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stouffville suntribune thursday july 19 20o7 3 stouffville says by hannelore volpe what are your favourite summer activities and places asked at the lebovic leisure centre helen zhou every week our whole family goes to the indoor pool and the tennis courts carmelle lingham i go downtown with my friends shopping for clothes pati coukell the outdoor pool is no 1 it is just relaxing it is fun and it is clean we love it phoebe macleod- emmer i like to go to the park i like swinging really high i like to climb the rock wall last call for record firefighting career roaming around with jim thomas ts a record jim rennies tenure as awhitchurch- stouffville fire department volunteer totals 455 years a milestone that may never be equalled his dedicated service with the town brigade concluded july 2 when he handed over his pager and hydrant wrench to chief chris pow ers the decision was my own he said no one prompted me id been thinking about it more than a year his many days of answering fire calls at all hours are done he described the unit now numbering 58 men as a fraternity where everyone works together as a team the brigade includes 40 volunteers and 18 fulltime employees the deputychief is rob mckenzie the secretary is debbie brock mr rennie joined the fire department jan 1 1962 filling a position made vacant through the retirement of del jennings a former chief there were 16 on the roster at the time including chief walter smith and deputychief fred castle it was just something i wanted to do he said due to experience gained through his fathers trucking business he was immediately assigned the position of driver the lone truck was a 1946 fargo a venerable vehicle still in parade use by the whitchurch- stouffville volunteer firefighters association the fire hall was located adjacent to the monumental clock tower on main street inte rior space was so limited remembers mr ren nie the truck had to be driven out so the men could don their coats hats and boots the siren immediately above was tripped by switchboard operators with the bethesda- stouffville telephone company the calls were then taken by the first fire fighter reaching the hall later bill sanders accepted messages from his service station office in the towns east end phones were later installed in firefighters homes and amber warning lights were installed on their vehicles if insufficient volunteers showed up the siren was sounded again efficiency was seldom a problem he said because most firefighters were employed in downtown stouffville those living or working on the outskirts would drive often at breakneck speed to reach the hall before the truck pulled out occa sionally prompting slowdown warnings from the chief because the fargos water capacity was lim ited to 250 gallons tanker assistance was often called in from uxbridge and aurora particu larly for fires in the rural area the 1971 ratcliff block blaze downtown was jim rennie retired this month after 45 years as a volunteer with the whitchurch- stoiiffville fire department fires in down town stouffville and blazes at two lumberyards stand out one mr rennie will never forget also the fire in the adams house at main and albert streets when a male tenant suffocated in an upstairs bedroom fires at century mill on stouffville road and ratcliff lumber in gormley are also memo rable only a miracle saved secondstorey resi dents from injury or death in the ratcliff block blaze he said barn fires were numerous he says requiring dozens of hours forking over tons of hay and pouring on gallons of water grass fires particularly on may 24 week ends kept the brigade busy records show as many as 12 calls in one day often the fire would spread faster than we could run- he said in some instances combines caught in the fires path were destroyed the pay rate back in 1962 was 3 an hour while 75 per cent of earlier calls involved fires accidents and drownings mr rennie said at vehicular accidents we only had crow bars to rescue trapped drivers and passengers he said now theres the jaws of life a marvel ous invention he prefers not to dwell on fatalities at the same time he refuses to minimize the risks entering a house where smokes so thick you can barely see is chancy he said ive been lucky barbara rennie like all firefighters wives was much a part of her husbands career how can i ever forget calls in the middle of staff photojim mason christmas dinners and birthday parties the siren would sound and away hed go that was the way it was she said i reached a point where it was hard on me said the 69yearold father of two grandfa ther and greatgrandfather of four im not as young as i used to be a pastpresident and life member of the ontario firefighters association he plans to retain his connection with this organization hes confident the old fargo can still win a few more awards hes also praised the way each chief has seen fit to keep pace with town firefighting needs we have some pretty nice equipment he says while his years of service have set a record four others come close fred crossen 42 years ernie smith and bert tait 41 years each and walter smith 40 tom brillinger is the longest active volunteer at 30 mr rennie offers noth ing but praise for all with whom hes worked i was proud to serve said mr rennie pointing to awards photographs and certifi cates lining walls within his room of memo ries he also alludes to the inscription on a keep sake sweater that reads the absolute fire fighter this heroic title is reserved for those courageous people who dedicate their lives to saving others this for stouffvilles jim rennie will be his legacy jim thomas has been writing for stouffville newspapers for more than 55 years