Chimney Fire Season is Here. Have you had yours cleaned lately?

With the recent cold weather, it appears chimney fire season is once again upon us. Sooke Firefighters have already attended 4 such calls in the past month. While no serious damage has resulted from any of these recent incidents, it is a reminder to all of us to have our chimneys inspected and cleaned on a regular basis.

MVI Snarls Morning Traffic

A single vehicle Motor Vehicle Crash in the 7600 Block of West Coast Road on the morning of December 12th resulted in the closure of the highway for about 40 minutes while rescue crews freed the driver and sole occupant. The driver had lost control of the vehicle and went off road into a telephone pole causing extensive damage to her side of the car. The drivers seat had been forced over into the centre of the car. Crews from both Sooke Fire Stations using 2 sets of Jaws of Life removed the passenger door and roof of the vehicle. A dash roll was also used to free the driver. Once the car had been disassemble, the victim was removed and placed on a stretcher for transport by ambulance to VGH. While she did not appear to badly hurt, her condition was later upgraded when internal bleeding and broken ribs were discovered. At last report the patient was in the intensive care unit.

Merry Christmas

It has been a while since I have had a chance to put anything on here so I will try to add several posts to catch up on what has been going on with the fire department. First off and the top story has to be the incredible support that we have received in collecting donations for the Sooke Christmas Bureau. Volunteers from the fire department, District of Sooke employees, RCMP, EHS, ESS (spouses and kids too) and Mayor and some council members all spent 2 or more hours on their feet in front of the grocery stores, drug store or at the fire hall doing the drive through program. Firefighters and helpers then spent several hours decorating the fire trucks for the Annual Santa Run taking Santa all over the community collecting food donations. I am very pleased to announce that through all this effort a total of $11,000.00 in cash and at least another $10,000.00+ in food and toys was collected. (could be worth considerably more, but is hard to estimate) The trailers holding the food are loaded to the limit and there is still more on the floor that would not fit. How awesome is that?

1942 Fire Truck - Progress Report

The work on the '42 International Fire Truck is progressing nicely as a large group of volunteers are in the station every Friday from 6:00 pm on dismantling the truck piece by piece. Chrome parts are being shined and other parts are being stripped in preperation of a new paint job. All of the fenders, front end and hood have been removed. The running boards are now coming off and will be replaced with new solid wood boards that will be varnished to a high shine. Help is still needed on this project and we are also looking for anyone that may have photos or stories of this truck when it was in service in Sooke from 1954 to 1970.

Now for the big news. The second fire truck of this vintage that saw service in Sooke during the same time period is now also available to members of the Sooke Firefighters Association. The truck, a 1954 Austin has been in a museum in the Queen Charlotte Islands for many years now. It appears that the historical society in this area would like to move the truck out as they have new displays to put in and have offered to give the truck back to Sooke. What are the odds of having two trucks that left Sooke 41 years ago, being offered to be returned within 2 months of each other. Weird or What? Anyway, it appears that several members are interested in having a look and bringing this truck home to Sooke as well.

Photos show the 1942 International as it undergoes restoration in Sooke and the old Austin in service in Sooke back in the late 1960's

Busy Weekend of Christmas Activities

This weekend was very busy with Christmas events. To begin with, Saturday and Sunday saw firefighters, RCMP members, District of Sooke staff, members of the Emergency Program and EHS members all out collecting food items and cash for the Sooke Christmas Bureau. Working in front of Western Foods, Village Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart from 10 to 4 each day, these community minded volunteers collected a pick up truck load of food and approximately $3700.00 in cash and checks. What an amazing display of generosity by this community. Volunteers will be out again in force next weekend at these same locations. Then on Dec 16, 17 and 18 we will try the first ever Fire Hall Drive Thru campaign were local citizens can simply drive into the fire hall and make a donation without ever leaving their cars. Don't forget the Santa Run on December 17th. Santa will begin touring the communities of Sooke, Otter Point and East Sooke in fire trucks beginning at 5:00 pm. Watch for the December 14th edition of the Sooke News Mirror for specially marked grocery bags showing all the route information.

Firefighters also spent the afternoon decorating Engine 1 for the Sooke Christmas Parade. This may have been the biggest and best parade ever as it was a beautiful sunny day and the streets were lined with spectators. This was followed an hour later by the lighting of the Christmas trees in front of evergreen mall.

Thanks very much to all the volunteers that helped this weekend. What a great effort and hopefully we will see as much, if not more of this next weekend.

Another Crash Involves a Logging Truck

Fearing the worst, emergency responders attended a motor vehicle crash in the 5500 block of Sooke Road on November 28th. The initial call came in as a logging truck versus car with the driver of the car trapped and requiring extrication. with a short handed crews, those firefighters that were available responded from both Sooke stations to the scene. Fortunately, the car and truck were not pinned together, rather it appears the driver of the car had crossed the centre lane and hit the logging truck in both sets of rear wheels causing severe damage to one rim on the first axle and damage to the tire on the second axle. A large chunk of rubber was also torn out of the tire located on the trailer portion of the logging unit. All three tires and likely two rims would have to be replaced. The car suffered extensive front end damage and while the driver suffered only minor injuries, the Jaws of Life had to be used to get the door open. The driver was tranported to hospital and the RCMP continue to investigate the cause.