Great Fire of 1922 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Great Fire of 1922 was a wildfire

Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

burning through the Lesser Clay Belt

Clay Belt

The Clay Belt is a vast tract of fertile soil in northeastern Ontario, Canada, between the area of Cochrane District, and Abitibi County, Quebec covering around 29,000,000 acres in total...

in the Timiskaming District, Ontario

Timiskaming District, Ontario

Timiskaming is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district was created in 1912 from parts of Algoma, Nipissing, and Sudbury districts. In 1921, Cochrane District was created from parts of this district and parts of Thunder Bay...

, Canada, from October 4 to 5, 1922. It has been called one of the ten worst natural disasters in Canadian history.

The preceding summer had been unusually hot and dry. Fire rangers, anticipating the upcoming "burn" season, had requested to stay in the area but permission was not granted. They left at the end of the fire season in mid September, leaving the area without fire protection services. In the fall when burning permits were no longer required, farmers and settlers started to set small brush fires to clear the land. But the dry conditions had persisted and on October 4, the wind turned into hurricane-force gales, fanning the flames out of control and combining the brush fires into one large inferno.

Over two days, the fire consumed an area of 1680 square kilometres (648.7 sq mi), affecting 18 townships in Ontario. It completely destroyed the communities of North Cobalt, Charlton

Charlton and Dack, Ontario

Charlton and Dack is a municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Timiskaming District.The municipality was incorporated on January 1, 2003 by amalgamating the former village of Charlton with the former township of Dack....

, Thornloe

Thornloe, Ontario

Thornloe is a village in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Timiskaming District. The village had a population of 105 in the Canada 2006 Census.- Demographics :Population:* Population in 2006: 105* Population in 2001: 120...

, Heaslip

Evanturel, Ontario

Evanturel is a township in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It almost completely surrounds the town of Englehart. The main settlement in Evanturel is the community of Heaslip....

, and numerous smaller settlements. Englehart

Englehart, Ontario

Englehart is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the Englehart River in the Timiskaming District.-History:...

and New Liskeard were partly burnt. In all 43 people died. In Quebec, the communities of Notre-Dame-du-Nord

Notre-Dame-du-Nord, Quebec

Notre-Dame-du-Nord is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Témiscamingue Regional County Municipality. It is located at the northern end of Lake Timiskaming where the Ottawa River enters into this lake....

and neighbouring Notre-Dame-des-Quinze were also devastated. The fires were extinguished when the winds abated and rain and snow began to fall on October 5, 1922.

One of the hardest hit towns was Haileybury which burnt down within 3 to 6 hours. Thick smoke caused panic and confusion. The town's residents were forced to take refuge in the cold waters of Lake Timiskaming

Lake Timiskaming

Lake Timiskaming is a large freshwater lake on the provincial border between Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The lake, which forms part of the Ottawa River, is in length and covers an area of almost . Its water level ranges between and above sea-level, with a mean annual average of . The lake is...

and cover themselves with wet blankets

Fire blanket

A fire blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish small incipient fires. It consists of a sheet of fire retardant material which is placed over a fire in order to smother it ....

. The fire destroyed over 90% of the town, killing 11 residents, leaving 3500 people homeless, and causing $2 million of damage.

The people of Charlton took refuge in the power house, a baby was even born there that night. The Power House later burned while being used for grain grinding. It was later rebuilt and a plaque was placed to commemorate the fire.

Hardships remained for the survivors, who had lost all their belongings and faced the approaching winter. Consequently a large emergency relief program was organized for the affected area. Furthermore, the fire had consumed all the nearby forests, causing a severe shortage of firewood and forcing people for many years to travel far in order to obtain it.

See also