Richard Wojcik's Funeral Chapel Entrusted to Ex-Fire Chief's Funeral

Public, Firefighter Safety Ex-Chief's Vital Legacy Lloyd Moist When a Winnipeg firefighter dons breathing apparatus before going in to fight a blaze, they have former fire chief Lloyd Moist to thank. And when Winnipeggers find themselves ill, call 911, and are treated first by firefighters before an ambulance gets to them, they can also thank Moist. Moist, who was chief from 1980 to 1985, died on Wednesday. He was 90. Moist's son, Paul, who is national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said his dad joined the fire department in 1940 at 18 years of age and stayed until he retired. The only break was the three years he spent flying in England the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. "He did everything," Paul said on Friday. "He was lieutenant, captain, head of the training division, district chief, battalion chief, deputy chief and then chief. He spent 35 years as a shift worker, and while it was a big adjustment when he went to an office job, he did it." Paul Moist said his father was proudest of initiating the first responder system in Winnipeg and of modernizing the health and safety equipment firefighters use. "Before that was done, firefighters could only breathe smoke," he said. Moist knew what that was like for his dad because, while Lloyd never smoked, he would cough incessantly after fighting a blaze. Moist is survived by wife of 61 years, Mae, four sons, two daughters, 18 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.