The fire started to spread fast because the houses were made out of wood [except the rich people’s] and they were very close together. Also, there were very strong winds blowing. People escaped through windows and travelled north. Others stayed and tried to put out the fire by pouring buckets filled with water, but it didn’t do much.

At that time there were no firemen and the fire was out of control. It lasted for four days and four nights. They had to pull down houses to make the fire stop spreading.  
In the end the wind changed direction and blew back to the burnt area, and eventually the fire disappeared.