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History of the Pickering Fire Services
In the spring of 1952, Mr. Don Lynde was invited to head up the volunteer fire corps. Four years later a full-time department of two men was started; Don Lynde as Fire Chief and Mr. Jim Glendinning as Deputy Chief. Don Lynde would eventually serve 32 years as Pickering Fire Chief. In 1952 Chief Lynde had 20 volunteer firefighters to respond to alarms. Brougham had one truck that was operated by the Brougham Citizens League and the Town Police operated Claremont. Two new fire trucks were purchased shortly after. Two main events occurred between 1952-54: In 1952 the Tee-Pee Drive-In Theatre burned on Liverpool Road and in 1954 Hurricane Hazel struck Pickering causing flooding of the Rouge Valley and Duffins Creek. A number of people were rescued by firefighters off the rooftops of their homes. By the 1960's and 1970's the department continued to grow. As well as the quantset hut (Station #1) located on Kingston Road at Rosebank, a new station was built in 1970 on Bayly Street. In 1974 the first full-time dispatchers were hired and a Fire Prevention Officer was named, Captain Ron Morgan. Volunteers were summoned to alarms by a siren located at Station #1 and by "Plectrons" which was a fairly large black monitor that was placed in their homes. Volunteers not lucky enough to have a plectron depended on their wives phoning each other to notify them of the alarms. In the 1970's at least 3 firefighters were stationed at the Bayly Street Fire Station and 2 firefighters at the Kingston Road Station. If short staffed, one firefighter would respond out of Station #1 on Kingston Road. He would have to gather the alarm information, respond in the fire truck, speak on the radio for updated information, and upon arrival at the emergency possibly pull hose off the truck, put it in pump and then begin fighting the fire by themselves, until more volunteers arrived to assist. Most alarms in those days were structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and grass fires. Some spring weekends, the volunteers spent the whole weekend responding continuously all day and night to grass fires. Training took place every Thursday afternoon and evening for two hours for the volunteers. It consisted of the basics: hose evolutions, ladder climbing, ropes and knots, breathing apparatus and pumping. As well vacant houses were obtained and used for live firefighting training and at the end of the training schedule the house was burned to the ground. In the 1970's self-contained breathing apparatus was beginning to be recognized by the department as mandatory use at fire scenes. This was a major step taken to assist in preventing health and safety issues. Unfortunately, the original breathing apparatus was not positively pressurized so smoke usually made it's way into the mask if it wasn't perfectly airtight on the firefighter's face. In 1984 Chief Steve Stewart replaced a retiring Chief Lynde and would serve in that capacity for 9 years. Mr. Rick Pearsall became Deputy Chief and Captain Harry Gordon became the new Training Officer. In 1993 Chief Stewart left to take over as Chief for the City of York and Deputy Chief Pearsall replaced him. Captain Bill Douglas who had taken over in 1985 as Training Officer, because of the sudden death of Harry Gordon, was promoted to Deputy Chief. In January of 2001, Chief Pearsall passed away and Deputy Chief Douglas became Fire Chief. Training Officer Mark Diotte who had replaced Deputy Douglas as Training Officer was promoted to Deputy Chief. Today, Pickering Fire Services has a staff of 76 full-time firefighters and another 26 part-time firefighters. Fire Prevention has a staff of five and there are two Training Officers. There are an additional four dispatchers and an administrative staff of four. Medical alarms now make up 38% of the total alarms responded to. In 2001, Pickering Fire Services responded to a total of 3159 alarms, which included 49 structure fires. Pickering Fire Services Training Section continues to direct basic training schedules to Suppression staff but has placed itself as a leader in Emergency Medical Responder Services. State of the art fire apparatus and firefighting equipment and turn-out gear ensure firefighting staff have the tools to provide an exceptional emergency service. Fire Prevention Staff provide inspections, fire investigations, plan examinations, respond to complaints and provide an on-going public education program. Pickering Fire Services celebrated our 50th Anniversary on June 17, 2002 during a presentation at City Hall. Pickering Fire Services is proud of their history of protecting the lives and property of the citizens of Pickering, and will continue to provide the professionalism and dedication that those firefighters before us exemplified. W. T. Douglas |
