Church Street Fire Hall

Church Street Fire Hall. . , The exact starting date of the Delhi Fire Brigade (later the Delhi Fire Department), is unclear, but in 1895, an 1860s hand drawn pumper was purchased at a cost of $200, including 200 feet/61m of hose. With the firemen taking turns, they would pump up water from cisterns located closest to the fire. A horse drawn wooden water tank kept the cisterns full, throughout the village of Delhi. The pumper was stored on this very site, in 1896, known as the "H.S. Pettit Blacksmith" shop. It is believed that the first fire hall was built sometime after 1896 and located on Main Street on the approximate site of the Polish Hall (2017). It had a bell and tower (used to dry the hoses) and council chambers. June 1896, ladders and pike polls were made by Clarence Gerhard. James Boyce was the first appointed Fire Chief from April 24, 1897 , ?, second Wert Hilliker ? , 1924, third Howard E. Hoover 1924-1928, fourth Mel Kramer 1928-1938, fifth Harold Cunningham 1938-1951, sixth Max Bertling 1951-1982, seventh Don Sutherland 1982-1984, eighth Gary Gardner 1984-1985, ninth Wilf Wittet 1986-1989, tenth Bob Phillips 1989-2011, eleventh Max Adam 2011 to present 2017. In 1923, a bylaw was passed setting up a fire department with 6 members including a Chief and an Assistant Chief. , The second fire hall was built with a two bay garage facing Church Street. It included a wailing fire siren, which was installed on the roof to warn the firemen of a fire. The fire hall was built with the former Municipal Hall in 1936. Municipal offices were added in front of the two bay garage driveway circa 1980s. , [photo captions] , 1. Circa 1938, looking south, the two bay garage doors, left of the police entryway. Left to right, on the 1938 Ford fire truck are; Warren Bennett, Jack Gooding, Harold Cunningham, John Passmore, Howard Hoover. Left to right on the 1928 REO fire truck; Court Smith, Frank Sutherland, Harold Wittet, Ted Castles. Rear of truck; Frank Quance, Basil Smith. , 2. Circa 1938, the back of the 1938 Ford fire truck is seen with tobacco kilns in the background during a training session on a farm believed to be owned by the Quance family. Water taken either from an irrigation pond or nearby creek. , 3. Circa 1950s, looking north, in front of Wilbur Bookkeeping Inc. (2017), opposite the Fire Hall bay doors, left, the 1947 Fargo fire truck, right, the 1938 Ford fire truck. Standing from left to right; Gary Gardner, Bill McEwan, John "Shop" Passmore, Ted Castles, Richard (Dick) Quance, Bruce Dell. , 4. October 18, 1958, in front of the main entrance of the Delhi District Secondary School on James Street are far left to right, back row; William McEwen, Maurice Lepoudre, Gordon Quance, Gary Gardner, John Passmore, Harold Wittet, Richard (Dick) Quance. Front row; Ted Castles, Johnny Hoskins, Zeke VanGoethem, Max Bertling, Ken Drinkwater, Jerome Rice. Trucks, left to right, 1958 Ford, 1947 Fargo, 1938 Ford. , 5. March 6, 1960, (Frank) Scarrow Plumbing and Heating building, is burning down on the north side of #3 highway/ Talbot Road. Rebuilt in 1960 of cement blocks, it was converted into apartments in the early 1990s and remains so in 2017. Right background, 1958 Ford fire truck. , 6. April 11, 1968, east side of James Street, the Golf Course Pro Shop is burning down. Site of 2017 Golf Club House. , 7. Circa mid 1970s winter, (Fred) Wiltshire's Sports Shop, located on the northeast corner of King and Main Streets, is ravaged by fire. The Hall Drug Store, right, was later torn down circa 1980s. 2017, both locations were the Bunkhouse Restaurant. , 8. Monday, March 11, 1975, 11:30pm, the Delhi Fire Department, aided by Courtland and Teeterville Fire Departments, arrived at the site of the Checkerboard Foods Ltd. of Aurora, Ontario, (known by locals as the chicken factory) to put out the $100,000 fire. The 300 feet/91.38m X 65 feet/ 22.62m brick building housed a large chicken broiler operation on three floors. 