Five preschool children were being fed in the dining room of the orphanage when the fire was discovered. The house was quickly cleared by the Sisters and the children were safely outside when the Fire Department arrived. Mrs. Stuart McDougall, a neighbor, took the five little ones into her home. Representatives of the Children’s Aid Society arrived to pick up the older children who had been in school and took them to the Salvation Army Citadel until their relatives could come for them. Following the fire, the orphanage site was expropriated by the city so that the “new” Post Office could be built on the site. In 1994 the Post Office was renovated and now serves as the Cornwall Public Library. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but it was thought to have been due to faulty electrical wiring.