Historic Fires of Fredericton
Highway Bridge FireJuly 15, 1905
Fredericton's first highway bridge opened in 1885. At the time, it was three times larger than the next closest sized bridge in the province. One span swung open to allow large riverboats through.
It weathered the ice pileups of 1887 very well, but fire destroyed two spans in summer of 1905.
The cause of the fire was suspected of being started by a cigar butt or something of that kind catching up in the dried accumulations along the bridge and fanned by a brisk breeze. The blaze soon got so far underway that the firemen were unable to get it under control.
The alarm came in at 8:30pm and the first span fell into the river at around 10:30. It started on the fifth span from St Marys (the north side of the bridge). It was difficult to fight because most of the burning was from beneath the floor of the bridge.
Two spans of the highway bridge between the city and St Marys were burned on Saturday night and traffic was interrupted.
Firemen had to lay hose all the way from the south end of the bridge to fight the fire. Large numbers of spectators gathered on the bridge to watch the fire, causing it to sway from the extra weight.
The bridge was replaced by a steel one.
The section at the right swung open
Two Spans were destroyed in the fire
Photo taken from a boat