Retired Osoyoos firefighter Jim Liebel organized and hosted a reunion for Osoyoos firefighters on Sunday afternoon. Collectively, the firefighters brought over 400 years of service to the Osoyoos community. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

For about 30 former Osoyoos firefighters, a gathering on Sunday afternoon was the first get together since leaving the department.

Jim Liebel, a member of the Osoyoos Fire Department for 30 years that retired eight months ago, organized and hosted the department’s first alumni reunion on Sept. 29.

“There’s never been an alumni get together, that I know of, and I thought I would try to do it,” Liebel said.

“That was my goal: to get all these guys together, hug them all, take a big picture, have fun with them and bring back all our old memories.”

With former firefighters travelling from across the Okanagan and as far away as Ontario to attend, collectively they made up 400 years of combined service in Osoyoos.

For the department’s second fire chief Paul Balogh, seeing all the old faces brought back a few memories. Balogh served on the department for 42 years, 30 as chief. He retired in 1996.

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“I’m glad I came because a lot of the guys are here that were on the department, that are still alive. It’s good to see everybody,” he said.

When Balogh started as chief there were only 15 members on the department, and under his leadership it grew to 21.

With BC Ambulance Service not yet in Osoyoos, Balogh’s job came with a few extra duties.

“Osoyoos didn’t have an ambulance so the fire department took it on. Somebody gave us an old station wagon, the undertaker gave us a stretcher, and none of us were paramedics like now, just the ordinary guy off the street drove it to pick up somebody and take them to the hospital,” he said.

Balogh ended up working with ambulance service for 40 years, staying on as a volunteer when BC Ambulance Service took over.

In his time the department battled two SuperValu fires, the blaze at the Mac & Fitz Packing House north of town as well as a fire at the former Rialto Hotel. It was difficult with only 21 members and “maybe one good truck,” Balogh said.

“We managed. I can’t say we saved them, but they didn’t spread.”

Retired Osoyoos firefighters hosted their first reunion on Sunday. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

And all of it was done with minimal gear.

“The equipment they have now, we never had that,” Balogh said. “We started out with what they call an old Reo Truck and then we got our first modern truck, and then I started buying new equipment, but we didn’t have the money like they have now. We had to get it for clothing and equipment and try and keep the trucks up to date.”

Liebel also recalls using tools that were more “intense labour.”

“We went on thin, thin ice to get a dog off and back in the day we didn’t have special tools. We tied ourselves (together) so if I fell that guy would hold me up and vice versa,” he said.

This was also before the time of scanners and cellphones and instead firefighters – along with the rest of the town – were alerted to a fire by a loud siren.

Norm Hoffman remembers racing colleague Walter Lemke to the hall because the first one there got to drive the fire truck.

“I always lived close to the firehall and I always wanted to drive so I was always first there,” Hoffman said. “Lemke lived right next door and it was up to me to beat him.”

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Hoffman said he won most of the time.

Lemke spent 35 years on the department and retired in 2004. He was the department’s third fire chief, taking over from Balogh.

“When Paul retired then nobody wanted to take over as chief. I was his assistant chief at the time so then I was more or less asked to take over and I made a deal with the town, I said I’ll do it for three years and by then you should have found somebody to take over and after 35 years,” he said.

Lemke stayed on as chief for eight years.

“I referred to it lots of times as running a kindergarten with a bunch of kids – sometimes the kids would get too rambunctious and you had to control them, but in those years the fire department was like a big family.”

It was the family element that Liebel wanted to bring together again.

“There was such a tight bond and everybody respected everybody,” he said. “I want to keep that family bond together and I thought by doing this, that it would help it down the road.”

Nothing is set in stone yet, but he plans to host another reunion again.