Published June 15, 2024

Martin C. Barry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Just as the CEO of Quebec’s largest home-grown telecommunications and media company has come to be known by the three initials of his name, the City of Laval’s Grande Fête des pompiers now stands abbreviated in many Laval residents’ minds simply as GFPL.

Exciting fire trucks

After being staged for many years at the Centropolis mall, the annual Firemen’s Festival took place for the second time on June 1-2 on the outdoor grounds at Collège Montmorency in Laval’s downtown sector.

The ever-popular parade of fire trucks, with sirens and warning signals screaming, took place Saturday morning. Starting around 9:30 am, they made their way from Laval’s industrial park, towards the rendez-vous point at the Centropolis by around 10:30.

A learning experience

Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 am to 4 pm, the festival site was filled with a range of activities, including educational kiosks on fire prevention and safety, a car accident simulation, firefighter museum artefacts, fire truck displays and more.

There were even demonstrations of cooking by some of the more kitchen-savvy firefighters, whose sense of haute-cuisine has become well-developed from years of preparing hearty meals in the firehouse kitchen while waiting for emergency calls to come in.

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