During an exceptionally dry summer in 1910, more than 3,000,000 acres of timber in this area burned. A gigantic fire storm on August 20 caused unprecedented damage. Smoke from the fire blackened skies in Montreal and London and interfered with North Atlantic navigation. Strenuous efforts saved most of Wallace from the flames, but 85 fire fighters died, mostly in other areas. Edward Pulaski's heroic measures to save his crew in a nearby mine tunnel became a forest legend recounted in Wallace's mining museum at 509 Bank Street.