On this day in Ottawa’s history: March 31

Bridges, fire and a building collapse

1958: Crowds gathered on Bank Street to watch a fire at the Bank Street Chambers at Albert Street. The blaze flared up from the Modern Miss Dress Shop and ate through the upper floors to the roof before firemen brought it under control. More than 30 offices above the dress store were damaged by fire and water. 

1964: Alfred Cathcart, 57, of 256 Main Street in Stittsville, was killed after a crash on Highway 15. A four-year-old girl also died, and three others were transported to the Civic Hospital. The car was bumped from behind a three-ton truck driven by Donald G. Wright, of Scarboro. 

Stittsville council has complained about the turnoff and was told last year the "corner" would be corrected. Correction would mean widening Highway 15 and putting in curb channels and lights. 

1966: Three people died and 25 people were saved after a building caved in on Elgin Street. There was a roar like a flight of low jets, or, some said, an avalanche, reported the Ottawa Journal. A panic shout of warning on a sun-filled morning, and a high scream of terror, it was a disaster.

Four floors of the 14-storey building collapsed. Frederick Gall, 40, was working in a second-floor office across Elgin Street from the scene of the accident. He described the scene. 

  • “I heard a rumble and looked out. While I was watching she began to collapse. There were about 15 men that I could see on the top level of the structure. They ran for their lives as it folded up underneath them. One fellow was left hanging onto a beam. He slid and then dropped into the wreckage. He got out — I think. Nearly half of Elgin Street is blocked off by the rubble. Firemen and workmen are digging furiously for survivors. There was no steel framework to the building. It seemed to be made of concrete reinforced with steel rods. The sound of it collapsing was a roar. It only took about 20 seconds for the thing to collapse. There are three or four concrete pillars still standing."

Information is from the Ottawa Journal archives on newspapers.com