This is a story of ‘The Lone Wolf.’

Local firefighters and residents are proud of the distinguished history of Station 435 at 130 Eighth Street which was built in 1929 and turns 91-years-old this year.

Dubbed ‘R435: The Lone Wolf,’ the station was  part of the New Toronto Fire Dept., (NTFD) which served Mimico and Long Branch, before it was absorbed by the Etobicoke Fire Dept. (EFD) in 1967 and later Toronto Fire Services under amalgamation in 1998.

The first volunteer fire brigade was organized in the area around 1914, according to records, which described the equipment as “rudimentary’ and consisted of two lengthy pieces of hose, a wheelbarrow and axes placed at Fourth and Twenty Second Streets.

A hand-drawn hose cart was later obtained to make life a little easier for the volunteer firemen.

It wasn’t until 1918 that The Lone Wolf obtained its first motorized apparatus; a pumper built on a McLaughlin-Buick chassis.

Built in 1929, the two-bay fire hall and living quarters is pretty much the same today. The facility was manned by two paid fire fighters of a then 24-man strong EFD. It originally housed both the New Toronto municipal offices and volunteer fire department.

With the area undergoing rapid industrial growth during WW11, the NTFD became the first in Etobicoke to purchase an aerial truck, an American LaFrance 85′ mid-mount with a steel ladder that was delivered in 1954.

Proud fire fighters bragged about their state-of-the-art truck that could pump 850 gallons per minute at a raging blaze. The station would handle about 200 calls yearly.

By the 1950s the department had expanded to 26 paid men and by 1965 the use of volunteers was discontinued.

New Toronto amalgamated with neighbouring municipalities in 1967 to form the Borough of Etobicoke. The NTFD was no more and re-designated Etobicoke Fire Department Station 9.

Perhaps their busiest night on record was in 1954 when Hurricane Hazel struck killing dozens of people, including five volunteer fire fighters from the Kingsway-Lambton station. Dozens of residents were rescued along the Lakeshore that night, including several that had been swept into the Etobicoke Creek.

The station was re-numbered Station 435 in 1998 with amalgamation. Fire fighter Jon Lasiuk recalled their new patch says, the “Lone Wolf” remains “On Shore Patrol, protecting the south-west corner of Toronto.”