The Great Fire of Toronto began at 8:04 p.m. on April 19, 1904, in a factory on the north side of Wellington Street West, west of Bay Street, and burned until about 4:30 the next morning. It destroyed roughly 100 buildings across the city’s wholesale and manufacturing district, caused losses estimated at $10 million, and left about 5,000 people without work. The City of Toronto Archives records no deaths in the fire itself. Later sources describe one fatal accident during the demolition work that followed.
Where and how the fire started
An alarm was raised by a watchman at 8:04 p.m. on an icy night. The City of Toronto Archives web exhibit places the start in the E. and S. Currie Building on the north side of Wellington Street, west of Bay. The Toronto Public Library’s local history blog and The Weather Network give the address as 58 Wellington Street West, and say the Currie firm made neckwear. It spread north, south and east. By 11 p.m. it had reached Front Street, then swept south toward the Esplanade and east along Front Street toward Yonge Street.
The cause was never settled. Early newspaper reports blamed faulty electrical wiring. Others suspected a stove left burning at the end of the workday. Both explanations remain unproven.
Why it spread so quickly
The Archives exhibit describes wooden joists, floors and interior walls, open stairwells and stored flammable goods inside the warehouses. Fallen telegraph and electrical wires made the streets dangerous and hampered the crews. The Toronto Public Library blog reports that the city afterward allocated $1 million for a high-pressure hydrant system, completed in 1909. A search summary of the Canadian Encyclopedia links the firefighters’ difficulties to the city’s low-pressure water system, but the article text could not be fetched, so that explanation is not relied on here.
Not every building burned. The Evening Telegram building stood at the northeast limit of the fire. Its employees fought the flames for two hours and saved it, which stopped the fire’s advance east, according to the Archives. Wikipedia, citing newspaper and local history sources, adds that a sprinkler system at the Kilgour Brothers factory, fed by rooftop tanks, limited spread toward Wellington Street West and Yonge Street.
The firefight
By 9 p.m. every firefighter in the city was on the scene. Help came from surrounding suburbs and by special express trains from Hamilton and Buffalo, according to the Archives, which also records that Mayor Thomas Urquhart offered help and the deputy fire chief replied that the department needed all the assistance it could get. The Toronto Public Library blog adds Brantford to the list of cities and reports that more than 250 firefighters worked for nine hours, five were injured, and Fire Chief John Thompson broke a leg. The Archives states that the fire was under control by 4:30 a.m. Small fires broke out for days, and the ruins smouldered for about two weeks. Many firefighters had minor injuries, especially temporary eye damage from smoke and cinders.
Size and cost of the damage
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Area burned | About 7.9 hectares (19.5 acres) | Toronto Public Library blog |
| Buildings destroyed | About 100 (G. W. Shorter); more than 100 (Weather Network); one estimate 114 (Wikipedia); over 125 businesses burnt out (City exhibit, as quoted by the Library) | As listed |
| Losses | $10,000,000 (Archives); $10,350,000 (Shorter); $10,387,000 (Wikipedia); $13 million to $15 million in contemporary newspaper reports | City of Toronto Archives; Toronto Public Library blog; Wikipedia |
| Jobs lost | About 5,000 (Archives); 5,000 to 6,000 (Library blog) | As listed |
| Firefighting time | 8:04 p.m. to about 4:30 a.m. (the Library blog notes Mike Filey gives 8:06 p.m. for the alarm) | City of Toronto Archives; Toronto Public Library blog |
The sources disagree on the count of buildings, the area, and the losses, so the table gives each figure with its source. The Archives exhibit itself gives no building count or acreage. Toronto then had about 200,000 residents, according to Wikipedia.
Were there any deaths?
The City of Toronto Archives states that there were no deaths, though many firefighters had minor injuries. Later sources describe one fatality linked to the fire. The Weather Network and Wikipedia name John Croft, an explosives expert who was clearing debris from the ruins. The Toronto Public Library blog says Croft was injured on May 5, 1904 when a stick of dynamite exploded as he demolished the damaged W. J. Gage Building, and that Ulster Street was later renamed Croft Street in his honour; its wording on whether he died is unclear. The accident therefore happened after the fire, and the exact outcome is left open here.
Aftermath, insurance and building rules
About 5,000 workers lost their jobs, temporarily or permanently. Some found work clearing rubble by hand. Insurers raised premiums for businesses in the burned area by 75 percent, retroactive to the night of the fire, according to the Archives. Many firms found temporary space within days and began rebuilding. City Council passed a new building by-law with standards for fire-resistant construction. A year later, The Globe praised the city’s recovery.
The Toronto Public Library blog says the city hired more firefighters and bought more equipment. Wikipedia makes a similar statement but marks it as lacking a citation, so only the Library’s account is used. No source read here documents hydrant standards or fire limits.
Researching the fire
The City of Toronto Archives hosts the web exhibit used here, including a fire insurance plan by Charles Edwin Goad (Archives reference MT 799) that maps the burned area. G. W. Shorter’s 1964 study Toronto Fire of 1904 for the National Research Council of Canada is catalogued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology; its keywords include building construction, fire spread, and water supply, but its text was not read here. The general history of the city is covered in the overview linked below.
Frequently asked questions
When was the Great Fire of Toronto?
It began at 8:04 p.m. on April 19, 1904, and was under control at about 4:30 a.m. on April 20.
What caused the 1904 fire?
The cause was never determined. Faulty wiring and a stove left burning were both suggested at the time.
How much of Toronto burned?
About 7.9 hectares (19.5 acres) of the downtown commercial district, with about 100 buildings, according to the Toronto Public Library blog, which draws on G. W. Shorter’s study. Other sources give higher building counts.
Did anyone die in the Toronto fire of 1904?
The City of Toronto Archives reports no deaths in the fire. The Weather Network and Wikipedia report that John Croft died while clearing debris afterward; the Toronto Public Library blog describes a dynamite accident on May 5, 1904 that injured him.
What changed after the fire?
City Council passed a new building by-law requiring fire-resistant construction, according to the City of Toronto Archives. The Toronto Public Library blog adds that $1 million was set aside for a high-pressure hydrant system, completed in 1909.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- City of Toronto Archives, “The Great Fire of 1904”, web exhibit (alarm time, spread, Evening Telegram, control at 4:30 a.m., $10 million, 5,000 jobs, 75 percent insurance rise, by-law, Goad plan).
- Toronto Public Library, Local History and Genealogy blog, “Remembering the Great Fire of Toronto (1904)”, April 2018 (58 Wellington Street, area, building and loss estimates, Croft, 1909 hydrant system).
- Randi Mann, “This day in weather history, April 19, 1904”, The Weather Network, 2021 (secondary: address, more than 100 buildings, Croft).
- “Great Fire of Toronto (1904),” Wikipedia (secondary: 114 buildings, $10,387,000, Kilgour Brothers sprinklers, population; its reference list includes a 2008 Toronto Star article that could not be fetched).
- G. W. Shorter, Toronto Fire of 1904, National Research Council of Canada, Fire Study 13 (1964), catalog record in NIST FireDOC (bibliographic record only; the report text was not read).
Related reading
- Toronto’s police and fire services
- Historic buildings of Toronto
- Union Station and the downtown core
- Toronto weather and storm records
- Toronto facts and geography
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). The Great Fire of Toronto, April 19, 1904. http://localhost:8210/blog/the-great-fire-that-devastated-toronto-in-1904
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