The recent issue of the Burlington Historical Society’s Gazette, featured a very interesting article concerning the history of Burlington firefighters.

The Burlington Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed back in the 1890’s and the first horse-drawn apparatus was purchased in 1893. A bell was erected on the town hall to call the volunteers in the event of a fire. A local family attended to the ringing of the bell, a telephone having been placed in their home to notify them of the fire and its location. This bell has been preserved and can be seen today at the entrance to the Central Library.

In 1907 underground water storage tanks were built in various locations in case of a fire. These served until the waterworks was built in 1909. For many years there was a tall water tower located at the corner of Maria and John streets which became a well known landmark that remained in place until 1956.

The first motorized fire truck was purchased in 1916 and this greatly increased the brigade’s efficiency. It was a combined chemical and hose truck with a two-ton capacity. I recall when I first moved to Burlington in 1952 that the fire chief was Mr. Waumsley who owned and operated a tobacco and magazine shop on lower Brant Street near the Lakeshore. When the siren would sound signalling a fire and summoning the volunteer firefighters, Mr. Waumsley would quickly close his store and run to the nearby fire hall on Elizabeth Street to get the truck started and ready to go as the first volunteers arrived.

My previous mention of the Roseland Plaza brought this e-mail from Bill Kemp. Bill writes: “I was born and raised on the Guelph Line and still live in the area of the plaza. In 1936 my grandfather, Thomas Kemp purchased 5 1⁄2 acres with the exception of one acre which at that time was the old radial car line from Hamilton to Oakville, on the northeast corner of Guelph Line and New Street. In 1950 that acre was donated by Nelson Township to my grandfather and this 6 1⁄2 acres is what we know today as the Roseland Plaza. I recall also in later years the building of the Millionaire Donut Shop on the south side of New Street where Midas Muffler is today.”

Thanks Bill for this information.

Most readers know of my love for top notch customer service and at this time of year, with thousands of shoppers visiting our retail shops daily, I am sure this at times is very difficult to maintain.

I wanted to make mention of an experience I witnessed just a few days ago.

I was in Aldershot Village Pharmacy in the new walk-in medical clinic located at Plains Road and Waterdown Road.

Along with the pharmacist, a young lady by the name of Christine was on duty when a senior lady using a walker came into the store to purchase a few items.