Fire cover

FIRE
Cobalt: May 23, 1977 by Don Curry

Anyone who experienced the fire of May 23, 1977, in Cobalt will never forget it. The heat, the wind, the incredible mass of flames will never be erased from memory. Don Curry was there, reporting on the top news event of his career as a journalist for the Globe and Mail and Temiskaming Speaker, and taking photographs which were published in the Toronto Star and newspapers across the country through Canadian Press.

This book is a reprint of the original 1978 chronicle of those events, with added comments from Don Curry, colour photos and index.

About the Author

Go Here for Table of Contents

Go here for a look at the Index

ISBN: 978-1-989615-85-0 | WMPub#1050 | 6 x 9"
110 pages; 59 photos and graphics; map of the fire; trade paperback | $29.95


About the Author

Born in 1947 In North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Mr. Curry has also lived in British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario, England and Germany. A graduate of Carleton University, he was a newspaper reporter, photographer and editor with various newspapers. He was editor of The Temiskaming Speaker from December, 1974 to August, 1978, when he left to become a journalism instructor at Canadore College in North Bay.

He held that position for 10 years, then became the college’s Director of Public Affairs for five years, before leaving to co-found the Canadian Centre for Social Justice in North Bay. It evolved to Young People’s Press, and later, the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre and Timmins & District Multicultural Centre, an immigrant settlement agency.

While at Canadore he earned an M.A. degree from Central Michigan University, and much later, in 2019, a certificate in immigration law from the University of British Columbia. He started Curry Immigration Consulting that same year, and remains active as a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant.

His wife, Mary, was born and raised in Kirkland Lake, son Bill was born in New Liskeard, and son Christopher was born in North Bay. Bill, Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Globe and Mail, lives with his wife Amy in Ottawa. Their daughter, Megan, is an urban planning student at Toronto Metropolitan University. Chris and his wife, Mary, live in Brockville, Ontario, where he is the Clinical Manager of Professional Practice and Education with Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Addiction and Mental Health.


Table of Contents

Dedication

Author’s Note

Introduction

CHAPTER 1: A Perfect Day for a Fire

CHAPTER 2: Help From Haileybury

CHAPTER 3: The First Half-Hour

CHAPTER 4: New Liskeard Pitches In

CHAPTER 5: “We Need Water Bombers”

CHAPTER 6: Seven Fire Departments At the Scene

CHAPTER 7: The Church Is Spared

CHAPTER 8: Meanwhile, Another Front

CHAPTER 9: The Communications Centre

CHAPTER 10: Shed Full of Dynamite

CHAPTER 11: It’s Over. . .And 459 Homeless

CHAPTER 12: The Mayor Takes Charge

CHAPTER 13: Front Page Across the Country

CHAPTER 14: How Much Do You Need?

CHAPTER 15: Time To Rebuild

Post Script

Index