The Port Lambton Fire Station is celebrating its 75th anniversary of serving the community on Saturday.
St. Clair Township Fire Department Chief Richard Boyes said it started out as the Port Lambton Fire Department.
"It was formed, as most were, from a number of concerned citizens and was then ultimately amalgamated into Sombra Township and became part of the Sombra Township Fire Department system, which was still known as Port Lambton Fire Department," said Boyes. "Then at amalgamation [in 2001] when Sombra and Moore became St. Clair [Township], they became Port Lambton Station 5."
Boyes said the equipment and notification technology has changed over the years.
"They started out with a donated truck that was converted, they had telephones that were in the firefighters' homes where the emergency call came and was answered by somebody in the home and then the siren alerted them," he said. "Now it's all by 9-1-1 and all done by radio and pagers."
He said the group trains multiple nights each month and averages 50 calls each year.
"The full complement in Port Lambton is 31 firefighters and with our latest recruitment we are at 31 firefighters there," Boyes said. "It has pretty much stayed the same size, it's maybe increased a little bit over the 75 years, but again, it's served by 31 dedicated people."
Boyes said it's a tight-knit group, just as other volunteer stations are.
"A lot of it is not unlike other places, where there's multi-generations serving in the department. I have an article here from the 50th, and a couple of firefighters have just retired that were there at the 50th. So, it's a history of dedicated service, long time service, and many family members being involved," he said.
Boyes said the $40 million fire at Coopmans Marina in 2011 was the largest call they've ever responded to. The huge blaze destroyed 65 boats and a handful of classic cars.
Another notable fire was in 1998, Boyes said the clubhouse at the Baldoon Golf Club caught fire.
All are welcome to attend an open house on Saturday, from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., to mark the milestone.