Fire expected as Nelson Fire Hall as facility celebrates 100th birthday
By Nelson Daily Staff
BC’s oldest operating fire hall is blowing out the candles on 100 years of operation Saturday (June 22) at the Nelson Fire Hall on Ward Street.
Highlighted by a barbeque and big birthday cake, there’ll be cause for celebration, not alarm, when Nelson Fire and Rescue and the rest of the community pay tribute to the Nelson Fire Hall, which turned 100 years old last month.
The hall was officially opened on May 20, 1913, and today no other BC fire hall has been in operation longer.
Fire Chief Simon Grypma, who’s been with the department since 1976, says everyone is invited to Saturday’s celebration, which will include a free BBQ, guest speakers, tours, and recounts of great Nelson Fire Department history by local storyteller Richard Rowbery.
The event starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m., Saturday at the Fire Hall.
The Hall’s history is extraordinary. The BC Fire Chiefs Executive had its first meeting in Nelson in 1907.
Forty of BC’s chiefs were back in town this winter to mark the occasion.
An exhibit at Touchstone’s Nelson, up until September and entitled City in Flames: A Journey Through Nelson’s Fire History, chronicles some of the worst fires in Nelson’s history and how they shaped the city’s character.
Fire Hall celebrations will continue later this summer, when antique fire trucks from throughout BC and the western US and Canada are invited to attend the annual Nelson Road Kings Car Show.
