Forest fire evacuation of Chapleau in 1967 called 'masterpiece of planning' even though roast found in with the shoes

As Chapleau life returns to normal after after the power outage of 2010, it was in June 1967, 43 years ago, that a forest fire resulted in the evacuation of about 90 percent of the community's residents.

(See end of story for map explanation.)

Charlie Purich, who was working as a purchasing agent for the department of lands and forests recalled that the fire in 1967 that evacuated the town was called 69-8. 69 stood for the District and 8 was the eighth fire that year. The fire started Friday June 2 just north of Montreal Lake and Mosquito Lake in 13G township and its perimeter as of 21:15 June 3 was 3250 acres and On June 4 at 11:00 hrs. it was 3300 acres. Then it spread to 3550 acres by 14:00 hrs. Then to 4450 acres by 17:00 hrs. Then to 5000 acres by 17:30 hrs. On June 5 at 07:15 it was 5800 acres and then it started to die.

Charlie added that it started in 13 G Township and followed the west side of Sideburned Lake and the east side of Highbrush Lake crossing Highway 101 and continuing on a direct path toward the town. The fire broke out about 12 miles southwest of Chapleau on the south side of Highway 101 west.

Reporting on the fire in its June 8, 1967, edition, the Chapleau Sentinel said that tractor trailers loaded with bulldozers and other equipment were rushed to the area to create fire breaks. However, by Sunday morning at daylight the fire aided by higher winds had jumped Highway 101 and was headed to Chapleau.

District Forester Jim Keddie had advised Reeve T.C. "Terry" Way-White of the situation and a meeting was held in the Town Hall at 11 a.m. attended by the council and other citizens as well as lands and forests personnel and Ontario Provincial Police. The decision was made to evacuate the municipality and the order was given by Mr. Way-White. The exodus began on Sunday afternoon with between 800-900 vehicles beginning the trek out of town after the signal had been given to evacuate. There were 90 boxcars in the CPR yard and a hospital train had left Sudbury to assist with the emergency. At its peak, nearly 400 firefighters were on the scene.

The Sentinel reported that even given the awkwardness of the old horshoe overhead bridge the traffic flow was steady and even and no tieups occurred. The newspaper referred to the evacuation as a "masterpiece of planning" with a committee headed by Mr. Way-White with J.M. "Jack" Shoup and township clerk Ollie Carlson assisting with general directions. Other members included Gene Bernier, communications; Roy May, transportation; Jim Broomhead, those in hospital and in need of special care; Con Schmidt, the contact for reception of evacuees in other communities; OPP Cpl. Ron Lewis and Fire Chief Ad Andrews, policing and safety. George Nutkins and Doug Kavanaugh of the CPR and Chief Forest Ranger Lawless Cecile and Deputy Chief Ranger Lloyd Woods also played major roles during the emergency.

For the record, Charlie and others have been providing me with details on this fire for some time before the power outage caused by a forest fire near Wawa.

Charlie also noted that "When the town was evacuated we assisted the OPP with our Lands and Forests trucks, patrolling the streets and it was an eerie feeling late at night."

By Monday, some rain had fallen and the evacuation order was lifted. Chapleau residents began to return home.
I posted a request for memories from the 1967 fire on Facebook and here are the responses:

Hugh McGoldrick "Michael, I will always remember Veda Warren saying,"I'm not leaving town 'til the walls of (her) house get hot." I guess she never did leave, but it sure sounded funny to me that this sweet little defiant lady was going to 'stand up' to the fire. She clearly had a pioneer spirit.

"Meanwhile, the McGoldricks and the two Jardine families on Grey St. (Doug and Don) were somewhat less defiant and we all went to Least Lake. I think we stayed at Mammy and Pappy Jones' camp. When we arrived there was a duck in the camp that had pooped everywhere. So we had to clean the camp and then find sleeping arrangements for the 15 or so of us. It was cozy but fun.

Ann (Card) Morin: "Since I was only 11 yrs old it seemed more like a camping trip, although we a knew that the town was in grave danger. I also remember feeling pretty important that our town was mentioned in the House of Commons. In the end I was just pleased to have an early start to summer and return to town to find that my new bicycle had not perished in the fire...important considerations for an 11 year old.

"I remember we went to Mulligan's Bay, Uncle George and Auntie Olive's (Boucher) Camp ...mass confusion my mother packed me all tops no bottoms ... we found the roast in with the shoes. It was scary because my Dad had to stay home with the fire department... we could see the smoke from the camp."

