Sunday October 1, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Under sunny skies after a week of rain, over 800 people came to have fun at the annual Langford Fire Rescue Open House.
Held on this Sunday October 1 at Fire Station #1 on Peatt Road, there were fire truck rides, hot dogs, and more. There was a pancake breakfast that started at 10 am and then a hot dog lunch.
There were equipment displays as well as information about amateur radio, emergency support services, BC Emergency Health Services with an ambulance on hand, and Westshore RCMP. And of course Sparky the Dog was on hand.
Kids enjoyed rides on the firetruck, even if they only sat in the main cab for a minute or two.
Fire Chief pleased with the turnout:
Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey was on hand and many of the firefighting team. There are 27 career firefighters and 21 volunteers. Recruitment for the latest batch of new volunteers just wrapped up for this year; another 10 to 12 volunteers may now join the team, says Aubrey. This is an important step, as during the pandemic fire departments across Canada lost as many as 6,000 volunteers overall.
This is the first Langford Fire Rescue open house since the pandemic, and Chief Aubrey seemed really pleased at the turnout.
It was Chief Aubrey who really started the popularity of the open house event in 2017. He reminds that more events are coming up soon: Halloween open house, Pumpkins Smash, and Santa Run on Christmas Eve.
Donations were collected today for the local Goldstream Food Bank.
Fire trucks:
Fire Engine #1 was proudly on display, which in August became the top of the heap. Fire Engine #2 is the previous #1. Both on hand in the driveway in front of the fire hall today.
The full fleet of Langford fire vehicles includes four engines, a ladder truck, rescue vehicle, brush fire truck, utility vehicles (including the fire chief’s truck), technical rescue vehicle, and ATV.
The event ran from 10 am to 2 pm. Just like a good garage sale, many folks turned up much earlier than 10 am, said Chief Aubrey. But they were ready!
Women’s Auxiliary:
The Langford Fire Women’s Auxiliary were in charge of the hot dogs. Their group has about 18 members. The organization has evolved past membership having to be directly affiliated with being related to a member of the active firefighting force.
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Island Social Trends has been covering news of the west shore since mid-2020 entirely online at IslandSocialTrends.ca, in the footsteps of its precursor print publications: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and West Shore Voice News (2014-2020)… all of which are archived in the permanent collections at the Sooke Region Museum.
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