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In 1982, Eighty nine year old Firefighter, Bill Carey was interviewed in the Brandon Sun. He said, “I fought fires along with the best of them, the horses I mean”. He started work with the Brandon Fire Department in 1917 when there were nine horses serving the department. “Oh, it was wonderful,” he said, “If you got a new horse, you could train him in four days, the horse was that smart.”  
Firefighter Carey, a veteran of forty years, said the horses responded automatically when the Bell at the top of the Fire Hall Tower sounded. They would move forward as soon as the doors were open and wait for their Harness to drop onto them. “The horses galloped to the fire, there was no trotting, the driver had a whip, but he did not need to use it.”  
 
The horses were never afraid of a fire, he said. Occasionally they’d get warm from the flames and someone would throw a blanket over them. “They would stay there until the driver got back into his seat.” If the horses were not well cared for and cleaned the Firefighters were disciplined by Fire Chief John Melhuish. “You sure took good care of the horses, I’m telling you. The Chief and Captain used to run their hands over the horses back, and if they picked up any dirt, you had to do it all over again”.  
 
In 1919, the Fire Department went on strike for two weeks in sympathy with the Winnipeg Strike: the Firefighters were temporary replaced by other workers. These people let the department go to wreck and ruin, he said. “When we went back, you should have seen the bloody mess the temporary guys left in there. The horses, they were never cleaned the horses,” he said. “And the bloody bed bugs were all through the bloody place. It took us two years to clean them out.”  
The experiences of over forty years of firefighting, memories of many individual fires seemed to have blurred during an interview. He had temporarily forgotten about a fire on Park Street in 1929. At this fire he was injured by a Bronco, (horse) from Alberta. Inspector Norm Ward reminded him that he was getting the Bronco out of a building when it kicked him in the chest. “You went to Hospital,” the Inspector said. “You got your finger broken, your Ribs cracked and smoke inhalation.” Mr. Carey suddenly remembered, “but I got the horse out, Oh yes he knocked me down, but I got up again.”  
In the Fire business, the triumphs never out way the tragedies. There were six children who died during his career. “I’ve seen sad things. Kids. I’ve seen two little fella’s burnt,” he said remembering a twenty third street playhouse fire. “The poor little guys crawled in the corner of the Playhouse and stayed there. When we got there it was too late.” “When you see a thing like that ….” He didn’t finish the sentence.  
 
Source: Brandon Sun Archives.