Firefighter Bill Wootton Haunts Firehall No. 19

Firehall No. 19, at 12th Avenue and Trimble Street in Vancouver's West Point Grey, has been known for hauntings since its original building opened in 1922. That first firehall was torn down in January 1979, and an almost identical one was put up in its place, but the stories continued.

Captain Ryan Cameron, who started with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services in 1996 and was at this hall from 2000, remembers one time when he and his shift of four were having lunch. They heard the clear sound of someone sliding down the fire station pole. The kitchen is right off the apparatus bay, so they all looked, but nobody else was in the hall.

Ryan says you always have this feeling that someone is there, but not visible, like someone is watching you. Sometimes there are cold spots in the stairwell, and in the early mornings, doors in the upstairs storage area will slam shut. A bed has even been known to shake. There’s a mezzanine behind the sitting room, and late at night, after a call, you might be watching TV and get the feeling something is there. When you turn, it’s just like a shadow. This has been happening for years. People have reported seeing faces, and there’s even a bouncing ping-pong ball.

Ryan, who is part of the Vancouver Fire Fighters Historical Society, has spoken to firefighters from the original building and those with more recent encounters. He believes the ghost is Bill Wootton, a firefighter who worked out of the original hall in 1943. Bill was killed in the line of duty that November when he was responding to an alarm call at 7th and Alma. The fire truck collided with a Vancouver police car also going to the box alarm. Bill was thrown from the truck, as firefighters rode the tailboards back then, and he hit his head on a rock garden, which caused his death.

Ryan says Bill is harmless. If something is going on, the crew will just say, “Bill, that’s enough,” and talk to him. Ryan thinks Bill appreciates that.