Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Location | Northern Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 48°30′N81°10′W / 48.5°N 81.16°W |
Statistics | |
Date(s) | July 11, 1911 – ? |
Burned area | 494,000 acres (199,915 ha) |
Deaths | Uncertain (c. 73-200+) |
Map | |
The Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 was one of the most devastating forest fires ever to strike the Ontario northland. Spring had come early that year, followed by an abnormally hot dry spell that lasted into the summer. This created ideal conditions for the ensuing disaster, in which a number of smaller fires converged.
Porcupine, a community on the north side of Porcupine Lake, in the city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada, was the site of a huge gold discovery in 1907. On July 11, 1911, when the Porcupine Gold Rush was at its height, a gale from the southwest whipped some small bush fires into flames. As the fire gained strength, it engulfed the tinder-dry forest, razing everything in its path.
The blaze formed a horseshoe-shaped front over 36 kilometres (22 mi) wide with flames shooting 30 metres (98 ft) into the air. It laid waste to about 200,000 hectares (over 494,000 acres) of forest and killed at least 70 people, though early reports indicated thousands. [1] Many people were drowned as they fled into Porcupine Lake to escape the flames, while others suffocated to death under the mines. At one point, a car of dynamite stored at the railway station exploded, lashing the lake into waves 3 metres (nine feet) high. The exact number of dead is not known as the vast forest in the region contained an unknown number of prospectors at the time of the fire. Official counts list 73 dead, though it is estimated the actual toll could have been as high as 200.
Mining camps and the boomtowns of South Porcupine and Pottsville were destroyed; Golden City (now called Porcupine) and Porquis Junction were partially destroyed. The next day, the fire swept through the nearby town of Cochrane.
Communities throughout Ontario responded generously with aid. Because of the importance of the gold discoveries, very few people abandoned the mining camps and, remarkably, the area was rebuilt in a short period of time. One unexpected result of the fire was the creation of a fresh water spring where explosives had blown up. The aftermath of the disaster brought a renewed sense of purpose to the devastated communities. A monument erected at the Whitney Cemetery by the Toronto Board of Trade, commemorates the event and the victims.
The definitive book on the great fires is Killer in the Bush by Michael Barnes. [2]
An Ontario Heritage Foundation historical plaque stands on the grounds of Northern College in Porcupine and reads: [3]
THE PORCUPINE FIRE In the summer of 1911, when the Porcupine gold rush was at its height the weather was hot and dry. On July 11, galeforce winds from the southwest whipped individual bush fires into a 16 km sea of flames that swiftly engulfed the drought-parched forest. The fire-storm swept through mining camps, razed the towns of South Porcupine and Pottsville, and partially destroyed Golden City (Porcupine) and Porquis Junction. Many people fled into Porcupine Lake to escape the flames. The blaze laid waste to about 200,000 hectares of forest and killed at least seventy-one people. Communities throughout Ontario responded generously with aid, and in a remarkably short time the towns were rebuilt and the mines back in operation.
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource extraction, and is supported by industries related to lumbering, and to the mining of gold, zinc, copper, nickel and silver. Timmins serves as a regional service and distribution centre. The city has a large Francophone community, with more than 50% bilingual in French and English.
Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District of Northeastern Ontario. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981.
Larder Lake is an incorporated municipal township and eponymous constituent dispersed rural community in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located along Ontario Highway 66 and Ontario Highway 624 at the north-western part of the lake bearing the same name. The area of the township is 229.65 km2 (88.67 sq mi) and includes the geographic townships of Hearst, McVittie and Skead.
The great Matheson Fire was a deadly forest fire that passed through the region surrounding the communities of Black River-Matheson and Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 1916.
Black River-Matheson is a township in the Cochrane District of the Canadian province of Ontario. The municipality is astride the Black River, for which it is partly named. The Matheson railway station was serviced by the Northlander until 2012. Ontario Northland Railway services will be reinstated in 2026.
William Henry Wright was a Canadian prospector.
SS Noronic was a Canadian passenger ship that was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour in September 1949 with the loss of at least 118 lives.
The Hollinger Gold Mine was discovered on October 9, 1909, by Benny Hollinger, who found the gold-bearing quartz dike that later became known as Hollinger Mines. With his friend, professional prospector Alex Gillies, Hollinger had travelled to the Porcupine region in the wake of the Wilson expedition, which had recently discovered the future Dome Mine site. Hollinger and Gillies staked three claims each, and one for their former partner, Bernard "Barney" P. McEnaney, who had been unable to join them due to severe sciatica.
The Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900 was a devastating fire in 1900 that destroyed much of Hull, Quebec, and large portions of Ottawa, Ontario.
Gogama is a Northeastern Ontario community that is situated on Lake Minisinakwa, 580 kilometres north of Toronto, 191 km north of Sudbury, and 114 km south of Timmins. In the Canada 2011 Census, a population of 277 people was recorded. The community is counted as part of Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part in Canadian census data. It is not an incorporated municipality, but is administered by a local services board.
The McIntyre mine is an abandoned underground gold mine in Schumacher, Ontario, Canada, which has earned a place in Canadian mining history as one of the nation's most important mines. Its iconic headframe, located near downtown Timmins, has come to represent the entire Porcupine Gold Rush. The McIntyre also yielded a considerable amount of copper over its life.
Disasters of the Century is a documentary television series that airs on History Television. The program is produced by Regina, Saskatchewan-based Partners in Motion.
The 1825 Miramichi Fire, or Great Miramichi Fire, or Great Fire of Miramichi, as it came to be known, was a massive forest fire complex that devastated forests and communities throughout much of northern New Brunswick in October 1825. It ranks among the three largest forest fires ever recorded in North America.
The Porcupine Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Northern Ontario starting in 1909 and developing fully by 1911. A combination of the hard rock of the Canadian Shield and the rapid capitalization of mining meant that smaller companies and single-man operations could not effectively mine the area, as opposed to earlier rushes where the gold could be extracted through placer mining techniques. Although a number of prospectors made their fortune, operations in the area are marked largely by the development of larger mining companies, and most people involved in the mining operations were their employees.
The Great Fires of 1947 were a series of forest fires in the State of Maine in the United States that destroyed a total area of 17,188 acres (6,956 ha) of wooded land on Mount Desert Island and 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) statewide. Collectively, the fires killed a total of 16 people. This disaster is an important part of the local history of the York County and Mount Desert Island areas.
Val Gagné is an unincorporated rural community in the township of Black River-Matheson, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is located 1.5 km (0.93 mi) east of Highway 11, between Matheson and Iroquois Falls. For many years the community was accessible by train. The Ontario Northland Railway's Northlander from Toronto to Cochrane, which passed through Val Gagné, made its final passenger run in 2012. An Ontario Northland bus now stops at Val Gagné.
The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core.
The Great Fire of 1922 was a wildfire burning through the Lesser Clay Belt in the Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada, from October 4 to 5, 1922. It has been called one of the ten worst natural disasters in Canadian history.
The Porcupine River is a river in the James Bay and Moose River drainage basins in the city of Timmins, Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It flows 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Porcupine Lake to its mouth at Night Hawk Lake, the source of the Frederick House River, a tributary of the Abitibi River.
The Great Fire of 1852 was a fire in Montreal that began on July 8, 1852, and left as many as 10,000 people homeless and destroyed almost half of the city's housing. The fire occurred at a time when the city's recently constructed reservoir, located at the site of today's Saint-Louis Square, was drained and closed for repairs. The first fire broke out at a tavern on St. Lawrence Boulevard and spread quickly, fanned by strong winds and hot, dry summer weather.