St. John's, Canada · 1892Great Fire of St. John'sDowntown and the cathedral gone in one evening, from a pipe. How did it beat every stone wall?On 8 July 1892 a dropped pipe in a stable started a fire that took the cathedral and the Water Street and Duckworth Street businesses.
Photo: Popular Graphic Arts · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Burned and Rebuilt? · Ellensburg, United States
Ellensburg fire
The open question
A town preparing to be the capital burns on the Fourth of July. Bad luck, or something more?
On the record
On 4 July 1889 a fire destroyed much of downtown and stalled the city's bid to be Washington's capital; voters later chose Olympia.
- Year
- 1889
Sources
More from Burned and Rebuilt?
St. John's, Canada · 1892Great Fire of St. John'sDowntown and the cathedral gone in one evening, from a pipe. How did it beat every stone wall?On 8 July 1892 a dropped pipe in a stable started a fire that took the cathedral and the Water Street and Duckworth Street businesses.
Saint John, Canada · 1877Great Fire of Saint JohnA third of the people homeless in a day. How did the city come back in brick so fast?On 20 June 1877 fire destroyed more than 1,600 structures, two-fifths of the city, and left about 13,000 people homeless.
Toronto, Canada · 1904Great Toronto FireA hundred downtown buildings, one death. What was in those buildings?On 19 April 1904 over 100 buildings in downtown Toronto burned; one person died.
Vancouver, Canada · 1886Great Vancouver FireA city named in April, burned in June, rebuilt within the year. Why so soon after the new name?On 13 June 1886 fire destroyed most of the city, just two months after it was incorporated.