midnight
Towards morning the wind had fallen somewhat . The open spaces of the Temple favoured the defenders ; the houses to east of it were blown up , and , late in the afternoon , the progress of the flames at this spot was checked . As soon as it was felt that there was no longer any fear of its further advance here , the exhausted men , who had , for twenty-four hours , laboured , half suffocated by the blinding smoke and by the dust made by their own work , threw themselves down on the grass of the Temple Gardens and slept . At midnight they were roused by their officers , and proceeded to assist their comrades , who had been battling with the flames on the other side of Fleet Street . They found that these too had been successful ; the flames had swept up to Fetter Lane , but the houses on the west side had been demolished , and although , at one or two points , the fallen beams caught fire , they were speedily extinguished . Halfway up Fetter Lane the houses stood on both sides uninjured , for a large open space round St. Andrew 's , Holborn , had aided the defenders in their efforts to check the flames . North of Holborn the fire had spread but little , and that only among the poorer houses in Fleet Valley .