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Our History
First Fire Department
The Village of Creston established, by a motion of committee, to form a Fire Department on February 21, 1899 which was to meet on Thursdays at a general meeting. The chairman at the time of establishment was Col. Ed Mallandaine. A motion was also made to appoint Mr. Joseph Wilson as the first Fire Chief of the department. A suggestion was made for proposing the first Fire Department volunteers list containing 29 names.
The Village of Creston established, by a motion of committee, to form a Fire Department on February 21, 1899 which was to meet on Thursdays at a general meeting. The chairman at the time of establishment was Col. Ed Mallandaine. A motion was also made to appoint Mr. Joseph Wilson as the first Fire Chief of the department. A suggestion was made for proposing the first Fire Department volunteers list containing 29 names.
- 1923 - The Village of Creston purchased second hand equipment, 3 fire hydrants and discussed municipalization as a means of improving services.
- 1925 - Matt York was named Fire Chief.
- 1925 - A building was purchased and moved to 11th Avenue North for use as a fire hall. Village council also approved a purchase of 4 hats and coats, 2 ladders, 6 lanterns, 4 smoke masks and 6 spanners. Special committee requested that each member shall obligate himself while on duty to refrain from bad language, not to smoke or steal, or be under the influence of liquor and to carry out all orders without question. The Fire Department was comprised of 19 members.
- October 1931 - $325 was authorized to refit a Chevy truck for the fire brigade. A fire bell was purchased for $116.17 for the fire hall and is still on display at the front of the existing hall.
- July 1935 - Mr. Canute Anderson was appointed Fire Chief over the 6 man brigade.
- November 1935 - Questions were raised over liability for out of town fires or if injuries occurred to firefighters.
- June 1945 - Concerns were raised over passing trains inhibiting fire protection to one third of the village.
- February 1951 - A new fire engine built by local persons, with a 175 pressure pump and 250 gallon tank, 2 wooden and 1 aluminum ladder .
- February 1955 - Council decreed that the fire truck would remain within the village with the exception of the high school. The annual operating budget for the department was $995.50. The value of the fire hall building was $1497.94, Fire hall site $180.00, firefighting equipment $2195.76.
- 1956 - Lafrance Ford pumper known as Engine 1 was purchased under Fire Chief Hartley Buhler. This truck was in service till 1998 when it was sold to Pleasant Valley, Idaho.
- 1961 - The fire hall on 11th Avenue was demolished to build a new one. Fire department membership is now 19. Fire Chief at that time was Adrian Andestad.
- 1962 - The year that Harold Standen was promoted to Deputy Chief.
- 1965 - William (Bill) Carter was named Fire Chief.
- 1973 - A new Ford pumper truck was purchased, the truck was lime yellow in color instead of the traditional red.
- 1976 - The fire protection was extended to an agreement with the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
- July 1980 - Reginald (Reg) Longhurst was hired as Fire Chief with a membership of less than 12 firefighters.
- March 1980 - Town Council members considered paying firefighters on a response basis or per hour rate; this is the closest date we found for the volunteer era change to a paid on call fire service.
- 1981 - The Town purchased the old Overwaitea Store at 200—10th Avenue North to renovate it into a better fire hall.
- May 1982 - The newly renovated fire hall was opened after Blossom Fest, which is the current location of the fire hall today.
- 1986 - A new 1250 GPM Mac Engine was purchased from Anderson Engineering and put into service.
- 1990 - Creston Firefighters raised approximately $50,000 in funds through local persons, businesses and BC Lotteries to establish a 1987 GMC Rescue truck with extrication tools for road rescue work. Numerous hours of preparation and hands on work by Fire Department members went into making the service operational.
- August 2000 - Fire Chief Longhurst announced his retirement and Fire Chief Bruce Mabin took over command of the service. There were 21 firefighters parttime paid on call at the time of Chief Longhurst’s retirement. Creston Fire Department became Creston Fire & Rescue to more accurately describe the service. A department consensus was obtained to change the official color of the Fire Department vehicles back to traditional red from the yellow previous.
