PORT ELGIN, N.B. — The Port Elgin Fire Department was formed around 1950, when a number of local men took up the call to provide a volunteer firefighting service in the area. Since that time the department has seen hundreds of men and women give their time – and risk their lives – to protect the citizens of the village and surrounding areas in times of disaster.
Desmas Brine, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 79, was one of those early firefighters, the first deputy-chief under chief Roderick Johnson. Just recently the dress uniform Brine wore with pride for many years was returned to the area by his family and will now find its way into a place of honour at the new Port Elgin fire hall.
During a special ceremony, the Brine family members joined Port Elgin firefighters at their facility in the village to present the uniform and hat, in addition to a vintage brass fire hose nozzle and two plaques of honour awarded years ago to the late Desmas Brine for his service to the community.
Brine’s two surviving sons, Ed and Lowell, along with grandson Jamie and son-in-law Art Chase, were on hand to present the uniform to current Port Elgin fire chief Steve Alward.
“This is where these things belong, here in Port Elgin. My dad was instrumental in keeping the fire department going in this area, for more than 25 years as a firefighter, a deputy-chief and then for some years as fire chief. When my brother-in-law Art told me he and my sister Mary still had Dad’s uniform I asked my son Jamie, who is a 15-year member of the Campobello volunteer fire department, if he wanted to have it, and he did. But then he said perhaps it should go back to the area where our family lived and where his grandfather was a long-time firefighter,” Ed Brine said.
The Village of Port Elgin officially opened its new fire hall on Jan. 1, 2018. The facility is about 6,000 square feet with four bays housing its two main fire trucks, rescue vehicle, boats and utility vehicle in addition to other fire/rescue equipment. A fire chief’s office, spacious classroom for training purposes, kitchen, washrooms, showers, hose and laundry room are also included within the facility.
Chief Alward said the department is very happy to accept the returned uniform.
“It’s fantastic…we appreciate the Brine families’ generosity in donating these items which are so important to them. We are moving ahead with displaying various articles from our department’s history and this is a great place to start. We’ve been given some things, but we’re definitely looking for anything that was part of the operation of the Port Elgin fire department through the years since it first began. Our history is very important, and part of it all will be in highlighting the work and dedication of those people who were part of this department since its inception, people like Desmas Brine,” Alward said.
The Brine family is also planning to donate their father/grandfather’s fire helmet. In a twist of fate, the helmet, which the family believed was long-gone, turned up in the possession of a relative of a long-time Brine family friend.
“Art and Mary’s son Terry met up with a young lad formerly from Port Elgin while they were both in the service stationed in the Persian Gulf. Long-story short, they got to talking, found out that their families were both originally from Port Elgin and the other fellow told Terry that he still had Dad’s helmet, which my father had given to the young man when he was just a child and these original helmets were being replaced by the fire department. The lad made arrangements to give the helmet to Terry, so the helmet is once again in our family. Quite a coincidence,” Ed Brine said.
He added the Brine family, none of whom reside in the Port Elgin area today, feel it is appropriate for the helmet to make its way back home and so in the near future plan to also donate it to the Port Elgin fire department.
“Dad would certainly be smiling down, here today,” he said.