HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-05-13, Page 9Wednesday, May 13, 2015 • News Record 9
The great Clinton fire, November 25, 1879
David Yates
Special to the News Record
The most destructive fire
in Clinton's history began
about 1 a.m. on Tuesday,
November 25, 1879. It was
discovered in the rear of a
couple of wood frame build-
ings on Albert Street near
where the Beaver block cur-
rently is located according to
the History of Clinton. By the
time the fire alarm was
sounded it was already
"briskly burning" through
the town's core with the
wind carrying sparks north
towards the old town hall.
A shortage of water kept
the town's only fire engine
out of action for much of the
night. Eventually, an ample
supply of water was found at
Fair's Pond but the delay in
repositioning hoses allowed
the fire to spread out of con-
trol. By the time the fire bri-
gade's hoses began working,
they "had but little effect in
staying" the fire's progress,
according to the account in
The Clinton New -Era.
It was not until the fire
reached one of the few brick
buildings on Albert Street,
which housed the Wade
Brothers photographic stu-
dio, that the fire brigade was
able to check the fire's
advance. As the fire brigade
continued its efforts to con-
trol the fire, shop owners
rushed into burning build-
ings to save whatever stock
and produce could be saved.
At least one storeowner
put a guard on his burning
building to stop "the crowd
from rushing in." Whether
the guard was to stop people
from risking their lives to
save his property or to pre-
vent looting is
unknown. The New -Era
reported, "a number of par-
ties could not resist the
temptation to carry off arti-
cles of value."
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the fire brigade and town
volunteers, the fire spread to
the old town hall and Market
building. When the fire
ignited the roof of the Market
building, one brave fire
fighter climbed up its tower
with a hose to attempt to
douse the flames but was
unsuccessful when the sup-
ply of water gave out
Indeed, the fire spread so
quickly that Miss Clara Call
only had time to escape a
burning building wearing
only her under garments. A
gallant stranger saw her
"scanty apparel" and gave
her his overcoat saying,
"Here, I can stand the cold
better than you."
The town's safe holding
the tax accounts and council
minute books was retrieved
from the town hall. Not so
fortunate was the town's
bell, which was found the
next morning completely
melted. One of the greatest
losses was the library of the
Mechanics Institute housed
in the town hall, which had
several rare volumes which
were deemed "next to
impossible to replace."
As the Market building
and town hall burned, "the
volume of flames which shot
up between the walls" made
it seem "almost as light as
day for a considerable dis-
tance." Indeed, the fire was
seen for miles around. At a
dance five miles away in
Goderich Township, revel-
lers rushed into town to help
quell the flames. However,
just as the fire was about to
consume the Molson's bank
building on Rattenbury
Street, the wind changed
direction and allowed the
fire brigade to begin sup-
pressing the flames.
The Market building's loss,
the New -Era said was partic-
ularly "bad for the town"
because "there was now no
place suitable for the hold-
ing of public meetings."
Although the vast majority
of people did what they
could to help extinguish the
fire, the New -Era expressed
contempt for those young
men who "were too full for
expression" (drunk) and
could render little effective
assistance.
By dawn's early light, when
the fire had burnt itself out,
the commercial and civic
centre of the town had been
destroyed. The town hall
where Sir John A. Macdonald
had made a campaign
speech in 1872 was gone.
No one was killed in the
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fire but at least $25,000 of
insured property was
destroyed and an indetermi-
nate amount of uninsured
property, live stock and
belongings were also lost.
Yet, it was a predictable dis-
aster. Just three years before,
the New -Era warned after
the last major fire in August
1876, which destroyed sev-
eral buildings, that "if brick,
or stone, was generally used
and the chimneys, flues and
stove pipe holes were prop-
erly constructed, an immu-
nity from fires might be
attained" in Clinton. The
cause of the fire was never
determined, beginning with
the construction of the Sec-
ond Empire style town hall
in 1880, the handsome Vic-
torian buildings that pres-
ently define Clinton's down-
town arose from the ashes.
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