When the Alta Lake Volunteer Fire Department (ALVFD) was formed in 1962, it had five members and was supported by donations from community members. Alta Lake residents contributed axes, mattocks, shovels, stretchers, first-aid kits, hoses and more. When the ALVFD made its first purchase of a Wajax pump and 400 feet of hose for $305, Florence Petersen collected $15 from each property owner along Alta Lake Road. Regular fundraisers were established to provide funding for the ALVFD and the money raised was used to supply the firefighters with necessities. Members of the fire department continued to volunteer their time.
The fire department remained a volunteer organization for some years after the Resort Municipality of Whistler was formed in 1975, and fundraisers continued to be an important source of funding. One fundraiser was the annual Ice-Break-Up raffle held in the spring. Each year, a barrel would be set out on the ice of Alta Lake and tickets were sold with guesses of when the ice would break and the barrel would fall into the water (in 1976, Bob Dufour was announced as the lucky winner, though it was later revealed that an error had been made and the raffle should have been won by Guy Baervoets). This tradition continues today, though it is now a fundraiser for the Point Artist-Run Centre rather than the fire department.
Another annual fundraiser for the fire department was the Fireman’s Ball. This event was reportedly first held at Rainbow Lodge in support of the ALVFD though it appears to have stopped by the mid-1970s. The Fireman’s Ball, however, was revived in 1985 to raise money for the Whistler Volunteer Fire Department’s (WVFD) Life Saving Equipment Fund. Specifically, the fire department wanted to purchase a Jaws of Life, a tool described to the Whistler Question by Fire Chief Lindsay Wilson as a “hydraulically operated cutting and spreading device used to gain entry to damaged vehicles, thereby facilitating speedy and safe rescue.”
The 1985 Fireman’s Ball on Sept. 21 was one of the first community events to take place in the Conference Centre, which had held its official opening ceremony just two weeks earlier on Sept. 7. Tickets were sold at local businesses and directly by members of the fire department. There was even a weekly Top Ticket Seller competition reported on in the Question.
With the support of volunteers and sponsorships from the community, the Fireman’s Ball was reportedly a success, raising about $15,000 for the fire department. There was dancing in the ballroom to the sounds of the Bobby Hales Orchestra, a full-service casino in the atrium area, a cash bar, and hors d’oeuvres. Organizers had promised it would “be THE social event of the year” and its popularity guaranteed it would return in 1986.
Due to the success of the Fireman’s Ball, the fire department was able to purchase its Jaws of Life. On Sept. 11, 1986, the driver of a 1985 Jaguar left the road while turning left at the intersection of Village Gate Boulevard and Highway 99. This was the first time the fire department put its Jaws of Life to use, allowing responders to remove the driver from the vehicle with a broken femur much more quickly than they otherwise would have.
In 1998, the Ball was a smaller affair held at the GLC and the money was split between the fire department and the school’s Parent Advisory Committee. According to Alex Bunbury, who had then retired from the WVFD, the Ball had become less profitable for the department over the years as more events sprung up and the Ball was no longer “the only event of the year where Whisterites dressed formally.” As Whistler grew, the fire department became a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters. The event became known as the Whistler Firefighters’ Ball as women such as Sheila Kirkwood joined the department, and continued in different forms into the 2000s.
