Toronto's Historical Plaques
Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.
The "Noronic" Disaster
Did you know that the SS Noronic, flagship of the Canada Steamship Lines and the largest passenger cruise ship on the Great Lakes, ended her life here at a dock in Toronto? After more than a thousand safe voyages, the end came here in fire and death. An Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque in a park, just to the west of the Ferry Docks at the foot of Bay Street, gives the details:
On the evening of September 16, 1949, the 'Noronic', a Great Lakes cruise ship carrying 524 passengers, docked at Pier 9, 100 metres east of here. At 1:30 the next morning a passenger noticed smoke seeping from a locked closet. Crew members fought the fire, but it erupted into a life-threatening inferno before they could waken everyone aboard. Passengers descended the gangway, climbed down ropes, leapt onto the dock, or jumped into the harbour. Firefighters, police and passers-by assisted, but 119 perished. All but one were American passengers. An inquiry resulted in stricter fire safety enforcement which forced older cruise ships out of service and caused a decline in passenger shipping on the lakes.
Location Co-ordinates: 43.639725 -79.375910
Photo by Alan L Brown - April 2004
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Posted July 5, 2008
My aunt, uncle and their friend were on the ship the night of the fire. I do not believe that they would have survived had it not been for the fact that my Uncle had worked on ships for many years and knew where the escapes routes and exits were. They were forced to climb over some of the dead and still barely made it out.
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