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What was the Great Fire of Toronto?
What was the Toronto Fire of 1904?
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The Great Fire of Toronto of 1904 destroyed a large section of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 19, 1904. It was the second such fire for the city in its history.
- The Fire
- Causes
- Impact and Legacy
Toronto’s Great Fire of 1904 started some time before 8:00 p.m. on 19 April in the city’s downtown. At the time, Toronto’s core was an industrial area with several manufacturing buildings. When firefighters reached the fire near Wellington and Bay Streets, they had trouble dousing the flames. This was because of the city’s low-pressure water system...
Historian Frederick H. Armstrong later proposed several causes of the fire. One was a “total neglect” of obvious safety measures. Others included hunger for profit, low spending by city officials and a lack of regulation. Downtown Toronto experienced a construction boom during the 1890s and 1900s. Buildings up to six storeys high arose during this ...
The fire affected 20 acres of the city’s core, destroying at least 98 buildings containing 220 businesses. Up to 6,000 people were left unemployed. Losses were estimated at $10 million. A public vote in January 1905 led to the introduction of a high-pressure water system four years later. Hikes in insurance rates prompted landlords to install sprin...
Fortunately, no lives were lost but the fire, which lasted less than 9 hours, dealt a serious blow to the commercial heart of the city. In total, over 250 firefighters helped fight the blaze and used between 9.5 and 11 million litres of water (between 2 and 2.5 million gallons) of water.
Apr 16, 2024 · In the great city of Toronto, a fire broke out on April 19, 1904, marking one of the most devastating incidents in the city’s history. This catastrophic event, known as the Toronto Fire of 1904, left a lasting impact on the city and its residents, forever changing the landscape and community.
- April 19, 1904
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Several city blocks destroyed
Apr 20, 2018 · The Great Fire of 1904 clearly demonstrated Toronto’s inadequate firefighting infrastructure to deal with such a large-scale fire.
Dedicated Telegram employees fought the fire for two hours, spraying water from windows and from a hydrant on the roof. They saved their building, and prevented the fire from moving east.
The drawing below, dated May 7, 1904, two and a half weeks after the fire, shows details of planned renovations to the Kilgour Building. The Kilgour Building survived the fire and was one of the few equipped with a sprinkler system.