- 2001 - A Superior GMC 1050 GPM Engine was purchased and put into service as the front line engine. Council approved the purchase of new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus for each firefighter which improved individual firefighter safety and fire attack capabilities.
- 2002 - The 1986 Anderson Mack engine was refurbished and put on as second response.
- 2002 - The 1987 GMC Rescue truck chassis was sold and the aluminum box was modified and placed on a new 2002 Ford F550 crew cab 4 wheel drive.
- 2003 - A 2003 Sterling WaterMaster 2900 gallon fire service vacuum tender, the first of its kind in Canada was put in service to supply water to areas without hydrants. The vehicle is capable of filling and dumping in 2 minutes. The same year Creston attended it first major wild land interface fire as directed by the Provincial Fire Service implemented due to the large numbers and size of fires occurring that year. Protecting 19 homes with structural sprinkler systems on a 24 hour, 2 shifts per day for 8 days at Kuskanook. The fire grew to 3500 hectares moving down slope but stopped 500 feet from the nearest residence.
- 2004 - The need was recognized for issuing of wildland protective clothing and each firefighter is now supplied with the appropriate gear to safely and effectively fight wildland / interface fires.
- 2006 - Town Manager, James Thackray reported to Town Council on a review report of the Fire department which contained 19 recommendations for the department, which included the addition of another fulltime staff to assist in the management of the local fire services.
- 2006 - The NFPA 1001 “Standard for Professional Firefighter Qualifications” program was started with 24 members enrolled with the College of the Rockies Innovations program to allow firefighter to achieve credentials to an international standard. NFPA 472 “Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents” was also attended by 23 members.
- 2007 - The Town of Creston hired Michael Moore in July as per the fire department review recommendations from 2006. Current membership of the department is 34 firefighters.
- 2007 - The town developed a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for reducing risk from the impacts to the community for wildfire. This was the first Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Town of Creston which included recommendations in wildfire fuels mitigation, education and governance. In August 2007 the report was adopted in principle by Town Council.
- 2007 - Council approved the funding of a "Vehicle Replacement" reserve which outlines the capital budget requirements for the fire apparatus replacement over the anticipated life of the existing fire apparatus.
- October 2008 - In October, 15 fire fighters completed NFPA 1001 “Standard for Professional Firefighter Qualifications” - Level II certification from the original 24 enrolled in 2006.
- 2009 - Council approved the purchase of a used E-One Heavy Rescue to replace the 1976 Grumman Van used for support services to fire responses. The used fire apparatus was purchased from a dealer in Savannah, Georgia.
- 2010 - through a Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) grant program, the Town of Creston undertakes the first wildfire fuels mitigation program on Arrow Mountain. this program allowed for 9 Ha of land to be treated with fuel reduction and improved the health of the forested area.
- 2010 - Town of Creston identifies property on Davis Street at the old municipal dump site to be utilized and developed as a firefighter training grounds.
- 2010 - Town of Creston replaces the 1986 Mack Fire Engine (Engine 2) with a 2010 Ferrara Fire Engine purchased out of Louisiana. the 1986 Mack Fire Engine is sold to a small farming community in Alberta.
- 2011 - The fire department modernizes incident reporting, personnel management and training records through the adaption of the fire department management software “FirePro”. This allows for improvements in reporting to Council and in meeting legislative requirements for training records of firefighters.
- 2011 - The training grounds received a $10,000 donation from a Creston resident, allowing for the initial development of the property. The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) donated a portable building that was established at the site for an on-site classroom and the Canyon-Lister Fire Department donated an old mobile home set up at the site for training purposes.
- 2012 - A Creston resident bequeathed $20,000 to the fire department’s training grounds while another resident donated $10,000 for $30,000 in total to be spent on the development of the training facility. These donations allowed for a fire hydrant to be installed on the property, sewer and water installed to classroom and continued ground preparation for other training props. The site is presently used for auto-extrication and obscured visibility searches in the mobile home.
- 2012 - Thirteen firefighters left the fire service, with only seven new recruits hired. The Fire Chief Bruce Mabin retired at the end of the year with twelve years in Creston and a total of thirty-five years in the fire service. The loss of paid-on-call firefighters left an active membership of 24 at the end of the year.
