By Cheryl Jahn

New, old names grace hose tower

Feb 4, 2021 | 2:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was a chance to take a piece of history to a new home.

By tradition, firefighters who passed probation would make the perilous climb up the ladder in the hose tower at the fire hall to write their name on the wall.

“Junior man always got the honour of going up the ladder,” explains Fred Eagle, retired Chief Training Officer, who joined retired Fire Chief Mike Dornbeirer for a tour of the new Fire Hall #1. “And when you were up there, you could do pretty well whatever you wanted. Put your name on the wall. and nobody was around to tell you not to. Amongst other things.”

When the new fire hall was built, the Fire Department opted not to let that bit of history disappear. It brought in a group of Duchess Park students to re-trace 250 names on the walls of the new hose tower.

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“As they were working we had a visit from two firefighters,” remembers Corinne Laroue-Madill, the Vice Principal, Curriculum & Innovation for School District 57 .”And, right away, they were ‘Oh, do you remember so and so?’ And so [the students] could make the connection between the work they were doing and how important it was for the community.”

And, with the new fire hall, the tradition will continue, but involving a far less harrowing trip.

“As staff are hired on, we have a group that is hopefully going to start this year, once they finish their year probation, they’ll be able to go up and put their own name and their own date,” explains Cliff Warner, Deputy Fire Chief.