The Bedford Fire Department has put together a very nice website with a very comprehensive history of the department. Excerpts can be read below.
Since 1939 the citizens of Bedford have volunteered their services to the Fire Department in order to protect their own. Over the years Bedford has developed from a small village, to one of the fastest growing towns in Nova Scotia. It is now a part of the new Halifax Regional Municipality.
The Fire Service in Bedford can be traced back as early as 1922 when 25 red buckets, two wooden ladders, and a fire axe hung from a outside wall of a shed, that made up a quarter of the Bedford Fire Department. Seventeen years later the first fire station was built on the corner of Rutledge Street and Borden Street, in central Bedford. The first meeting was held in the station in October of 1939, at which time the founding Fire Chief was elected; Elijah Heffler, who served as Chief until 1943. The Rutledge Street station still remains today, belonging to private owners. Out of respect for the building's heritage, the owners have left a small statue of a Dalmatian dog and a fire hydrant on a ledge in the outside wall.
It was not until 1953 that Bedford bought its first pumper/tanker, with a second one purchased in 1955. In 1962 the volunteer fire fighters built two tankers. With four pieces of apparatus, and a large interest in the department by its members, a new fire station was officially opened in 1962 on the Bedford Highway. The need for additional facilities became evident as Bedford continued to grow and fire apparatus became bigger and heavier. The building was expanded in the 1960's, the 1970's and again in the 1980's to meet the needs of the fledgling department and it's purchase of up to date equipment...
... the Bedford Service Commission approved the hiring of five career fire fighters on June 5th, 1975. The career fire fighters, hired from within the volunteer ranks, worked from Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Years later the shift would change to 7:00am to 5:30pm.
...In 1989 a new pumper was purchased from E-One in Florida. The Custom built Hush Pumper was the pride of the department, arriving just in time for Bedford Fire Department's 50th Anniversary celebrations later that year.
...In 1989 a new pumper was purchased from E-One in Florida. The Custom built Hush Pumper was the pride of the department, arriving just in time for Bedford Fire Department's 50th Anniversary celebrations later that year.
... Bedford was forced into amalgamation with the new Halifax Regional Municipality.
The Bedford Fire Department became Station #8, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services. The new station was built, [in about 1996]... ...In order for Bedford to conform to the rest of the core stations, in March of 1998, career fire fighters started 24 hour shifts at the station. Volunteer fire fighters were now relegated to second response on most calls, a back-up for career fire fighters. The station went from having at least five career fire fighters to having three, and went from sixty volunteers to thirty. There are two pumpers in the station., along with a tactical unit used for additional air support during major incidents.
From the Bedford Fire Department