- 2012 - The Creston Firefighters Association and the Joint Emergency Preparedness’ Program (JEPP) provided significant funding to replace many of the hydraulic rescue tools utilized in auto-extrication incidents.
- 2012 - Under Fire Chief Bruce Mabin, the Town of Creston engaged building professionals to review the fire station to consider options of correcting a number of building deficiencies. After an internal municipal review, Bylaw Services are under the responsibility of the Fire Chief, in part to the loss of one senior management position in the municipality.
- 2013 - New Assistant Fire Chief Jared Riel started in January with the primary responsibility of firefighter training programs and equipment maintenance. Fire Chief Michael Moore was officially appointed Fire Chief in June 2013.
- 2013 - Paid on-call Deputy Chief Harold Standen officially retires from the fire service with nearly 50 years of service to the Town in the fire department. Fourteen new firefighter recruits are hired after the loss of eight firefighters during the year. The department had 30 active members at the end of the year.
- 2013 - With Council’s shift in approach in Bylaw Services as compliance based versus the enforcement based, the department hired Public Safety Compliance Officer to have primary duties in compliance with bylaws, including fire inspections and prevention.
- 2013 - Two firefighters attend Kilgore College in Texas for a three month fire academy to attain their NFPA 1001 “Standard for Professional Firefighter Qualifications” – Level II as a program to improve recruiting of young locals to become firefighters.
- 2013 - The exterior of the fire hall had new stucco installed on the west and south walls to repair holes and cracks that allowed water to enter the walls. In addition, new firefighter gear lockers were installed to improve gear longevity and drying.
- 2013 - The training grounds received $15,000 in donations between a $10,000 private donation and $5,000 from the Creston Rotary. These donations went towards the completion of the classroom, and the installation of an oversized natural gas lines for future gas fired props.
- 2013 - New five year contract signed by the Town of Creston with the RDCK in the provision of defined areas B and C, referred to Erickson and Creston Flats. Of significance is the utilization of a formula that apportions the cost of fire protection to the actual assessed values to ensure equity among all rate payers receiving the service.
- 2014 - Thirty-two (32) active firefighters with the addition of a new firefighter work experience program (WEP). The program hires five (5) fire academy graduates to work 40 hours per week for direct wage except for the paid on-call firefighter wage for call outs. An administrative assistant from the existing Town staff was assigned to the fire station to provide coverage during work hours and assist in bylaw and fire administrative work.
- 2014 - Three firefighters attended Kilgore College in Texas for a three month fire academy to attain their NFPA 1001 “Standard for Professional Firefighter Qualifications” – Level II. Eight recruit firefighters complete the Basic Firefighter Certification.
- 2014 - Renovated the former “Drug and Alcohol” location in an adjacent building to the fire hall to accommodate the WEP firefighters who live at the fire station each year. The renovation cost was $40,000 which the Town received a Columbia Basin Trust grant for $20,000 to start the WEP.
- 2014 - The firefighter training grounds received $15,000 in private donation from a resident. A two-storey live fire training building was erected utilizing steel shipping containers. Twenty-two (22) firefighters in the region (Creston, Canyon, Wynndel and West Creston) with the utilization of the new facility. The fire department held an official opening of the training grounds and dedicated the classroom to retired Fire Chief Bruce Mabin for his work in establishing the groundwork in the development of a firefighter training facility.
- 2014 - Area B RDCK Director John Kettle requested fire protection through contract with the Town after a successful public approval process in Arrow Creek.
- 2014 - The RDCK and the Town of Creston agree upon improving mutual aid responses by the development of an “Automatic Aid” agreement which accomplishes the provision of an appropriate pre-determined response level (apparatus and firefighters) to specified incidents utilizing the available resources in the Creston Valley. This includes an automatic fire engine response and water tender response to Canyon and Wynndel, but also additional fire engines and water tenders for responses in Town and Erickson.
- 2014 - Development of the “Hot Summer Nights” public engagement program where fire trucks and firefighters go to four different parks throughout the summer to allow the public and opportunity to interact with the firefighters. These events draw many families and provide an opportunity for individuals to get up close to all the fire trucks and try to knock down targets with fire hoses.
