1885-03-03 Fire at the Kennys

It was a cold March night in 1885 when the quiet of a Hamilton neighborhood was shattered :

“About 12:30 o’clock last night, a man enveloped in a sheet of flame burst out of a small house, on Ferguson avenue near King William street, threw himself on the icy ground and filled the midnight air with his shrieks and groans.”¹

¹         “John Kenny’s Household : Broken Up by the Explosion of a Lamp”

Hamilton Spectator   March 3, 1885.

John Kenny was employed as a mason’s helper and he lived the small house with his wife and two children.

It was later learned that Kenny, while carrying a lamp had simply going down a flight of stairs in his home. The lamp exploded in his hand, and the resultant flames spread quickly spread to his clothing, and to the wooden stairs.

As Kenny rolled around on the icy ground, a neighbour came to his assistance:

“A poor widow named Mrs. Wilson, who lives in the adjoining house, was awakened by this noise, and rushing outdoors in her night dress, alarmed the neighbours.

Smoke and flame were issuing from the house, but Mrs. Wilson ran inside and aroused Mrs. Kenny, who, with her two children, was in bed.” ¹

In a strange turn of events, it was discovered that Mrs. Kenny was totally intoxicated and it was with great difficulty that she was awakened and led for the house.

A couple of Kenny’s  neighbours came out of their homes and assisted him while another ran to the corner of Rebecca and Ferguson where alarm box 45 was located and activated.

The Hamilton fire department central station was relatively close and the reels were on the scene promptly and the fire on the stairs was extinguished within minutes.

Rather than being appreciative of being rescued from a deadly situation, Mrs. Kenny reacted rather in a rather bizarre manner :

“Mrs. Kenny was indignant at the unwonted disturbance of her repose, and vented her indignation, not only in words, but in blows also. She assaulted Chief Aitchison, who was obliged to hold her temporarily in his huge embrace until the arrival of the patrol wagon, into which Mrs. Kenny was lifted and driven to the police station. “¹

As for Mr. Kenny he was also transported away, but not to the police station:

“He was taken to the city hospital. He is badly burned on the left side of his body and on his left leg and arm. His sufferings were pitiful to witness last night, but Dr. Cochrane thinks that his injuries are not necessarily dangerous.”¹

Mrs. Wilson figured again in the incident, as she volunteered to shelter to two Kenny children overnight.

The Spectator reporter then spoke to several of those living near the Kenny house:

“The neighbors say that the Kennys have been drinking heavily of late, and have frequently alarmed the neighbourhood with their quarrels.

Last night, they were particularly quarrelsome between 10 o’clock and midnight. Mrs. Kenny is well-known to the police as a drinker, and has appeared at the police court on the charge of drunkenness. She and her husband have separated a number of times.”¹