On the night of Thursday, 12 July 1855, S.B. Howes' "Star Troupe Menagerie & Circus" clowns, and "Hook and Ladder Firefighting Company" volunteers patronized the bordello of Mary Ann Armstrong on King Street near Jarvis street, a fight got started, with the firefighters retreating. The next day, Friday, 13 July 1855, a crowd gathered at the Fair Green, a grassy space on the waterfront where the Circus had pitched their tents (Now, south-east corner of Front & Berkeley), threw stones and insults, and demanded that Meyers be handed over. Circus wagons were burned, the fire bell was rung, yet when "Hook and Ladder Firefighting Company" arrived, they joined the riot. The militia later arrived, called in by the mayor, and diffused the riot. After public outrage at the police failure to prosecute, an inquiry and an election led to mass firings and selective rehirings in 1859.