A decades-long mystery surrounding a piece of the Chilliwack Fire Department’s history has been solved.
A restored Rosedale portable water pump trailer was unveiled at the Chilliwack Fire Department’s annual general meeting in front of the entire department on Monday (May 27).
“This was a project that took a lot of time,” said firefighter and restorer Pat Liebault. “I’m glad I got the chance to return the trailer to the Rosedale Fire Hall.”
READ MORE: ‘Humanity wins’: Community rallies around Chilliwack sous-chef hit by theft
Many may remember the history of the trailer and pump.
Back in late 2018, Liebault, a Chilliwack firefighter of over 20 years, was searching for an old trailer and pump that had been used by the Rosedale Fire Department some 60 years earlier. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been seen in almost 40.
He put a call-out through The Progress, which published the article, ‘Hide and seek: Firefighter looking to find old auxiliary pump for Rosedale Fire Department’ in September of that same year.
Within hours of the article being posted online, longtime-Rosedale-resident Peter Thornton got in contact with Liebault.
“I was looking at the picture (online), and I thought to myself, that’s my trailer,” said Thornton. “Actually, I was getting ready to build a house (on this part of my property) and didn’t know what I was going to do with (the trailer).”
The two gentlemen arranged a meetup with Liebault confirming it was the missing trailer he’d been seeking. The original pump that accompanied it was nowhere to be found, but Liebault was nonetheless thrilled with what he had.
Thornton happily handed it over to Leibault who began what would turn into a six-year restoration project.
But the history is far more complex than most realize, and dates as far back as the Second World War.
With the attacks on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, the Pacific Coast came under serious threat. Allied militaries uncovered Japanese plans to attack the Western seaboard by using incendiary balloons to set much of the West Coast on fire.
As a countermeasure, the Air Raid Precaution Program was launched with communities all along the West being equipped with means to thwart any potential attacks.
The community of Rosedale was given a portable pump by the federal government, which was mounted onto a two-wheel trailer by the Rosedale Machine Shop with help from members of the community. The pump and trailer were designed to be a quick means of extinguishing any potential fire attacks by drawing water from the closest source.
No serious attacks ever came by the time the war ended, with much of the equipment being donated permanently to the communities. The Rosedale Fire Department was officially formed in 1948, with money raised around the community for a hall and proper fire truck. The truck purchased was a 1940 Ford and attached to the back were the pump and trailer.
Both were used in the community until 1979 when the truck was officially decommissioned due to its age before being restored in the early 1990s and put on display at the Rosedale Fire Hall (now the Chilliwack Fire Department’s Hall 2) where it remains. The pump and trailer were used for training purposes for a short while before being sold off to a pair of farmers.
Following the transaction, the pump and trailer would seemingly disappear for almost 40 years.
That was before Liebault’s call-out in the paper in late 2018.
He spent the next six years trying to best replicate what the original one would have looked like in its day. The main frame and wheels remained original, but the trailer itself was not in the best of shape and the location of the original pump motor remained a mystery.
Realizing the possibility of not only finding the pump but being able to restore it was relatively low, Liebault decided to get a new motor. He got his hands on a flat-head V8 motor to serve as a show pump, with various other materials needed for the build being either donated or recycled.
Whatever was unable to be sourced had to be fabricated or modified.
Following its official unveiling at last week’s annual general meeting, it was reunited with its long-lost partner and reattached to the previously-restored 1940 Ford fire truck.
Liebault’s work received plenty of positive response from the fire department, but he was quick to defer much of the credit to anyone who’d helped him throughout the project.
“Retired Chilliwack firefighter John Van Esch provided me with the inspiration to start the project and was instrumental in supplying many parts and materials needed for the build,” said Liebault. “Assistant fire chief Chris Wilson was an immense help with the mechanical parts…the fire chiefs were all very supportive throughout the whole process.”
“It has been an interesting journey which allowed me to connect with many people in the community around the Fraser Valley and across the border in Washington.”
The restored trailer together with the truck will now return to their rightful home, on display at the Rosedale Fire Hall.
Don’t miss out on reading the latest local, provincial and national news offered at the Chilliwack Progress. Sign up for our free newsletter at www.theprogress.com.
