Fires used to terrify city residents—new research suggests climate change could revive this fear

For centuries, fire was one of the major fears for city-dwellers. Dense cities built largely of wood could—and did—burn. In 1666, a fire in a bakery went on to destroy two-thirds of the city of London, leaving 85% of residents homeless. In 1871, fire burned out huge areas of Chicago. In World War II, bombing raids by Allied forces largely destroyed cities such as Dresden in Germany and Tokyo in Japan.