By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2022
Algy Windsor has served as Ferryland’s fire chief for the past 30 years and he shows no sign of slowing down.
Windsor, who joined the department in 1978, said that rather than being an outlier, his age is pretty well nigh on the department’s average.
“There’s a couple of young fellows who have letters sent in, but the average age of our fire member is around 60,” said Windsor. “But in saying that, the older guys are the ones we depend upon… We have a few fellows that are 70, 72, 68, 67, 66, but I must say, those fellows are reliable. Those are the fellows that I rely on… It makes a difference knowing that you’re going into a building that’s burning and you’ve got a fellow ahead of you and two behind you and you know they’re not going to panic and drop the hose and run out and leave you there…. I’ve got a great bunch of fellows.”
He wonders what will happen in the coming years when some of those members begin to retire.
“There’s fellows down there older than I am,” Windsor added. “And they’re saying to me, ‘We’ve soon got to give it up,’ and I’ll say, ‘That’s up to you, if you need to give it up, that’s fine, but if you think you can handle it and do something to make a difference to the Fire Department, and you’re fit and able to do it, why give up?’… One of these days, there’ll be eight or 10 of us leave the fire department because we’re too old, and hopefully something doesn’t happen to the fire department because of it, but it would be nice to see some young fellows who are interested.”
Currently the department boasts 19 members.
Some of those members will be visiting students at Baltimore School and doing fire safety demonstrations for Fire Prevention Week as they have the last twenty-odd years.
“Some of those kids ask you questions, and you have to think twice about how to answer them,” said Windsor. “They’re pretty smart when it comes to this stuff.”
He credited the school’s teachers for taking it upon themselves to teach students the importance of home escape plans, and for helping them create their plans in some cases.
He believes fire safety awareness has led to a decrease in fire emergency calls. That means annual campaigns such as Fire Prevention Week pays dividends in the community.
“It’s made a big difference to the number of calls,” said Windsor. “We used to get 30 or 40 calls a year. But now we’re only getting 10 or 11. The kids bring the information home to their parents and so the parents are more aware.”
Meanwhile, the Fire Department had reason to celebrate earlier this year with the arrival of a new tanker truck, which holds 1,650 gallons of water.
“That truck makes all the difference in the world,” said Windsor. “We’re serving Aquaforte right down to Brigus South, so you’re talking over 20 miles. And most communities, nearly all of them, don’t have any hydrants. We’ve after been to fires over the past years where we’ve run out of water, and we’ve had to watch a house or a shed or a building burn down because of a lack of water. The truck we got in 2010 only holds 800 gallons of water, and the truck before that, which is condemned now, that truck only held 500 gallons of water. So, when we have 1,600, nearly 1,700 gallons of water, that makes a big difference. By the time that’s emptied, the other truck will be back with her fill of water. So, it is a big difference when there’s no hydrants.”
He said, in total, there’s only a handful of hydrants in Ferryland, one in Aquaforte, and a full station in Cape Broyle.
The Town split the purchase of the new truck, which came with a price tag of $367,000, with the provincial government on an 80/20 ratio. The cost sharing left Ferryland on the hook for only about $67,000.
Windsor also reminded folks it’s a good time of year to clean their chimneys and check their carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
