Noronic Disaster 60th Anniversary

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the Noronic fire in Toronto Harbour. 119 lives were lost in that inferno and it was one of the worst Great Lakes disasters. Fire started at night, rumoured to have begun in an aft linen closet. It quickly spread, as ships in those days were built of combustible materials and little fire-fighting equipment existed.

The Noronic was a well-known passenger vessel of the Great Lakes that usually sailed from Port Arthur on Lake Superior to Toronto. It was frequently seen on the St. Clair River, usually on a Friday whilst downbound.
The Noronic's master, Captain William Taylor hailed from Mooretown, Ontario, and was a close friend of my paternal grandfather Frank Mann. Each time the Noronic passed the Mann cottage at Port Lambton, "Cap" Taylor would give a three long and two short salute of the steam whistle.
It was heartbreaking for the local residents to hear of the Noronic fire on September 17, 1949.

Friends of my maternal grandparents from Sombra were on the vessel for a voyage when the Noronic caught fire. They had to escape with their lives by climbing down the mooring ropes hand over hand. They were some of the lucky ones.
On the afternoon of September 16, Laura Stover wrote a post card from the ship to my grandmother and mailed it out that day from Toronto. I have it in my possession, and below are scans of that very card. Little did they know, that a horror awaited them that evening.

Note the post mark is dated the morning as the ship was smouldering.