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REPORT OF FIRE MARSHAL ON LARGE LOSS FIRE ROSSEAU LAKE SCHOOL, Owner and Occupant; Incorporated Village of Rosseau, District Municipality of Parry Sound, Ontario. January 30. 1973. At 4:25 p.m. Estimated loss - $725,000 DESCRIPTION OF PREMISES: The Rosseau Lake School opened some six years ago and is privately owned and occupied as a secondary school, boys only, having a staff of 12 teachers and some maintenance staff, plus 88 students. The school occupies a 48-acre site, bounded by Highway 532, McCarthy Street, Parkway Street and Bright Street, and includes a number of buildings of which the main one had originally been built about 1910 as a summer residence for a prominent family. It is this latter building which is the topic of this report. The main building was two storeys with a partial basement and an attic which was not subdivided. The building was of irregular shape, with approximately 20,000 square feet of area in each of the two storeys. The foundation was of stone and the upper walls and some of the interior partitions were of clay tile. The exterior wall finish was stucco or cement, while the interior finish was wood lath and plaster in the second storey and partly wood lath and plaster and partly wood panelling in the first storey. The sloping attic walls had an interior finish of wood planking or panelling. The roof was partly asphalt-shingled and partly sheet metal on wood frame. The first storey contained a lounge, library, dining-room and some other rooms. The second floor served as a sleeping area for 20 of the boys and also contained the Infirmary. The stairways were not enclosed. Thus, with a largely combustible interior, open stairways, and an undivided attic separated only by a wooden door from the storage below, the entire building was one large fire area. There were a number of chimneys and fireplaces; however, the fireplaces were rarely used and the building was heated by means of an oil-fired steam boiler in the basement. The wooden roof rafters were framed into the chimneys, including the chimney to which the boiler was connected. The fuel for cooking was pro-pane. The building was equipped with a manual (non-electric) fire alarm system, and at least a half-dozen fire extinguishers. A special room was designated as a smoking area for the students. HISTORY OF FIRE: The fire was discovered by a female employee who, upon leaving the building in question, observed smoke coming from the roof area. There were three male students on the second floor of the building at the time the fire was discovered and one stated that it was only after he heard a person yell, "Fire", that he was aware something was wrong and he immediately ran outside. A second stu-dent stated that he was in the washroom on the second floor, directly