Members of the Ferryland Fire Department include, from left: Trent O Brien, Barry O’ Keefe, Dawson Kavanagh, Barry Hawkins, Fire Chief Algy Windsor, Desi Johnston, Doug Stoodley, Justin Kavanagh, Gerard Ryan, Nick Keough, Loyola Kavanagh, Assistant Chief Brandan Hawkins, Russell Keough, Barry Kavanagh and Keegan Aspell. Missing from the photo are Les Clowe, Andrew Kavanagh, Keith Costello, Kevin Walsh, Trevor Walsh, Shane Walsh, Stephen Brothers, Wesley Lamasney and Peter Ryan.
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh
Algy Windsor has been part of the Ferryland Fire Department for 49 years, around 36 of those as chief, and he will be bringing messages of safety to the community during Fire Prevention Week.
Some of the cautions will sound familiar, but a focus this year will be in line with the national theme of ‘Charge Into Safety: Safe Charging is a Superpower’ to bring awareness of growing fire risks related to lithium-ion batteries used in everyday devices like phones, tables, laptops, e-bikes, scooters, toys and power tools.
Windsor said e-scooters and e-bikes are now everywhere, and they’re dangerous in the sense that they have lithium batteries and not all of them are Canada Safety Association (CSA) approved.
“What happens is if you leave them plugged in too long they’ll overcharge, catch fire and burn. I had a relative who had a scooter in the shed, and it caught fire and caused a lot of damage. They were months and months dealing with the smoke and the smell,” he said.
Windsor also highlighted that cell phone usage while filling your gas tank is another potentially unsafe situation that is all too common. He said if people are holding their phone while at the pump, static electricity from the phone could ignite fumes.
“There’s a place in the United States where that happened to a woman. She burned herself and burned down the tanks and the building,” he said.
Windsor said cooking remains a major source of house fires and urged caution and to pay attention while cooking at home.
Windsor said taking such messages to students has proven effective.
“We’ve found over the years that the younger kids have brought the message home about safety, not just in the school but also in their home where they go and look for things that can potentially cause some fires,” he said.
Windsor said the department covers a big area, but these past few years they’ve had very few responses with six in 2025 and four so far this year. Unfortunately, he added, one of those calls was for the moose collision that killed two people on a motorbike near Aquaforte.
“Those are never easy to handle and a good many fellows had trouble with it after,” he said, adding that members were provided supports to deal with the trauma. “We had a debriefing and some people came up to talk to us, and that helped ease their minds. Hopefully it never happens again… I’m 49 years in the fire hall and I’m after seeing a few things. It’s just a reality of firefighting sometimes. “
Ferryland has 24 members and three vehicles at its disposal – a relatively new tanker truck, a six-year-old pumper truck and a rescue unit complete with firefighting gear that Windsor said is now top of the line. He said it’s a tight crew of volunteer members, but there’s room for younger recruits.
“It’s harder to do now, to get the younger generation. Used to be everyone just signed on to help, and being part of the fire department is one of the best ways to help your neighbours and friends in the community,” Windsor said. “We are an ageing department, I’d say. I’m not young anymore, but I enjoy it and I’m in good health and I can still contribute to the department a fair amount. I love the fire department; I love what I do and it’s rewarding to help somebody out.”
