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Shuswap history in pictures: Fire at AL Fortune

Images from May 1975 blaze at Enderby school
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Fire at AL Fortune, May 1975. Joani Cowan, retired curator at the Enderby Museum, confirms this image is of the fire that started in a trash can in the chemistry room at A.L. Fortune School.

Chemistry teacher John Pavelich had left early to celebrate his birthday and always laughed and then cried afterwards that it was some birthday present!

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The original school was built in 1913 with the addition constructed in 1954. The fire moved from the school’s addition through to the top of the brick building in a gap between the roof and the ceiling, and firemen couldn’t get at it. Salmon Arm and Armstrong Fire Departments were on hand to help Enderby.

Photos courtesy the Observer collection, Salmon Arm Museum at R.J. Haney Heritage Village.

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