Planning underway for Dance fire memorial

A meeting was held at the Emo Inn last Wednesday morning on plans for a memorial to commemorate the victims of the Dance fire in conjunction with its 70th anniversary next Oct. 10.
The deadly blaze, which happened on Thanksgiving Day back in 1938, claimed the lives of 12 members of the LaBelle family, four members of the Fyle family, and one member of the Fults family.
The main topic of last week’s meeting, which drew 17 people, centered around what the memorial should look like, the cost involved, and where it should be located.
Suggestions included near the areas where the 17 lives where lost, in the Dance community hall, or somewhere off the main highway.
Traffic and vandalism issues were apparent as the meeting progressed.
Laura Spence, special project officer with of the Ministry of Natural Resources fire management headquarters in Fort Frances, spearheaded the meeting.
“It’s either a provincial plaque or a local marker,” she noted. “There are two programs that are through the Ontario Heritage Trust, which is an agency of the Ministry of Culture.
“We do have definitely some information on the fire,” she added. “There’s public access to the information at the [Fort Frances] museum [but] we are basically leaving it up to interested family members or historians or the public who have an interest in recognizing the tragic event.”
If a provincial plaque is installed, the cost of the project could be as high as $20,000 from start to finish. The applicants are expecting to contribute to the cost.
The other direction the memorial could take is in the form of a local marker, which is considerably cheaper (about $2,000), although that does not include its installation.
Land issues were also considered. For instance, should the plaque/landmark be on public land, and would the plaque/landmark be protected should the owner sell the land in the future?
The names of those who perished in the fire are being sought and verified for possible consideration for the plaque.
A future brainstorming session would be helpful when deciding what exactly to put on the plaque/landmark.
Elizabeth Donaldson, a member of the committee that produced a book on the history of La Vallee entitled “Connections,” was among those on hand for last week’s meeting.
“They knew we [the book committee] were working on this book. They asked us if we wanted to be present because we’re including the history of the Township of Dance,” she noted.
“That’s were the fire was and the loss of life occurred. We’re interested in it,” added Donaldson.
Although Donaldson didn’t have any family members die in the blaze, she did grow up in the area.
“I’ve known about the fire all my life. It’s always been a real historic fact of life that all these people died in Dance many years ago. Very tragic.
“That was right in the Depression days, too. Things were hard enough without this kind of thing,” she noted.
“We put out one book four years ago [‘Connections’] about the history of the municipality of La Vallee, and we still had so much material that we’re working on the second that will be a continuation of the La Vallee municipality and we’re including the Township of Dance.
“We still don’t have a title for the book.”
Donna Haglin is the contact person for anyone with information on the Dance fire or who want to be involved in the remembrance ceremony next October.
“Anyone that has information about it or would like to participate in our meetings to get this underway are to contact me,” she said.
She can be reached at 482-3334.
The next meeting on the Dance fire memorial is slated for Jan. 23.