1825 Miramichi fire

Forest fire in New Brunswick, Canada 1825 Miramichi fire MirimichiWildfire.jpg Artistic depiction of the 1825 Miramichi wildfire October 7, 1825 Northern New Brunswick, Canada 3950000 acres sqkm sqmi on 160 Unusually hot weather in the summer and fall of 1825, along with outdoor fires by loggers 47 00 00 N 65 34 00 W it Canada New Brunswick Approximate location of the 1825 Miramichi Fire The 1825 Miramichi Fire, or Great Miramichi Fire, or Great Fire of Miramichi, as it came to be known, was a massive forest fire complex that devastated forests and communities throughout much of northern New Brunswick in October 1825. It ranks among the three largest forest fires ever recorded in North America. History About 1/3 of the homes in Fredericton were destroyed, but the main devastation was 100 mi km to the northeast commencing from Bas Caraquet. The preceding summer was a particularity hot one, with bush fires common.New Brunswick's Great Fire https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2107659/new_brunswicks_great_fire/ The Independent Record Helena, Montana 16 Nov 1878 1 newspapers.com On the evening of October 7, 1825, the firestorm roared through Newcastle, New Brunswick (now part of the City of Miramichi), and in less than 3 hours reduced the town of 1,000 people to ruins – of 260 original buildings, only 12 remained.December 2025 Only 6 of 70 buildings survived in the adjacent village of Douglastown. The fire similarly destroyed other communities, including Moorefield, Napan, and Black River Bridge. Chatham, Nelson, and Doaktown escaped the fire.December 2025 The cause of the blaze is not known, but it was likely human-caused.McIntyre Tobi July–August 2003 Canada's incendiary past: Fires that have burned their way into Canadian history Canadian Geographic http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/ja03/indepth/timeline.asp December 30, 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120316204933/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/ja03/indepth/timeline.asp March 16, 2012 About 160 people died in and around Newcastle, including prisoners in the Newcastle Jail. Elsewhere, the totals were likely higher, given the number of lumbermen in the forests at the time (about 3,000). To escape the blaze many residents took refuge with livestock and wildlife in the Miramichi River.http://www.gnb.ca/0079/miramichi_fire-e.asp Great Miramichi Fire: The largest fire ever in eastern North America December 30, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20101013094259/http://www.gnb.ca/0079/miramichi_fire-e.asp October 13, 2010 GNB.ca dead In total the fire(s) consumed almost 16,000 km2 (about 1/5 of New Brunswick's forests or 3.95 million acres). The blaze has been partly attributed to unusually hot weather in the summer and fall of 1825, coupled with outdoor fires by settlers and loggers. The communities were soon rebuilt, but many of those affected moved to communities bordering the Bay of Chaleur, including Campbellton, Dalhousie, Belledune, and the southern Gaspé coast. It is also probable that some of the displaced persons established a community in the Ottawa Valley formerly known as Miramichi, now known as Pembroke, Ontario. Although the lumber industry recovered, the fire is considered responsible for the end of the mast-making industry on the Miramichi River.http://www.greatcanadianrivers.com/rivers/miramichi/history-home.html Miramichi River History Great Canadian Rivers December 30, 2011 June 13, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130613052052/http://www.greatcanadianrivers.com/rivers/miramichi/history-home.html dead http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/charlotte_taylor/Folder1/Miramichi_Fire_of_1825.htm Miramichi Fire of 1825 Charlotte Taylor: Her Life and Times October 9, 2000 December 30, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120313021120/http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/charlotte_taylor/Folder1/Miramichi_Fire_of_1825.htm 2012-03-13 dead In the media The event is commemorated in the 1959 Folkways Records recording of Miramichi Fire, a traditional folk song included on the album Folksongs of Maine by Sandy Ives. The fire is also the plot of Valerie Sherrard's first historical novel Three Million Acres of Flame (2007). The fire is also referred to in the 2016 novel Barkskins by Annie Proulx. Further reading MacEachern Alan The Miramichi Fire https://books.google.com/books?id=wdzoDwAAQBAJ 2020 McGill-Queen's University Press 9780228002857 See also List of fires in Canada List of disasters in Canada References Category:1825 in Canada Category:1825 in Lower Canada Category:1825 fires Category:Natural disasters in New Brunswick Category:Northumberland County, New Brunswick Category:Wildfires in Canada Category:19th century in New Brunswick Category:1825 in New Brunswick Category:19th-century wildfires Category:1825 natural disasters Category:1825 disasters in Canada Category:19th-century fires in Canada Category:Fires in New Brunswick