Suzanne (Comte Weber) "My grandfather said that the wind would change and the town will be ok. So our family, probably one of the few didn't leave town. I remember walking around town , it was so deserted, hoses all over. houses being watered down. What a memory it was."



Kate Laframboise " I remember strong smell of smoke and the sky was gray.My sister Janet drove us to Timmins, with the exception of my two eldest brothers and my father Bucko. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and then heard everything was okay to return."

Eugene Bouillon "I remember a bunch of us kids riding around on our bikes, with bandanas on our faces, covering our noses from the smoke. The smoke was so thick, sometimes, you could not even see the Ball park from our place. Embers were falling all over King Street and even over to Elgin Street. We went to Foleyet, and stayed with some people there."

Joan Lapointe Gauthier "I remember the fire very well. We were living on King Street and my grandfasther kept hosing down the house because of the live embers. I had a Uncle Tom who had had a stroke and was in hospital and we took him home with us. My mom Evelyn Lapointe was working at the hospital and they were delivering a baby when the alarms sounded. I packed as much of the personal belongings as possible into our car. I'm not sure as to what happened to Uncle Tom but if my memory is correct I think he was taken to Sudbury by train. My grandfather was adamant about not leaving the house and we stayed that night after the evacutation order but did go to Foleyet the next day and came home that evening. You could hear the bulldozer as clear as a bell cutting a fire break into the bush behind the houses on the bush side of King Street."

Johanne Wilson: "Roger and other men were helping to put people on the trains. I took my Dad's car and loaded the 3 boys along with some valuables, and so did our neighbour at the time and ,we drove to Sudbury. Waited there for our husbands to come... " When it was safe, we returned home, all ended well."

The Sentinel was also reporting that Eddie Shack was in town the weekend following the evacuation as guest speaker at the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies banquet as part of their celebration on winning the NOHA Junior "B" championship, and the Scouts and Cubs were holding their annual Father-Son banquet. Life returned to normal very quickly. In years to come, I am sure many stories will be told about the great power outage of 2010. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

p.s. I was working in Toronto at the time of the  1967 fire but my mother, Muriel E. Morris was in Chapleau. Mom refused to leave her home.

 MAP PROVIDED BY CHARLIE PURICH  It is the actual map prepared by personnel at the "Point" during that fire.


Colours showing spread of fire:
Red----------June 2

Yellow------June 3
Blue---------June 4
Orange----June 5

Updates on the power and forest fire situation at Chapleau

POST SIX: BULLETIN  Jeanette Wright from Chapleau posted on Facebook: "Monday 3pm Hydro is back on hoooray."   Anita Stephens also posted that power is back on at her home and office.  Other contacts have reported that the power is now back on in Chapleau area, and the community is returning to normal after more than 90 hours without power.

However, the forest fire named Wawa 18 is not out yet.

POST FIVE:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2010/30/c8127.html  Full details

Monday May 31 at 8 a.m ET: Hydro One reported on Monday morning that: "Seventy-five workers and support staff and one helicopter and off-road equipment have been mobilized to undertake power restoration work which involves clearing conductor; removing and replacing burnt poles; and, the restringing of conductor. Based on the current damage assessment, it is expected that full power restoration will not be complete until late Monday. "





POST FOUR:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2010/30/c8127.html  See full details

7 p.m. Sunday May 30: Today, Hydro One crews commenced power restoration activities in the Chapleau area. A power outage, which began on Thursday, May 27, was caused by a forest fire that started Thursday, May 27 in the Chapleau area near Wawa, Ontario.






POST THREE:
3 p.m. Sunday May 30: Here is link to video of the Wawa Fire 18, which I believe was taken on May 28   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HjuF0YTHI&feature=player_embedded


http://www.soonews.ca/viewarticle.php?id=26313  Click on link for full story from Soo News.
 Soo News is reporting today that the fire has grown to 2300 hectares and MNR’s priority is to suppress the fire, maintain safety procedures and enable Hydro One power line crews and equipment access for Sunday morning to repair the damaged transmission lines and restore power to the town of Chapleau. MNR is providing fire engine support and emergency medical support to Hydro One for their efforts if required.





POST TWO:
9:30 p.m. Saturday May 29:  CBC NEWS is reporting tonight that Chapleau Mayor Earle Freeborn said the town may be without power until early next week, but  backup generators will keep the hospital and water running.
Read more:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/05/29/toronto-forest-fires-blackout.html#ixzz0pN7vajXa

The fire is not threatening any populated areas at this time, according to all reports.

