Fire at the Soviet Embassy
Photo Gallery
A fire broke out at the Soviet Embassy on Charlotte Street on January 1, 1956. When the fire began, Embassy staff attempted to put it out themselves. 40 minutes later, the fire department was called in.
Firefighters who came to the scene experienced a new challenge. They were not allowed to enter the building and could not bring their equipment very close to the fire because of a large fence, and the police had no authority to help them gain access. Meanwhile, embassy staff were ferrying documents, furniture, and other valuables from the building while dodging pieces of falling debris.
Mayor Whitton and Paul Martin Sr. rushed to the scene as representatives of the City and the Department of External Affairs. After tense negotiations with the Russian Ambassador, the fire department was finally granted access. By this time, the fire had been burning intensely for over an hour and it was too late to save the building. It took almost six hours and the entire fire department to put it out.
The embassy was destroyed. Besides illustrating the tensions of the Cold War, for many people in Ottawa it was a lesson in the extra-territorial rights of embassies and their staff. The land that embassies are located on is technically considered the territory of that country. The only way the fire department could have forced their way in that night was if the fire posed a specific risk to Canadian life and property. Laws remain the same today.
Title/Description: Russian Embassy fire: aftermath. The fire at the Russian Embassy illustrated the tensions between North America and Russia during the Cold War. The Ottawa fire department was not allowed onto the Embassy grounds to put the fire out. Rather, the firefighters had to watch the building burn while the Russians removed furniture and documents.
Photographer: Unknown.
Date: January 2,1956.
Credit: Andrews-Newton Photographers Fonds / City of Ottawa Archives / MG393-AN-NP-040708-001.
Copyright: City of Ottawa Archives.
