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.

Reigonal Haz Mat Training Exercise Held in Sooke

Sooke Fire Rescue Service hosted the first of a series of Greater Victoria area live training exercises for the CRD Hazardous Materials Team. In this scenerio a 100lb container of ammonia had fallen over and began leaking in the ice making room at the Seaparc Leisure Centre. Using a variety of props, a large gas cloud could be seen forming above the arena building. Sooke Firefighters arrived on scene with their small hazardous materials trailer but quickly realized that they had insufficient staff or equipment to deal with this emergency. As ammonia is a deadly gas, the arena and pool were quickly evacuated, Phillips Road closed to all traffic and nearby homeowners were told to leave or stay indoors with all their windows and doors closed. (all simulated). Sooke Firefighters set up decontamination equipment and called for help from the CRD Haz Mat team whose equipment is based in Central Saanich. (The CRD Haz Mat Team is comprised of members from Greater Victoria Fire Departments who have received extensive training and are certified Hazardous Materials Technicians - there are approximately 85 technicians within the CRD of which 6 are members of Sooke Fire Rescue) In this exercise, technicians from Sooke, Metchosin, Colwood, Saanich, Oak Bay and Central Saanich attended. With the arrival of the Hazardous Materials Truck, crews were put into Class A chemical suits and sent in to deal with the event. At the conclusion of this scenerio, crews broke for a lunch break and then went on to deal with a second scenerio that afternoon. This was a great training event for all the members, giving responders a chance to work with different groups and be better prepared for the real events when they occur.

Late Night Fire Concerns Firefighters

A late night fire in a 35 foot fifth wheel caused concerns and a few anxious momements for the 13 firefighters that responded at 3:00 am on Nov 17. The trailer was fully involved on arrival with an adjacent green house on neighbouring property also burning due to the extreme radiant heat. With the high winds embers were being blown throughout the area. Sooke Fire Rescue's newest Engine was the first apparatus on scene and quickly proved its worth as an effective firefighting tool. The second in Engine arrived from Station 2 and established a water supply from a nearby hydrant providing Engine 1 with more water. Engine 1-2 arrived next and was initially used to patrol the neighbourhood, checking for other fires that may have been caused by the flying embers.
Investigators returned that morning but were unable to determine a point of origin due to the extensive damage. However circumstances have concluded that the fire is suspicious in origin and the file has been turned over to the RCMP for follow up.

Roll Over MVI Challenges Firefighters

A single vehicle MVI on Sooke Road Monday evening took the ingenuity of firefighters to free the trapped driver. The victims car had hit a tree, rolled over onto its roof with the driver ejected partially through the windshield. The vehicle was quickly stabilized using the crew from Engine 2, while Engine 1 and Rescue 1 crews operated rescue tools and set up lighting. With the ALS ambulance crew seriously concerned over the victims deteriorating condition, firefighters used the Jaws of Life to cut all of the roof posts on one side of the car. Once cut, the winch was used to pull the car up and off the victim while at the same time the windshield was removed from around her torso. From arrival to final extrication, the entire task was completed in just under 30 minutes. Ambulance crews rushed her to VGH where she was placed into an induced coma, but at last report was said to be in good condition. While this was all going on, Squad 1 and Brush 2 set up traffic control to divert vehicles along Parklands Road. This was instrumental in keeping the scene safe while allowing traffic to flow. Sooke Road was closed for about 4 hours while the RCMP traffic analyst completed his investigation. BC Transit also called to commend the firefighters on their great efforts in allowing the busses to safely move on the winding, narrow detour road. This was a great effort by all emergency responders and all of you should be very proud of a job well done with a very successful outcome.

Metchosin Structure Fire Requires Mutual Aid

Metchosin Firefighters were summoned to a reported chimney fire in the 900 block of Kangaroo Road during the evening of Nov 3. Arriving on scene, Metchosin found they had a structure fire that was quickly escalating. With no hydrants in the area, a long steep driveway and limited access a call was placed for mutual aid. This included an 2 engines from Langford, a tender from Sooke and another tender from East Sooke. While Metchosin and some Langford crews worked the fire, the remaining crew from Langford and Sooke firefighters set up a relay pumping system and established a tender shuttle operation. Hose was pulled from the top of the hill, connected to a Metchosin Engine, down to the first Langford engine located part way along the driveway. This was then connected to the second Langford unit which was set up near Kangaroo Road, adjacent to the porta-tank. Tenders from Sooke and East Sooke then shuttled water from the nearest hydrant. The house, 4 storeys in height was now fully involved with flames at least 100 feet in the air. Despite the best efforts of many firefighters and the time it took to get a water supply established, the house was lost. Fortunately the gentlemen living in the home escaped with his dog. Crews were on scene for over 4 hours. Cause of the fire is unknown at this time.