The Singing Firefighter Revealed

Ok... after all this time it can now be said that the Singing Firefighter is none other than Wayne Pestru! On another note our wonderful almost retired Fire Marshall Pat Burke has corrected me in that the only official Singing Firefighter was Jack Lambie who heard the folks singing on the decks of the Titanic when it sank. He was standing on the shores of Newfoundland. Having said that we will have to rename Wayne to something like, "The Singing Northern Guy" or some other title.

The main reason that these series of posts took place is because Wayne has created a great CD based on old 60's tunes. As I think back I believe Wayne was in his early 30's when the songs were new : ). Wayne isn't looking for a profit on these CD's but rather wants to donate the money to two of his favourite charities: the Salvation Army and Hospice. I guess the question is: Will you buy the CD to support Wayne and these charities at only $25.00 (shipping and handling included) each? If you want to purchase the CD you can email me or leave a comment here and I will place the order for you.

Let's support Wayne and buy a CD.... there are some great tunes that will bring back many great memories.

Final Guess Until The Reveal!

Last chance to guess who "The Singing Firefighter" is....! Click on video below to listen! The 'Reveal' coming soon (I hope).... !

Soon To Be Revealed - Postponed

I was about to publish the Singing Firefighter earlier today... but when I heard of Jim's passing... I decided to postpone. Let's all think of past memories.. : ) Jimmy will be missed.

Soon To Be Revealed

Final thoughts? The 'Reveal' tomorrow...(hopefully) : )

Who is he?????

Somebody says he's Boogie Zimmerman... what do you think?????
The 'reveal' coming soon!!!!

Do You Know This Man?

Who is the Singing Firefighter?? Find Out Soon!!!!!

911 Memorial song

Don't know if you've heard of this song yet or not....pretty good. "Everyday Heroes"

Great Video

Great video.... must have taken ages to edit. Thanks to Ray L from Michigan for this one! Four decades of musical movie dancing to one song...incredible! Click on bottom right to enlarge.

Rambo the Puppy

We have a dog that looks pretty close to this one. If you want to have a lot of fun with your pet you should invest in a Shihtzu! Our dog actually did this with the mirror that we had. Have fun watching the video.

Sandor the Great

Does anyone remember Sandor White? You know; the kid with the buzzcut that had a great sense of humour. The first time I met him was when I was transferred to #6. We had a lot of ‘new’ kids on the block back then. If my memory serves me right there was Kris Matton (who doesn’t write any more), Paul Bobbie, who was known for his famous phrase, “Jacko understands”, and of course, Sandor. We had some pretty well established older guys too; Bob Carroll, Mike Anderson, Dave Stroud, Doug Emery. I believe Gary Spratt was there also. But my memory fails me as to the other members of the crew.

Sandor was only on the job for about 2 or 3 years when he moved on to his home town of Barrie where he secured a position on that city’s fire department. I can only imagine the goings on there.

One of my fondest memories involved Sandor riding the back of the rescue which I was driving and I believe ‘Belle River’ Bob was the officer on the truck. We were dispatched to, which turned out to be a false alarm, in Forest Glade. As we were parked by the curb Sandor jumped off the back of the rig and came along side of the truck and stood by my window. I looked down and there he was in all his splendor. He looked pretty official in his bunker gear, gloves and even had his mask on ready to assault the fire single handed if necessary. He looked up at me and said, “Hey, Jacko, I smell smoke; we might have something here! Oh really”, I said. “How can you smell anything, you have your mask on!” The last time I saw Sandor during that time was walking towards the back of the truck.

I saw him back at the station where he was wearing a sheepish grin and he stated, “I’ll never make that mistake again!”

What a neat kid…. I still miss him to this day.

From Brent Marchant

Three fellows had passed on and were waiting to enter into the gloryland. While they were waiting, they were told that in order to enter, one of the prerequisites was that they could count to 10. No problem said the first fellow..1234…1234…1..2 .3 4…. I forget what comes after 4. I was a soldier in my earthly life and I was used to marching 1 2 3 4….1 2 3 4……

The second fellow couldn’t wait….1 2 3 4 5 6….let me see???? 1 2 3 4 5 6….I was a police officer in my past life and they gave me these 6 bullets which I counted every day for 30 yrs but I can’t remember what comes after 6!

The third fellow says “let me try” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10…yep that’s it! Once more… 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10… I was a fireman you know, a very noble profession, and I served for 30 yrs as well! “So…. By any chance, do you happen to know what comes after ten” they asked? “Sure” he answered Jack, Queen, King, Ace !!!

Past Tales

Brent Marchant sent me a couple of anecdotes about time on the job. I haven't edited any of Brent's stories; these are his words... still funny after all these years

It was a Saturday morning about 7:45 am just before shift change at HQ… so there’s lots of guys hanging around looking for a cover. The WPD are also present because Half Reaumes’ van had been broken into overnight and his vending machine business money had been stolen, and they were doing a report and investigation. The Moon Beams truck is parked right beside Half’s van.

So Sonny (MB) gets in his truck , starts it up and moves it our about 15 ft and shuts it off. He then proceeds to the front of it and lifts the hood staring inside …….. So “wisecrackin Caverzan shouts out, Hey Sonny, what’s the matter … did they steal your engine? To which there is a hearty burst of laughter from everyone. Sonny replied with a very straight faced and stern look… No stupid, I wanted to be sure they didn’t take my battery! The place went bezerk!

Here’s another true one for you. I’m driving the eng out of #4, Randy Meyer is Captain, George Copland and Steve Appleyard are on the back. The call comes in ,,,…medical emergency to a lower apartment on Sandwich. ….seems The daughter was talking with her mother …suddenly disconnected…….no response…….daughter suspects her mother has suffered a heart attack!!

Lights and sirens, pedal to the metal! we roll. Arriving on scene the daughter is already there, and totally hysterical. Randy orders take the door down!......there’s no answer from within. Smash! Crash! The old wooden door is in smithereens They all rushed inside and find the mother sitting upright on the sofa with her hands across her chest and starring straight ahead. . MOM ….ARE YOU ALRIGHT??.... reply ….I’m mad at you,! I’m not talking to you! BUT MOM, THE FIR EMEN JUST SMASHED YOUR DOOR DOWN! …….reply….. It’s my door…. I don’t have to answer it if I don’t want to!! Cpt Meyer says …..oooookay! well we’ll be on our way now ,,come on boys…. Windsor dispatch ..... eng 4 returning

It was a great job, wasn’t it?

Firefighter Tribute

Paula Hillis sent me this clip. Apparently it was created by a Lakeshore firefighter... anyway, pretty good stuff....

Train VS Tornado

Just got this from Bill McLeesh.... great video ... you can really start to get interested when the rain starts and then 'buckle up' .. :)

Every once in a great while you receive a video that is priceless... sit back and enjoy as two dogs steal the show....

Seatbelts.... A Different View

Enough said...Buckle UP!!

Side Mirrors

After all these years we have someone who knows how to adjust the side mirrors on your car. I tried this and wished I had known about this hint years ago. No need to thank me but a few donations would be nice. : ) This might even work for the big red rigs!

Cancun

In Talum...mixing it up with the local natives. For awhile I thought we might be the main course!

Just got this from Mario in Fort Myers. The women look great but what the heck happened to the guys? Time is a terrible thing, isn't it? : ) Just kidding... they look pretty good too. Well, kinda.

Taking a break..

Dog Sedding in Banff