A new pumper, a $4,600 fund drive and a county fire-coordination appointment marked 1974 for the Victor Fire Department, according to a historical account the department shared Nov. 5.
In its Throwback Thursday post, the department recalled a leadership team headed by Chief James Simonds, with Leroy Briggs as first assistant chief and Philip Peck as second assistant chief. The post included an archival group photograph and newspaper clippings about the department’s equipment, fundraising and county role.
The diesel-powered pumper added that year could pump 1,215 gallons of water per minute. A newspaper photo caption included in the post put its cost at $56,481 and showed it in the foreground of the firehouse, with an older piece of apparatus behind it.
Volunteers also raised $4,600 through their annual fund drive while continuing to answer fires and other emergencies, the department said.
An advertisement preserved with the post promoted the historical drive for Oct. 27 through Nov. 1. It invited residents to an equipment parade through the village at 10 a.m. Oct. 27 and an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day, with free cider, doughnuts and coffee.
Simonds began his tenure as an Ontario County deputy fire coordinator in 1974, according to the department. A newspaper account of the appointment said county Fire Coordinator Donald Barnes selected him to help departments in the county’s northwest section with mutual aid and training.
That assignment covered Victor, Farmington, Fishers, Ionia and East Bloomfield. The clipping also described responsibility for county foam systems based in Shortsville and Victor, with Simonds responding alongside the foam units on calls.
At the time of the appointment, the newspaper reported that Simonds had worked for the village of Victor for eight years and had recently been named public works superintendent. His wife, Carol, belonged to the Victor Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.
The same account identified the county’s other deputy coordinators as Harold Hayward of Honeoye for the western section, Jack Dhondt of Hopewell for the central section and Claude Thorpe of Geneva for the eastern section.
Photo: Victor Fire District truck (file photo).
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