Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
As Newburgh Fire Hall’s last surviving original member, as well as the village’s unofficial historian, Ben Sutton was the perfect reciepient of Canada Post’s commemorative stamp that celebrates the history of Canada’s firefighters.
Unbeknowst to Sutton, he was selected to receive the stamp in a special presentation made at Stone Mills’ Newburgh Fire Station 3 on Monday evening.
Newburgh’s post master Dale Pidgeon presented Sutton with an enlarged version of the stamp, which is the fourth in a series of five released by Canada Post that salutes the country’s emergency responders.
Sutton was a founding member of the then-Newburgh Fire Department back in 1947, where he served for 49 years before retiring at 65.
“I remember to this moment, parking my bicycle in front of the town hall and going in to see what was going on,” said Sutton, noting that the village’s first fire chief, Vernon Simkins was inside talking with council about launching a fire department at the time. “Low and behold, I came out a fireman.”
“I was 16 years old, but then they found out I couldn’t be covered with compensation until I was 18,” said Sutton. “So I was secretary-treasurer for a couple of years.”
Once old enough to go on calls, he quickly developed a reputation for being first to respond.
“I could make it from the old academy down here (to the fire station) here on my bicycle or on foot and usually I was here first because I liked to drive the truck,” said Sutton.
“Back in those days our mode of alerting was the United Church bells,” said Sutton. “If it tolled slow, it was an out of town of fire and in those days we covered Yarker and Tamworth. If we got a call in Tamworth, we’d save the basement because from here to Tamworth in that old truck (was slow going).”
To help celebrate the station’s history, residents of the village brought along Napanee Beaver press clippings and hung them on the wall. One of the photos was that of the station’s first fire truck.
“Our truck was something to be had,” Sutton said while looking at the old photo. “This old girl here, $326 from Toronto. My cousin and I went up and drove it home with the help of a few other guys.”
The truck was actually a repurposed military vehicle. It had been used as a water tanker for soldiers, complete with a hose to pump water from nearby lakes or streams while out in the field. The water would then be purified and used to hydrate soldiers.
The original pump is still housed in the fire hall today.
“To this day I could start it up in a minute’s notice,” said Sutton, pointing to the pump.
While there was a makeshift fire department prior to the official founding in 1947, it wasn’t very active and was often ill-equipped. Sutton said it was the dedication of local businesses and residents who helped fundraise and get a real department of volunteers up and running.
“Up to that point, once a year we would lose a house in the village here,” Sutton said of pre-1947. “I was just a kid but I could remember it was somebody you knew, because there was only 800 people in the village and there would be kids involved, school chums. There wasn’t much you could do.”
As he accepted the commemorative stamp on behalf of the Stone Mills department, he gave credit to current chief Jeff Thompson and how far the department has come since it was founded.
“That’s our equipment to protect our homes,” Sutton said, pointing to the truck bay in the next room. “We are so fortunate to have this fire department that we have today.”
The commemorative stamps, which were officially released in September, are available ay www.canadapost.ca as well as postal outlets across Canada. The images in the series, which also pay tribute to paramedics, the Canadian Armed Forces, search and rescue experts and police, were designed with input from each agency to ensure authenticity.