On April 15, the Rainbow Routes Association hosted the Downtown Religious Heritage Walking Tour exploring historical downtown churches and religious sites.
During a stop at the Church of Christ the King, while we admired the splendour of the architecture and art contained within the building, a short history of the parish was provided by a guide. When it came time for questions from those in attendance, one of our fellow travellers remarked on the number of church fires that have occurred throughout Sudbury’s history.
This led me to the realization that when we take that walk down Memory Lane, oftentimes not all of those memories are happy or pleasant. Sometimes that which is built along this lane of memories can burn down (quite literally) in front of our eyes.
With that being said, sometimes those horrible moments can become an enlightening experience (spiritually and emotionally) wherein a group will band together to rebuild (both literally and figuratively) what has been lost. In the end, these moments in time must be remembered for what they brought to the community most closely affected and also the community at large.
Over the last 140 years of Sudbury’s history, there have been many fires at local religious institutions. Some were inconsequential enough that they did not create a disruption in parochial life, while others were so disastrous they remain emblazoned on the consciousness of those intimately involved (as well as local historians such as yours truly).
On March 23, 1894, Paroisse Ste. Anne-des-Pins, which was built only four years after the founding of Sudbury, was completely destroyed by fire. As it was Good Friday, the church had just finished being decorated for Easter Services.
At the time, the Sudbury Journal reported, "There was no loss of life but the church was only insured for $6,000. A small portion of the walls and two corner towers is all that remains standing … of the fine Roman Catholic Church, the principal ornament of our town, from an architectural point of view.”
The devastating blaze was sparked by a candle that ignited some nearby drapery shortly after 7 a.m. It spread with amazing rapidity. The parish priest, Father Toussaint Lussier, and a couple of others were present at the time and made every effort to put the fire out. However, in a few short moments the church became a mass of flames and only one or two of the statues and other valuables were saved.
The town’s new fire engine arrived quickly on the scene (owing to its nearby location) but failed to shoot a stream of water adequate enough to save the structure. One onlooker noted at the time that five engines could not have saved the building.
Both of Fr. Lussier's hands were badly burned in his effort to put out the fire when it started. The congregation worshipped in a nearby theatre until a new less ornamental church was rebuilt over the course of that same year at break-neck speed and would be reopened a short seven and a half months later, on Nov. 8, 1894.
A cursory review of both the Sudbury Journal newspaper and the Sudbury Fire Department’s ledgers finds six more fires occurring over the next 50 years.
In 1896, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church narrowly escaped complete destruction by fire when a lamp exploded shortly before the prayer hour. The fire brigade responded quickly and the church was saved.
In 1923, a fire at the Cedar Street Methodist Church resulted in $21,000 worth of damage.
In 1927, 30 years after its last fire, the attic of the newly renamed St. Andrew’s United Church was engulfed in flames that were quickly doused by firefighters, limiting the damage to $1,000.
In the winter of 1930, a fire destroyed the new Baptist Church at the corner of Larch and Minto Streets, with a loss of $30,000.
In a portent of things to come, a deliberate attempt was made to destroy St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church on Notre Dame Avenue when, on June 2, 1936, an arsonist set six separate fires inside the church.
All was quiet in Sudbury again for a decade until February, 1946, when in an “off-shift” fire, All People’s United Church on Antwerp Street was burned at a loss of $30,000.
On Oct. 30, 1947 at 5:12 a.m., the Church of Christ the King, built only two decades prior, and located behind the fire hall, was seriously damaged for a loss of $200,000 following a Halloween party on the previous night.
Twenty-four firefighters battled the blaze for nine hours. A falling beam injured four firefighters and the fire chief suffered a coronary thrombosis requiring hospitalization following the fire. It was not until July of the following year that the church would be rebuilt and ready for occupancy.*
Over the next 30 years (and technically really only within the span of five short years) five more fires were recorded across the region.
In 1954, Lutheran Christ Church on Regent Street South suffered a $77,000 total structural loss. In March 1956, Capreol Trinity United Church was totally destroyed by fire. Its origin was identified as an oil burner in the furnace.
