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• 1 2025-08-26T19:33:02+00:00 Hintonburg's Inferno 9 plain 2025-08-28T04:34:33+00:00
  The Maclean Block has a history of catching fire every few years. While the wood houses of early Ottawa were no strangers to frequent fires, this brick building should have been less of a fire risk. So why did this particular building have so many strokes of bad luck? Perhaps the ghost of a man whose reputation was ruined to accusations of arson, a man who had a negative relationship with the patron of the commercial lock, had come back for revenge... No, Thomas Lewis was not responsible for any of the Maclean Block fires. Faulty wiring, unaccounted for  cigarettes, and a deviant youth all started fire fires at the Maclean Block.

  The Fire of 1915: Faulty Wiring

  On June 2nd, 1915, the Maclean Block experienced its first fire. The fire started at 9:30 PM. Doubt & Charbonneau Dry Goods (located at 1016 - 1020 Wellington) experienced the most damage, bot to its property and stock, however four other businesses and a few residences were also affected.
  
  A police officer, called Officer Lord, was the first to alert the local fire department about the fire. Station No.11, located on Parkdale, was only a 700-metre drive from the Maclean Block. Unfortunately, Fire Chief Graham and the rest of the fire department arrived after the fire had spread throughout the building. The fire department experienced a shortage of equipment in 1915, and had only two working hoses to put out the fire. In total, around $12,000 of damage occurred (which is equivalent to our $300,000 today). The fire was determined to have started in the ceiling of the dry goods store and the apartment above, which belonged to Mrs. P. O'Meara, the building was not damaged beyond repair.
  
  Doucet & Charbonneau had a fire sale to sell off their damaged goods at a reduced price. Fortunately, they did not have to close shop.
  

  The First Fire of 1938: Arson!

   The most infamous fire of the Maclean Block occurred on the 22nd of July. Tis fire was the most damaging one experienced by the property, and eventually led to city-wide improvements in Ottawa's firefighting technology and strategies.
  
  The fire began at 1020 Wellington Street. It spread quickly throughout the building and to the roof. The Ottawa fire department, led by Chief O'Kelly, arrived at the scene with five of Ottawa's pumpers. Ottawa's only aerial (an aircraft designed to spew water onto burning building from above) was also employed at the scene. It took firefighters over three hours to put out the fire. Salvage efforts continued throughout the first hour until the ceiling collapsed and firefighters were forced to abandon the building. No one was harmed, but $80,000 of damage was caused; today, that would be equivalent to almost two million dollars, making this the most damaging fire of the Maclean Block. Furthermore, all of Ottawa's firefighting equipment, save one pumper, was present at this fire. Should another fire have started at a different building at the same time, there would likely not have been sufficient equipment to put it out.
  
  This fire was significant beyond being highly damaging. First, this fire was not the cause of an absentmindedly placed cigarette or faulty wiring, but the product of arson. A girl who was only 15 at the time was arrested and charged with arson shortly after the fire occurred. Second, this fire led to Chief O'Kelly implementing some changes in Ottawa's firefighting strategies. First, the department acquired a second aerial. O'Kelly was convinced that if they had had a second aerial while fighting this fire, it would have been under control in less than an hour. Second, he started lobbying for a new fire alarm system throughout Ottawa. The current system was archaic and ineffective; if multiple alarms were set off simultaneously, their signals would often cross, or no alarm would go off at all. Furthermore, manufacturers had stopped making the necessary parts for this system all the way back in the 1910s. Clearly, it was time for a change, and Chief O'Kelly was determined to bring that change about.
   

  The Second Fire of 1938: A Rogue Cigarette

  On August 23, 1938, the Maclean Block caught once again. Like in 1915, the dry goods store at 1016-1020 Wellington, now called Hall and Co., was where the fire started and the property that experienced the most damage. It is believed that an unsupervised cigarette was the culprit. This time, the store lost $15,000 in stock, which today is equivalent to almost $400,000. The store next door, Fauteaux and Fauxteaux painters, also lost a significant amount of stock. The apartments above housed 12 families between their 11 apartments. All were forced to leave their homes due to smoke, but none of the apartments experienced significant damage and all were able to return shortly after the fire had been put out.
   

  The Fire of 1987: Faulty Wiring... Again!

  The most recent fire documented at the Maclean Block occurred on March 23rd, 1987. The fire began around 5:15 PM, destroying four of the eleven apartments and four of the seven stores. In total, nine individuals lost their homes and four of the businesses on the first floor closed. René Provost, his wife, his son Calude, and daughter Ginette all lived in one upstairs units destroyed by the flames and were forced to find alternative shelter. As for stores, Lino's Pasta, the ABC Gift Co, Silver Salver and the Wishbone Gift Shop were all put out of business.
  
  It was in the Wishbone gift shop, located at 1024 Wellington Street and owned by Gordon Jobson, that the fire started seemingly due to faulty wiring. Gordon Jobson had opened his shop only one month prior, and admitted he would not be able to start another business due to the financial loss.
  
  Shawn Rankin, the general manager for the building owned by Hanmax Investments, had been supervising renovations occurring over the past 18 months in the building before it was gutted by the fire.
  
  Fire Chief Cecil Fields and 30 Ottawa firefighters responded quickly (we have Chief O'Kelly and his new alarm system to thank for that!) and fought the fire for three hours before subduing it. Fortunately, firefighting had changed a lot in 1987 compared to 1938 or 1915. In January of 1987, the Ottawa fire department had begun a new "Get-Out-Alive" fire safety educational program which they taught to the public, specifically school children. Every resident of the Maclean Block, including the children of the families in the apartments, successfully escaped this fire; Ginette Provost had been home alone when the fire started but escaped without the help of her parents. It seems the educational programming was proving successful. Furthermore, 8000 new fire hydrants had been installed throughout the city and greatly aided in fighting fires. While this fire was disastrous, it was not as damaging as ones from the past and resulted in no injuries other than smoke inhalation. Modernity had struck the Ottawa Fire Department, and firefighting in Ottawa was no longer the archaic practice it used to be.