Report on conflagration in Lanark, Ontario 15 June 1959

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Report on conflagration in Lanark, Ontario 15 June 1959

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I"' , ~ ~ ~ ~ ; : ? " ? 7 2

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA

D I V I S I O N O F B U I L D I N G RESEARCH

REPOW! ON COMFLAGRATION I N LANARK, ONTARIO

15 JUNE 1959 by

M. Galbreath and C. G. B u r n e t t

F i r e Study No. 8

of t h e

Division o f Building Research

OTTAWA May 1962

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AERIAL PHOTOGRAW TAKEN DURING PROGRESS OF E R E . VIEW FROM EAST.

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REPORlP ON CONFLAGRATION I N LANARK, ONTARIO 15 JUNE 1959

M. Galbreath and C. G. Burnett

The conflagration which occurred on 15 June 1959 i n Lanark, Ontario, destroyed approximately 33 buildings representing almost t h e e n t i r e business centre of t h i s v i l l a g e of 950 people. !J%e f i r e s t a r t e d i n the Campbell Sash and Door Factory a t t h e corner of Owen and George

S t r e e t s s h o r t l y a f t e r noon and spread r a p i d l y down t h e main s t r e e t i n a southerly d i r e c t i o n . It was brought under

c o n t r o l a t about 3:45 p.m.. a f t e r involving both s i d e s of t h e s t r e e t f o r one and a h a l f blocks and having s t a r t e d a l a r g e number of smaller f i r e s throughout t h e v i l l a g e . !the Town H a l l , F i r e Department Headquarters, Telephone Ekchange

,

Hotel, s t o r e s and apartments were among t h e buildings l o s t . The Dominion F i r e Commissionls r e p o r t on F i r e Losses i n Canada gives $738,420 a s the estimated t o t a l l o s s .

The term ltconflagration" i s defined by t h e National F i r e Protection Association (1) a s d e s c r i p t i v e of "sweeping f i r e s t h a t spread beyond c o n t r o l t o destroy c i t i e s o r l a r g e a r e a s of built-up property." The d e s t r u c t i o n of considerable numbers of various types of buildings, spread of f i r e a c r o s s

s t r e e t s o r open spaces from the area of o r i g i n t o involve o t h e r a r e a s , beyond t h e capacity of a v a i l a b l e f i r e - f i g h t i n g f a c i l i t i e s a r e the c r i t e r i a t h a t d i s t i n g u i s h a conflagration from a l a r g e - l o s s f i r e . Conflagrations have occurred from e a r l i e s t times i n the h i s t o r y of c i t i e s ; t h e Great F i r e of London is one of the b e t t e r hown.

The NFPA has made a study of conflagrations (1) and has l i s t e d the p r i n c i p a l causes by frequency of occurrence. The f i v e most frequent causes a t t r i b u t e d by t h e NFPA during t h e period 1925 t o 1950 a r e a s follovss:

1. Wind v e l o c i t y i n excess of 30 mph, 2. Inadequate water d i s t r i b u t i o n system,

3. Lack of exposure protection,

4. Wood shingle r o o f s ,

5. Inadequate public protection.

A l l of these f a c t o r s were present t o some degree a t t h e con- f l a g r a t i o n a t Lanark.

Some r e c e n t conflagrations i n Canada a r e l i s t e d below with t h e p r i n c i p a l causes noted i n each case (1).

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7

33

business

b u i l d i n g s . Causes

-

high winds, dry weather, i n s u f f i o i e n t

public p r o t e c t i o n . L4'nARK VIZLhGX

The v i l l a g e of Lanark was f i r s t e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1820 a s p a r t o f a plan of m i l i t a r y s t r a t e g y designed t o strengthen t h e l i n e s of comuiiication along t h e Rideau River and t o

provide a reserve o f experienced s o l d i e r s ( 2 ) . Many of the s e t t l e r s were men who had been discharged a f t e r s e r v i c e i n

t h e Napoleonic Wars. Other settlements during the same period were made a t Perth, Richmond, Almonte, Carleton Place and

Snithb P a l l s . The f i r s t s e t t l e r s came from Scotland, t h e c o s t of t h e i r passage being a loan by t h e B r i t i s h Government. These included many weavers; consequently one of t h e p r i n c i p a l i n d u s t r i e s of the v i l l a g e -today i s the k n i t t i n g m i l l which was undamaged i n the f i r e . A woolen m i l l formerly e x i s t e d on George S t r e e t but t h i s was burned down i n a f i r e i n 1916, and t h e company moved t o Perth. P r i o r t o 1 5 J w e t h e r e had been l i t t l e change i n t h e v i l l a g e since t h e beginning of t h e century. A survey made i n 1900 and revised i n 1908 shows most of t h e buildings a s they e x i s t e d a t t h e time of t h e f i r e . (Fig. 1 i s based on t h i s survey. )

