The Sechelt Fire Department is kicking off a calendar-selling campaign at the Coaster's Car Club's Show 'n' Shine this weekend to fund a fire hall addition which will house the returning "old engine one" - Sechelt's first official fire engine from 1963.
Fire Chief Bill Higgs recounts how, after serving the community for 30 years, "old engine one" was sold in 1993 to the First Nations Emergency Services Society for a nominal fee. As part of the deal, the group had the engine restored and agreed that, should they ever cease to use it to teach fire prevention to Aboriginal bands, they'd sell it back to Sechelt for the same nominal fee. And then a few years ago the department received the call: the engine was theirs to buy back.
And while the department has managed to temporarily store "old engine one" for the past few years, Higgs said, the arrival of its new 75-metre ladder truck has created a space crunch. Thus, the plan is to build an addition to the firehouse, to permanently display the museum piece of an engine and the history it represents.
To hear Higgs tell it, the mere fact of the engine's existence is a testament to the sacrifice and forward-thinking of some of Sechelt's original firefighters.
Higgs recounts how, in the early 1960s, local firefighters realized that protecting Sechelt's growing population from fire risk required more than their makeshift fire truck - an old army 4x4 fitted with a water tank.
But the problem was the department had no taxing authority to raise funds.
"There was no way to really raise money except going around, door-to-door, with their helmets out to get two bits here and a dollar there," he said.
Furthermore, the bank wouldn't lend them money without collateral. That was when they devised a scheme: about half a dozen firefighters put their houses up as security to get a bank loan to buy the engine. The gamble paid off as the men were able to raise the money to make their payments and pay off the truck.
And two of those original firefighters, who still live in Sechelt, say the new truck made all the difference.
"It was the difference between day and night," said Tom Ono, 86, who joined the fire department as a mechanic in 1956 and is still an honourary member. "You'd get there faster, with more equipment and more firemen."
"That was my pride and joy, all the time, that truck," added one-time fire Chief Tom Gory, 85, who served with the department between 1949 and 1982 and helped guarantee the loan to buy the engine.
As to its return to the Sechelt community, Ono said, "It's like having an old friend back."
Higgs said the calendars - which he clarified aren't "beefcake" calendars, but photos of local fire scenes and rescue work - will go on sale this weekend, and afterwards be available at the fire hall. He anticipates that the department will have to follow up with further fundraising efforts to raise an estimated $100,000 for the addition, which the department hopes to build within a couple years.
