Home | City of London Web Site


London  Fire

Services
  

Home Smoke Alarms • Carbon Monoxide • Exit Drills • Fire Extinguishers • Fire Stations

History of the London Fire Department

The department has a long and illustrious history, with many disasters, tragedies, acts of heroism and an ever-changing role since its infancy as a volunteer "bucket brigade".

The first vestiges of a fire department appeared in 1838, when the district government decreed that each home had to have a leather fire bucket on hand to fight fires.  Each business had two buckets.  From those humble beginnings, London's fire service progressed to a number of independent brigades.  The entities were highly competitive and there were frequent punch-ups when two brigades arrived at the scene of a fire simultaneously.

Things became more orderly in 1873 with the establishment of a professional department under the direction of the city's first fire chief, Thomas Wastie.  The department has grown through the years from an initial contingent of 17 paid personnel, to more than 400 individuals who staff it today.
(more below)
Lorne Ave. Explosion Central Chev Fire
This dramatic photograph is of a house on Lorne Avenue that was blown to smithereens by a natural gas leak.  Amazingly, no-one was killed or injured. This is one of London's most memorable fires, filling the sky over the city with smoke when Central Chev-Olds was burned to the ground.  A welder's torch started the blaze.
Drugstore Fire This fire destroyed the Tamblyn Drugmart on downtown Dundas Street in 1977. Fire at the "Y" This winter blaze spelled the end of the old downtown YM-YWCA when flames caught hold in 1981.
Dragging Hose Line-Of-Duty Death
The strain of directing a fully charged hose is displayed by this scene of a fire at the George White Farm Equipment plant in 1974. Engine No. 4 after it collided with an ambulance in 1979.  Firefighter Rick Roman was killed when he was pinned under the vehicle.  He is the last London firefighter to die in the line of duty.
Burned Hands Surround & Drown
Firefighter Frank Bell collapses onto an engine.  It took an exhausting 16 hours to get a 1958 blaze at the Three Star Restaurant under control. Fire crews "surround and drown" a blaze in 1963 at the Yolles Furniture Store on Richmond Street.
Dive and Technical Rescue Teams September 11 remembered
The department's water and technical rescue teams unite to rescue a man who slid down the bank into the Thames River in 2001. Retired Deputy Chief Peter Harding rings the ceremonial bell on the first anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy.
Wonderland Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firefighters continue to douse the burned out shell of Wonderland Gardens.  The band shell and Riverview Restaurant were spared in the August 29th, 2005 blaze.  The facility had been boarded up and faced an uncertain future.  Wonderland Gardens opened in 1935 and thousands of Londoners have fond memories of attending concerts and dancing there.

Embassy Hotel
The vacant Embassy Hotel on Dundas Street falls victim to a ferocious blaze on May 12, 2009.


