Fire Department Investments Keeping Community Members Safe

The Township of Langley Council approved significant investments in the Fire Department to continually enhance public safety in our growing municipality and those investments are hitting the streets.

They include new firefighters, a new fire truck, an increased focus on prevention and public education supported by two new inspectors, improvements to fire halls, and a new hall to be built.

“I want to congratulate all the new recruits on joining the Township Fire Department. With 19 new recruits this year, and 11 additional next year, we are keeping up with the growth in our community by ensuring we have a well staffed fire protection service. The addition of a new crew at Hall 4 in Willoughby is much needed, and long overdue. With a new firehall in Brookswood-Fernridge underway, we are making the investments needed to enhance public safety.” – Township of Langley Mayor Eric Woodward

“We appreciate the ongoing investments and support from Council that ensure the Township Fire Department has the firefighters, infrastructure, and equipment we need to keep the public safe in our growing community.” – Township of Langley Fire Chief Jason de Roy

The new firefighters officially started February 24 after completing their training. The two new inspectors, who started January 2, 2024, are important to help cover the number of new construction projects that are underway in the Township, future planned community developments in Brookswood and Aldergrove, and the annual fire inspections for established businesses.

Improvements to fire halls including renovations and a new build in Brookswood-Fernridge will support the department’s operations while providing enhanced facilities and infrastructure overall.

The new apparatus, known as Squad 4, is a first-response truck out of the Willoughby Firehall. It hit the road on February 24 and is a further step towards addressing the increasing call volume around the Township.

Before it hit the road, the new Squad 4 truck went through a ‘push-in’ ceremony - a longstanding tradition dating back to the 18^th century when the steam engines were horse-drawn, and the horses could not walk backwards to position the engines in the hall, so the firefighters had to manually push the engines in. In the 19th century, motorized fire engines became popular and did not need to be pushed in. However, firefighters continue this tradition to honour new trucks being put into service.

For more information about the Township of Langley Fire Department, visit their website here.

Before it hit the road, the new Squad 4 fire truck went through a ‘push-in’ ceremony.

Township Firefighters gather with Mayor Eric Woodward, Councillors Baillie, Kunst, Martens and Pratt, along with Fire Chief Jason de Roy and other Fire Department leadership to celebrate and welcome a new group of firefighters, a new fire truck for Hall 4, and  other investments in the Fire Department that are helping keep community members safe.