Peterborough resident Matthew Flagler, the great-grandson of one of the men who perished in the 1916 explosion and fire that destroyed the Quaker Oats plant in Peterborough, has written a new book about the disaster.
Held to the Fire tells the story of what happened through the eyes of those who experienced it, delving into the lives of key players against a backdrop that included the trepidation of World War I, daily life in Peterborough, and the excitement of the upcoming Christmas season.
On December 11, 1916, a massive explosion and subsequent fire levelled the Hunter Street plant, killing 22 workers (two more would later die as a result of their injuries). The fire burned for four days, resulting in over $2 million in damages.
While local historian Gord Young wrote a 2016 book called A Dark Day In Peterborough: A Time To Remember December 11, 1916 chronicling the disaster, its aftermath, and the many theories as to what caused the explosion, Flagler says he took a different approach with his book.
Although Flagler begins the book with a brief description of Peterborough’s history and how Quaker became a fixture in the city, the book then turns to a narrative format to tell the story in the words of members of the community.
“Readers bond to the main characters in a story over the mere objectivity of an event,” says Flagler in a media release. “That’s the real challenge of an author telling a story in a historical context. It’s the reason we struggle to connect with an event that happened so long ago. We care about people more so than events — and that’s a good thing.”
Born and raised in Peterborough, Flagler is the great-grandson of Dennis O’Brien, who was credited with saving the lives of several Quaker employees but who himself perished in the fire. His actions led O’Brien to be called a hero. Along with two other men, O’Brien’s remains were never recovered from the fire.
In 2016, 4th Line Theatre produced Maja Ardel’s The Hero of Hunter Street, a dramatization of the story of Dennis and Laura O’Brien and their family before and after the disaster that would claim his life. Ardel’s script was based in part on real-life stories passed down to longtime 4th Line volunteer Lorna Green by her grandfather George O’Brien, the son of the Dennis and Laura O’Brien.
As for his book, Flagler says Held to the Fire connects the present-day reader to the 1916 tragedy by capturing the essence of shared humanity “in a spirit of storytelling, unlike anything else written about the event.”
“This is a story about a fire, yes, but more so about resilience, courage, and bravery,” Flagler says. “The fire is something that happened that day, but the enduring message of hope and the human potential to leave one’s mark is the real story here. There was not one hero, but many. It is within the narratives of the legion of individuals who formed part of a larger community and stepped up in the face of adversity where we find the true story.”
Held to the Fire is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 1st in both print and ebook formats, and is available for pre-order now on Amazon and at independent book retailers.
For more information about the book, follow Flagler on Instagram and TikTok @author_matthewflagler.
