Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 13th Year - 2017

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The Great Toronto Fire

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2009

Photo Source - Wikimedia Commons

Photo Source - Toronto Public Library Digital Archive

On Wellington Street West, west of Bay Street, is this plaque commemorating the April 19, 1904 fire which devastated this area. It was erected in 2004 jointly by the City of Toronto, Toronto Fire Services and the Toronto-Dominion Centre. Here's what the plaque says:

Coordinates: 43.647562 -79.381049

On an unusually cold April night, Fire Alarm Box 12 at the corner of Bay and King streets was pulled to signal the discovery of a fire at 58-60 Wellington Street West. Two days later the fire had destroyed 7.7 ha of the city causing losses in excess of 10 million dollars. The dauntless efforts of Fire Fighters from Toronto and many surrounding departments prevented any loss of life and stopped the fire from overrunning the entire city. Out of the rubble emerged a more beautiful, safer city.

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted October 14, 2012
Hi! I have found an old antique fishing rod that says "croft and sons limited Toronto" I found a little tidbit about how they mostly sold and imported fishing flys and lures. The first location of the building was destroyed in the tornado fire, the one mentioned on this plaque. Does anyone know anything about this company?
Janet Dow [email protected]

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