Journal archives: In 1974, early morning fire destroys Ashcroft Hotel

125 YEARS AGO: NOV. 18, 1899

Surveying New Railroad: The C.P.R. has a party of engineers and surveyors at work surveying a line through the Nicola Valley to connect the Crows Nest railway with the main line at Spences Bridge. One gang of men Is working towards Princeton, and thence to Keremeos, and another gang is working towards Nicola Lake and Spences Bridge. The road will run from Keremeos to some point near Princeton, through Otter valley, down Quilchena Creek; thence westerly to Nicola Lake and up the Nicola River to the main line of the C.P.R. This road will open up the rich mineral belts of Otter flat and the Similkameen, as well as the Nicola coal fields; also the rich agricultural district of the Nicola Valley. Construction work will be commenced in a few weeks, it is said.

100 YEARS AGO: NOV. 15, 1924

Ashcroft News: Arrangements are being made to convert the old school building into a community hall for the purpose of entertainments for the various organizations in the town. This will include fortnightly dances, and the floor of the upstairs is being put in shape to accommodate this. [Today this structure forms the front of the Ashcroft community hall on Bancroft Street.]

Ashcroft Dance: The dance given by the young people in the town hall on Wednesday night was a very enjoyable affair. A good crowd was present and all enjoyed themselves very much. Refreshments were served at midnight and dancing closed at one a.m.

Walhachin: On Monday evening Mr. and Mrs. Johnson gave a Harvest Home dance in the Town Hall which was very much enjoyed by all. Several cars were present from Ashcroft.

Highway Contract Let: The contract for the construction of the Hope–Spences Bridge section of the trans-provincial highway will be let to A.B. Palmer & Co., and W.T. Tierney & Co. The first section, that from Yale north to the site of the new steel bridge across the Fraser at Spuzzum, will cost a little over $140,000 and will be handled by the Tierney firm. The second section, north from the bridge crossing to Lytton, will cost in the neighbourhood of $375,000 and will be undertaken by the Palmer company. The third section, from Lytton to Spences Bridge, will not be finished until after the other sections are completed. It will cost about $200,000. There is also the big steel bridge across the Fraser River, near Spuzzum, a structure which will cost $250,000. Tenders for this job will not be called for until the actual highway construction is well under way.

Fraser Canyon: The Fraser Canyon highway may be a topic that has lost much of its interest with many newspaper readers, but it is one, nevertheless, that is going to mean dollars in the pockets of every resident of British Columbia. The proposed Fraser Canyon road is one of the greatest developments which the province has undertaken in many years. It will mean prosperity for the whole of British Columbia from Vancouver to the far north. [It] has the support of every person living in the interior of the province, for we are eager to enjoy some of the fruits of summer tourist traffic which have been overflowing in Vancouver and other coast cities for a number of prosperous years. It should be no longer necessary for the coast people to say to the tourist, “You go back,” when asked “Where do we go from here?”

75 YEARS AGO: NOV. 17, 1949

Stores In New Locations: Many old-timers will remember the F.W. Foster store, away back about 50 years ago. Well, the same building still stands, to this day. After serving J. Ting for many years, the owner Lai Ben wanted to retire, so he sold out to Mr. Alan Cameron, who turned the inside out, and rebuilt it into a modern interior which now hosts two businesses, Gateway Groceteria, which has moved from the Rowse block, and the Chandler Construction Co., which moved from the Peters building. [Foster’s stood in the empty lot beside Nature’s Gifts on Railway Avenue; the building, along with most of the rest of the block, was destroyed by fire in 1977.]

Clinton Locals: There was a fire in the laundry room at the Bob-Inn last Thursday evening. Apparently the room was tightly closed up and the fire gained a good hold before the smoke broke through into the main building. Mr. Abbey reckons the damage to the room and installations and linens is in the neighbourhood of $2,000. The fire was stopped before it did much damage to the main building.

Around Your Hi-School (by L. Louie): Gum-chewing seems to be quite the fad. Everybody chews until they are caught. It’s about as popular as plaid coats. . . In art we began discussing eye level and vanishing points but it seemed to be so far above our heads that Miss Coard just about gave up in disgust. Now we have to begin all over again.

50 YEARS AGO: NOV. 13, 1974

Ashcroft Hotel Fire Claims Two Lives: Two bodies were recovered Friday from the ruins of the Ashcroft Hotel fire [in the early morning of Friday, Nov. 8], and RCMP believe there might be another victim. Rescue teams and firefighters found the bodies of Charles Kenneth Jones, 56, of Ashcroft, and Dorothy May Sampson. RCMP said a search of the ruins will continue for a man believed trapped in the blaze. They said burning debris prevented firefighters from continuing the search today.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole life. It was a real inferno. I thought all of downtown Ashcroft was on fire.” That’s the way Mrs. Barbara Shaw, a Red Cross worker from Cache Creek, described the fire.

Nineteen guests and occupants of a suite escaped from the burning two-storey wood frame hotel which was built in 1916 on the site of the first Ashcroft Hotel, which was also destroyed be fire, resulting in the entire business section and residences north of the old building being wiped out in July 1916.

Mrs. Shaw, president of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek branch of the Canadian Red Cross, said she and Mrs. Pat McAbee, chairman of the water safety program for the Red Cross, saw the flames shoot into the air as they drove into Ashcroft after receiving a call from public health nurse Mrs. Pauline Ringstad.

Ashcroft fire chief Tosh Negoro said the alarm was turned in about 4:15 a.m. “There was no chance of saving it. We tried for a while and then we concentrated on keeping the other buildings from catching fire. We have a general idea where it started, and it’s possible it could have been started by someone smoking in bed.” The chief said the Cache Creek fire department was also at the fire.

The fire department, the RCMP, and an inspector from the provincial fire marshal’s office are investigating the cause of the blaze. Chief Negoro indicated that it will be extremely difficult to find the cause as there “isn’t too much to go on.”

Oscar Olson, owner of the hotel, said he estimated the total damage at somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000, “but it’s hard to say in today’s market.” He said the building was partially covered by insurance and said he didn’t know at this time if he was going to build another hotel on the site.

Cliff Wooden, owner of the L and J Variety Store next door to the hotel, said it was a good thing the wind was light. “If we would have had a strong wind, the fire would have spread to the other buildings and it would have taken the whole block.”

Mr. Wooden said when he arrived at his store the building was so hot it was steaming from the water firemen were pouring on it. He said as far as he could see there was no real damage to the store. “We were pretty lucky. We have a real good fire department.”

Penny’s Fabric Shop across the street from the hotel sustained cracked windows, and the heat was so great it melted the imitation brick siding on the top front of the building. Palm Tree Inn received broken windows and some water on the inside.

Jim Cook, a cables placer with B.C. Tel, said the heat was so intense it scorched the telephone wires behind the hotel. The town had no phone service at all for about two hours. He said new cables are being put in and that 5,200 individual wires would have to be spliced. The telephone system was back to full service by 4 p.m. Friday. The fire also knocked out hydro service to some areas of the town, but service was restored early Friday morning.

An RCMP dog was brought in on Saturday morning but the debris was too hot to work in.