The Barkerville Fire

September 17, 1868 Barkerville After the Fire

Main Street of Barkerville After the First Fire September 17, 1868

The Only House Left Standing After the Great Fire, Barkerville September 18, 1868

The story is told that a drunken miner tried to sneak a kiss from a girl in a saloon, and when she turned him down, he stumbled and knocked over a stove pipe. The pipe ignited the roof of the saloon (it was only made of canvas) and the whole town quickly burnt down. Fortunately, as soon as the fire broke out the people who ran the store that sold dynamite took all their wares and put them down a mine shaft, otherwise the damage to the town would have been much greater, and lives lost.

Williams Creek Fire Brigade [Fire Hall], Barkerville

Second Fire, 188- Barkerville