Four devastating fires

The county governor an eye-witness
The first major fire was on the 13th of December, 1681. The county governor Henrik von Vicken was in the city to witness the fire (since Gothenburg two years earlier had been excluded from the county, there was no natural county town, and the governor had started using Borås as his seat). In his report to the king, he said that a strong wind carried the flames through the city, and that the city almost completely was laid in ashes. The governor was very engaged in the rebuilding of Borås, which could have become seat of the county government had not the fire interfered.

Sleeping watchmen
In the evening of July 14th, 1727, a fire broke out in the north part of the city. The fire watchmen in the church tower had fallen asleep.  A report states that "the house of the Lord was laid in ashes along with a large part of the city".

A third fire
The next time a fire swept through the city was in the middle of December, 1822. All houses were burnt down except the part of the city north of the street Yxhammarsgatan. The city was rebuilt with the same exterior as it had before.

A black day
The fourth fire came on the 14th of July, 1827, exactly 100 years after the second fire. Only 30 houses were left after the fire. One of them, Brännerigården, is still to be seen at Västerlånggatan.

After this fire, it was decided that some streets should be made broader in order to prevent fire from spreading. A street was built along the river Viskan to make it easier to get water in case of fire. A new quarter south of the town was planned to replace the sites lost due to the new and broader streets.

The fire regulations after the fire in 1827 created the wooden one-storey houses that became typical for Borås. A few of these houses still remain in the city.