Earlier this year a major fire lit up the night in downtown Guelph. A building was gutted, but the fire was contained thanks to the work of the Guelph Fire Department.
It certainly wasn’t the first time the city’s fire fighters have been called into action. The fire department has a long history of protecting the Royal City.
Like most Ontario communities founded in pioneer times, Guelph began its existence as a collection of wooden structures. With cooking and heating provided by coal and wood fuelled fire, and candles and lanterns the only means of lighting at night, there was a constant danger of buildings going
up in flames.
Guelph’s first firefighters were volunteer citizens who, in an emergency, would form a bucket brigade to deal with a blaze. If they couldn’t save a burning building, they’d soak adjacent structures to keep the flames from spreading.
Of course, a growing community needed something more substantial and organized. The earliest known documented record of a fire brigade in Guelph was in 1846. In 1851 Guelph town council approved the appointment of “a fit and proper person” to be the fire warden.
The first person named to that position was John Harrison. His job was not only to be in charge of fighting fires, but to enforce regulations designed to prevent fires from starting in the first place.
The city acquired a hand pump “engine” called Victoria after the reigning monarch. It also bought a new hose and a water cart. But Guelph still didn’t have an official fire department.
Then in November of 1854, town council passed a bylaw that allowed the formation of the Guelph Fire Brigade. In addition to the fire warden it would have a chief engineer, a hook and ladder company, and a hose company. When the new town hall at Market Square was completed in 1857, it included a storage space for the Victoria and an office that would be shared by the fire brigade and the Guelph rifle company.
In 1858, town council purchased a Perry 5.5-cylinder fire engine. The men of the fire brigade would train on this new beauty on the first Tuesday of each month.
Over the next few years difficulties between town council and the fire brigade resulted in the members resigning – three times.
Each time a new company had to be formed. Meanwhile, several disastrous fires ravaged Guelph’s downtown area. Among the properties destroyed were the buildings on the east side of Wyndham Street, between Quebec and Macdonell streets in 1854, the Victoria Mill on Huskisson Street (now Wyndham and Wellington) in 1860, and the People’s Mills on Cardigan Street in 1864.
The financial losses in these conflagrations was immense, in spite of the best efforts of the fire brigade.
Consequently, town council passed a bylaw requiring that all buildings in the downtown core “shall be built of stone, brick, cement or concrete, and be roofed with slate, metal, tile, composition, or shingles laid in good haired mortar …”
A new stone building was constructed behind the town hall to house the fire department and its equipment. There was also a drying tower the department could use to dry out its hoses.
The common sense of being proactive rather than just reactive prevailed as municipal government continued to take new measures to prevent fires and be better prepared to fight them when they did flare up.
In 1868, Guelph purchased a brand new Silsby steam fire engine. This was a state-of-the-art pumper, reputed to be the best fire-fighting machine in the world. Anyone who didn’t believe that could just ask Horace C. Silsby, the manufacturer, who had come all the way from New York to see his engine demonstrated for the people of Guelph. According to the Guelph Herald:
“The engine, with its 1,500 feet of hose attached, showed admirable efficiency, throwing a heavy stream of water (from the Speed River) in two directions on objects several hundred yards apart simultaneously; or a still heavier stream when the hose was united in a single line and directed to a single point. The pressure produced by the steam power is immense, throwing water in a large and rapid stream to nearly twice the height of the highest houses in town with much accuracy and very little manual labour.”
The Herald went on to say that although the engine was “a somewhat expensive affair” at $6,000 ($128,000 today), it would “save more money than it cost.”
Because not every outbreak of fire would be conveniently close to the river, underground water tanks were installed at key locations around town. Two were buried under St. George’s Square, and two more at the juncture of Suffolk and Yarmouth streets.
Firefighters were also authorized to use wells on private property.
Platforms constructed at several locations gave firefighters elevated positions from which to direct water from fire hoses.
Even with these measures, there were unexpected problems with some fires. At one blaze the old leather fire hose broke twice. At another the fire engine arrived too late to save a building because it had been held up by a train at a street crossing.
In the early days, when the fire alarm sounded, firefighters had to commandeer the nearest cab and harness the horses to their engine. The cabman received $2 compensation. That was considered a pretty attractive fare, so cabmen would hurry to the fire hall when the alarm was raised.
Eventually the town bought horses for the fire department. They were stabled behind the town hall, with harnesses suspended above them in order to be dropped right onto the animals at the sound of the bell.
In 1879 Guelph had a new firefighting infrastructure called the Holly System installed. A reservoir fed by a well and river water was dug near the Eramosa River. It was connected by 13 miles (21 km) of pipeline to 94 hydrants around town.
A new fire hall was built about 1900, and the department received a new hook and ladder wagon and a new hose wagon.
In 1908 the Guelph Fire Department advanced from being a volunteer brigade to a fully paid professional service. L.S. Finch became chief with an annual salary of $1,000.
By 1927 the department was fully motorized. Guelph was now as ready as any other Canadian city for the challenges of the modern age.
