 |
|
On Sunday, June
5, fire fighters and their families from across Ontario converged
near Queen’s Park Circle, northeast of College Street, to
honour an unveiling and dedication of a Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial.
The memorial commemorates 344 fallen fire fighters who sacrificed
their lives while protecting lives, property, and the environment
throughout Ontario.
The Memorial is staged on a red Maltese Cross that is an international symbol
for firefighting. A bronze sculpture depicts a modern-day fire fighter rescuing a
child from peril with a towering black granite monolith representing a building behind.
White granite walls surround it, with the name, rank, and date of death of Ontario's 344
fallen fire fighters, the earliest known being, William Thornton, who died on November 24, 1848.
Dignitaries attending the dedication of this impressive monument
included:
- Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman
- Premier Dalton McGuinty
- The Honourable Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and
Correctional Services
- Bernard Moyle, Ontario Fire Marshal of Ontario
- Julian Fantino, Commissioner of Emergency Management for the
Province of Ontario
- Lee Grant, President of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs
- Fred LeBlanc, President of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters
Association.
Oldest
known Toronto Fire Fighter line-of-duty death
In the 1840's, Toronto's firefighting service had only recently
organized into less than six volunteer companies, originally responding
from a fire hall on Church Street, near Court Street. Fire fighters
still pulled manual pumpers by hand, and horse-drawn tankers brought
water from Lake Ontario. Fires were difficult to fight, and the
various companies of fire fighters took pride in their dangerous
service to the community.
Just after
1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 22, 1848, a fire erupted in Webb's
Shoe Shop on King Street near Church Street. The owner, who lived
above the shop, sounded an alarm by shouting in the streets as
he ran to and rang the bells at St. Jame's Church. Pulling their
apparatus the short distance from the fire hall on Church Street,
the fire fighters were confronted by the heavy fire spreading
through four shops, all with apartments above on both King and
Church Streets. While battling the blaze, the structures weakened.
Consequently, Fire Fighter William Thornton became trapped during
a wall collapse. Although he was wearing a helmet, a heavy stone
façade crushed his skull. He was carried out by another
fire fighter, back to the hall and a doctor was summoned. He lived
for two days until succumbing to his injuries on November 24.
He was buried two days later with a full Fire Brigade funeral.
His mother and two sisters, whom he supported, benefited from
donations made by his colleagues.
Historic
multiple fire fighter fatalities are as follows
FIVE fire fighters died during a structural collapse at the MacIntosh
Grain Elevator at Front and George Streets, July 10, 1902.
THREE names
on the Honour Roll are of fire fighters that died at the En-Ar-Co
boat explosion on July 23, 1934. Another FOUR names were added from
deaths subsequently attributed to the disaster. Sadly, some of those
that perished were working for other fire fighters that were attending
an annual family picnic in Niagara Falls.
On May 17,
1947, Pumper 4 from the Berkeley Street Fire Station and Pumper
5 from the Lombard Street Fire Station collided at the corner of
Parliament and Queen Street, while responding to a 2nd Alarm Fire
at Queen Alexandria School, killing THREE fire fighters. Coincidentally,
the same intersection claimed the lives of ten civilians at the
Rupert Hotel arson fire on December 23, 1989.
Hurricane Hazel
swept FIVE fire fighters from Kingsway-Lampton into the Humber River
on October 16, 1954. One body was never recovered.
On December
4, 1978, THREE fire fighters were killed at Kimberly Clark Paper
Co. when huge rolls of paper, soaked with sprinkler water crushed
them during a structural collapse.
See Toronto
Fire Services’ Honour Roll.
Photo
gallery
|
|
