White Rock fire one of most significant blazes in city's history
Sunday’s fire in White Rock was the worst fire that the city
has seen in many decades. In terms of the impact on people, it may go down as
the worst ever, although there have been a lot of big fires in White Rock over the
years.
More than 60 homes in an apartment complex at Pacific and
Johnston have been destroyed or damaged. More than 100 people are displaced. It
appears likely that the buildings have been so badly damaged that they will be
torn down and rebuilt, and those who were displaced will be out of their homes
for more than a year. Thankfully, there was only one injury – a resident broke
his leg while leaving the building. Everyone else, including all the firefighters,
was uninjured.
The community rallied around the evacuees quickly. The
residents who were at home when the fire broke out about 4:30 a.m. were forced
to escape with very little, other than the clothes on their backs and their
pets. Most were taken to Centennial Arena, which was set up as an evacuation
centre. Donations of food and clothing came in quickly, and temporary accommodation
was arranged.
Mayor Wayne Baldwin and members of council were on hand to
encourage evacuees and offer any assistance they could. The outpouring of
assistance and genuine concern is heartwarming and once again proves that
people will rally around a worthy cause, and help their neighbours when the
need is greatest.
The fire had a major impact on the White Rock water system
and may again put into question the wisdom of buying the White Rock water
utility. The reservoir was drawn down so drastically because of the huge amount
of water needed to fight the fire. Some residents had no water in their homes
later in the day Sunday, while others had just a trickle. A boil water advisory
was issued because of the large drawdown.
Had White Rock been part of the Metro Vancouver water
system, this likely would not have happened, as the supply of water
would not have
been so severely compromised. While the city did use its backup supply
from Surrey, which gets its water from Metro Vancouver, on Sunday,
clearly the emergency caused much more of a water drawdown than
expected.
A huge thank you goes to the White Rock firefighters and those
from Surrey who backed them up in responding to this major fire. Their hard
work and professionalism in fighting a fire of this magnitude is greatly appreciated.
As noted above, there have been a number of major fires in
White Rock over the years. The worst ones were in the earliest years, when much
of the community was forested and there was no fire department.
Fires started as a result of logging and bush clearing did
major damage in 1910, 1915 and 1918. The latter one threatened the White Rock
school on Johnston and Roper, not far from Sunday’s fire.
In 1927 and 1930, major fires along what is now Marine Drive
destroyed a large number of businesses, and on Sept. 11, 1931, one of the businesses
that had been spared in the earlier fires, the Blue Moon Dance Pavilion, was
destroyed by fire.
These fires were a major factor in the establishment of the
first fire brigade in 1933. Over the years, this volunteer fire brigade
obtained equipment and was able to deal with many major fires. In 1935, the
Legion building on the pier burned, and the pier was damaged. There were numerous
major fires in the 1940s and 1950s, including one in 1956 that damaged the
Army, Navy and Air Force veterans hall on Marine Drive, across from the
station.
Perhaps one of the most ironic fires occurred shortly after
Harry Douglass was elected mayor of White Rock in 1959. Running on an economy
platform, he disbanded the paid fire department. Shortly afterwards, his commercial
building on Pacific Avenue, across the street from where Sunday’s fire took
place, was completely destroyed by fire. Response time was a major factor in allowing
the fire to take hold.
In 1979, a major fire destroyed the Chit Chat Café and adjacent
businesses on Marine Drive – a building that went back to the days of the
Campbell River mill in east White Rock, and just last year, fire destroyed the
former Surf dance hall.
In White Rock’s early years, the town often received assistance
from the Blaine fire department, and that international co-operation was greatly
appreciated by residents.
Fire is a major calamity and this latest one has affected many
people. However, the good news is that no lives were lost, and White Rock has a
fire department whose members acted quickly and bravely.
Comments
Post a Comment