Department History

Norton has had some form of organized fire department since the early 1930's when it can be dated back to having 2 chemical fire apparatus. One of which can still be found at the fire department. These apparatus were at the time stored in Harmer's store on Main Street and the other at Allaby's Store in the Station Yard.

During WWII the Air Raid Patrol distributed stirrup pumps to many homes in the area to be used in the event of air raids. These stirrup pumps were similar to a tire pump that was set into a bucket of water and hand pumped to extinguish small fires.

In 1949 Norton purchased its first fire truck, a Ford, the pump was on the fromt of the truck which made it difficult to operate. Response times to calls were slow in todays terms. A second truck was purchased in 1965. A 1945 LaFrance V12, 700 galloon purchased from the navy in Halifax. This truck had no cab which also made going to a call very slow and cold in the winter months.

In 1972 a new truck was purchased to replace the LaFrance. Mayor Peter Reid and firefighter Russell Webster travelled to Pierreville Quebec to bring home the new truck.

In 1978 a GMC tanker/pumper was purchased to replace the aging 1949 Ford. This truck was built at the Moncton Foundry.

Present Apparatus:

TRUCK 1 1999 International 1050 GPM pump with 1000galloon tank
TRUCK 2 2005 Sterling 1050 GPM pump 1000 galloon tank
RESCUE 3 1999 Ford

First Responders:

Norton Volunteer Fire Department under the leadership of Chief Raymond Godfrey in the 90's established a partnershipp with the Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation for first responder calls. This partnership provided faster medical service to our community. EMT's would receive a medical call and then would request the first responders to respond to calls in the area to provide BLS to patients within minutes. This led to raising funds to purchase an Automatic External Defibrillator in the late 90's. The department held dances, sold raffle tickets and accepted donations from both the private sector and buisnesses to purchase the $8000 piece of equipment. This made Norton the first department in the area to have such a piece of equipment. Many hours went in to training members to become efficient in its use.

Present Executive:

Fire Chief Bill Pamer
Deputy Ivan Davis
Captain Tom Burley
Captain Joel Codling
Captain Monica Tays
Captain Chris Woodill

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