Charlottetown, PEI Insane Asylum Fire, Dec 1931

FIRE AT HOSPITAL FOR INSANE KILLS THREE, 300 PATIENTS DRIVEN INTO COLD OF NIGHT.

Charlottetown, P.E.I., Dec. 15 -- With two known dead and three missing persons believed also to have lost their lives in the flames, the Falconwood hospital for the insane was in ashes today after a spectacular fire that spread terror among the hospital's 400 patients.
The two known dead were:
DON MacKENZIE, 65, who fell from a top floor window as he tried to grab hold of an extension ladder.
FRANCIS MacDONALD, 35, who jumped from another window.
Three others believed to have perished were WILLIAM McGUINN, MARSHALL SMITH, and an Indian whose name was not ascertained.
The fire, the origin of which was not determined, drove the hospital's 400 patients into the biting cold.
The property loss was estimated to be between $250,000 and $500,000.
The patients dazed, wandered uncertainly about in the light of the fire, but there was no disorder. Many patients, after the shock of their narrow escape had passed, assisted in the work of relief to those of their number who had been injured or who faced suffering from the cold.
Only a few were injured, and the objective of doctors mainly was to forestall illness from exposure.

Stevens Point Daily Journal Wisconsin 1931-12-15
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!