The annual report from 1868 shows that A. Grison was the Secretery and Treasurer of the Rideau Company.
There were four fire Companies at the time in Bytown.
The Ottawa
The Rideau
Chaudierre and Central Hook and ladder Company
This Chieftain Safe-T- Helmet was popular in the late 70’s and well into the 80’s. It was made with a fiberglass compression-molded shell for superior flame and heat resistance, thermal impact cap, ratchet adjustment, and an adjustable headband to fit all S.C.B.A.s. This helmet was issued to Ottawa FIrefighter Steve O’Neil when he was hired in 1977.
This set of pictures shows Firefighter Steve O’Neil at a fire with a pump tank putting out embers from a mattress fire.
The fire was January 20, 1980 at 1975 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa, Ontario.
From an article
“we were invited to try our hand at the scaling ladders, for the uninitiated, are long wooden poles with a saw-tooth metal hook on the upper end to slide onto a window sill.
The firemen climb them with the aid of re-enforced wooden pegs which protrude from either side.
After watching several of the rookies scramble from window to window, always upwards, we were convinced the tasked was a push over”
It dates back as early as the 1860’s and belong to Richard Devlin. Mr. Devlin was a civill servant when he joined the Lower Town Pump and Ladder Fire Brigade.
He was born in Kingston in 1844 and came to Ottawa with his family when he was a child. Mr. Devlin was the last of the original members of the Lower Town Pump and ladder team when he passed away in 1921 at the age of 74.
Insurance companies issued a fire mark to every home under their protection. If there was a fire, they paid the volunteer firefighters in proportion to how much of the house or business they saved.
The firefighters worked extra hard when they saw the mark of a company that was known to pay well.
Copyright © 2024 The Bytown Fire Brigade Historical Society by VixelStudio. All Rights Reserved.
