Richmond's firefighting capacity has grown from a volunteer fire department in its early days to today’s professional Richmond Fire-Rescue with about 200 firefighters.
The Friends of the Richmond Archives recently posted a photo from 1956 of the Brighouse Fire Hall with its volunteer firefighters.
The photo shows a fire truck and an “inhalator wagon,” which provided breathing support for people in respiratory distress.
In 1951, the city hired its first paid firefighter, and by 1969, volunteer firefighters were being phased out.
The original Brighouse Fire Hall was located behind Richmond Municipal Hall at No. 3 Road and Granville Avenue.
In 1962, a brand-new Brighouse Fire Hall, now known as No. 1 Hall - that honour was previously bestowed on the Steveston Fire Hall - was opened at Granville Avenue and Gilbert Road.
It was just a few hundred metres from the original Brighouse Fire Hall.
The current fire hall opened in 2018 and replaced the previous 17,000-square-foot, 50-year-old fire hall at the same location.
Brighouse Fire Hall is one of seven fire halls in Richmond. It also serves as an administrative centre and houses its Fire Prevention, Community Relations and Emergency Programs branches.
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