Christine Whelan, FEO, August 20, 2026, Volume 7, Issue 25
As the sun rose on Monday, August 10, the town of Ridgeway woke to a heartbreaking sight. The building that has sat vacant on 576 Ridge Road N, once lovingly nicknamed “the biggest little high school in Ontario”, Ridgeway-Crystal Beach High School, had suffered yet another fire in the early hours of the morning.
At approximately 1:15 am, Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) 5 District (Fort Erie) uniformed officers responded to the fully engulfed building. Fort Erie firefighters from all four stations responded to the massive fire, working for approximately 16 hours to bring the flames under control, extinguishing hot spots and protecting the surrounding community.
According to a media release, Fort Erie’s firefighters, nearly all volunteers, worked through the night at the scene amid difficult and changing conditions. Many returned to their regular jobs that morning or took personal time to recover from the incident’s physical demands.
By the following day, the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) determined that the fire was arson. The NRPS 5 District Criminal Investigative Branch worked with the Fort Erie Fire Department to investigate the site.
“This was a significant and complex fire that required a coordinated response from all four of our stations. Our crews worked under challenging conditions for many hours and displayed the highest standards of professionalism throughout the response. We also recognize the impact an incident of this magnitude has beyond the fireground. It requires sacrifices from spouses, partners, children and loved ones who support our members while they serve our community. The dedication shown by our firefighters and the support they received from their families speaks to the exceptional people we have in our fire service. I am incredibly proud of how our crews performed. We cannot thank them enough.” Fire Chief Mark Schmitt
“Our firefighters demonstrated exceptional professionalism, commitment and dedication throughout an extremely challenging incident. On behalf of Council and the entire community, I want to express our sincere appreciation to every firefighter who responded and worked through the night to keep our community safe. Most of these individuals are volunteers; they left the scene and returned to their regular jobs only hours later. Their extraordinary efforts are a powerful reminder of the commitment our firefighters make to Fort Erie every day. Thank you!” Mayor Wayne Redekop
Demolition work was underway prior to the fire. Owner and developer Bryce Ivanchuk of 2846300 Ontario Inc. has plans for a residential subdivision featuring 36 single-detached homes and 28 semi-detached homes, alongside broader medium-density residential proposals.
The Building’s History and Heritage
In 1908, high school began in Ridgeway. For years, classes were held at the former Masonic Building on Ridge Road, taught by two teachers. In 1927, the School Trustees applied to the Township of Bertie for $132,000 to erect and furnish the Ridgeway-Crystal Beach High School.
It was built in 1927. Designed by the architectural firm SB Coon & Son of Toronto, it was constructed by Avery-Shipp Construction, also of Toronto, for a total cost of $96,000.
Ridgeway’s collective heart sighed with heaviness the day the doors closed to the high school curriculum in 2017.
Protecting an Endangered Designation
A small victory was achieved on January 22, 2018, when the school building was declared historically significant to the town. The official designation under the Ontario Heritage Act requires the developer to maintain the building’s original front exterior, or west facade, which faces the road.
On August 10, great care was taken to preserve the front façade wherever possible while ensuring the fire was fully extinguished and that fire crews could operate from safe positions. Given the structure’s compromised condition and deterioration, safety remained the primary consideration in all decisions. At the time of printing, the status of the façade is now uncertain.
The Biggest Little High School is Remembered
The former RCBHS has a long history in the Ridgeway and Crystal Beach communities.
As social media posts spread the word with horrific images of the school in flames that morning, subsequent posts began to appear — not so much photos as words. Of heartbreak. Of memories. Of mourning.
For Carrie White-McNeill, RCBHS was a major part of her family’s lives. She posted, “My dad spent the best years of his life teaching our town’s students English and Physical Education for 30+ years. His Phys. Ed. office was our family’s fun space when we were growing up.”
“There were years and years of watching his senior basketball team play. We knew all their names and maybe we would get a half piece of juicy fruit gum that he always had on their bench. My grandmother made warm up suits for the team and a cute devil costume for my little brother to wear one season. We grew up RCBHS Blue Devils.
“We will always be grateful for such a special time in our lives. Goodbye beautiful building.”
Lee Siegel, a RCBHS graduate who returned to the school and co-directed five theatre performances in the school’s auditorium, says he would rather have seen the building torn down than burned down. “The part that burned. A huge chunk of that was the theatre where I started my career journey.”
“What I learned in that little 250-seat auditorium, I would carry with me to Broadway, to three seasons at the Stratford Festival, and to multiple years at the dinner theatre in Niagara Falls.”
“I know they’re just walls, but those walls housed a young gay kid, who dreamt of doing theatre in a small town on a big scale. There were teachers and parents who believed in my dreams and ambitions, who supported my steps, and taught me many, many lessons.
“It was more than just a school. It’s hard to explain that to some, but I know there are many of our alumni who feel the same. This school meant a lot.”
Sarah Hart posted, along with photos of her daughter on the high school’s front stairs, exactly eight years before the fire, “This morning, our community woke up to the news that this building, and those stairs, had been heavily damaged by fire.”
“Some will say it’s just a building, and I suppose, technically, it is. But to me, RCBHS holds so many memories — the good, the bad and the ugly. And those stairs have always represented something a little bigger.”
“As a kid, I remember driving past them and looking up at what seemed like THE high school where all the big kids went. Then one day, we became those big kids. Those were the steps we stood on at graduation, surrounded by people who had been part of our everyday lives for years, some we may have never seen again.
“Then, years later, there was my little Mia, who never went to RCBHS herself. On August 10, 2018, I posted photos we had taken of her just days before, unknowingly giving us another little piece of that place to hold onto.”
“Now, eight years later, I’m looking at these photos very differently.
“Buildings change. Schools close. Land is repurposed. Fires happen. People grow up and scatter in a thousand directions. Yet somehow places like this become markers in our lives. Bricks and mortar that hold memories of who we were, who we became, and the people who were there along the way.”
“So yes, it’s a building, and they’re just stairs, but for generations of RCBHS students, they were our building and our stairs.”
Sarah wrapped up, “Perhaps the old school motto feels particularly fitting today. Per ardua ad astra. Through adversity to the stars.”
5 District Criminal Investigative Branch (CIB) has taken charge of the investigation, in cooperation with the Fort Erie Fire Department. Detectives are asking residents and businesses in the Ridge Road North area to review any video surveillance footage and contact police if anything suspicious is observed.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service at (905) 688-4111, option 3, extension 1009538.
Members of the community who wish to provide information anonymously can contact Crime Stoppers of Niagara online or by calling 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to people who contact the program with information that leads to an arrest.
