nearly three o'clock
This is the danger with which the city is threatened . It is now too late to avert it . '' Determined , however , to ascertain the extent of the calamity without an instant 's loss of time , he set off at a swift pace , and in less than half an hour reached Fish Street Hill , and stood beside the conflagration . It was then nearly three o'clock , and a vast chasm of blackening ruins proclaimed the devastation that had been committed . Just as he arrived , the roof of Saint Margaret 's fell in with a tremendous crash , and for a few minutes the fire was subdued . It then arose with greater fury than ever ; burst out on both sides of the sacred structure , and caught the line of houses leading towards London Bridge . The first house was that of a vintner ; and the lower part of the premises -- the cellars and vaults -- were filled with wine and spirits .