Self-Guiding Tour

#27    Chief William Code

In 1874, William Code joined the newly created Winnipeg Volunteer Fire Department. He gradually rose through the ranks serving as Captain, Assistant Chief, and finally as Chief from 1889 to 1895. He retired in 1914 after 40 years of service.

At the Ashdown Hardware Co. fire, “Fighting Billy Code” led his men into the fire and pulled a number of burning barrels of dynamite out of the burning building. On his last trip, a keg of dynamite he was carrying exploded and threw him through a glass window. Miraculously, he only sustained some burns to his face. It was this act of heroism that essentially saved a large portion of downtown Winnipeg from a major conflagration.

On display are some artifacts which members of the Code family have donated to the museum. This included his personal Bible, diary, walking stick, pipe, inkwell shaped like a firefighter’s helmet, his speaking bugle that he used to communicate orders to his firefighters at the scene of a fire, and his original writing desk, donated in 2019 by his great granddaughter.

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