When the city burns

An urban fire means a fire that cannot be stopped by human effort and that does not cease until an entire urban area or an entire city has been burned to the ground. In the old dense wooden towns, city fires were a calculated risk.

Drammen's newly built fire station in brick with a hose tower by the square at Bragernes was barely finished before the big fire in 1866. Water pressure, technology and resources were still completely inadequate when the big fire broke out in strong winds in 12-13. July 1866. Large parts of Bragernes burned, as many as 388 properties. When half of Bragernes from Øvre Sund to Lierstrand was turned into a smoking fire site, it became possible to plan a completely new city center with a new street pattern.