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Description: HALF-CIRCLE SHAPED PATCH OF WOVEN, BLACK NYLON. WHITE COTTON THREAD SEWN AROUND OUTER EDGE AND EMBROIDERED TEXT READING “LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPT.” TRANSLUCENT FIBRE BACKING. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

History: THIS PATCH WAS SEWN TO THE SHOULDERS OF UNIFORMS ISSUED BY THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY DEPUTY FIRE/EMS CHIEF DANA TERRY IN AN EMAIL FROM OCTOBER 7, 2015, THIS DESIGN WAS IN USE BY THE 1950S. ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CLIFF ‘CHARLIE’ BROWN, RETIRED PLATOON CHIEF, WHO SERVED WITH FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES FROM 1966 TO 2004. OF THIS PATCH, BROWN SAID: “[FIREMEN] HAD BLACK AND WHITE, AND THE OFFICERS HAD GOLD… THEIRS WAS A LITTLE BIT FANCIER.” IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2015, TREVOR LAZENBY, LIEUTENANT WITH LETHBRIDGE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, RECALLED THAT THIS DESIGN WAS STILL IN USE DURING HIS SCHOOL PRACTICUM WITH THE DEPARTMENT IN 1993, BUT WAS SHORTLY THEREAFTER CHANGED OUT FOR A DESIGN THAT INCORPORATED THE “EMS” ACRONYM (SEE P20140019003). LAZENBY SAID: “THE HALF-MOON BLACK AND WHITE FLASH WAS ON THE UNIFORM AT THE TIME [WHEN I WAS HIRED AS A DISPATCHER IN 1994]. WE HAD THE PALE BLUE SHIRTS, THE NAVY BLUE WOOL PANTS, AND LONG AND SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRTS WITH THIS FLASHER ON THEM… I GOT ISSUED SHIRTS WITH THAT ON [THEM] BUT I HAD TO CHANGE THEM OUT [RIGHT AWAY] BECAUSE WE’D GONE ON TO THE NEW FLASHER.” SEE PERMANENT FILE P20150010001-GA FOR FULL TRANSCRIPTS OF REFERENCED INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH OTHERS WITH FIRE/EMS MEMBERS AND ADDITIONAL RELATED RESEARCH.