In 1947, Jack Vanatter was a young man working in the family grocery business—originally Van’s Meat Market, it later became Van’s Groceteria (Valu-Mart, Sunshine). One day, he decided to volunteer with Fenelon Falls’ Fire Department. In that era, Fenelon Falls’ firefighters were volunteers, doing their best with one truck and not enough coats or boots to go around. Before the days of air packs, “we did the choke and puke bit.” Fighting a fire took a lot of endurance—firefighters would come home wet, exhausted, and filthy. But fighting fires was definitely exciting, and that rush never faded for Jack.
At the grocery store, Jack often worked at the meat counter, preparing whichever cuts customers ordered… until he heard the village’s fire siren. He and Fred Brandon, who operated a Colborne Street hardware store, would race on foot to the fire station, then located on the island beside the locks. Before there were cell phones or even pagers, many of the firefighters worked near the fire hall—they could hear the siren—the village would desperately telephone others who were further way to help as needed.
Jack fought every major fire in the area, including memorable blazes at Rosedale Furniture (formerly the Botany Spinners and the Grist Mill) and the Anchorage House (formerly Alpine Inn and Hotel Kawartha). The latter fire was in winter, and the men were just about frozen by the end of the night. While trying to extinguish a blazing store in downtown Lindsay, Jack and Doug Ellery were high up a ladder when it started to slip. They had to jump free as it crashed to the ground. Jack escaped uninjured, but Doug broke his leg. Despite the dangers, they were always willing to do what they could to help get the flames under control. As a firefighter, he had to face situations where people died, terrible car crashes and ice rescues.
For 52 years, Jack volunteered for the fire department. His last shift was on New Year’s Eve, 1999. He worked until 2 o’clock in the morning—just one more long night to help his village. Through the years, his wife Ina supported him as he wore the same clothes to fight fires that he wore at the store. She would wash them time and again, hanging them on the line for days, trying to get the smell out. For Jack and Ina, it was a small price to pay for everything that they did to keep their community safe.
