The Great Fire in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on July 8, 1892 is remembered as the worst disaster ever to befall that city. At approximately five in the afternoon, a dropped pipe in Timothy O’Brien’s stable at Freshwater Road at the top of Carter’s Hill began the fire. Initially, it did not cause any widespread panic, however, a series of catastrophic coincidences caused the fire to spread and devour virtually the entire east end of the city, including much of its major commercial area before being extinguished.
Hardly any rain had fallen for a month and a high-wind from the north-west was blowing. Work on water mains earlier that day caused insufficient water pressure to force water up into the higher sections of the city where the fire began. An hour into the blaze the people of St. John’s realized that the first could not be contained in the area of O’Brien’s farm.
Locals believed that stone walls would withstand the flames and moved valuables into numerous stone buildings in the city. However, stone structures, like the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, fell victim to the fire. The wind caused offshoots of the main fire to consume new sections of the city. The fire continued to burn into the night and the early hours of the next morning. Total estimated losses were $13 million with less than $5 million covered by insurance.