With a few exceptions, t h e buildings i n t h e v i l l a g e d a t e back t o 1900 o r thereabouts. Three of t h e o l d e r buildings on George S t r e e t were of l o g construction, t h e Town H a l l and some neighbouring buildings were of s o l i d masonry (Figs. 2a, 2b) and t h e remainder were of wood-frame construction w i t h

wood s i d i n g s , i m i t a t i o n b r i c k shingles, o r b r i c k veneer. !The r o o f s were covered with wood, metal o r a s p h a l t shingles. !The metal o r a s p h a l t shingles i n some cases were l a i d over e x i s t i n g wood shingles. A l l t h e buildings on George S t r e e t were b u i l t c l o s e t o t h e sidewalk; a number of them had

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Many of t h e e x i s t i n g dwellings have been converted t o s t o r e s by replacihg p a r t of t h e f r o n t wall with a s t o r e f r o n t (Pig. 3 ) . On both s i d e s of George S t r e e t and throughout t h e v i l l a g e t h e r e were many very l a r g e old t r e e s . These may be seen i n the a e r i a l photograph taken during t h e f i r e by a news photographer ( f r o n t i s p i e c e ) . The t r e e s were very t h i c k and densely cdvered with leaves.

F i r e protection i n Lanark i s provided by a volunteer brigade numbering 27 members and a chief. The f i r e - f i g h t i n g equipment c o n s i s t i n g of two commercial mobile pumping u n i t s carrying hose i s housed i n a masonry building located on t h e e a s t s i d e of Clarence S t r e e t adjoining t h e Town Hall. Residents of t h e v i l l a g e a r e warned o f a f i r e by the sounding of a s i r e n located a t the f i r e s t a t i o n .

CAUSE OF !PHI3 FIRE AND CONTRIBWION OP

PI=

FIGHTERS

A t approximately 12:20 p.m:, a r e s i d e n t of the

v i l l a g e discovered t h e f i r e burning in a one-story wood-frame building located a t George and Owen S t r e e t s and used a s a woodworking plant. Machinery i n t h e p l a n t had been closed

down, and t h e employees had l e f t f o r lunch a t noon. The

f i r e seemed t o have made considerable headway i n a p i l e of wood shavings and was extending t o t h e i n t e r i o r of t h e

building. He sounded t h e alarm t o c a l l the volunteer brigade. By t h e time t h e f i r e f i g h t e r s had assembled and returned t o ' t h e f a c t o r y , t h e f i r e had broken through t h e roof and the adjacent f l o r i s t ' s shop was on f i r e .

The f i r e chief s a i d t h a t when he was c a l l e d out by t h e alarm t h e house f a c i n g h i s on George S t r e e t was on f i r e . This was t h e building on t h e south s i d e of George S t r e e t n e a r t h e place where t h e conflagration was brought under c o n t r o l (Fig. 4 ) .

A t t h e a r r i v a l of t h e f i r e - f i g h t i n g equipment, an attempt was made t o extinguish t h e f i r e with the supply of water c a r r i e d with t h e apparatus; t h i s a t t a c k soon had t o be

discontinued and the apparatus moved t o t h e r i v e r t o s t a r t pumping water i n t o l a r g e hose l i n e s , a s the f i r e had attacked t h e roof of t h e building. Live embers were being c a r r i e d by t h e strong winds t o t h e opposite end of t h e v i l l a g e i g n i t i n g a number of wood shingled r o o f s , causing considerable concern t o t h e r e s i d e n t s who were attempting t o extinguish t h e f i r e s with water from t h e i r wells. The f i r e began t o spread very r a p i d l y from t h e building of o r i g i n i n an e a s t e r l y and

southerly d i r e c t i o n t o i g n i t e wood and masonry buildings i n i t s path f o r a distance of approximately one-half mile.

