Non-fiction, Vancouver's firefighting history, 1886 to present-day. On June 13, 1886-just two months after the city of Vancouver was incorporated-a raging fire obliterated the town as a tiny fire brigade tried to fight the wind-whipped blaze with axes, buckets, shovels and ladders. The disaster destroyed almost 1,000 buildings and left more than 2,000 people homeless. The city and the fire department alike had to rebuild. By 1911, the Vancouver Fire Department was rated one of the world's best behind London, england, and Leipzig, Germany. Vancouver's Bravest tells the story of the men (and now women) who helped develop this fire/rescue service into one of North America's finest.

As if being a firefighter with a last name like Matches wasn't challenge enough for Alex; he also took on the additional challenge by writing a book about the job he loved. After working with the department for thirty-three years, he retired as Battalion Chief from VFD in March, 1995. He has always had an interest in history and in 1974 he self-published his first book, It Began with a Ronald, which showed the growth and development of Vancouver's fire apparatus up to that date. At the present time Alex is working on another pictorial history of Vancouver's fire apparatus that will cover 120 years of firefighting equipment.

Alex Matches' profile page