Interview with Philippe Légaré, the 1910 fire
Collection: Mémoire d’une époque [Memories of an Era], Ministère des Affaires culturelles, Archives nationales du Québec.
Interview with Philippe Légaré, Saint-Eustache miller (right side of the photo)
Interviewed by Hélène Lamarre.
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Philippe Légaré: He threw it in the hole and it fell on the paper. There was a strong wind and that whipped up the fire. A guy who was coming back from mass opened the door and said to Dad: “Monsieur Légaré, your buildings are on fire.” Then Uncle André came and said, “It was me who started the fire.” There was no time to talk, they had to run to save the pig, but they couldn’t save anything. The wind was so strong that it blew the burning boards everywhere. We didn’t have firefighters like today. All we had was a little hand pump, and there was no one to operateit. The guys were all going crazy! All they had to fight the fire was their courage, but the fire was stronger than them!
Hélène Lamarre: How many houses were burned down?
Philippe Légaré: twelve full-size houses. Prison 37, as we called it then, on the other side. The Champagne store next door. Renaud, the mayor at the time, his house, the Protestant church, the small Catholic church, all burned down. The blacksmith next door, a grain and hay merchant, a baker, and Broulle, a commoner. Le Père’s car burned in the middle of Saint-Eustache Street. And on this side, it burned down the houses of M. Miller, M. Rochon, M. Paquette and M. Bourrette-Chartrand. After that, the wind made the flames blaze higher and carried them to a barn behind the burning buildings. There, a barn and a house were burned down. He lost all his wood, his horse, his cow, his chickens, his pigs. He had four pigs but he couldn’t save any of them, the wind was so strong.