Stockholm has largely escaped looting and natural disasters, but the city's major scourges have been fires, which in the worst cases have wiped out entire neighborhoods. The population of Stockholm has historically lived in constant fear of the outbreak of fire, because the risk of fires in the 16th- and 17th-century Swedish cities was great.
Each citizen remained on night watch well into the 19th century. The worst fire in the history of Stockholm was the fire of Clara in 1751, which evolved into a firestorm spreading from Riddarfjärden to Södermalm.
Only through fire retardant buildings, organized fire services, better fire fighting equipment, and running water from fire hydrants (after 1861), could fires be reduced and maintained.