Prior Issue (Archive)
Out of the Ashes
The Great Fire of Saint John

June 20th of this year marks the 130th anniversary of the Great Fire in Saint John. It began quite unspectacularly, a spark from a chimney fell into a hay shed at the western end of Union Street. But quickly it was spread by brisk, ever-changing winds which tossed flames from building to building. The wooden frame buildings, and unusually dry, hot summer conditions made perfect tinder for this raging inferno. The fire burned for over nine hours, destroyed 1,612 buildings, killed 18 people and left 13,000 homeless. Two-thirds of Saint John was destroyed, including most of the commercial district, a devastating blow to the city.

The fire dashed along Water Street, cut into Ward Street and destroyed a slip full of schooners and wood boats. The flames spread with great rapidity. At one of the wharves, the flames spread up the giant masts of the ships and jumped from one to the other. It was said, that if you could walk on fire, you could have walked around the harbour.

The old city market and the department store MRAs were some of the few buildings saved from the blaze.

The progress of the fire was so erratic that people were moving items from the path of the fire to a safer place only to find the fire changing direction and burning the things in the safe area. On roofs in the business area, clerks and employers stood with hose and buckets of water but nothing that man could do or devise held the flames at bay or kept them off for the brief space of a moment. The fire was determined on a clean sweep and despite the most strenuous exertions it had its own way and baffled the efforts of those who attempted to stay its fierce will. At times, the fire would break out on both sides of a street simultaneously creating a tunnel of flames. Sparks were flying through the air and caught in the tall steeples of various churches, so they were burning down and could not be saved.

The saving of the large department store of Manchester Robertson and Allison’s on the north side of King Street was one of the marvels of the calamity and stopped the fire from spreading further in that area. Men stood idly about folding their arms and telling one another that the building could not possibly be saved, when Mr. Manchester told them if every one did as they were doing, it could not but he intended to use every power before he gave up. People responded to his demands and soon some were employed in pouring water on the rugs and carpets which they hung out the windows protecting the building from burning sparks and cinders. Others were on the roof, with buckets of water to put out the flaming pieces of wood which landed there. Their efforts worked and the headway of the fire was stopped.

Nearly half the population was homeless and King’s Square became a haven for the wounded and weary as well as those who lived in tents until houses could be rebuilt. After the fire, strict building codes were enforced. For the next ten years, all building in the uptown area had to be made of brick or stone and there had to be two fire buckets by each stove.

This view looks west on Germain Street after the fire. This photograph comes from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (P86-58).

An intense building period followed and architects and builders came from all over the world to help design and rebuild Saint John. This influx is chiefly responsible for the fine examples of Victorian architecture such as are found along Prince William Street, the first street in Canada designated as being of national historic and architectural significance.

Another devastating Saint John fire happened exactly 100 years later on June 20, 1977. It broke out in the cell area of the Saint John Police Headquarters at the foot of King Street. Toxic fumes from foam insulating materials killed 21 prisoners who were being held there overnight.

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