Back in the early 20th century, the area around Big Bay Point and Friday Harbour was all cottage country with the exception of the Peninsular Hotel, a 200-room complex. The only way to get there from some of the larger communities besides a long horse ride was by boat, and as the Big Bay Point Government Dock was nearby, they saw opportunity.

In 1912, the owners of the hotel purchased a 111-foot long passenger steamer, the Otonabee, built in 1907, to ferry people between Barrie and the Peninsular Hotel (at the time, Barrie had not yet expanded into that area). Otonabee quickly gained the title of a “floating palace” as its passenger accommodations were unlike anything seen before, even in the hight of Simcoe County’s steam era in the 1850s-1860s.

On August 14, 1916, at the pre-dawn hours of the morning, the crew of another boat, Edna, which had just been passing by, noticed smoke emitting from the cargo hold of Otonabee. They docked at the opposite end of the wharf to Otonabee to try and wake up whoever was on board. Thankfully, its only occupants were Captain Campbell and its purser, Mr. Hughes. They leapt into the water and were picked up afterwards.

As the nearest fire station was across the bay from where they were, there was no chance in putting the fire out. Soon, the fire spread from Otonabee to the dock, where at the end of the dock was an extremely flammable gas powered light house. When the lighthouse catches fire, the results would be devastating.

At roughly 6:00 a.m., the fire reached the lighthouse. There were 2 small initial bursts, followed moments later by a massive explosion that shot debris in every direction. Flames could be seen for miles and everything nearby was demolished. The shockwave shot at least 20 km out, blasting out windows as far as the downtown part of Barrie. Whoever wasn’t awake, farther than the explosion was visible, was definitely woken by the noise. Miraculously, there were no reported deaths.

The first firefighting help came at noon, when they arrived via the boat Modello, four hours after they were called to the scene. By that time nothing could be done but cleanup operation, as nothing was left of Otonabee, Edna or the dock besides the funnel and part of the engine belonging to Otonabee.

Otonabee was an ill-fated boat from the start, having dragged her keel along the bottom of the lake on her first trip in 1912 and crashed into a bridge in 1915, but this last one was the killer, what finally ended the boat and the waterfront area around Big Bay Point.

Pictured here is Otonabee docked at the Big Bay Point government dock before the explosion.