Toronto Sketches 9. Mike Filey

in the mains (a problem that City Council had refused to correct, even though downtown Toronto had been visited by a trio of major conflagrations over the previous decade) meant that the task facing the firefighters was an almost impossible one. They would do their best, but just how far the flames would spread was anybody’s guess. As the fire grew in intensity and more buildings came crashing down, it was obvious the city could use some help. Calls went out, and soon firemen and equipment began arriving on railway flatcars from Hamilton, Brantford, Niagara Falls, and Buffalo. Even the nearby communities of Kew Beach, Toronto Junction, and East Toronto (all still autonomous entities), as small as they were, came to the big city’s assistance.

      Firemen and equipment in use at the time of the Great Toronto Fire of 1904.