“1934 Chinatown Fire”

“Chinatown Mass of Ruins as Early Morning Blaze Destroys Eight Buildings.” 

Leveled to the ground by fire which broke out at three o’clock Monday morning and raged practically unchecked through the little Oriental settlement, eight of the nine principle buildings of Chilliwack’s Chinatown were a smouldering mass of ruins within a few hours of the outbreak of the conflagration. Only the Chinese Free Mason Society’s temple remains standing of the group of frame buildings on Yale road south. No lives were lost.

The fire broke out in a barn on the west side of the road, and spread so rapidly that sparks ignited the buildings on the other side of the highway and the flames soon claimed them also. The lines of the Chilliwack Telephones Ltd. were destroyed in the blaze, and the city was without long-distance telephone service or connection with its western rural lines Monday morning.

An approximate estimate sets the loss of buildings at $15,000. Five buildings, four of them with store fronts, were destroyed on the west side of the road, and three more went on the east side. Two on this side of the road, and three more went on the east side. Two on this side of the road were stores also. A horse was burned in the barn in which the fire originated, and a used car was also destroyed. There is no accurate estimate of the stock, personal effects, furniture, and other articles lost. This would entail a large additional loss, however.

Little Insurance Carried
Most of the buildings were not insured. Hip Wo Jung carried some insurance on his store on the west side of the highway, and W. S. Sing carried insurance on a new building opposite. The others were not covered.

Chinese residents themselves advance the theory that transients, sleeping in the barn at the rear of Wo Bing’s place, may have been smoking or have started the blaze in some other manner. The cause cannot be definitively ascertained, however. The blaze spread rapidly, and efforts of the people to save their settlement were fruitless. There is no fire hydrant at that point, and other water connections were soon in the midst of the flames.

Temple was Saved
The saving of the Chinese Masonic temple was due to the efforts J. A. Mahood, forest ranger, who installed pumping equipment and ran two pipe lines from the slough nearby to the building, to prevent the flames from spreading to it. This was the only fire fighting equipment available.

Most of the residents lost everything, and were in a pitiable condition Monday morning. Blankets, clothing, shoes, and food had vanished in the flames, and Chinese women and children hung about in little groups, while the men poked amid the still smouldering ruins in an effort to find something of value left. Some would have been without food for breakfast, but for the assistance of their white neighbors, who supplied them with porridge and other food.

Many Homeless
Approximately 250 men, women and children were without quarters Monday as a result of the blaze. Many of these were Vancouver Chinamen who had come to the valley for hop picking, and were living in the local Chinese settlement. Chilliwack Chinese suffered a heavy loss in household effects, clothing, bedding, and such articles.

As the flames subsided, a curious effect was presented by the stoves of the buildings, left visible in the ruins, and the water taps which dotted the charred and desolate scene.

The only building of any value left is the Masonic temple. A few shacks, pig pens, and sheds are left on the fringe, looking rather out of place amid the general ruin of the settlement.