Museum (DUP) Notable Fires
Notable Fires
October 6, 1876
A destructive fire at Caister’s Stables and the Old Church of Scotland building is noted to have broken out at 4 o’clock in the morning. Three horses in the stable and several pigs could not be rescued and succumbed to their fate. The firemen gave their attention to preventing the spread of the fire to the Bishop’s House, the Caister House and the adjoining stores. The Old Scotch Church, a wood frame building, just to the north of the stable caught blaze and was soon consumed by the fire. It was unclear who owned the church, which was built in 1839 and had not been used for worship for many years. Other frame buildings at the back of the stores also burned, but the stores were saved. The stores affected included J. and J. Short, John White and Co., R. S. Schell & Co., MacKay and MacKay, F. Nibet & Co., and J. F. Macfarlane.
Woodstock Retired Firefighters Memories: Training
April 4, 1892
Shortly before midnight, a fire broke out in the east end of town at D. W. Karn’s Co. and Piano Factory. After the night watchman Mr. Galloway had tried to extinguish the fire with all of the water he had at hand, he called Mr. Karn by phone but failed to reach him so he ran to Karn’s home. The telephone operator, Mr. Jackson says he tried to place the call to the Karn home and when he heard there was a fire at the Piano Factory he put through the alarm. The brigade responded promptly. There was tremendous smoke before the flames burst forth. The firemen had four streams of water on the fire but, it was soon apparent that the building could not be saved after the roof collapsed. Workmen who were on hand started getting ladders up to the second floor to retrieve their tools. The firemen watched the windows as men would go in and return with a tool chest. The crowd who had gathered cheered the success. The efforts of the firemen seemed to have no effect on the fire, though they did manage to confine it to the upper floor of the main building and the new addition along Wilson St. was saved. Willing hands had removed pianos and organs from the main floor showroom to the street. About 30 pianos ready for shipping were destroyed. The new annex and the organ factory were left operational, so the workers were able to go back to work. Mr. Karn rebuilt immediately. Though the business was insured for $21,000, the loss was estimated at $35,000. The cause was thought to be spontaneous combustion. The building had been built by McFarlane Wilson 35 years earlier. It had been converted to a flour mill and then came into the hands of Mr. Karn. The pressure from the hydrant was praised, even without the work of the new pump.
January 28, 1929
The alarm sounded on Saturday January 26, 1929, around 6 p.m., to the La France Plushes Limited (Textiles) factory on Dundas Street. A wall of the building collapsed onto hydro lines during the fire, putting a section of the city in darkness. Firemen escaped the falling wall as the bricks crashed onto Dundas Street. The firemen fought all through the night to keep the fire from spreading to nearby newer buildings of the plant.
La France factory on Dundas Street burns down, 1929
Neighbouring Fire Brigades of Ingersoll, Brantford and London came to the assistance of the local brigade. The fire was confined to the old building on the corner of Beale and Dundas Streets, except for a small break into the new building at about 4 a.m. Sunday. It was halted there before it could spread further. The fire started in the central portion of the main building and skipped from there. The old building containing the offices, the pattern room, shipping section and looms was a total loss.
December 26, 1942
The excellent record of low fire losses for Woodstock was to be hit with a blow on December 25, 1942, when the Central School suffered a serious fire. The fire apparently began in the boiler room, and worked its way up through the first and second floors into the attic. Some 500 sq ft of the first floor fell into the boiler room. Captain Ekins was struck by a heavy piece of concrete during the fire and suffered two broken ribs.
As of January 4, 1943, there were still 400 pupils from Central School enjoying a holiday. The teachers were on hand moving supplies and readying 7 classrooms. Principal Oliver Stephens said that the students would be handled in two shifts. Classes for 200 students would begin at 8:45 a.m. and continue to 12:45 p.m. The other 200 students would occupy the same classrooms from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The estimated loss was under $30,000 and electricity fault was listed as the cause. In April of 1943 the students were moved to different classrooms, though the shifts continued for a few more weeks. It was well into the spring of 1943 before the classes resumed as normal at Central School. A. J. McKinney was in charge of the reconstruction. New electrical wiring was installed and a concrete floor was poured over the boiler room and coal bin.
December 24, 1973
The Royal Hotel, Design World and Shades of Jade hairstylist on Dundas Street were destroyed by fire in the early hours of Monday morning. The fire started in the west end of the second floor of the hotel and may have been caused by someone smoking in bed. Twenty-four occupants were forced from the hotel. In the 16 oF temperature the water quickly became ice.
Extra help came from Beachville and Tillsonburg. The aerial truck from Tillsonburg was needed, as the old truck in Woodstock had not been operational for some time. The Temple Apartments on Brock Street suffered smoke damage. No one was injured in the fire. Jim Bromiley from the Temple Apartments and Heuy Chong of the Food Rite Restaurant were commended by the fire department for opening their doors to serve tea and coffee.
Woodstock Retired Firefighters Memories: On the Job
