NEW CHIEF GOT A HEAD
START iff CHOSEN CAREER

WHEN RETIRING North Vancouver City Fire Department
Chief Douglas Cairns, 56, handed his helmcit over to in-
coming Chief Tom Cumming, 45, at Cairns" recent retire-
ment dinner, the two men shared more than the symbolism

inherent in the moment.

Said Cairns, who officially
retired Jan. 3] after 36 years ser-
vice with the fire department,
‘Tom grew up behind the fire hall.
When I was at the fire hall, he was
a litle duffer — running around
the soccer field and having lunch
at the fire hall — just like | was
when | was his age."”

Living near the fire hall in the
100-block of East 13th Street as a
young boy, Cairns said he spent
more time hanging around with the
men with the big trucks than he
did at home. ‘‘{ basically grew up
in that fire hall. | knew all the
firefighters. As kids we played
soccer in a field nearby. They
sponsored our team."*

Firefighting is usually high on
every boy’s early wish list of career
options. Cairns, who had absorbed
the job by virtue of natural
childhood curiosity and daily fa-
miliarity, was seriously talked into
joining the tocal crew by Chief Jim
Spencer in 1952. ‘“‘We were swim-
ming at Eagle Harbour. He told
Me a spot was coming open, but |
was concerned about the am-
bulance work which the rookie
firemen handled. He said it was a
good job and he changed my
Mind. They phoned me up. I
walked in. They handed me a shirt
and that was it,” he said.

Cairns worked for 14 years with
the ambulance and rescue squad.
Said Cairns: ‘Some of the am-
bulance calls I went to as an am-
bulance attendant at age 21 are as
clear as the day they happened.
After six months it’s amazing what

Sa. Po
ee name

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Ry MICHAEL BECKER
News Reporter

you adjust to."

He moved on to become a driver
and pump operator for cight years.
He spent one year as a lieutenant,
nine years as a vaptain, and then
crossed over to the administrative
side of the operation. He was dep-
uty fire chief for a year. Since
April 1, 1986, Cairns has served as
fire chief.

During his career, Cairns was
president of Firefighter’s Local 914
for a decade.

To this day he carries vivid
memories of his first call to a fire,
a blaze in a three-storey apartment
building in the 100-block of East
First Street.

Said Cairns: ‘‘An explosion blew
my partner down the stairs and he
fell right on top of me and I
thought to myself, ‘What am | do-
ing here?’"’

When he responded to the Oct.
3, 975 Burrard terminal grain
elevator fire and explosion, which
killed several terminal workers,
Cairns remembers burning embers
raining down into the opcn cab of
the firetruck blocks from the
scene. ‘‘There was fly ash as far as
29th Street,’’ he said.

Cairns said he'll miss the cama-
raderie of the fire department the
most: “It’s 100 per cent team ef-
fort. Your fellow man is like your
right arm. As a kid, the guys at the
fire hall were like second fathers to
me.*'

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45 - Wednesday, February 8, 1989 - North Shore News

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PAGE 50

MEWS photo Mike Wakeileid

RETIRED NORTH Vancouver City Fire Departraent Chief Doug Cairns (right) passes the chief's helmet over
to the new chief, Tom Cumming. Cairns’ co-workers marked the retirement with a dinwer at the fire ball.

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