The 1921 Vermilion Fire

On Sept. 3, 1921, a fire broke out in an unoccupied blacksmith shop in Vermilion at 2 a.m. Since no one was there, the fire quickly began to spread out of control.   

Two buildings on either side of the structure, one belonging to the real estate agent A.G. Moore and the other a Chinese laundry belonging to Joe Chow, were completely destroyed in the fire. One reason the fire did not spread through the town was thanks to Chow.   

He was finishing up washing when he stepped out of his business to dump out a tub of water. When he did, he saw flames coming from the blacksmith shop. Chow immediately ran to the Alberta Hotel and notified the night porter to sound the alarm. Within four minutes, firefighters were on the scene under the command of Acting Fire Chief Johnson, who directed everything. The quick work of the firefighters meant that the destructive fire was confined to just those buildings.   

One nearby home owned by Mrs. E. Naylor caught fire several different times and that led to several escapes for the family inside. Each time it caught fire, firefighters were able to put it out quickly. There was little damage thanks to their efforts, amounting to only $150. The drink and candy store nearby, owned by Fred Harum, was mostly undamaged beyond some goods damaged by water. Thankfully, all of the stock was covered by insurance.   

In total, the fire damage was limited to just $4,000. It could have been much worse, but thankfully the firefighters in Vermilion worked hard to keep everyone, and many buildings completely safe.   

This was actually the second fire the town experienced in that week. Another fire had only caused minor damage, but it was not known how the fire started.   

The Edmonton Bulletin reported that Vermilion had one of the best firefighting apparatus that could be found in a town of that size in all of Alberta.