Jessica George
It was Lillian Kellar’s worst nightmare, but it was her dream to see it documented properly for the sake of all she lost—and for all that everyone else lost.
After the tragic fire that claimed 17 lives in Dance Township on Thanksgiving Day back in 1938, Kellar wanted to see a book that would set the record straight, telling the story without fiction and, most importantly, without sensationalism.
She spent much of her time conducting interviews and writing articles—all in the hope that one day her book would be completed.
Unfortunately, Kellar passed away before she had a chance to see her dream come to fruition. But the Dance Fire Memorial Committee commissioned author Neil McQuarrie to pick up where she left off and write the book.
After studiously pouring over Kellar’s notes, conducting his own interviews, and perusing through old copies of the Fort Frances Times, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the Globe and Mail, McQuarrie’s book is finally here.
“Dance is on Fire!” was ready for distribution on Friday (Nov. 14), with a book-signing held that afternoon at the Emo Inn.
The first copy was presented to Mary Fisher (nee Gadd), a nurse who attended to victims of the fire all those years ago.
Fisher, now 94, remembers much of what happened, explaining that “this is something that you never, ever forget.”
“I had worked that day,” she recalled. “I had already gotten off of work, but they called me back.
“I had four to look after and I worked all night until noon,” she added. “I remember that I fainted near Dougie’s bed.”
She recounted that many people came to the hospital asking to help with whatever they could.
Fisher noted the nurses didn’t have the time to be emptying bedpans or bringing water to their patients. So the volunteers helped with all of those simpler yet very important tasks.
They also had people coming in to help with the cooking.
Though 70 years have passed since that fateful day, Fisher still remembers everything quite vividly.
“There was one little girl in the next room,” she remarked. “She wasn’t in my care, but she had asked for a drink of water.
“So I went in to give her a drink. I lifted her head up to the straw and she died in my arms.
“I left that room crying; you know, tears rolling down your chin,” she added. “It was terrible. You never forget.”
To Fisher, this book is very important. “Because I was there,” she explained, with sadness in her eyes.
“I think that it was kind of a final chapter for the families—for those who died and survived,” explained Rosanne Farmer, a member of the Dance Fire Memorial Committee and Lillian Kellar’s granddaughter.
She added this book is written for all of those who were affected.
Beyond that, McQuarrie impresses the fact his book is something of a reminder—not just of the tragedy, but how the people and community overcame it.
“I think that the retention of the community’s collective memory, I think it’s something we really need to hang on to,” he stressed. “There are very few people now who have lived through it. And there are people who are living now who have never heard of it.
“But it was an important event in the community, not only in the deaths that occurred but also in the commitment that the community made to rebuild it.
“It wasn’t just a Dance commitment. It was a community-wide, district-wide commitment that was made and that’s what we need to remember,” McQuarrie remarked, explaining his own motivation for writing the book.
“Dance is on Fire!” was written as a factual account. But McQuarrie aimed to have a readable account, as well, not just a documentary.
According to Farmer, this was achieved.
“I think people will get two things out of it,” she offered. “They will get the story, but he [McQuarrie] also made a very good book that has a huge amount of human interest.
“The things that people who survived and didn’t survive, the things they went through—he was able to tell the story in a way that was dignified.
“It was heart-breaking,” she admitted. “He did a good job with it.”
Close to 500 copies of the book already have been sold, but more are still available for $20 each.
You can pick up your copy at the Fort Frances Museum, the Fort Frances Times, Pharmasave, the Emo Inn, the Rainy River Record, the Atikokan Progress, and from most committee members.
