Laval Firemen’s Fest 2018

Fire trucks were the star attraction for thousands of families

By
George Bakoyannis
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Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis
From left to right : Ray Khalil, city councillor Sainte-Dorothée, Yannick Langlois, city councillor L’Orée-des-bois, Christiane Yoakim, city councillor Val-des-Arbres, Éric Morasse, city councillor Saint-François, Sandra El Helou, city councillor Souvenir-Labelle, Isabella Tassoni, city councillor Laval-des-Rapides, Gilbert Dumas, city councillor Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, Aram Elagoz, city councillor Renaud, Stéphane Boyer, city councillor Duvernay-Pont-Viau, René Daigneault, Director of Laval’s Fire Department, Jonathan Dufour, President of Laval’s firemen association and Sylvie Lauzon, representing McDonald’s.
Martin C. Barry

While it may seem a bit of a cliché, the fact is you couldn’t have asked for a weekend better – in terms of weather at least – than the three days when the City of Laval’s 13th annual Firemen’s Festival took place.

On June 2 and 3, the Centropolis was the place to be for a range of activities – the most exciting of which was the arrival of nearly two dozen antique fire trucks on Saturday morning.

Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis held June 2 & 3.
This vintage horse-drawn, steam-operated pump unit was among the oldest pieces of firefighting equipment on display at the festival.

A three-day event

The festival actually started off on Friday June 1 at Laval’s Centre de la Nature where members of the firefighting team took part in a relay race.

At the Centropolis for the next two days, there were educational and information kiosks, fire safety activities and musical presentations. In all, thousands of people from Laval and from further away turned out.

“This is a nice day for all the families to gather here for the weekend,” said Vimy MP Eva Nassif who was on hand for the arrival of the trucks.

Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis held June 2 & 3.
The crowd waves from the sidelines as fire trucks arrive on June 2 at the Centropolis.

Mayor Demers absent

Notably absent for the arrival of the trucks was Mayor Marc Demers. According to Councillor Christiane Yoakim, the mayor was in Boston attending a conference on biotechnology.

“He was very sorry he could not be here,” said Yoakim, noting that Mayor Demers always enjoys himself immensely at the festival during which he usually arrives with city councillors atop one of the fire trucks.

Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis held June 2 & 3.
Firefighters demonstrate their use of the “jaws of life” to shear open a car involved in a simulated road accident.
Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis held June 2 & 3.
Laval’s firefighters gave demonstrations of their emergency intervention skills, including methods for extracting car accident victims safely from auto wrecks.
Thousands attended three-day community event, mainly at the Centropolis held June 2 & 3.
This vintage hook and ladder truck that once served the former municipality of Lachine was among the most impressive emergency vehicles to be seen at the Firemen’s Festival.

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