40,000 chicks were normally running loose, fortunately none at the time of the fire. Built in 1903, originally as the Delhi Fruit and Vegetable Canning Company and sold in 1959 to Checkerboard Foods Ltd. The Delbrook Estates apartment building (2017) occupied the exact location of the Checkerboard Foods Ltd. The Rotary Heights senior's apartments (2017) occupied both sites of the former Canning Factory secondary buildings, grounds and four silos. Tuesday, March 12, 1975, looking northeast across William Street, smoke is still rising from the ruins. Far right, the crane's arm/boom is tearing down the walls. , 9. Monday, October 8, 1986, 4:30am, the Delhi Fire Department, assisted by Teeterville, arrived at the Irish Tavern (formerly the Sportsman, Lower End Hotel, etc.) located at the northeast corner of Main and William Streets, built circa the mid 1880s. The smouldering side of the building, on William Street, is shown. 2017, an apartment building occupied this site. , 10. Saturday, December 6, 1986, circa 5:00 am, the Delhi Fire Department, with Simcoe, Teeterville and Vittoria units, responded to the $250,000 blaze at Studio 117, formerly The Diplomat and Stoddard House Hotel. Built in 1849, located at the northwest corner of King and Main Streets. It had closed two months prior and was unoccupied. Gray's Furniture is located on the west side. 2017, the site of the TD Canada Trust Plaza. , 11. Thursday, December 11, 1986, the Knights of Columbus building is burning down on the northeast corner of Main and Crysler Streets. Originally located behind the 1897 Delhi Public School on Queen Street, built in 1930 or 1936 as an annex (portable classroom), moved to this location in 1968. Site of 2017 apartment building. , 12. Tuesday, May 27, 2003, 8:00 pm, looking southwest off of Power Street, approximately 50 firefighters from Norfolk's Fire Stations: Courtland, Fairground, Langton, Port Dover, Port Rowan, Simcoe, Teeterville, Vittoria and Waterford all assisted with Delhi's largest recorded fire. Delhi's Engine #12, a 1984 Ford, is pouring water on the flames of the original first row of tobacco warehouses, built in 1928-29. The first row was not rebuilt as well as the two sections of the second row of warehouses. In 2003, it stored recycled disposable diapers, which due to a defect in manufacturing, had the plastic separated from the cloth material. They were recycled and stored here for a company called Green Bridge, which leased from E and E McLaughlin Brothers Ltd. , 13. Tuesday, May 27, 2003, 8:00 pm, a further scene of the warehouses engulfed in flames. , 14. Saturday, February 10, 1995. After two years of fundraising, the $135,000, 1995 Freightliner Water Tanker Fire Truck (capacity of 2500 gallons/9463.5 litres) was purchased. The east side of James Street, German Home marquis features the Delhi Firefighters Annual Wing Ding Dinner and Dance, a major fundraiser to purchase this truck. The Dinner continues to 2017 as a fundraiser for the Fire Department and community projects. , 15. May, 2016, the site of the second Fire Hall on the south side of Church Street. The front single story addition was the former fire trucks' driveway, to the left of the stairs. Far left, the 1930 built Delhi Public Library, by way of a hallway, is connected to this new addition. , 16. November 2016, the 1978 built third Fire Hall, on the south side of Argyle Ave. at a cost of $160,000. Fire trucks left to right; Tanker #5, 2012 Arnprior, Pumper #5, 2006 Superior, Engine #5, 2008 Eone. , 17. October 25, 2014 to present (2017) Standing on truck, Engine #5, 2008 Eone left to right: Captain Paul Demaere, Firefighter Kevin Maxin. Standing left to right: District Chief Max Adam, Deputy District Chief Greg Gardner, Firefighters Alan Gardiner, Todd Socholotiuk, David Puype, Paul Gardham, Geoff Maes, Rene Godelie, Terry Baker, Adam Kichler, Captain Chris Friedrich, Firefighter Stewart Hazen. Kneeling left to right: Firefighters Robert Jones, Jeff Steiner, Captain James Robertson, Firefighters Todd Shepherd, Ben Lauwrier. Absent: Firefighters Jim Dertinger, Brian DeHooghe, Allan Rivard, Tyler Ryan, Brent Smith, Jonathan Tickner, Shawn Weiler , Photos courtesy of: Delhi Firefighters Association, Mark Nettling, Mary (Passmore) Scheers, Dave Rusnak, John Santo.