100 years ago, on a December evening, a catastrophe struck the City of Peterborough when a small fire at the Quaker Oats plant ignited grain dust, causing a massive explosion and fire. At St. Joseph’s Hospital, only a half a kilometre away, the explosion was felt by the Sisters on night duty. They immediately began preparing for an influx of men suffering deep burns and multiple fractures. The most serious cases were treated in the operating rooms, while the main lobby and corridors were converted into triage and treatment areas for the less severely wounded. By morning, rooms were cleared to make way for the injured, and the call for help went out to the Motherhouse, Mount St. Joseph, to the House of Providence next door, and to the Toronto Sisters of St. Joseph to prepare dressings for the burn victims and for nursing assistance to relieve the battle-weary Sisters on staff at the hospital. Burning embers flew across the Otonabee River starting fires on the roof of the Court House. The fire continued to burn for four days, requiring the assistance of firefighters from Toronto to relieve the exhausted Peterborough crews.
Once the smoke cleared, what had been a major employer in Peterborough was reduced to rubble, leaving 23 dead, scores injured and 500 men out of work two weeks before Christmas. Despite the initial fears of the community, Quaker Oats was committed to Peterborough and undertook a two million dollar re-building of the plant, and even gave employees a lump-sum payment to help them out while the re-building took place. Quaker Oats continues to be a major employer in Peterborough a century later.
The Quaker Oats fire on December 11, 1916 is still the deadliest disaster in the history of Peterborough. Without the timely and caring response of the Sisters at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the toll may well have been much greater.
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives