{"id":18408,"date":"2017-09-21T12:16:46","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T16:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=18408"},"modified":"2017-09-21T12:16:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T16:16:46","slug":"fire-fighters-decades-of-dedication-showcased-at-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/fire-fighters-decades-of-dedication-showcased-at-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Fighters\u2019 \u201cDecades of Dedication\u201d showcased at Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even before Aurora was officially founded, it has been served by a committed team of firefighters \u2013 volunteer and otherwise \u2013 who have dedicated themselves to keeping the public safe.
\nTheir equipment might have changed over the years, along with their vehicles and even the kinds of buildings they are being called to, but their dedication remains the same.
\nIt is this dedication that is available for all to see with \u201cDecades of Dedication: Central York Fire Service,\u201d a new heritage display at the Cultural Centre through their Community as Curator program.
\nCurated by retired firefighter Rod Bruton, it showcases the advancement of fire service in both Aurora and Newmarket through uniforms, photographs, news articles and other artefacts he has collected and curated over the years through his role as Historian for the Central York Fire Services (CYFS).
\nMr. Bruton began his association with what is now the CYFS as a volunteer fire fighter for the Newmarket Fire Department in 1973, before going full time two years later.
\nEven from those early days, Mr. Bruton was saving odds and ends that would otherwise be bound for the trash, hiding his treasures in out-of-the-way corners of firehalls.
\n\u201cA lot of people would have just throw it away, but now we have a great display in Aurora,\u201d says Mr. Bruton, an active volunteer with Newmarket\u2019s Elman W. Campbell Museum, with a chuckle.
\nWhen the Aurora and Newmarket Fire Departments amalgamated in 2002, he was near the top of the heap when it came to seniority and upon his retirement in 2006 he was in the midst of setting up historical displays in the central Newmarket Station.
\n\u201cI guess I was just thinking of the future,\u201d he says of why he held onto so many artefacts.
\nThe artefacts, however, have proved handy over the years, providing the means for many evocative displays held in conjunction with Central York Fire Services annual open houses, which focus on fire prevention.
\nNot only are these open houses intended to teach the community the ins and outs of fire safety in a fun and interactive way, but they are also opportunities to highlight its past, ranging from the artefacts so lovingly collected by Mr. Bruton to retired firefighters who have served the community with distinction.
\nEvery so often, however, these worlds come together.
\nA uniform now on display at the Cultural Centre, for instance, was worn by Deputy Chief Donny Patrick. Patrick\u2019s father, Stu, also served in the Aurora Fire Department, joining back in 1924. In the 1980s, the third generation of the Patrick family came aboard and all three are represented through their uniforms, photos, and other objects.
\n\u201cIt was hard to get away as a volunteer,\u201d says Mr. Bruton. \u201cI worked for Slessor Motors at the time and we would [be called away with two other guys and the boss] let us go [to fight a fire] and then we would come back and finish the job. Sometimes it was late, but he knew it was a way of helping our community.\u201d
\nDecades of Dedication: Central York Fire Service will be on display at the Aurora Cultural Centre through November 9.
\nCentral York Fire Services will hold their Annual Open House this Saturday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Station 4-4 located at 1344 Wellington Street East. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cEvery Second Counts, Plan 2 Ways Out.\u201d
\nActivities will include a new Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness Simulator, firefighter demonstrations, as well as a barbeque. Donations will be accepted for the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Centra York Fire Services’ annual Open House returns to Wellington Street station this Saturday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4MU","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-23 13:35:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}