Narrow Results By
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15206
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.27
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15207
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.28
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15209
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.29
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947
Images
Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15203
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.24
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15204
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.25
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15205
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.26
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Frederick Thrussell and Peter Byrne
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription36471
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1893 (date of original)
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 8.5 cm print
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Frederick Thrussell in a three-piece suit and hat, standing in front of a large stump. A small dog stands in front of him, and a crosscut saw is to his left, propped up vertically against the stump. Peter Byrne stands on a spring board protruding from the stump, and holds on to the en…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1893 (date of original)
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Thrussell family subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 8.5 cm print
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 275-002
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1992-05
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Frederick Thrussell in a three-piece suit and hat, standing in front of a large stump. A small dog stands in front of him, and a crosscut saw is to his left, propped up vertically against the stump. Peter Byrne stands on a spring board protruding from the stump, and holds on to the end of a second crosscut saw. On the other side of the stump, a man balances on a second spring board while holding on to the opposite end of the horizontal crosscut saw with this right hand. Peter Byrne went on to serve as a member of Council from 1894 to 1895 and from 1898 to 1906, and was Reeve of Burnaby from 1906 to 1910.
- Subjects
- Occupations - Lumberjacks
- Officials - Mayors and Reeves
- Industries - Forestry
- Woodworking Tools and Equipment
- Animals - Dogs
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
![Frederick Thrussell and Peter Byrne by a fallen tree, [1893] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/316/316-010.jpg?width=280)
Frederick Thrussell and Peter Byrne by a fallen tree
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription37104
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1893]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 15 x 10 cm print
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Frederick Thrussell, unidentified, and Peter Byrne standing in front of a large fallen tree. A crosscut saw is propped up vertically against the end of the felled tree. Peter Byrne was Reeve of Burnaby from 1906 to 1910. Earlier, he also served as a member of Council from 1894 to 1895…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1893]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Byrne family subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 15 x 10 cm print
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 316-010
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1995-04
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Frederick Thrussell, unidentified, and Peter Byrne standing in front of a large fallen tree. A crosscut saw is propped up vertically against the end of the felled tree. Peter Byrne was Reeve of Burnaby from 1906 to 1910. Earlier, he also served as a member of Council from 1894 to 1895 and from 1898 to 1906.
- Subjects
- Occupations - Lumberjacks
- Officials - Mayors and Reeves
- Industries - Forestry
- Woodworking Tools and Equipment
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
![Frederick Thrussell and Peter Byrne by a fallen tree, [1893] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/316/316-010.jpg)