The community of Anzac celebrated the grand opening of their new fire hall on Oct. 20, 2018.
Mayor Don Scott and Councillors, Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz and many members of the community were at the celebration to check out the new facility and equipment.
“This fire hall is an amazing place,” said Mayor Scott.
“You know have the facility you deserve. I was talking to some of the firemen and they were telling me the old site, they had to basically had to crawl over one another to get from one end to the other, that is no longer the case.”
Ward 4 Councillor Jane Stroud told the crowd she was uplifted by a great sense of community, togetherness and strength.
“It’s also the same feeling I had when the Anzac Fire Department and many familiar faces here came to council to explain how they took 300 calls in one year and how important the space and equipment is so they can best protect all of us,” said Jane.
“It’s the same feeling I had when this entire region rallied around Bo Cooper and his fight, and it’s only right that we are going to honour Bo and his family today.”
Captain of the Anzac Fire Department, Sean Style, announced the dedication of the Fire Hall to Bo Cooper.
“We felt that there could not be a more fitting way to honour his memory than to dedicate our hall to the spirit of Bo Cooper.” said Style.
“Bo wasn’t just a firefighter, he was the embodiment of strength and courage in facing life head on, a quality that he possessed in spades and infected those around him. Whether you know Bo or not, one thing you found our early on was he had the strength of a fighter. From fighting MMA to battling cancer he always had that drive to fight, it was even in his job title as firefighter, but Bo did more than fight, he in his own words stated, ‘I like to help, it’s a good feeling.'”
While receiving treatment in the United States, Bo lost his fight against cancer after receiving more treatment than any human before, pioneering cancer treatment and paving the way for successful patients to follow.
“If you take anything away from his story, remember these seven famous words, ‘don’t give up, don’t ever give up,'” said Style.