- 2015 - Area C RDCK Director Larry Binks requested fire protection through contract with the Town of Creston after a successful public approval process in West Creston. This service, due to travel distance from Creston, required the development of a satellite fire station to meet Fire Underwriters’ Survey insurance grading. This required consideration in a building and the purchase of a fire truck.
- 2015 - The Town of Creston approved the purchase of a used 2001 aerial apparatus to replace the 2001 GMC Fire Engine sold to West Creston as part of the provision of fire protection. The used 2001 aerial was purchased utilizing capital reserve funds with a cost of approximately $225,000. This was one of the required step to improve the Public Fire Protection Classification (PFPC) for commercial insurance ratings, as any community with five (5) or more three storey buildings (including equivalent height) or requires 3000 gallons per minute to extinguish requires an elevated master stream.
- 2015 - Council approved the Fire Chief’s review of the fire apparatus fleet determining the disposal of two rescue trucks (1997 E-One Heavy Rescue and 2003 Ford F-550 Light Rescue) could be replaced by a medium rescue fire truck eliminating one apparatus from the fleet reducing costs. Both rescue trucks were sold and a used 2000 International Amtech Medium Rescue was purchased for $100,000.
- 2015 - The fire department training grounds received $20,000 in private donation from a resident for the continued development of a live fire training facility. The fire department added an additional storey to the facility to make it a three storey building and adding additional exterior decking and stairwells.
- 2015 - With the addition of the First Responder (medical response) program the fire department exceeded over 500 emergency incidents for the first time in the history of the department. The total number of responses were 549 which included 90 fire related responses, 11 hazardous materials responses, 9 automatic aid responses, 349 medical related responses, 14 public service responses and 77 rescue responses (motor vehicle and rope rescue).
- 2015 - Criminal charges were laid in an apartment building fire where one individual was severely burned prior to being rescued by firefighters. The utilization of a K-9 dog named “Gibbs” from the Calgary Fire Department provided authorities the ability to locate crucial evidence that assisted the laying of charges.
- 2015 - The Province of BC provided a new training standard for firefighters based on the level of service provided by the community. The options of Exterior Only, Interior Only (residential houses, no or limited commercial buildings) or Full Service were provided to Council for an option to select. The level of service chosen would also directly impact the fire protection rating issued by FUS for both dwelling protection and PFPC. Council opted for Full Service considering that the department already met the majority of the training requirements.
- 2015 - Fire Underwriters’ Survey provided updated and improved fire protection insurance grading for the community increasing from a 3A rating to a 2. Additionally, the PFPC rating was improved to a 6 community wide for commercial lines insurance from 8-9 and West Creston received a 3B rating from a 5 (no protection).
- 2015 - The first annual Christmas Caroling with fire trucks took place the Sunday night before Christmas. The fire trucks were decorated with Christmas lights and drove around the community playing Christmas carols over loud speakers.
- 2015 - With the addition of West Creston firefighters, the total number of firefighters at the end of 2015 was 41.
- 2016 - Council authorized the engagement of a consultant to complete a “siting study” for a proposed fire station and to being the public engagement process. The process was determined to take place over two years, include 4 to 5 public engagements working towards a referendum sometime in late 2017. The first open house was held in September of 2016 with over 400 people visiting providing feedback on location, opportunities in co-sharing building and disposal of existing fire station. The second open house drew only a few interested persons in November as the project discussed narrowing site selection of a proposed fire station and programmatic needs.
- 2016 - The fire department training grounds received $10,000 in private donation towards the continued development of the firefighter training facility. Props were developed for live fire burn training and the completion of the third storey decks.
- 2016 - Forty-four (44) active firefighters in Creston Fire Rescue.
- 2017 - The fire department training grounds received $10,000 in private donation from a resident, allowing for the purchase of a fourth storey shipping container to be installed in late 2017 or early 2018.
- 2017 - The 2007 Community Wildfire Protection Plan is updated to reflect the nine (9) areas that the Town undertook fuels mitigation efforts within and reaffirm future areas for mitigation consideration.