Historic New Brunswick lighthouse destroyed by overnight fire

Wilson said by the time officials arrived on scene, the Canadian Coast Guard-owned lighthouse — a white four-sided tapered structure with a red top — had collapsed.

“They tried to get some pumps brought in, but by the time they got everything in, the structure fell in on itself,” said Wilson. “So at that point their attention turned to protecting the wooded area.”

He said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The federal Fisheries Department said the lighthouse was an active navigational aid. It said the coast guard has issued a notice to mariners notifying them of the outage.

The website lighthousefriends.com says the Swift Point lighthouse — also known as the Green Head lighthouse — was one of six beacons erected in 1869 along the Saint John River between Fredericton and Saint John.

It says the lighthouse works in tandem with the Sand Point lighthouse to guide vessels along the Saint John River and navigate the narrow entrance to the Reversing Falls, caused by the powerful tides of the Bay of Fundy.

The website says the lighthouse caught fire in 1872, forcing the suspension of the light for a few nights.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly identified the Saint John neighbourhood where the fire occurred as Green Bay.

by Canadian Press

Historic New Brunswick lighthouse destroyed by overnight fire

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