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fire-reels

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

n. pl.

a fire engine; fire truck.

Formerly applied to a hand-drawn vehicle equipped with a reel of hose, the term persists in modern urban usage in the Toronto area, to some extent in Montreal and to some extent elsewhere.

Quotations

1898

The hub-and-hub race was a dash of one hundred and fifty yards with the fire reels drawn by twelve men.

1957

A century of grape-growing in the Niagara peninsula inspired a parade of old-time cars, fire reels and costumes in the Grape Festival at St. Catharines.

1958

Three things will bring me hustling to my window: fire reels; the screech and crunch of a motor collision; and voices raised in angry altercation.