08/02/2026
The Quesnel Fire of 1916
Read about the Quesnel Fire of 1916 and the Douglas Marr Brown series on my website www.bchistorydiary.ca Sign up for the newsletter so you never miss a post.
“A DISASTROUS FIRE”
January 15, 1916, will ever be memorable to the inhabitants of Quesnel, wherever their future may be spent, as the date of the worst fire which ever occurred in the history of the old town. A cold spell of weather, of unprecedented duration, has visited this section and on the morning of day when the mercury reached the lowest point yet recorded here, the citizens were roused from their early slumbers by the clang of the fire alarm to find a fierce blaze ranging in the center of the business section. The flames were so far advanced before being discovered that it was impossible to do anything towards getting them under control where they originated, and attention was therefore given towards the saving of adjoining buildings.
The flames spread in both directions, but the energetic work of a few citizens, aided by some forty or fifty Chinamen, succeeded in stopping the blaze before it destroyed much on the north, but despite all efforts, which included the blowing up of a building with dynamite, the devouring element swiftly swept southward until the corner of Carson street was reached, thence east for a hundred feet, before it was finally brought under control. Nine firms were completely put out of commission, including the two hotels, two general merchants, barber shop, realty office, gents’ clothing store, bank, and a meat market. A loss of at least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was incurred, with very little of it covered by insurance.
For years this town has enjoyed immunity from serious fire which was wonderful, when we consider the natural disadvantages the people have to contend with. Our fire fighting appliances were utterly inadequate to cope with the situation, and it was also apparent in the early stages of the fire that leadership in the fight was lacking. Again, the fire spread with such terrible swiftness as almost to paralyze all combatant efforts, the roomers in the New Cariboo only escaping with the clothes they had at hand, and some in their night clothes only. Later on some system was injected into the fight, with better results.
Perhaps our very immunity in the past has made us more or less careless. If so, we have received a lesson – costly, but necessary if we are to avoid similar experiences in the future. With undiminished courage our merchants are turning their energies to again building up their different businesses, and although the task will be a difficult one, in view of the stagnation in business which usually exists at this season of the year, we have no doubt that they will win out, and that Quesnel will shortly be as good a business town as it was before the big fire.
-The Quesnel Cariboo Observer, Saturday, January 22, 1916
