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History |
The original members of the Cherry Creek Fire Dept. came together
and started their training in 1961. The members where trained initially by
the Port Alberni Volunteer Fire Dept. and received their certificates from
the B.C. Fire Marshalls office. In early 1963 the members received their
first aid training. The dept. had its first call on July 27 1962.
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Photo shows Personel from the Department with the Ford Pumper.
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The next call came on August 25 1962 in response to a grass fire. The hall
had two trucks at that time a 1941 Ford Pumper which was purchased from the
City of Port Alberni and a 1962 American LaFrance. The LaFrance was the first
brand new fire truck in the Valley and was driven back from the plant by two
members of the dept.
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Call outs were initiated by the Port Alberni Fire dept. by activating the
siren on top of the hall. The rest of the members were contacted by phone.
After the first truck left the next arriving member would continue to phone
the remaining members.
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Photo shows the first Fire Truck in front of the Fire Hall
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The pager system that we employ today was not available in the early years.
The station had only four sets of turn out gear, so it was first come first
serve, many members attended calls dressed as they were. |
Charlie Haggard was the first Chief of the Cherry Creek Fire Dept. and maintained
this position until he stepped down in 1965. He was followed by: John Patterson
12yrs., Tony Matten 6yrs., John Gaetz 5yrs., Gordon Porter 11yrs., Gene Jeffery
5yrs., and presently Mike Sparrow. The dept. services the district with four
pieces of apparatus: # 31 1984 International Pumper, #33 1997 Freightliner
Pumper, #32 personnel carrier and #34 Freightliner Tanker truck.
The dept. currently has 30 active members which is the maximum allowed by
our constitution. In recent years the dept. has also taken on the role of
first responder in to be of further service to the Cherry Creek community.
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