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216:) of forest and killed at least 70 people, though early reports indicated thousands. Many people were drowned as they fled into Porcupine Lake to escape the flames, while others suffocated to death under the mines. At one point, a car of dynamite stored at the railway station exploded, lashing the lake into waves 3 metres (nine feet) high. The exact number of dead is not known as the vast forest in the region contained an unknown number of prospectors at the time of the fire. Official counts list 73 dead, though it is estimated the actual toll could have been as high as 200.
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the towns of South
Porcupine and Pottsville, and partially destroyed Golden City (Porcupine) and Porquis Junction. Many people fled into Porcupine Lake to escape the flames. The blaze laid waste to about 200,000 hectares of forest and killed at least seventy-one people. Communities throughout Ontario responded generously with aid, and in a remarkably short time the towns were rebuilt and the mines back in operation.
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In the summer of 1911, when the
Porcupine gold rush was at its height the weather was hot and dry. On July 11, galeforce winds from the southwest whipped individual bush fires into a 16 km sea of flames that swiftly engulfed the drought-parched forest. The fire-storm swept through mining camps, razed
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Communities throughout
Ontario responded generously with aid. Because of the importance of the gold discoveries, very few people abandoned the mining camps and, remarkably, the area was rebuilt in a short period of time. One unexpected result of the fire was the creation of a fresh water spring where
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northland. Spring had come early that year, followed by an abnormally hot dry spell that lasted into the summer. This created ideal conditions for the ensuing disaster, in which a number of smaller fires converged.
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The blaze formed a horseshoe-shaped front over 36 kilometres (22 mi) wide with flames shooting 30 metres (98 ft) into the air. It laid waste to about 200,000 hectares (over 494,000
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explosives had blown up. The aftermath of the disaster brought a renewed sense of purpose to the devastated communities. A monument erected at the
Whitney Cemetery by the
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from the southwest whipped some small bush fires into flames. As the fire gained strength, it engulfed the tinder-dry forest, razing everything in its path.
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were destroyed; Golden City (now called
Porcupine) and Porquis Junction were partially destroyed. The next day, the fire swept through the nearby town of
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In the face of disaster: true stories of
Canadian heroes from the archives of Maclean's
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314:"ARCHIVED - Item Display - SOS! Canadian Disasters - Library and Archives Canada"
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Mining camps and the boomtowns of South
Porcupine and
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16:1911 devastating forest fire in Ontario, Canada
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259:historical plaque stands on the grounds of
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349:"Historical Plaques of Cochrane District"
294:List of Canadian disasters by death toll
451:20th-century wildfires in North America
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334:. 2nd edition, 2004. Cobalt, Ontario:
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368:"The Fire That Wiped Out Porcupine"
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375:. New York, N.Y: Viking. pp.
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371:. In Michael Les Benedict (ed.).
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115:494,000 acres (199,915 ha)
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466:20th-century fires in Canada
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167:Great Porcupine Fire of 1911
22:Great Porcupine Fire of 1911
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401:Library and Archives Canada
318:www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
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257:Ontario Heritage Foundation
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238:Toronto Board of Trade
128:Uncertain (c. 73-200+)
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200:was at its height, a
416:Wildfires in Ontario
365:John Gray (2000) .
247:by Michael Barnes.
198:Porcupine Gold Rush
173:ever to strike the
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441:History of Timmins
289:Great Fire of 1922
268:THE PORCUPINE FIRE
245:Killer in the Bush
436:Cochrane, Ontario
353:www.waynecook.com
336:Highway Book Shop
330:Barnes, Michael.
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300:References
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107:Statistics
44:1911-07-11
231:Aftermath
182:Porcupine
48:– ?
276:See also
225:Cochrane
54:Location
285:of 1916
186:Timmins
175:Ontario
120:Impacts
82:81°10′W
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36:Date(s)
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281:Great
190:Canada
125:Deaths
62:Canada
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381:ISBN
202:gale
194:gold
165:The
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