Reg Longhurst, Creston’s first full-time fire chief, dies at 86
Reg Longhurst, centre, with Bruce Mabin, left, and Harold Standen at the September 2022 grand opening of the Creston Emergency Services Building. Longhurst, Creston’s first full-time career fire chief, helped establish the town’s previous fire hall in 1982.
Creston Valley Fire Service photo.
Reg Longhurst, Creston’s first full-time career fire chief and a firefighter whose service to the community continued for nearly four decades, has died at 86.
Longhurst died Aug. 19, according to the Town of Creston and Creston Valley Fire Service, which issued a tribute to the former chief on Aug. 31.
Born April 14, 1940, Longhurst came to Creston in 1980 to lead a department then made up of 14 volunteer firefighters. He served as fire chief until 2000.
Before arriving in Creston, Longhurst had served as fire chief in Logan Lake, worked with the Kitimat Fire Department and served in the Vancouver Fire Commissioner’s Office.
After retiring as chief, Longhurst joined the department’s paid-on-call ranks and continued serving officially until Dec. 31, 2019.
The Town credited Longhurst with helping grow the department and said his influence continues among firefighters, including several who still serve with Creston Valley Fire Service. It also said he made equal treatment of firefighters a personal priority at a time when there was little diversity in the fire service.
Longhurst was also involved in one of the department’s major changes during his tenure. In 1982, he was among the driving forces behind converting the former Overwaitea building on 10th Avenue North into the Creston Fire Hall.
The building served as the department’s home for the next four decades, until Creston opened its new Emergency Services Building on Cook Street in September 2022.
Longhurst attended the grand opening of the new facility. A photograph published by Creston Valley Fire Service shows him at the event with Fire Chief Bruce Mabin and Deputy Chief Harold Standen, 40 years after the former Overwaitea building was converted for fire-service use.
His community involvement extended beyond the fire department. The Creston Curling Club named Reg and Jeannie Longhurst honorary lifetime members in 2016.
By the time Longhurst ended his paid-on-call service in 2019, his formal association with Creston’s fire department had stretched from his arrival as chief in 1980 through almost 40 years of service. Three years later, he was present as the department marked the opening of the building that replaced the fire hall he had helped establish.
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