Past Event
The Ottawa Valley’s Great Fire of 1870
Chelsea Library - September 18, 2017
Speaker: Terence Currie
The Ottawa Valley’s great fire of 1870 has been a puzzle to historians for decades. It started in Almonte and eventually burned as far south as Burritts Rapids, east to Ottawa, and across the river to Aylmer, Ironside and Templeton before it was stopped. Terrence Currie has produced the first detailed description of the fire that destroyed 3,000 farms and killed 13 people.
Terence Currie was raised on the family’s homestead farm in Fitzroy Township. For many years he taught at Almonte High School and upon retirement fulfilled a long-held ambition by returning to the University of Ottawa to obtain a Master’s Degree in History.
