From Manpower to Horsepower
The 1920's
Fairbank Volunteer Fire Brigade
Reel #5
The resourceful volunteers in the late teens and early twenties worked together to improve the efficiency of their brigades. The Fairbank volunteers adapted an old wagon to hold hose, ladders and equipment. With the help of a couple of borrowed horses, the equipment could make it to the scene and leave the men with enough energy to fight the fire.
From left to right, the fire fighters are C. Forsey, H. Skerratt, J. Gebbie, Captain M. Wood, Deputy Chief T. Hickey, Lieutenant C. Iddison, H. French, J. Wright, W. Cox and Driver T. Hickey Jr.
Mt. Dennis Fire Department's First Motorized Pumper
1925Motorized apparatus came in the mid 1920's. In Silverthorn District, the firemen bought an old REO chassis and built their own truck to carry hose and a ladder.
This vehicle is shown in front of the Mt. Dennis (Hollis) Fire Hall in the picture above.
York Fire Fighter Rob Delo found out that our original YTFD vehicle is alive and well. Apparently, the original REO fire truck was obtained by a clown in the Hamilton area. He must have owned it for quite some time. The Kilbride Volunteer Fire Department (a volunteer department in an affluent area in north Burlington) bought the vehicle to restore it. As they stripped the white paint from the body, they discovered the "York Township" lettering. Friends of Rob's asked if he could find out more about the truck's history. Today, York's first motorized apparatus looks like this...
By 1928, the Amalgamated Fire Districts of York Township proudly boasted this fleet of motorized fire apparatus.
York Township Fire Brigade - 1928