Encapsulated History of the Fire Department

bullet February 13, 1839:  Four businesses burn in a Dundas Street blaze.
bullet March 7, 1842:  Bylaws for London's fire brigade are established.
bullet October 8, 1844:  Fire ravages 30 buildings along Dundas Street.
bullet April 13, 1845:  London's "Great Fire" destroys more than 150 buildings.
bullet December 17, 1855:  Firefighter John Eskdale is killed in a Talbot Street house fire.
bullet February 16, 1856:  Five men killed in an explosion at the Anderson Foundry.
bullet April 23, 1867:  The city buys its first steam engine for the fire brigade.
bullet April 1, 1873:  The professional fire department begins service under Chief Thomas Wastie.
bullet November 2, 1874:  Firefighter William Howlett dies after becoming ill while fighting a blaze.
bullet February 13, 1879:  Hydrants are used for the first time in a fire at the Carling Brewery.
bullet April 19, 1880:  John Roe is appointed fire chief.
bullet May 24, 1881:  The Victoria Steamship capsizes in the Thames River, taking 180 people to their deaths.
bullet February 18, 1884:  Three men perish in an explosion and fire at Hobbs Hardware.
bullet January 3, 1898:  The second floor of city hall collapses during election night, killing 23 and injuring 150 others.
bullet January 6, 1904:  Fire Chief Roe is killed when a wall collapses at the Sterling Brothers fire on York Street.
bullet March 28, 1904:  Lawrence Clark appointed fire chief.
bullet July 16, 1907:  Reid's Crystal Hall on Dundas Street caves in and kills 7 people.
bullet May 31, 1908:  Firefighter William Seccombe dies in a conflagration at the City Hotel.
bullet August 18, 1908:  Chief Clark, Firefighter Henry Wein and a third man die in the Westman Hardware blaze.
bullet October 5, 1908:  John Aitken becomes fire chief.
bullet November 3, 1911:  Fire damages Kingsmill's and 7 other Dundas Street businesses.
bullet June 8, 1916:  Fire Captain John Case dies when a fire truck hits a freight train at a Talbot Street crossing.
bullet November 22, 1918:  The London Professional Fire Fighters Association is formed.
bullet January 22, 1927:  One life is taken by a fire at the People's Savings and Loan building.
bullet April 21, 1927:  Charles Jenner is hired as fire chief.
bullet December 4, 1928:  Alderman Dickson Glass demands Chief Jenner's resignation.  The chief complies.
bullet January 7, 1929:  Charles Scott is appointed fire chief.
bullet January 7, 1932:  Kingsmill's Department Store is again damaged by fire.
bullet March 3, 1934:  District Chief Stanley Scruby and Lieutenant Arthur Hartop perish in Hunt's Mill inferno.
bullet March 26, 1937:  Thames River floods,  Fire Department conducts numerous water rescues.
bullet October 1, 1939:  Robert McRonald begins a long career as fire chief.
bullet March 3, 1947:  District Chief Alex Kerrigan makes the ultimate sacrifice at a Richmond Street fire.
bullet July 29, 1957:  A new central fire hall is officially opened at Waterloo and York Streets.
bullet November 1, 1958:  Milton Mathers succeeds the popular McRonald as fire chief.
bullet November 14, 1960:  Captain David Moffitt suffers a fatal heart attack while fighting a Richmond Street blaze.
bullet October 1, 1961:  Four children are killed in a house fire on William Street.
bullet November 25, 1962:  Five children perish in a Lyman Street house fire.
bullet August 1, 1970:  Ray Morley appointed fire chief.
bullet January 26, 1971:  A winter blizzard virtually shuts down London and a state of emergency is declared.
bullet January 8, 1973:  A string of natural gas explosions burns 50 homes in Oxford Park.  No-one is killed.
bullet October 5, 1974:  911 emergency service instituted in London.
bullet November 11, 1976:  Fire destroys Central Chev on Fullerton Street.
bullet January 26, 1978:  London is paralyzed by a major winter storm.
bullet April 3, 1978:  An Eagle Court home is flattened by an explosion.
bullet April 30, 1979:  Firefighter Richard Roman is killed when Engine 4 collides with an ambulance.
bullet January 4, 1981:  Fire destroys the downtown YM-YWCA.
bullet February 1, 1983:  Robert Barr appointed fire chief.
bullet February 15, 1983:  Two people killed in a fire on Tumbleweed Crescent.
bullet September 2, 1984:  A tornado rips through Whiteoaks subdivision, damaging hundreds of homes.
bullet January 10, 1985:  Four boys killed in a Clarence Street fire.
bullet July 28, 1989:  A Margaret Street blaze takes the lives of six people.
bullet March 24, 1990:  Fire in a Wharncliffe Road apartment kills 2 teenagers.
bullet November 14, 1991:  Four firefighters are injured when Engine 9 plunges off the Vauxhall Bridge.
bullet November 25, 1991:  Jim Fitzgerald named fire chief.
bullet November 1, 1993:  Gary Weese succeeds Fitzgerald as chief.
bullet April 18, 1994:  Arson fire forces the evacuation and temporary closure of Saunders Secondary.
bullet May 17, 1995:  Industrial accident sees two workers overcome and killed by poisonous gas.
bullet April 22, 1996:  The new central fire station at Horton and Colborne is opened.
bullet February 1, 1999:  E. David Hodgins promoted to fire chief.
bullet April 23, 1999:  Fire destroys the Cornell Farm Market on Southdale Road.
bullet October 5, 2000:  Copp's Buildall warehouse on Adelaide Street sustains a million dollars arson damage.
bullet January 12, 2001:  Downtown fire destroys Warner Hardware.  Kingsmill's heavily damaged for the 3rd time.
bullet January 9, 2001:  The London department staffs St. Thomas fire during the funeral of Capt. Dennis Redman.
bullet December 31, 2001:  London's Fallen Heroes Fund raises half a million dollars for September 11th victims.
bullet August 25, 2002:  Firebomb nearly kills a London high school principal and causes 400,000 dollars damage.
bullet December 9, 2002:  Homeless woman dies in a fire after living in a derelict building on Wellington Street.
bullet January 19, 2004:  John Kobarda appointed acting chief following the departure of Hodgins.
bullet March 16, 2004:  Fire causes 650,000 dollars damage and destroys a brand new home on Clayton Walk.
bullet April 20, 2004:  Single family home on Bridlington Road catches fire.  A 2 1/2 year-old girl perishes.
bullet June 14, 2004:  City Council names John Kobarda the new chief of the London Fire Department.
bullet September 29, 2004:  The former Ah So Gardens restaurant is destroyed to the tune of 600,000 dollars.
bullet July 23, 2005:  Half a million dollars damage results when fire destroys a house at 23 Hampton Cres.
bullet August 29, 2005:  A daytime million dollar blaze at Wonderland Gardens dooms the former dance hall.
bullet October 7, 2005:  The new No. 2 fire hall and Apparatus Division on Florence Street are officially opened.
bullet Feb. 3, 2006:  An elderly woman dies when fire guts her Platt's Lane apartment unit.
bullet June 6, 2006:  A woman is found dead during a house fire on Deveron Crescent in south London.
bullet March 13, 2007:  An elderly woman perishes in a fire at a Richmond Street North apartment building.
bullet March 18, 2007:  Firefighters rescue a man and his 3 children from a life-threatening fire at a Platt's Lane hi-rise.
bullet May 12, 2009:  Historic Embassy Hotel on Dundas Street East is destroyed after being closed and boarded up.
bullet March 22, 2010:  A man dies in a townhouse fire at 669 Osgoode Drive.