Ordinance by Gilles Hocquart for the prevention of fires, 12 July 1734.

12 July 1734
Police
for the prevention
of Fires
Gilles hocquart
As presented to us by Sieur Michel, Commissaire de la Marine,

our sub-delegate, and the police officers of This city; in order to prevent the incidence of fire, to which This city has up until now been subject, it is necessary to add new preventative methods to Those already prescribed, both by the Conseil superieur and by the ordinances of Messieurs Raudot and Begon, former Intendants here in this Country; We were presented with the said Regulations and ordinances, and having conferred with M. Le Marquis de Beauharnois, Governor and Lieutenant general, M. de Beaucours governor of This city, the Said Sieurs Michel, the said police officers and Malhot, representative of the merchants, We have ordained the following:

The following will be produced immediately: Two hundred and eighty buckets of which eighty will be of Leather as per the model, and the others of wood, One Hundred axes, one hundred shovels, twenty-four metal hooks or other Types of hooks with handles and equipped with Chains or Roping for the removal of Rafters and other wooden sections on fire, Twelve long Ladders, four twenty-five footers, Four twenty footers, and four fifteen footers, and twelve hand-held battering Rams All marked with a fleur de Lys.

All the above tools and implements will be distributed equally among the four sectors of This city as a means to deal more promptly with fire

mishaps, namely at the Jesuits, the guard area, the seminary of St Sulpice, and the Recolets, who will be visited every fifteen days by the person assigned for this Purpose. We recommend, beyond This measure, that Messieurs The Ecclesiastics of the said seminary, the RR. PP. [Reverendus Pater, meaning Reverend Fathers] Jesuits and the RR. PP. Recolets, oversee their Keeping, and give notification of repairs required.

In the event of fire the said Tools and implements will be supplied to the authorized Persons who will request them and then have them distributed in an orderly way to the inhabitants or soldiers in charge of extinguishing the fire.

As the Precautions that we are taking in producing fire implements may not suffice at times in terms of the number Needed, and must only be considered As an increased precaution, We call on the inhabitants of This city to bring with Them an axe and a Bucket or Pail when fighting a fire. We order them to do so under penalty of a fine of three Livres And having been informed that one of the excuses of those who did not carry any in the last Fires was that others had either taken or stolen them; we, aware of the importance of the

Issue and of public safety, forbid all persons from taking either directly or indirectly, both the public implements and those generously provided by individuals, under penalty of a Fifty livres fine, and of being subjected to the Yoke; we Enjoin those who will make use of the said implements, to return them to the rightful owners within at least twenty-four hours after the fire has been extinguished, and Those of the king, to the king’s store, and in the event that the owner of the said implements is unknown, to return them as well to the king’s store to be returned to those who claim them.

Fire mishaps frequently occurring due to the failure of individuals to have their chimneys swept, We ordain that the regulations put into place on this issue be Executed; under penalty of a three livres fine against those in default, and of a ten Livres fine against those whose chimney is set aflame.

Fifteen Days following the publication of the present ordinance, all property owners in This city will be required to have at each Chimney of their house a Ladder, under penalty of a six Livres fine; they will

also be required under the same penalty to insert openings or Hatchways next to the Chimneys in the said houses and, as well, short Ladders to climb up to them.

We have recognised the usefulness of hand-held battering rams to demolish and tear down roofs that are afire; we Enjoin all Owners or Lessees to store two of them in their attics of an adequate length to attend to their houses, under the same penalty of a six livres fine.

Carpenters, masons and Roofers being the most essential workers in the event of a fire, we have been shown that if they were divided into two Squads, under the command of two chiefs for each squad, they would be much more useful, because they would be sent in orderly fashion to crucial Locations. We ordain that Sieur Lieutenant genéral of This city, shall establish a Roll of the said workers who will be divided into two Squads, under the command of two Master workers named by him for each one, with whom They will go as a group to the Location of the fire, to execute and have executed the orders given to them by the police officers; we order the said workers, under penalty of a six livres fine to be the first at the scene of the fire and to Listen to and take command from Those who will be

charged with giving orders.

All fines specified in our present ordinance will be payable without exception and applied to the maintenance of the public buckets and implements, and to this Effect, the funds shall be remitted to the bailiff of the jurisdiction and an Account kept of them, following orders given to him by the said Sieur Lieutenant general.

Moreover, the Regulations and ordinances of the police previously rendered, both by the Conseil Superieur and by our predecessors, will be executed in form and content. We mandate Sieur Lieutenant general and all officers required to do so, to Execute to the letter the present, which will be recorded at the registry of the Jurisdiction of This city, Read, published and posted in the customary manner.

Done at Montréal, July twelve 1734.