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A mutual a i d system i s arranged with t h e various township f i r e departments, and with t h e occurrence of t h i s f i r e , a s s i s t a n o e was requested by t e l e m o n e from t h e township f i r e coordinator a t Smiths F a l l s 50 m i l e s away, and t h e Town of Perth, 12 miles from Lanark. A s the f i r e progressed, t h e telephone exchange and communications were destroyed leaving t h e v i l l a g e i s o l a t e d . It became necessary t o use the c a r r a d i o f a c i l i t i e s of t h e Ontario Provincial Police t o request o t h e r a s s i s t a n c e t o c o n t r o l t h e f i r e .

Lanark's f i r e - f i g h t i n g apparatus, c o n s i s t i n g of one 500-gal pump, one 420-gal pump and one portable pump,

were now drawing water from t h e Clyde River t h a t flows through t h e e a s t end of t h e v i l l a g e , and r e l a y i n g it t o the f i r e whioh now had involved a number ,of buildings on t h e north s i d e of

George S t r e e t between Owen and Clarence S t r e e t s where an attempt was made t o check t h e f i r e . The strong north winds which had c a r r i e d t h e f i r e i n an e a s t e r l y d i r e c t i o n now began t o change d i r e c t i o n and t h e f i r e was c a r r i e d a c r o s s George S t r e e t t o a t t a c k buildings on t h e south s i d e where it continued t o spread.

It was estimated t h a t within one-half hour from t h e s t a r t of t h e f i r e , many of t h e buildings bounded by Owen and Clarence. on Georne S t r e e t . whioh c o m ~ r i s e d t h e business

s e c t i o n , 'were e i t E e r i g n i t & d o r i n t h e l i n e of f i r e , and f i r e s were occurring i n various p a r t s of t h e v i l l a g e from f l y i n g

embers.

The Perth f i r e brigade with a pumping u n i t and

equipment were t h e first t o a r r i v e on t h e scene a t approximately 1:00 p.m. On approaching t h e v i l l a g e it was reported t h a t

l i v e embers were f l y i n g i n a l l d i r e c t i o n s and the main f i r e seemed t o be centred i n t h e business d i s t r i c t on George S t r e e t , with a number of wood-frame buildings i g n i t e d from f l y i n g

embers on the south s i d e of t h e Clyde River i n t h e v i c i n i t y of M i l l S t r e e t . I n an attempt t o c o n t r o l t h e f i r e s i n t h i s a r e a , pumping operations were c a r r i e d out from t h e bridge crossing t h e Clyde River, and hose l i n e s were l a i d t o t h e various buildings which had been i g n i t e d by f l y i n g embers and were t h r e a t e n i n g t o spread t h e f i r e . The a c t i o n of t h e Perth brigade no doubt was a f a c t o r i n t h e c o n t r o l of - t h i s f i r e .

F i r e brigades w i t h men and equipment continued t o a r r i v e a t i n t e r v a l s throughout t h e afternoon from Smiths F a l l s , Bathurst, Carleton Place, Almonte, Arnprior C i v i l Defence

College and Brockville.

The City of Ottawa, while not a p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e mutual a i d arrangement, was requested f o r a s s i s t a n c e and despatched a pumping u n i t wtth men and equipment.

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By 3:45 p.m., t h e wind began t o d i e down and t h e f i r e was brought under c o n t r o l half-way down the block between Clarence and H i l l i e r S t r e e t s (Fig. 5 ) . Apparatus from t h e various municipalities was gradually released a f t e r 6:00 p.m. The Perth brigade remained on duty u n t i l 7: 00 a .m.

,

16 June, and the Lanark Village brigade worked throughout t h e day t o extinguish smouldering f i r e s .

A high wind variously reported a s being from 30 t o 55 mph rose during t h e morning and continued throughout most of t h e afternoon. A press photographer and h i s p i l o t who flew over t h e v i l l a g e a t t h e height of t h e f i r e estimated the speed a t about 30 mph; t h i s i s approximately t h e wind speed recorded a t mngston and U l l a l o e during t h e day

(Appendix A ) . The d i r e c t i o n of t h e wind a t Kingston and K i l l a l o e was generally from the northwest and t h i s agrees with t h e observed path of t r a v e l of t h e f i r e through t h e v i l l a g e of Lanark.

The weather was close t o normal f o r the time of year. Reports of the weather s t a t i o n s i n t h e v i c i n i t y of Lanark show from 1 t o

13

in. of r a i n i n the f i v e days before t h e f i r e . Light r a i n began t o f a l l i n Lanark l a t e r i n t h e afternoon when t h e f i r e was being brought under control. EXTENT OF THE FIRE

Figure 1, prepared from survey maps and checked a g a i n s t an a e r i a l photograph taken before t h e f i r e and

observation on t h e ground, shows the types of roof covering, t h e e x t e n t of t h e conflagration and t h e observed i n c i d e n t s of i g n i t i o n of buildings by f l y i n g brands.

