Showing 3242 results

Tornado Hits Bradford

Bradford - A tornado smashed through Bradford yesterday at around 3:30p.m., causing considerable damage. There were no reports of injuries. Fletcher St. was the hardest area hit, with residents reporting shingles torn off roods, trees uprooted, windows smashed, small sheds torn to pieces and fibreglass insulation spread everywhere. Part of the roof of the Fletcher St. home of Bradford doctor Larry Barcza was ripped off. Stanley and Muriel Cairns were driving to their home at the corner of Scanlon Ave. and Colburne St. when the twister struck. "There was a great ball of flames," Mr. Cairns said. It was later found that they saw an optical illusion caused by the wind ripping off red fibreglass roofing insulation. Mrs. Cairns added "When we were coming down the road we could see debris flying through the air."
The couple, who moved into their house six years ago, lost their back patio. Mrs. Cairns said the sound of the storm was "terrible - just like a roar." She said she'd never seen such a storm, and added "you wouldn't want to, either." Just down the street form the Cairns on John St., Luis Moniz didn't see the storm, but he felt it. He was inside his house when the tornado hit and told reporters he could feel the velocity of the winds. At Fred C. Cook Public School there were a few children playing on the school grounds just before the twister struck. A workman at the school, Robert Laraby, told The Witness the doors of the school couldn't be closed because of the force of the wind. he said the lights went out and a picnic table outside was blown away. "The kids were getting extremely nervous." He said the tornado lasted about two to three minutes. Desmond Paul Smith was on his way home to his Holland St. apartment when it struck. He was heading north through the main intersection when he saw "stuff going up in the air and a big bolt of lightning. It knocked lines out and I saw flames from the hydro poles."
He said he saw branches as long as 6 ft. going 300 ft into the air, and saw huge trees knocked over with their roots exposed. Mr. Smith said he warned a man on the street that there was a tornado coming and the man didn't believe him. "Then he looked behind him and started to run." The Bradford man also saw the 20-ft. hole in the roof of International Fruit Distributors and said staff there showed him a huge tractor trailer which had been lifted several feet to a new resting place by the force of the winds. Traffic lights at the main intersection were knocked out and power was blacked out in several areas around town. Power was restored in some areas at 6 p.m.
Hail the size of mothballs also swept through the town. By press time damage estimates were unavailable. Shocked resident toured Fletcher St. to view the worst of the damage. Bradford police reported numerous minor car accidents, and the Bradford Fire Department was kept busy responding to calls about downed power lines. Minutes after the tornado struck, an official of the weather office at Toronto International airport confirmed that tornado warnings had been issued for a large area of southern Ontario. It appears Bradford was the hardest hit area. The Witness office on Dissette St. was also blacked out by the tornado, and staff put together the final pages of this edition with manual equipment by candlelight. Our thanks to Newmarket photo lab for the use of their facilities.

Debris from the tornado that hit Bradford is scattered over back yards in the hard-hit Fletcher St. area. Pictured here is debris pulled out of Dr. Barcza's swimming pool.

"Life ended suddenly on Monday afternoon for a 12-year-old Holland Marsh girl who went swimming in the Holland River. Betty Lowder, R.R.2, Newmarket, was swimming under the bridge at the intersection of No. 3 Concession and the Graham sideroad with her brothers and sisters, when she submerged in the middle of the murky river in about eight feet of water. There were no adults present..."

"The branch of the Boyne River which crosses the road into Beeton, west of No. 27 Highway, was, like all other streams of the district, swollen to danger proportions last Friday night and at this point a terrific toll in lives was taken. Five bodies have been recovered and some neighbours fear that there may be more. ..."

"John Paulov killed when struck by southbound motor about 8 O'clock Saturday Night" ...

Newspaper article dated 1889 from the South Simcoe News, describing the disappearance and drowning death of William Sutherland, son of Alexander and Elizabeth Sutherland.

"Excessive Speed is Cause of Fatal Accident on Highway 11
William J. Lees, 28, of 612 Harvie Ave., Toronto, was instantly killed late Saturday afternoon when the car he was driving swerved off the highway south of Mr. Clarence Wood's gateway, snapped off a Hydro pole in the ditch, and threw the driver partly out of the right window..."

"Occurrences investigated by the officers of the Bradford OPP during the week included 11 traffic accidents in which one person was killed and six persons were injured.
On the morning of Nov. 1, Nancy Thedoru of Toronto was killed when the car driven by her husband George was involved in a collision with a pick up truck driven by Frank Anzil of Klienburg. Mr. Anzil's wife Tina was a passenger in the truck. Mr. Theodoru remains at Sunnybrook Medical Centre.
Mr. Anzil is in intensive care in stable condition at York County Hospital. His wife has been transferred to St. Michael's Hospital.
OPP are still investigating the accident, which occurred at Highways 11 and 89, near Gilford. No charges have been laid as yet.
Bradford OPP investigated 42 occurrences during the week, including two drivers charged with excess alcohol. Also, five liquor related charges were laid."

"Paul Paxton, 29, of Newmarket, and brother of Leo. Paxton of Dunkerron and Mrs. William Moriarty, is in Peel Memorial Hospital, Brampton, in critical condition with head injuries, suffered in a triple crash at a bridge on Highway 50 near Woodhill, in the Bolton district, on Thursday of last week." ...

"Miss Alida Hill, of 160 Macphedson Ave., Toronto, was critically injured in an auto accident Saturday afternoon when the car in which she was a passenger failed to negotiate the curve at the foot of Holland Landing hill, climbed an embankment and then rolled on the shoulder of the road. The driver of the car, Miss Dora Pepler, 19 Kendall Ave., Toronto, escaped injuries. The injured woman was removed to York County Hospital, Newmarket, where it was found necessary to amputate her right arm. She also suffered from shock. The car is badly wrecked."