FIRES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT BY THE AUTHORITIES IN COLONIAL LIMA FROM THE 17TH CENTURY TO THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

This article deals with the fires that occurred in colonial Lima and the management of the authorities to control it. The economic, daily and constructive activities caused these fires. Sites at risk of generating them were bakeries, factories and intramural deposits of saltpeter and gunpowder. Risky neighborhood habits were the use of the roofs of the houses as storage areas, carelessness in the use of candles and fireworks during festivities. As for architecture, what could cause fires was the use of the quincha (cane and mud framework), even if it protected from earthquakes. The viceroy, the council and, later, the police administration tried to order the actions to be carried out in the event of the fires, especially in the eighteenth century, such as the availability of fire-fighting instruments, the use of water from the ditches and emergency notices through the ringing of church bells.