The f i r e completely destroyed a l l t h e buildings within an area approximately 1100 f t long and 600 f t wide. Beyond t h i s a r e a many smaller f i r e s s t a r t e d but they were put out by f i r e f i g h t e r s and householders. These i n c i d e n t s a r e shown on the plan by arrows pointing t o t h e l o c a t i o n s where i g n i t i o n by f l y i n g brands occurred. The damage varied from s u p e r f i c i a l damage of roof shingles, t o the complete d e s t r u c t i o n of tvro sheds behind t h e Knitting M i l l . With the exception of the i n c i d e n t s otherwise noted on t h e plan, a l l i g n i t i o n in t h i s peripheral a r e a occurred on roofs. m e information on roof coverings of those buildings s t i l l standing shows t h e s i t u a t i o n following the f i r e . Where t h e buildings were completely destroyed t h e information was obtained from l o c a l r e s i d e n t s .

On the day following the f i r e a l a r g e number of l a r g e cinders were observed on both s i d e s of t h e r i v e r . One piece weighed 50 gm and it i s estimated t h a t i n i t s o r i g i n a l

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s t a t e it would have been approximately 8 by 5 by 1 in. The piece was completely reduced t o charcoal. It was noticed t h a t brands l y i n g on t h e g r a s s had not i g n i t e d t h e grass although t h e r e had been a comparatively dry period before t h e f i r e . The brands had i g n i t e d wood shingle r o o f s , and i n two instances v e r t i c a l wood surfaces. I n one case a brand had lodged behind a metal vent s t a c k on an unpainted wood

outhouse and it may a l s o have been i n contact with a l o g which was leaning a g a i n s t the pipe. The v e r t i c a l boarding showed signs of burning. I n t h e second case a brand had lodged behind a louvred wood s h u t t e r on t h e second-story window and i g n i t e d t h e s h u t t e r (Fig. 6 ) . The owner pulled off t h e s h u t t e r before any f u r t h e r damage was done. It was reported t h a t dry leaves had c o l l e c t e d behind t h e s h u t t e r providing t i n d e r t o a s s i s t i n e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e f i r e . Small f i r e s were a l s o reported a s having occurred i n t h e lumber yard across t h e r i v e r and on t h e roof of t h e Anglican church. These were extinguished, however, before much damage was done.

A r e p o r t by J. H. McGuire ( 3 ) s e t s out d e s i r a b l e separations between buildings based on t h e i n t e n s i t y of r a d i a t i o n . If these t a b l e s a r e applied, t h e separations would be approximately 67 f t between the Sash and Door Factory and t h e building t o t h e e a s t , and 40 f t t o t h e b u i l d i n g on t h e south. I n f a c t t h e r e was a distance of 18 f t t o t h e e a s t and 14 f t t o t h e south between t h e Sash and Door Factory and t h e adjoining buildings, providing l i t t l e o r no protection. By t h e time t h e f i r e had involved a

number of buildings it had grown t o such a s i z e t h a t n e i t h e r separations nor t h e e f f o r t s of t h e f i r e f i g h t e r s could eon- t r o l it.

The l a r g e t r e e s ' undoubtedly helpad t o preserve some of t h e houses along t h e n o r t h s i d e of George S t r e e t . The leaves of t h e t r e e s on t h e exposed s i d e had turned brown i n t h e h e a t and t h e shadow of t h e t r e e s could be observed on the face of t h e buildings a s an undamaged area t h a t contrasted

w i t h t h e scorched p a i n t and t h e a s p h a l t wall shingles from which b r i c k - l i k e granules had melted off.

The f i r e completely burned out t h e centre of Lanark (Fig. 7 ) and it i s impossible t o s t a t e with any c e r t a i n t y how t h e f i r e spread from building t o building i n each i n d i v i d u a l case. Around t h e c e n t r a l a r e a , however, and down wind of t h e conflagration it was observed t h a t t h e r e was a peripheral area of buildings n o t destroyed by f i r e but which showed signs of i g n i t i o n by f l y i n g brands. It can be assumed t h a t these had been extinguished by t h e f i r e f i g h t e r s before t h e f i r e could take a hold of t h e building. I n t h e p e r i p h e r a l area t h a t had been subjected t o a prolonged shower of f l y i n g brands, some of the r o o f s were of wood shingles, the remainder were of a s p h a l t o r metal. I n t h i s a r e a , t h e i g n i t i o n of roofs

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had taken place only on wood shingle roofs; most of the wood roofs were affected. A number o f asphalt shingle roofs i n the same area and subject t o the same conditions showed no sign of ignition.

