Box 43 gets long-overdue service truck upgrade
Volunteer canteen service nourishes Hamilton’s first responders
The Hamilton Fire Department is providing a volunteer canteen service that nourishes first responders at emergency scenes with a refurbished truck.
The revamped 2012 truck is a substantial upgrade from the 24year-old vehicle used by the service, called Box 43, and should make things easier for its volunteers.
“We really appreciate the work they do,” said fire department spokesperson Claudio Mostacci of Box 43. “It shows a lot of dedication by the volunteers. They come out in the cold and on hot days.”
A 2007 Spectator story quotes Len Saltmarsh, a former fire chief, saying that on a hot sweltering day when firefighters are exhausted and dehydrated fighting a fire, or on a sub-zero day when their faces are frozen and covered in ice, that Box 43 “meant a helluva lot.”
The refitted truck, unlike the old one, has a full cooking range and large fridges inside, plus a proper coffee machine with three burners, Mostacci said. The old truck had only a cooking hot plate and was so small inside that it was difficult for two volunteers be in it at the same time.
The $190,000 retrofit was borne by the fire department, which houses the truck at its Wentworth and Barton streets station, said Mostacci, who added that the various emergency services assisted by it help Box 43 acquire food and supplies. The canteen truck goes into service this week.
Box 43, founded in 1950 to serve refreshments to firefighters at major fires, takes its name from the alarm box that sat at the old central fire hall on Hughson Street. It was patterned after Montreal’s auxiliary firefighters’ refreshment service.
Box 43 volunteers initially served coffee and drinks out of the trunk of their cars, but they eventually built a homemade trailer that was later replaced by various vehicles over the years.
The Box 43 Association responds to emergencies throughout the city, including major fires, electrical blackouts and tornadoes. It responded to 54 emergencies in 2015 and 41 to date this year in Hamilton. It also helped out at emergency situations in Burlington, Haldimand County and Niagara Region this year.