Historic Fires of Fredericton

    Ross Drug Fire
    March 20, 1942

The walls fell The evening of March 20th, 1942, fire breaks out at Ross Drug company, reported at 6:41PM. Large crowds gathered as firefighters battled the inferno. In the picture to the right, you can see that wall collapse in imminent.

As the fire raged into the night, the Pitt Building and the Inches Building were also heavily damaged.

There was a close call that night. As the firemen were working the fire, spectators could see that a wall was leaning closer and closer towards the sidewalk. People started yelling to warn the firefighters, who cleared out of the way just in time, before the wall came crashing down on the sidewalk where they just were.



Large crowds gather for this fire
Hundreds of people turn out to watch

Large crowds gather for this fire
The next morning, there is just a burned out shell