Halifax Explosion lessons felt 100 years on

Disaster that killed or injured 11,000 led to safety changes, wider Red Cross mandate

HALIFAX— Sombre ceremonies will be held across Halifax on Wednesday to mark 100 years since the port city was devastated by a wartime blast that killed or injured about 11,000 people.

The catastrophe, known as the Halifax Explosion, remains the worst human-made disaster in Canadian history.

Reflecting on the tragedy, York University professor Jack Rozdilsky said it’s important to remember what happened that terrible day, even though it may seem like it was too long ago to learn any lessons.

“Accidents can happen and accidents will happen, despite our new technology and modifications of ways of doing things,” said the pro- fessor, an expert in emergency and disaster planning. “We still engage in activities that represent a danger to us.”

The explosion on Dec. 6, 1917 — caused by the collision of two ships, one of them laden with high explosives, in the harbour — represents a reminder that large-scale calamities are not restricted to faraway places.

“It provides for us an important reflection on risk,” Rozdilsky said.

Many safety-related changes were made after the Halifax Explosion, including new rules for storage of hazardous materials and harbour navigation.

There is an important, larger legacy beyond those measures. The disaster, which left hundreds of people blinded by flying glass, played a crucial role in the founding of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

As well, it marked a major turning point for the Canadian Red Cross, which until then had no significant experience with major civic disas- ters. In 1919, the organization broadened its mandate from wartime relief to formally include peacetime disaster response and medical emergencies.

Rozdilsky said the disaster also prompted construction of Canada’s first public housing project. The Hydrostone rose from the ashes of what remained of the devastated Richmond neighbourhood in Halifax’s north end. Spread over 10 city blocks, it features 324 sturdy dwellings made of a type of fireproof concrete.

“We see the Hydrostone district now as being one of the more unique places in Halifax — a very pleasant place to live,” he said.

On Wednesday, a Halifax Explosion commemoration ceremony will be held in Fort Needham Memorial Park, not far from the spot in Halifax harbour where the French munitions ship SS Mont-Blanc blew up, levelling much of the city’s north end and a Mi’kmaq village on the other side of the harbour.