packed nature of the environment, hot dry weather and the amount of combustible building material all lead to the fire's start and spread , and the limited fire-fighting methods which were unfortunately located very close to the fire origin at the time helped transform the small torch fire into a catastrophic event.