When
we left off on Wednesday, New Westminster was on fire but help had arrived and
citizens and fire fighters alike were working to put out the blaze. The next
day, Monday, September 12, 1898, residents woke to find the flames extinguished
but the ravages of the fire were everywhere. Sidewalks were gone, replaced by
paths of greyish brown dust. It looked like the marks left by a carpet rolled
up after sitting in place for a long time.
This
fire was the worst in British Columbia history to date. The Vancouver fire of
1886 was sudden and violent yet the wooden buildings there were a lot smaller
and the community quickly rebuilt. Granted, there were more losses of life in
the earlier fire – the only recorded death in the New Westminster fire was a
Chinese merchant who died of a heart attack and there were at least thirty
fatalities in Vancouver – but the structures lost in New Westminster were more
extensive.
All the major hotels, every church but one, the CPR station,
the city hall, the court house, the offices of the Daily Columbian, two
canneries – one of which had a whole season’s pack – a warehouse full of coal
and another full of feed for livestock were just some of the property casualties
of the fire. Add to that list the public library, two fire halls, the opera
house, two banks and the post office. As well, the fire devoured many
businesses firms and private residences. Three hundred in all! And to make
matter worse, few people carried fire insurance.
Other important items lost include maps of the Fraser River
that were being prepared to prevent any replay of the great flood of 1894. Relics
associated with Captain George Vancouver and Sir John Franklin vanished.
Another loss of the fire was $20,000 worth of opium. (At that time, it was
legally available for sale in British Columbia.)
Mayor Ovens sent a wire to Premier Semlin in Victoria asking
for help. And assistance was quickly delivered. The premier ordered tents and
blankets seen immediately. James Dunsmuir, a coal baron, had a special trainload
of relief supplies sent north from Victoria to Nanaimo then put on his company’s
steamer, Joan. Joan waited to cast off for New Westminster as soon as she was
loaded.
Several high government officials rushed to the stricken
city. Relief committees were set up in Victoria and Vancouver to raise supplies
and money for the victims of the fire. What had once been the centre of a
thriving city was now 20 acres of ash. Over a thousand people were now homeless
and had spent one or two nights sleeping in blankets under the stars. These
people now lived in tents or resided with families in homes that had escaped
the wrath of the fire.
The city began to return to live quickly. Hope had survived
the fire. Makeshift shacks appeared in the city hall square and merchants
offered new stock to the impoverished citizens.
A 12 x 10 tent now represented city hall.
The CPR had donated $5,000, James Dunsmuir $3,000 and this helped
the recovery begin. The dominion government announced it would rebuild its
buildings in the city. The opened vaults of the banks of British Columbia and
Montreal reveal that the contents were still intact. As well, the great
exposition scheduled for the next month was not cancelled even if visitors had
to finding lodgings in Vancouver.
Not everyone was nice though. Walter Nichol who was editor
of the Vancouver Province and later became Lieutenant Governor of British
Columbia, wrote soon after the fire that New Westminster was a city of
yesterday and that its dreams of greatness had been scattered to the heavens.
He also stated that the citizens should now move to Vancouver. A group of New
Westminster citizens weren’t that happy with his editorial and made their way
to the offices of the Province, burst in and the leader proceeded to beat up
Nichol.
I have written on Walter Nichol before. Go here if you would
like to read more about him.
New Westminster was far from over. Once shopkeeper
advertised that, he was ‘blistered but not broken’ a few days after the fire. As well, New Westminster’s tragedy led to
improvements in how communities handled fire and improved the province’s
emergency services
Last week, when I wrote on the Great Fire of 1886 in
Vancouver, I commented that I wish people nowadays would show the same determination
and willingness to make things work as they had in times of strife like this. A
reader of the Stanley Cup riots reminded me that last year when a group of
losers damaged the downtown area, there were many citizens who showed up the
next morning to help clean up the mess.
I guess we aren’t lost after all.
Thanks goes again to Derek Pethick and his book British
Columbia Disasters for supplying the information. There are some interesting
facts and accounts from survivors in his book so, if you can find it, it makes
a good read.
I hope you find the beauty around you.
No comments:
Post a Comment