In October of that same year, a quick response by the Sudbury fire department saved the roof of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church. Located on Beech Street at the time, it suffered a much lesser fate than its English and French neighbours chronicled above.
An early morning fire in April, 1957, at St. Eugène Church caused major interior and exterior damage amounting to $88,000, over the course of an eight-hour blaze. And, finally, in March 1958, gas in the heating plant of St. Paul’s United Church exploded, injuring two girls and damaging building and equipment.
For two decades all was quiet, then at 5 p.m on Oct. 15, 1979, an arsonist entered the unlocked St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church on Notre Dame Avenue. The contents of three jars of lighter fluid that had been brought in were randomly spread and ignited. In the ensuing fire, the nearly 50-year-old church suffered more than $1 million in damages.
Parish priest Father Guy Albert learned of the fire around 5 p.m. when he was alerted by one of the church’s detectors. As he entered the church, he discovered two fires, one near the altar and another in one of the four confessionals located at the back of the church.
Twenty-five firefighters fought the blaze for 12 hours in order to save the structure. The adjacent presbytery also suffered material damage caused by the smoke and water.
In the interim, the Parish masses were celebrated at the nearby College Sacre-Coeur and at the Nolin School. The church would eventually be rebuilt in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary (albeit a year late) during the following year.
Unfortunately, the city could not escape the 1980s without another devastating incident.
On April 2, 1987, a fire completely destroyed the 74-year-old structure of the Church of the Epiphany on Larch Street (the congregation itself dated back to 1890 and was the oldest Protestant Church in the region) claiming the life of one transient male. The destructive power of the flames combined with the age of the building created a perfect storm that caused portions of the floor of the main church to eventually give way into the kitchen in the basement below.
The fire department, which had been called at just before 1 p.m., required more than two hours before succeeding in bringing the fire under control. The thick smoke escaping from the blaze also forced the evacuation of adjacent buildings.
Archdeacon Eric Paterson and Reverend Frank Gower were in the church when the fire broke out.
"We heard a bang," Rev. Gower declared at the time, and “I don't know what it was. We were there, sitting down for a meeting when we heard the shot. The whole thing passed quickly.”
The church secretary, Pat Dutton, along with Paterson and Gower, returned inside to retrieve important documents. Unfortunately, many significant items in the sanctuary were lost. The damages were estimated at more than $1 million, which included handmade chalices and stained-glass windows valued at more than $300,000.
Despite the destruction of the building, Paterson had no doubt at the time that the faithful would come together to raise funds and do what would be necessary to rebuild it.
Not five years after the most devastating church fire in a century, history would repeat itself at another location downtown.
On June 27, 1992, a fire set by an arsonist in a shed at the rear of the church raged through the night and completely destroyed Paroisse Ste-Anne-des-Pins, Sudbury's oldest church. As chronicled at the beginning of this article, the church had already been rebuilt once, in 1894, following another devastating fire.
It was exactly 4:44 a.m. on June 28, that firefighters were dispatched to the Ste-Anne-des-Pins fire. Within minutes, six trucks and 20 firefighters were at the scene. In just over an hour, the fire was brought under control, however the roof had been completely destroyed.
Although the walls and the bell tower remained standing, it was later determined by engineers the walls would have to be knocked down, since the bricks, due to the excessive heat, had become too weak to withstand a rebuild.
In the interim, masses were held next door in the basement of the Church of Christ the King while plans were hatched for a new church to rise from the ashes as its predecessor had 98 years before. In the end, it took four years of hard work before a new church was designed and built. Monsignor Jean-Louis Plouffe officially dedicated this third incarnation of Ste-Anne in September, 1996.
Well dear readers, we have now touched briefly on the details of some of the disasters that have befallen Sudbury religious institutions over the years. I hope that your memories have been stoked and you are fired up to share some of your own feelings and experiences from the times when these incidents occurred or maybe what was told to you by parents and grandparents. Share your memories of local church fires by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
Sources:
- The First 75 Years; A Headline History of Sudbury, Canada by Charles Dorian
- We Have a Working Fire by Fern Bourque
*An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the rebuilt Christ the King Church reopened in September. This has been corrected.
