No matter how the the message "Fire, Fire" was conveyed whether by bell, yell or fire alarm, it has always been a cause for alarm, and the Chapleau Volunteer Fire Department has responded, Margaret Costello wrote in the Sudbury Star in 1965.
"From the time it was founded officially May 25, 1910, Chapleau's volunteer fire brigade has been trained to a dither and within minutes is at scene and in action.
As an aside I was impressed with Maggie's word choice of "dither"!!!
Maggie noted that Chapleau founded in 1885 when the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived, the community, surrounded by bush, was fire conscious even before the fire department was officially established.
D.O. Payette who arrived in Chapleau circa 1904 noted that the first "primitive equipment" was a fire reel with 500 feet of hose and a hand pumper.
However, by 1910 with the arrival of a water system and the construction of a fire hall on Pine Street, the fire brigade was officially established with about 20 members. Chapleau had been incorporated as a municipality in 1901 with G.B. Nicholson who served as its first reeve until the end of 1913.
J.B. Dexter was appointed as the first fire chief.
Mr. Dexter served as chief until 1935 when he retired and was succeeded by Mr. Payette who served until 1946 when George Collinson took over until 1958. Adam Andrews became chief.
The first alarm system was the CPR siren.
After the fire hall was built, with the town jail in the basement, the fire department members also built a club room where they held regular meetings and worked on the latest methods and procedures. Fire prevention was a large part of its program.
Maggie wrote that in its first 55 years as an organized fire brigade it had "kept in step" with the ever growing needs of an expanding community incorporating new approaches. It gained a reputation as one of the best volunteer fire brigades and won awards.
In 1958, the call box fire alarm system at various street corners throughout the community was replaced with a telephone system located at the pump house, which Maggie called a "Chapleau first" as at the time it was the only community in Northern Ontario with this system.
It was first tested by Reeve Leo Racicot.
Operated by the Bell system, when a call came in, it was sent out to fire department members by phone. Chapleau had come a long way from the bucket brigade of its very early years!
Over the years the fire brigade had several trucks replaced by better equipment as time went on to serve the community.
In 1978 a new fire hall was opened as part of the Chapleau Civic Centre.
The fire department celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010 as it continued to serve and protect the community. My email is mj.morris@live.ca
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