Harvey Road 1992. Photo by Greg Locke © 2009
My friend Carl Lake, of The Sports Page, reminding me that yesterday was the anniversary of the December 21, 1992 Harvey Road Fire that destroyed the CLB Armory in the center of the city and along with it a large piece of St. John's sporting history. The building housed many sports memorabilia including the original Blue Peter rowing shell from the Royal St. John's Regatta.
That night you could see the fire from pretty well everywhere in the city. I headed down, getting there in time to capture this photo of propane tanks exploding at the back of the building while firefighters fought from the roof of a supermarket which later collapsed.
In a city that has been totally destroyed by fire twice before tension was high as the fire spread down the block and across the street.
The Church Lads Brigade rebuilt their armory and the fire department built their new Central Fire Station on the site of the old grocery store at the corner of Harvey Road and Parade Street …and the former provincial government social services building in now a Tim Horton's donut shop.