CONCLUDING RENARXS

Although it i s not possible t o assign t o any one f a c t o r the development of t h e i n i t i a l f i r e t o the extent of the conflagration t h a t took place i n Lanark, a number of

contributory causes can be suggested:

1. The s t a r t of the f i r e i n the woodworking plant where there was'a large supply of combustible material,

2. The high wind which carried burning fragments over a large area of the v i l l a g e ,

3.

The absence of a piped water supply which made it necessary f o r the firemen t o l a y hoses from the r i v e r ,

4. The presence of wood shingle roofs which can be assumed t o have contributed t o the sporadic out- break of f i r e throughout the v i l l a g e reported by

observers,

5.

m e close spacing between buildings, the majority o f which were of combustible construction.

REFERENCES

(1) Conflagration i n America Since 1900. National Fire Protection Association, 60 Batterymarch S t r e e t , Boston 10, Mass.

(2) Haydon, Andrew. Pioneer Sketches i n the D i s t r i c t of Bathurst. Ryerson Press, Toronto,1925.

( 3 ) McGuire, 3. H. S p a t i a l Separations of Buildings. Technical Note No. 187, Division of Building Research, National Research Council, Ottawa.

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IGNITIOM RY RADIdTtON IWWTION OF WINDOW SHUJTER -SASH 61 DOOR L E G E M PUBLIC P A R K MEJdL ROOF

Cl ASPHALT SHllVGLE ROOF GRAVEL B ISPHALT FLAT ROOF WOOD 5H/MGLE ROOF

0 BUILDINGS COMPLETELY ESTROYED BY FlRE

U BUILDINGS PARTIALLY DESTROYFD

U BUILDINGS UNDAMAGED OR PARTLr OLIMdGEQ

h

F I G U R E I

4 INCIDENTS OF IGNITICW 8 Y FL YIMG BRANDS

ROTHWELL BUSINESS CENTRE OF LANARK ONTARIO

a INCIDENTS OF IGNIT/O# BY !?ADtArro# snWMlLL ,' SHOWING EFFECT OF CONFLAGRATION , f 5 t h JUNE 1959

-/GNITION OF

SAWDUST H E

Ian o laa ?so l n n

I I I , ~ I i I i 1

SCALE IN FEET

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I-; ;

/ .:.., , ' !,i .-

4

Figure 2(a) View of Town H a l l b e f o r e f i r e .

(Photograph by C a p i t a l P r e s s S e r v i c e )

F i g u r e 2 ( b ) Remains of Town H a l l and F i r e S t a t i o n .

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Figure 3 _{T y p i c a l d w e l l i n g converted t o s t o r e .}

Figure 4 F i r e was h a l t e d a t t h i s house on

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B

Figure 5 5 and $1.00 S t o r e where f i r e was h a l t e d on west s i d e of George S t r e e t .

Figure 6 House on M i l l S t r e e t where f l y i n g brand i g n i t e d s h u t t e r on u p p e r - f l o o r window. Note s i g n s of b u r n i n g b e s i d e window s i l l .

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CLIMATIC DATA FOR STATIONS I N SOUTHEASTERN ONTARIO I N !I?HE V I C I N I T Y OF LANARK, ONTARIO

(Prepared by the Meteorological Branch,

Department of Transport) PRECIPITATION I N IWHES 12 0.07 1.00 B a r r e t t Chute 1.50 Carleton Place 0.98 Dalhousie Lake 0.56 Port Elmsley 0.66

13

0.04 TR 0.10 0.32 14 Rideau Ferry 0,46 15 0.47 0.27 0.48 0.10 0.30 0,08

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A

-

2

HOURLY WIND VALUES

1 Hours n n g s t o n June

15

June 1 6 K i l l a l o e 1 6 I 17 18 1 9 20 2 1 22 23 24 T o t a l June 1 5

_{1 6} NW 1 6 NW 1 6 mW 16 1 NW 1 6 NE 1 0 NE 1 2 NE 11 NE

9

NE 1 4

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A - 3

ANNUAL

MAXIMUM

WINDS

AT

RILLALOE 1939-1958