Like
many Island communities, Kensington has throughout its
history experienced heavy losses to fire. In the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century, there were no
building codes to speak of, the majority of buildings
were made of wood, and most of the heating and lighting
involved burning wood or oil. All these factors added up
to create a constant threat of conflagration, and
practically guaranteed that-- if a fire started-- it
could turn into a raging inferno almost instantaneously.
There was a deep public well located in the centre of
town, one of whose purposes was to act as a latter-day
fire hydrant, providing a source of water in the event of
fire. But without high pressure hoses or fire-fighting
trucks, there was little that early residents could do
besides exercise extreme caution, and in the event of an
accident, try to rebuild after the fact.
Reuben Tuplin's towering general store was reduced to ashes in 1887. There was a rule against smoking in the store, but it was not strictly enforced, and the fire was started by a smouldering cigarette butt. Due to this single act of carelessness, the entire east side of Broadway street was completely wiped out. Fatefully, Tuplin's had received a cask of gunpowder only days before, and when it ignited, it blew the roof clear off the building and down the street! Undiscouraged, Tuplin rebuilt his store but it burned to the ground again in 1924, in a fire that started when a lantern was upset in the livery stable of the adjacent Commercial Hotel. This 1924 blaze almost leveled the entire business district in Kensington, leaving only PJ&C Kennedy's store unscathed. And Kennedy's only escaped the flames for four years, burning down in 1928.
Hoping to prevent such disastrous losses, the
first fire hall was organized soon after the town's
incorporation in 1914, and was located beside the old post office
in Town Square. When the hall was being built, they
placed a 
driveway
between the two buildings to accommodate the mailman, who
insisted that he needed a way to get to the back of the
post office.
The original building was equipped with a bell in an elevated tower, and ropes hung down all the way to the front of the building, an area which was constantly kept well-lit and visible. In the early days, before telephones, those who saw a fire were supposed to run to the fire hall and ring the bell loudly to alert the town. The key to the fire hall was kept in a recessed box next to the door, so that anyone could gain access during an emergency. Every Kensington citizen was expected to do his or her part to avert the fires that could prove catastrophic to them all.
The
first fire hall was torn down when a new facility was
completed in 1962. One of the major reasons behind the
construction of this building was to house three new fire
trucks, complete with modern fire-fighting equipment that
must have allowed Kensington residents to sleep a little
easier.
These trucks included the 1956 American Marsh, 1961 La France, and the 1956 Ford Tanker, which could hold 500 gallons, 600 gallons and 1600 gallons respectively. In 1972, a three-way radio system was instituted to keep the volunteer firemen on constant alert, and it proved of particular advantage in getting quickly to fires in the outlying communities. With this volume of water ready to douse the flames, and the ability to rally firemen instantaneously, the town's fire-fighting has certainly come a long way from the central well and bell tower approach. In 1977, the fire department moved into new facilities at the Kensington Community Center.
Despite this modern equipment, the threat of
fire has not really diminished, and the town's volunteer
firemen still place themselves at 
considerable risk for the safety of their neighbours. In
1973, Gordon Kennedy lost his life while fighting a fire.
The burning of
the Community Gardens in 1977 was an
exceptionally hard blow to the town. But despite these
ever-present dangers, the losses experienced by fire have
been limited as much as possible by the courageous acts
of the Kensington fire department.
