Catherdral Fire
by Ana Watts
Alarm bells instead of church bells sounded from Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton on Sunday morning (August 6) when fire broke out in in the base of the spire, which also forms the ceiling above the chancel. The sprinkler 
system attacked the flames while the alarm system alerted the fire department. Trucks were on the scene just as the telephone rang in the Dean’s residence across the street to inform him the alarm had been triggered. Fire fighters entered the Cathedral and two of them with full equipment and breathing apparatus strapped to their backs managed to make their way up the narrow and winding staircase leading to the spire.
“I came in on the heels of the fire fighters and there was water pouring down from the ceiling above the chancel,” says the Very Rev. Keith Joyce, Dean of Fredericton and incumbent clergy at the Cathedral. “There was lots of smoke and by then it was billowing from the windows in the spire.”
The efficiency of the Cathedral’s alarm and sprinkler system and the immediate response of the fire department confined most of the fire damage to a couple of 18-inch thick wooden beams in the ceiling and ember burns on the chancel floor and in the choir stalls below. The extent of water and smoke damage has yet to be determined. A visual inspection of the organ console, located beneath the fire site, revealed no damage. Whether or not there was water or other damage to its delicate systems cannot be determined until provincial inspectors declare it is safe to restore full electrical power to the building and the instrument can be played.
“The water from the sprinklers covered the floor of the chancel, but of course once the fire fighters got up there and turned on their hose, the entire nave flooded as well. As far as we can tell, the sanctuary and the Lady Chapel were spared,” says Dean Joyce.
Although no official determination has been made, an electrical failure is thought to be the cause of the blaze. Wires for the ceiling lights and for the compressor for the playing of the bells are located in this area.
The alarm system that called the fire department to the scene also alerted Jim Clowater, who serves on a committee that looks after the cathedral building. He immediately retrieved the Cathedral insurance file from the office of Cathedral Memorial Hall, which is a separate building. He also called Servicemaster to come and begin remediation of the smoke and water damage. As soon as possible they set to work to remove the water and ‘fog’ the building with a deodorizing chemical that invades the same fabrics, materials, crevices and crannies of the building that the smoke did. Fans, air scrubbers and dehumidifiers have been operating in the building ever since.
Sunday services were cancelled, but regular 8:30 a. m. Morning Prayer services resumed on Monday. The regular mid-week Eucharist was held Wednesday morning (August 9) at 10 o’clock. The regular Cathedral Summer Concert series resumes on Friday (August 11) and all regular services will be held on Sunday, Aug. 13.
“The main thing is, no one was hurt and nothing was really lost,” says the Dean. “There will be lots of repairs and painting to be done, but none of the silver or the hangings were damaged. I really credit the sprinkler system, along with the Fredericton Fire Department of course, with saving the day. I think the sprinkler system kept the fire to a low-level burn. Although we sometimes moan a bit about 
paying insurance premiums and alarm fees, this has certainly reminded us about how important it is to have adequate insurance coverage, and we certainly understand the value of safety equipment like alarms and sprinklers.”
Fire fighters and trucks stayed on the scene most of Sunday, in case of an unexpected flare-up, the cleaning company remains hard at work and a steady stream of inspectors and insurance assessors is in and out each day.
A much more serious fire in the Cathedral spire in 1911 was caused by lightening. Without the intervention of modern alarms, safety equipment and fire department, that blaze gained enough momentum to melt the bells and cause the entire spire to collapse into the chancel.
