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The Citizen, 1988-09-07, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1988. PAGE 5. The Chief steps down In 40 years of service retiring Biyth Fire Chief irvin Bowes has seen a lot of changes in rural fire fighting Paul Josling [left] receives the Chiefs helmet for the Biyth District Fire Department from retiring chief Irvin Bowes in a ceremony Thursday night. Chief Bowes steps down after 40 years service with the department, 30 years as chief. S’1 In a brief ceremony Thursday, September 1, Biyth Fire Chief Irvin Bowes turned over command to new fire chief Paul J osling, retiring after 30 years as chief. Surrounded by members of the present staff and veterans who had served with him over his 40 years on the fire department Chief Bowes performed the ceremony turning the Chief’s helmet to Chief Josling who has served as lieuten- antfor seven years. He had been in command of the department’s rescue unit since the unit was organized. He has been a member of the department for 14 and a half years. In recognition of Chief Bowes long service Chief Josling present­ ed him with a gold Chief’s helmet. Chief Bowes and his wife Betty presented a microwave oven for use in the fire hall. WhenChief Bowes joined the fire department in 1948, the meetings were held around a “Quebec” heater in a small, Firemen's 1948 wages $12 a year uninsulated, cement block build­ ing that was shared with the P.U.C. As well, part of this building was used as the town scale house. The equipment consisted of a 1926 Reofire pumper that carried a mere 30 gallons of water. The only possible way tobe effective at a ruralfire was to access a nearby creek. Even in town the water supply left something to be desired since the hydrants often spewed out mud rather than water. This was rectified sometime during the 50’s. Wages for firemen when Chief Bowes joined the department on Sept. 2,1948 were SI 2 per year and one dollar per fire attended. The first fire that fireman Bowes responded to was at “the terrace” on Dinsley Street. Due to the excitement of it all he neglected to put his shoes on inside his galoshes. Afterrunning all the way to the fire in a pair of flopping galoshes, he had a couple of very sore feet. In 1953, Reeve William Morritt approached the fire department regarding establishing a fire area. Many firemen dismissed this idea as nonsense, but Chief Dexter and fire fighters George Bailie and Irvin Bowes thought it had merit. Thus, the three of them knocked on doors and did all the organizational work to set up the area alone. A meeting of all the councils and reeves concerned was held at the Biyth Memorial Hall. At this gathering the Biyth District Fire Area as we know it today was founded. The Fire Area included Biyth, Hullett, East Wawanosh, West Wawanosh, Morris, McKil- lopandColborne with Colborne later dropping out of the agree­ ment. Following this a new 1953 Bickel-Seagrave pumper on a Dodge chassis was ordered. For the first several years, Mr. Bowes served under Fire Chief Herb Dexter. At this point, he was secretary-treasurer of the depart­ ment. In the years following, Bob Chalmers and Jack Hesselwood served as chief briefly. Then in 1958, Irvin himself became chief. Within a short time, it became apparent to him that to be effective in a rural area the department must improve its water supply. As a result, in 1962 the fire department purchasedanoldGMC gasoline tank truck that held 800 gallons. They were able to convert it to a much-needed water tanker. This in turn necessitated more garage space. Therefore in November of the same year A. Manning & Sons constructed a 32 foot by 64 foot two-bay firehall with an adjoining meeting room. In the late 60’s the department acquired a625 g.p.m. (gallons/ minute) Thibault pumper on an International chassis. Also about this time they purchased a used International chassis and mounted the water tank from the old truck onto it. This was necessary be­ cause the old truck was now so rusted out that the firemen had to plug the holes in the floor with their fire coats to keep the mud from Firemen's coats covered holes in truck's floor squirting onto the ceiling. Unfor­ tunately, this purchase turned out to be a disaster. In some cases the transmission locked and they couldn’t go anywhere. In others, the only direction they could go was backwards. To top it all off, they didn’t have any brakes most of the time either. In 1970 the Biyth Fire Depart­ ment was the first department in Huron county to apply for, and receive permission to use, a two-way radio frequency from the Department of Transport. This greatly improvedbothlocal and county-wide efficiency since other departments followed their lead thus making emergency communi­ cation much easier. By the mid 70’s the firemen decided that it would be advanta­ geous to have a brand new tanker. A Ford Chassis was purchased and a 1700 gallon tank was built onto it in Walkerton. This increased water-carrying capacity which proved to be a large benefit to the department’s fire-fighting effi­ ciency. Because the volunteer firemen were employed in various places and were sometimes out of town, they were on occasion unaware of the fact that a fire was even occurring. Therefore, in 1978 Chief Bowes decided that there should be a better way of contacting the firemen in case of emergency. Thus a radio paging system was installed. Each fireman wears a pager which first beeps and then notifies the man of the location of the fire. Fire attendance improved by more than 25 per cent as a direct result. Later that year, Chief Bowes and his wife Betty were honoured at the Fire College in Gravenhurst. They each received a pin in recognition of 30 years of faithful service. In 1980 the fire department purchased the P.U.C. building from the town. It was demolished to accommodate the expansion of the firehall. A 30 foot x 40 foot addition was erected on the south side of the hall. This contained two more bays for additional trucks. The fire department was then obligated to erect a new P.U.C. building on the north side of the firehall. All of this was accom­ plished for only $27,000. After careful consideration it was decided that the Biyth Fire New Chief Paul Josling presents a gold helmet to Chief Bowes to mark his long service to the department. Rural firefighting was revolutionized during Chief Bowes’ 40 years on the force. Department would take on the task of auto extrication. In preparation, a 1980 Chevrolet van was purchas­ ed and the job of equipping it began. To this day, the proceeds from the Pancake Breakfast (held in conjunction with the Thresher’s Reunion) each year are used to provide additional equipment. As well two members of the department attended a special course in auto extrication held at the Fire College in Gravenhurst. Another one graduated from a regional fire course on the same subject. Two others are slated to take an auto extrication course in September 1988. All of the new members of the fire department are required to take a course in basic fire fighting at the Fire College or a regional fire school. But 90 per cent of the training is done in Biyth by the department’s own members using videotapesand hands-on training. Chief Bowes explained that this contrasted sharply with the era when he began. At that time little or no training was provided. By 1983 the unit was well enough equipped to receive the “Seal of Approval” from the provincial Department gets Seal of Approval government. This seal is proudly displayed on the side of the emergency van. That van has been extensively used for auto extrica­ tion purposes. As well, the van has been utilized for some medical emergencies. The pumper which is presently in service was purchased in February 1984 from Pierre Thi- baultCo. of Montreal. It holds 4000 litres of water and is mounted on a Ford chassis. Of his nearly 1800 emergency responses, all are memorable for one reason or another. Chief Bowes’ memories range from a huge blaze at CKNX Wingham to smaller fires in wheat fields, silos and even doghouses. As well he can recollect bus loads of trapped people and the extrication of injured persons from cars. Chief Bowes said he has felt fortunate over the years to have a good working relationship with all members of the department. He said that if it was physically possible he would like nothing better than to serve for another 40 years. Among the big changes for firemen, he said is the personal equipment they wear, from hats and coats to breathing apparatus. In the early days firemen had rubber coats and hats. Today they have fibreglass helmets and fire­ proof, Nomex 3 coats. Instead of simple gas masks, they have complete airpacs that let them go right into smoke-filled buildings.