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July 8, 1892
“CRIES OF THE WOMEN MINGLED WITH THE WAILING OF CHILDREN”
Late in the afternoon of 8 July 1892, a small fire broke out in a St. John’s stable after a lit pipe or match fell into a bundle of hay. Although containable at first, the flames quickly spread due to dry weather conditions. Within hours, the fire had destroyed almost all of St. John’s.
The fire burned into the night and did not end until about 5:30 the following morning. Many people camped out in Bannerman Park or on property surrounding the Roman Catholic Cathedral (now Basilica), which was one of the few buildings the fire did not destroy.
As the sun rose on 9 July, more than two-thirds of St. John’s lay in ruins and 12,000 people were homeless; many had lost everything they owned, except the clothes they were wearing.
The devastation that struck the city was recorded by one of the priests on staff at the R.C. Cathedral (the Basilica) who wrote: on Sunday July 10, 1892
“There was no publications today in consequence of the great calamity that has happened in our city on Friday evening and night, when the best part of St. John's east was entirely destroyed by fire which caused such a panic that everyone is excited and frightened and nearly 12, 000 persons are left homeless, over 2000 houses were burned besides stores, wharfs...”
At the Last Mass, Father Scott preached a very touching sermon about the fire and those who were its sufferers from its effects. Four persons were burned to death, namely:
Mrs. Catherine Stevens }lived on Meeting House Hill
Her daughter Louisa Stevens
And the servant girl – name not known
Also Miss Catherine Molloy, Bulley's Lane, and elderly girl not married
RIP
One of the accounts written about the fire was penned by W.J. Kent who wrote:
All the arteries which led from the water to the higher portions of the town were crowded with the terrorised mob and the screams and cries of the women mingled with the wailing of children, the shouts intensified by the ever-freshening masses of livid fire and the glare of the burning buildings, contributed to make a scene the like of which it is not often given to the lot of many to witness…. Few there were who closed their eyes that night.
Daybreak on the morning of July 9, 1892 revealed the full extent of the fire's devastation. W.J. Kent described the sight of local residents viewing the desolation.
“When morning broke the thick clouds of smoke still ascended from the burning ruins, and it was hours before it had cleared sufficiently to admit a view of the track of the desolating scourge. A walk through the deserted streets demonstrated that the ruin was even more complete than seemed possible at first. Of the whole easterly section, scarcely a building remained… of the costly and imposing structures and public buildings which were the pride and glory of the people, scarcely a vestige remained; and St. John's lay in the morning as a city despoiled of her beauty, her choicest ornaments, presenting a picture of utter desolation and woe.”
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese.
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