On Thursday, October 12, the Orangeville Fire Department hosted their annual open house to the general public. Fire Chief Ron Morten stated that he invites Orangeville Police Services and County of Dufferin Paramedics Services to participate. It was a very impressive display of our local first responders with one police vehicle, two ambulances and six fire trucks along with several staff members. I was at the Fire Station before the starting time at 5:00 pm and within minutes adults and children started to arrive to take in all of the displays and activities.

What caught my attention was the emergency boat which is available for water and ice rescue. With the growing popularity of Island Lake Conservation Area, this is indeed a very important piece of equipment to have available to our first responders.

Children were encouraged to sit in all of the vehicles that were on display. They also got an opportunity to try using a fire hose and wear fire equipment. The event was extremely well organized and planned. This is one event to which I always look forward. As usual I ran into several former students and their children which is always a highlight for me.

I did extract some information from the Town of Orangeville’s website about our local Orangeville Fire Department. Presently there are 32 volunteer firefighters along with 10 full-time firefighters who cover a 6:00 am to 6:00 pm shift seven days a week. The staff also includes a fire chief, deputy fire chief, two fire prevention officers and a training officer. The website also mentioned that they respond to 1400 calls annually.

I certainly came away with the impression that Dufferin County is well protected and exceptionally well serviced by our collective “First Responders”.

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