The Past
Businesses
Churches
Communities
Community Services
~ City Hall
~ Fire Department
~ ~ Enderby
Fire Halls
~ ~ Enderby
Fire Chiefs
~ ~ Fire
equipment
~ ~ Fires
~ ~ ~ A.L. Fortune
~ ~ ~ Bell
Block Blaze
~ ~ ~ Boot's
Hardware Fire
~ ~ ~ Commoner
Fire
~ ~ ~ Creamery
Fire
~ ~ ~ King
Edward Hotel Fire
~ ~ ~ Presbyterian
Church Fire
~ ~ ~ Fire
of 1909
~ Health Care
~ Justice of
the Peace
~ Library
~ Newspaper
~ Police
Department
~ Post office
~ Telephones
Entertainment
Ethnic Groups
Geography
Heritage Homes
Industries
Organizations
People
Schools
Transportation
May 8, 1975
The fire that destroyed A.L. Fortune Junior Secondary School.was
reported at 7:10 p.m. May 8th, 1975, after student David Lundquist pulled the fire alarm.
Enderby's Fire Department (under the direction of Don MacPherson) was there immediately and later fire departments from Armstrong - Spallumcheen, Salmon Arm, and Vernon arrived to offer assistance.
Records and registers that date back as far as 1913 (when the brick building was opened) were removed by the staff as the smoke spread. Despite the use of 35 half-hour air bottles by the fire crews, smoke and fumes prevented them from containing the blaze and saving the old brick building and went into efforts of saving the nearby M.V. Beattie Elementary and the new gymnasium adjoining the secondary school.
The fire reached its height just after 9 p.m. Although the flames roared loudly, sounds of windows blowing out, frames falling to the ground, minor explosions and crashings were heard from all over the area. The flames began to die down eventually. but the crews remained until morning in case the fire started up again.
The ground floor of the building was not in bad condition, but the two upper floors were severely damaged. Although some items were salvaged, the result of this fire was estimated at a loss of more than $1 million, not to mention leaving 340 Junior Secondary students without classes for a week. Students were accommodated in the M.V. Beattie Elementary School, with one class using the Catholic Church basement for the rest of the semester.
Bernadette Donovan
ALF School 1989