Early Saturday Morning, the old factory at the corner of Walker Rd and Richmond St. beside the Beer Store, most recently home to the Flag Depot went up in smoke. This view is looking east from Erie and Parent.
By the time I got down there about 7:45, the fire had already been underway for 3 or 4 hours. The entire area was roped off.
A view from Ontario St. looking north on Walker. I’m sure any long time Walkerville resident remembers the McDonald White fire in the late 80’s early 90’s causing the evacuation of the area.
Looking east along Richmond towards Walker Rd.
This shot just goes to show you that living next to a fire station doesn’t ensure your safety. The blue roof belongs to Fire Station #2. The fire was literally 100 feet from the front door of the station.
A few follow up photos from Sunday morning.
The bulldozers were at work removing the shell of the building. Another prominent vacant corner along Walker Rd. in old Walkerville.
A view along the side, shows how close the building was to McDonald-White. A great job by the fire fighters to keep this fire from spreading next door.
A shot from 2006 looking along the Richmond St. facade towards Walker Rd. Long time Windsor business Frank’s Tires, was also located in this building, having moved a few years ago from their location at Wyandotte and Parent.
A view of the Fire Insurance Map from 1937, showing the building as being home to the Universal Button Co. A look though the material I had on hand, shows them in that location as far back as 1919 (the oldest Directory I have available), and likely much earlier.
I think they were still in business in that location when I moved to Windsor in 1989, probably into the early 1990’s at least.
A view from Google Earth, when compared to the Fire Insurance Map shows the office along Walker Rd. received some reconfigurations over the years. Looks like the building was attached to the plant, and maybe shortened, although the Fire Insurance maps weren’t always 100% accurate when it came to the actual footprint of the building.
A pair of photos that were sent along by regular reader Ian Deck. Ian came across the site Saturday afternoon. A view of the corner of Walker and Richmond following the fire.
A view looking north on Walker from Richmond.
Thanks Ian for sending along the photos.
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the office was definitely shortened sometime in the last 10 years, i remember it being much, much closer to the macdonald white building
Wow, it's amazing how much water had accumulated on the roadway by 9am when I got there. I wonder if Asshook Sood owned this place too, since it's across the street from his Champion Paper/Clean Depot empire. 60 Day freeze or burn down the joint?? Maybe I'm extrapolating that theory a bit, but ya never know on Walker Rd. these days.
When i was going down Walker Road, it looked as if they just moved the opening of the road, as the road infront of fire house still had yellow tape across it, and they forced us down the alley next to the fire house. I heard 1 police officer talking to the fire department, telling them what roads were being blocked off and so forth. It seems weird to say this, but that building looked like it was going to have a fire like this someday, as they building did not look in that good of shape.
We were on the "Big Walk" when this fire was taking place, and saw the smoke all the way from the Ambassador Bridge! It's strange, as I only live a few blocks from there and didn't see/smell any fire when I left the house at 7:30 am.
westerntragedy - I heard that it was under that same ownership as Champion Paper, but I don't know how accurate that is. If that's true this event would appear a little suspicious to me.
I noticed on the insurance map that the business next door was "Berry Bros Inc"
I think they were also a paint company, based in Detroit with an operation in Windsor/Walkerville. You see vintage ads for them sometimes on Ebay. I wonder if MacDaonald Paint has any family connection? (The fire there was in March 1987 - I remember clearly b/c of other events going on in my life at the time)
Too bad. I liked the Flag Depot. The man there was always very nice. Hopefully he had insurance and can relocate (preferably downtown).
The landscape of Walker Rd will be changed forever. Gone are the old style factories that literally sat on the sidewalks giving us a sense of being a part of our surroundings.
I am sure that the land will be left vacant for many years or turned into yet another parking lot. My sympathies go out to this man and his loss of business.
I agree, it really is a shame that this is lost. Its terribly unfortunate for all of the businesses and individuals who made use of the building and as a result lost everything. It's also sad that the city has lost another link to its history.
so sad. if we're not tearing them down they're burning down
I was on Riverside Drive at 9am on Saturday and the smoke was thick and the air was hot. I didn't know where the fire was but it seemed pretty bad. No traffic lights at Walker & Riverside (and idiots just burning right through the intersection, of course!) and on the way back at 10:30 still no power. I guess Hiram Walker had a board meeting or something that day and had to find a new location for it as their buildings did not have power.