At Milton Fire & Rescue Services, we are committed to keeping you and your loved ones safe. We operate out of five fire stations and serve both urban and rural areas in Milton. Learn about the work we do and consider becoming a part-time firefighter.

Mission

Our mission is to provide a wide range of effective fire suppression, safety and related services and to ensure that Milton is a safe community.

Values

As members of the fire department, we value:

  • Service
  • Compassion
  • Tradition
  • Integrity
  • Perseverance
  • Courage
  • Teamwork
  • Respect
  • Honesty, integrity and fairness

Vision 

In order to provide effective services, we aim to:

  • Utilize customer focused service strategies
  • Develop fire prevention and emergency operations programs that address the needs of our community
  • Acquire, allocate and deploy community resources
  • Invest in staff development and training
  • Advance an organizational culture that embraces safety, diversity, openness and teamwork
  • Invest in new and emerging technologies to achieve greater efficiencies

Philosophy

Our risk management philosophy states:

  1. We will risk our lives a lot, if necessary, to protect savable lives
  2. We will risk our lives a little, and in a calculated manner, to protect savable property
  3. We will not risk our lives at all to protect lives or property that are already lost

History of Milton Fire & Rescue Services

The history of Milton Fire & Rescue Services goes back over 150 years to the establishment of the Fire Brigade Hook and Ladder Company for the Town of Milton in 1857.

In 1917, the fire brigade bought a McLaughlin Buick. The back seat was removed and a box to carry the hose was built into the car. Despite having a motorized vehicle, the brigade still hauled hose reels and the ladder wagon to fire scenes.

As the company grew, ladder wagons and hose carts were situated throughout town for quicker response times. Up until the early 20th century, the department responded to an annual average of 10 emergency calls.

Past emergency response notifications

To notify firefighters that there was a fire or emergency, a siren was placed on the roof of the fire station. As Milton grew, the siren could not be heard in every area of the community. Bell Canada created a device that would assist in alerting firefighters. This system was the first in Canada and was adopted in Milton. The system called a home telephone with a different type of ring to alert the firefighter to the emergency. Although innovative for the time, this system didn’t last because the firefighter needed to be home in order to get the alert.