Fire!

In 1682, Quebec City's Lower Town experienced a fire that destroyed 55 of the 56 homes located there.
In 1721, a fire ravaged through Montreal, destroying 138 buildings. 
In between these years, numerous smaller fires (the majority of which were accidental in nature) destroyed homes all along the St. Lawrence River. In 1727, the French Government decided to do something about it. 

Fire at the Ursuline convent, Québec
Painting
Artist unknown, date unknown , Library and Archives Canada, C-117818

In 1727 Claude-Thomas Dupuy, the Intendant of New France, officially issued one of the most comprehensive building codes ever to be given to the French people of the St. Lawrence valley.  Void of any mention of the seemingly larger issues of defence or trade, it dealt very simply and precisely with issues regarding the urban homes of ordinary people living in the main centres of Quebec, Trois Rivieres, and Montreal. This Building Code issued on June 7th, 1727 was a direct response to the increasing threat and instance of fires throughout these urban centres where timber was the preferred material for domestic building.  Timber construction techniques had increased the instances of fire, and were exacerbated by the affordability and availability of wood in the colonies. The common use of colombage and wood-framed mansard-style roofs covered in cedar shingles, paired with densely packed urban spaces, was proving to be a deadly mix.

Dupuy decreed that homes should be two storeys tall and include a cellar, the main floor must be 12 feet high, and that the basement must remain below ground level. The use of wood as a building material within the main structure of the home was outlawed as long as a stone alternative could be used (for example stone lintels).  The issues surrounding the roofs of houses were not left to any individual interpretation, but were also dictated in great detail.  Cedar and wood shingles were forbidden, and slate and tile shingles were to take their place.  Roofs were to form an “equilateral triangle based on the width of the house” and attics were to be floored with terra cotta tiles for added protection. This reinstated the non-tolerance of the mansard style, as well as made it easier to legislate the necessity of ladders on roof slopes for firemen (security) and sweeps (maintenance of chimneys).

Joseph Légaré,
The Fire in the Saint-Jean Quarter, Seen Looking Westward
1848, oil on canvas, 151.1 x 220.3 cm

If we fast forward to the future, however, we can see through the vivid canvas of Joseph Legare, that the French Government could not counter the occurrence of fires forever. In 1848, Quebec City experienced not one, but two fires - the second of which destroyed the entirety of the Saint Jean Quarter. Amid the flames one can see some of the architectural elements imposed on the city by Dupuy: the tall homes, lowered cellars, tall chimneys and stone gables, and of course the triangular roofs. You can see this massive piece in person at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

Joseph Légaré,
Fire in the Saint-Roch neighbourhood, viewed from Côte-à-Coton looking west , 1845-1848
Oil on canvas, 271.2 x 198.0 cm

Joseph Legare is considered to be Canada's first landscape artist, and is known for his depictions of terrible events such as the 1848 fire, as well as the city's cholera epidemics. Legare was a great supporter of the arts in Lower Canada (Quebec), and after 1845 became a proponent for the creation of a national gallery. You can read more about him at the Canadian Encyclopedia, and the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.