Advanced Journalism: Strathcona in Flames

THE BEGINNING

Vancouver is no stranger to fire – in fact, in 1886, the newly incorporated city burned to the ground in under an hour. It was a small settlement on unceded Coast Salish land but the Great Vancouver Fire decimated the small township. Although many of the people who were forced into the Burrard Inlet by the fire and smoke were rescued by those from the Squamish Nation in canoes, the fire killed 21 Vancouverites.

However, the 5,000 resilient citizens of Vancouver decided that they would not give up on their town in ashes. Shortly after the fire, the city council set up a tent town hall, the Hastings Mill offered free lumber to those hardest hit, and citizens came together to find drinking water.

To read the rest of our investigative project, click here.