Recalling life's ups and downs in Lynn Valley
(Submitted by Helen Hughes, North Vancouver, BC)

The signal was loud and clear; one long blast meant they were heading up Lynn Valley Road.

A short blast followed by a long one meant they were heading down.

Longtime North Vancouver resident Jimmy Sim would listen for the signal as the district fire truck raced up or down Lynn Valley Road on its way to a fire. Sim was a volunteer firefighter with the district for 10 years, and the truck siren would tell him whether he should follow the truck up the road or go to No. 1 fire hall for directions to the site of the fire."

"But they were going up the hill, I was right behind them," he says.

Sim could usually be found on the corner of Ross Road and Lynn Valley Road where he owned Sim's Meat Market, which he opened in 1961 with his brother George. And he lived nearly on Mountain highway, so was always within earshot.

Before the fire department hired a permanent force, it was made up mostly of volunteers, explains Sim, who volunteered from 1961 to 1970.

To continue this story, read further in December 2008's Scotian.