Fire is essential to life. But as the history of Cochrane teaches us, it can be destructive to life, too.
The first big fire that almost flattened Cochrane occurred on Tuesday, July 11th, 1911.
People noticed a black sky and billows of smoke about a mile outside town.
As the Cochrane Public Library’s archives attest to, two hours later, a furious wind blew the flames into the northwest part of town, where the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway had left stumps to dry.
Boivin’s mill, east of Spring Lake, north of 5th and 6th Avenue saw 60,000 feet of lumber go up in flames. By four in the afternoon, the wind had changed and the fire headed southwest.
It only took three hours for the damage to be done and two people killed.
The Anglican church was destroyed, but the New Union Station was saved.
