Celebrations for the 150th-anniversary of the London Fire Department in Ontario kicked off Friday with a private event at the department’s headquarters.
The event featured fire department officials, local politicians and historic artifacts and photographs from the department’s century and a half of service.
Kirk Loveland, a platoon chief with the London Fire Department, was among those on hand for the event.
“It’s great seeing everybody and bringing people back together that have been involved with,” he said. “A (significant) aspect for me was going over the history of the department and remembering all the firefighters over the years.”
Retired platoon chief Chris Merrison spent 35 years with the London Fire Department and says it was an emotional day catching up with former colleagues.
“I look back on many memories; many happy memories and some sad ones,” he said. “We went through a number of our retiree guys that we’ve lost over the last few years and it’s been pretty tough.”
The department will hold a public open house in June featuring historic equipment, firetrucks and fire safety information sessions.
– with files from 980 CFPL’s Matthew Trevithick