About Us / History

The fire district was organized in 1924 and served the villages of Waterville & Cambridge and at that time was called the Waterville I Cambridge Fire Department. Later when Grafton and later still Woodville wanted to join the name was changed to Waterville & District Fire Department.

They started out with a building on Park Street that housed a 1925 Ford Model T with two 40 gallon chemical tanks & 150 feet of hose. There were 20 active members and was claimed to be the first rural department duly organized in Nova Scotia under legislative authority.

In 1946 the district was extended to include Grafton. The name then changed to Waterville-Cambridge-Grafton Fire Department. At this time they purchased a 1946 Ford chassis, with a 400 gallon water tank & high pressure pump. The same year a FWD truck was purchased to carry hose and pull a trailer pump for water supply. Also that year the department moved to a new building across from the post office in Waterville.

In 1947 the Village Commission was incorporated for fire protection under the Village Services Act. It is their responsibility to receive all grants and tax monies and to administer the paying of all maintenance charges for fire fighting equipment and purchasing of new equipment when deemed necessary by the fire department.

In 1958 the department purchased an old Blacksmith shop and rebuilt that to be the fire fighters clubroom. The building is now used for a child care center.

Woodville was taken into the fire district in 1966. A 1966 Dodge truck with 1300 gallons of water on board was placed in rented space in a former garage. This added more active members and provided better fire protection in that community and the communities on the north mountain.
In 1973 a new pumper was purchased and an extension was added to the Waterville station to make room for this new pumper. This building was added to again in 1975.

On March 31 1977 the fire district officially changed its name to The Village Commission of Cornwallis Square. This included the villages of Waterville, Cambridge, Grafton & Woodville.

1979 saw the fire fighters investing their own funds to renovate the club room and purchased the Jaws of Life or Hurst Tool. In 1980 the Village Commission accepted land from David Lacy as a
location to build a steel structure to contain units stored at Woodville. The Woodville truck responded from an apple warehouse for the winter / spring. This allowed for the old bam style garage to be removed and-the new structure constructed on the same site. This became known as Station # 2 of the Waterville & District Fire Department.

Our present base station and community center was constructed in 1994 on land that came from Michelin Tires Canada. The Village contributed most of the funds, $ 500,000, with the fire department selling bricks and plaques to complete the banquet side to an amount of $100,000.