Each week Vancouver Is Awesome uncovers some unusual and (hopefully) interesting facts about the city. This week it takes on the Vancouver fire department.
1. The city burned down within weeks of establishing the first fire department
The Vancouver Volunteer Fire Brigade was established on May 28, 1886. Just 16 days later, the Great Fire swept through Vancouver, burning the city to the ground in 45 minutes. Volunteer Hose Company No. 1 didn’t stand a chance as it had no fire engine and was still waiting on equipment to be delivered from Ontario. The company had only axes and shovels to protect the city’s many lumber mills and wooden buildings.
2. Firefighters had no horses, so they had to pull early fire engines themselves
A week after the Great Fire, the city purchased its first fire engine from Ontario for $6,905. The volunteer men of Company No. 1 had to pull the rig by hand to the city’s fires. They fought their first fire with it on Aug. 12th at the Joseph Spratt Oil Refinery.
3. Firefighters started earning $15 a month in 1899
For 13 years, Vancouver’s firefighters worked as unpaid volunteers. At the time, only the fire chief and the equipment engineers received salaries. The VFD became a salaried department in September 1899 under Chief John Howe Carlisle. The VFD’s 22 men began receiving $15 a month for their services.
4. The first motorized fire engine wasn’t purchased until 1908
By 1911, the department was ranked third best in the world, just behind London and Leipzig Germany. In 1917, the department did away with horses and became Canada’s first completely motorized department. It was then recognized as the Vancouver Fire Department.
5. By the end of the war, most of the fire apparatus was old, unsafe and in need of replacement
In the next 15 years, more than 25 new, modern apparatus were purchased and, through the 1960’s and 1970’s, many more were replaced, reasserting Vancouver’s fire department as one of the best in the world.
To learn more about the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, visit vffhs.com, vancouverhistory.ca and Alex Matche’s book, “It Began With a Ronald.”