POST ONE:
Chapleau was still without power and the forest fire near Highway 101 was still burning, according to my contacts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Saturday May 29.

The power disruption occurred on the afternoon of Thursday May 27 when a forest fire along  Highway 101 near the turnoff to Hawk Junction destroyed at least 22 hydro transmission poles. Hydro One crews have been unable to work in the area because of the fire.

I will post further information as I receive it. If you have information please email me at mj.morris@live.ca

Chapleau Game Preserve established 85 years ago 'brainchild' of pioneer Chapleau merchant and fur dealer William McLeod

The Chapleau Game Preserve, (the word Crown was added later), following extensive efforts by Chapleau pioneer William McLeod, was established by an Order-in-Council of the Ontario Government dated May 27, 1925.

In a paper titled 'History of the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve' written about 1964 by Vince Crichton, he says that the game preserve was "the brainchild of the late William McLeod, pioneer merchant and fur buyer of Chapleau."

As I was thumbing through William 'Bill' McLeod's book, 'The Chapleau Game Preserve History, Murder and Other Tales', looking for ideas for Chapleau Moments, while reading about the game preserve, I realized that it was now 85 years old, so immediately contacted Bill, William McLeod's grandson, to get permission to refer to his book in this column, Bill immediately agreed.

Bill writes that his grandfather lived in Chapleau from 1899 until he died in 1940. "On his letterhead, he described himself as a 'Dealer in raw furs' and 'A general merchant who sold groceries, boots and shoes, dry goods, canoes and trappers' supplies.'"

Mr. McLeod's store was located on Lansdowne Street, and after selling it in the 1920s to Edgar Pellow, he moved to a long one-storey building that had once been used as a warehouse. BIll's father Borden McLeod used the building when he was in the fur business between 1940 and 1960.

Bill discovered a letter that his grandfather wrote to the Ontario Minister of Mines Charles McCrea, who had responsibility at the time for fur trapping, dated July 23, 1923, outlining the game preserve concept.

It reads as follows: "First, as a protection for the fur bearing animals in this north country, nothing better could be done than to set aside certain areas where no trapper would be allowed to hunt. This could be very easily accomplished owing to the country being sub-divided by railways running east and west and rivers flowing north and south, which would serve as boundaries if such a plan was adopted. To protect such areas it would be necessary to have men as guardians permanently employed."

Mr. McLeod had submitted a 3100 word submission on the fur trade in Northeastern Ontario to Mr. McCrea, divided into three specific areas: objectives, problems and solutions. The game preserve concept was not included in the brief, but was in a letter.

For anyone interested in the fur trade I highly recommend that you read Bill's book. His grandfather made an immense contribution to having laws made regarding the trapping of fur bearing animals in Ontario. Vince Crichton noted in his 1976 book 'Pioneering in Northern Ontario' that almost all of Mr. McLeod's recommendations were eventually passed into law.

Once established. the game preserve was bordered on the west by the Canadian Pacific Railway, on the north by the Algoma Central Railway, on the east by the Canadian National Railway and on the south by the Kebsquasheshing (Chapleau) River. The four small communities on each corner of the game preserve were Franz, Oba, Elsas and Chapleau. Bill notes that the total area is roughly 2,000,000 acres and Elsas was not one of the original corner communities. Agate was.

Bill shares details on the major issues to be addressed after the preserve was established including what to do about people whose lives would be changed forever by it; secondly to get some idea about the extent in which the animal population had been decimated within its boundaries and how to enforce the hunting and trapping prohibition inside the preserve.

While Mr. McLeod was most assuredly the major proponent of the game preserve, it appears that he was assisted by G.B. Nicholson, who was the first reeve of Chapleau from 1901 to 1913 and then served several terms as a member of parliament as well as being a prominent Chapleau businessman. Bill suspects that Mr. Nicholson may have opened doors and made contacts for his grandfather. They were good friends as well.

Bill also writes about how impressive the accomplishments were give the isolation of Chapleau in the 1920s, and access to the outside world was limited to the railway. "It was impossible to do a day's business in Sudbury without staying there for two nights. Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins might just as well have been in another province, it took so long to get to either of these cities from Chapleau."

But his very determined grandfather was greatly responsible for changing the face of an industry. Bill admits that "it is still hard for him to comprehend" but Mr. McLeod did it, joining those other great Chapleau pioneers who made such a significant impact on the history of Northern Ontario. I highly recommend Bill's book, and thanks to him for letting me share some of it in Chapleau Moments.

Photo od William McLeod from the McLeod family collection