Port Alberni’s first fire department, formed more than a century ago, was made up of a group of dedicated volunteers.
According to the book The Albernis: Then & Now, 1912-2012, the first practice of the Port Alberni Volunteer Fire Department was held during the week of June 26, 1912.
The department’s first fire apparatus—which consisted of a 50-gallon horse-drawn engine, fire buckets, a hose reel and hand-drawn ladder truck—was housed on Second Avenue (now the 3100 block) in Sam Roseborough’s Livery Barn.
After amalgamation in 1967, the new City of Port Alberni hired fulltime fire crews. A new fire hall was constructed at 10th Avenue and Bute Street, where it still stands today.