Memorable First Ride on a Fire Truck 35 Years Ago
September 26, 1978 at Station 3 began with Lt. Frank Eitler temporarily assigning a recruit firefighter to Truck 2 for the day because Training Officer D/C Ken Harrington was off duty for a doctor's appointment. About ten minutes after 8 a.m. roll call a box assignment was dispatched to 10 Eleanor Street for a kitchen fire. Engines 1 and 2 responded with Rescue 2 out of Station 2.
At Station 3, Truck 2's driver and the recruit firefighter climbed aboard the 1970 Maxim aerial. "Truck 2, 10-1." It was the recruit firefighter's first ride on a piece of fire apparatus!
With lights flashing and siren blaring, Truck 2 proceeded cautiously down a very narrow Waite Street. A small line of cars was queued up at the corner of Whitney, where a Hamden police officer was directing traffic due to an earlier traffic accident. When the cop saw the ladder truck approaching, he held up his hands to stop traffic in all directions and waved Truck 2 through the intersection.
A woman heading north on Whitney said later that she didn't see the cop's hand signal to stop, and the blind corner at Waite and Whitney prevented the driver of Truck 2 from seeing the woman's '72 LeMans approaching from the south. Her car reached the intersection at the same time as Truck 2, which slammed into her right quarter panel. The LeMans spun around scaring the hell out of all involved, especially Patrolman Vic Zygmont, who narrowly avoided being hit.
Pulling to the side of the road, Truck 2's driver yanked the microphone from the dashboard bracket, "Truck 2 to Headquarters, we've been involved in a minor accident at Waite and Whitney. You'd better send Truck 1 to Eleanor Street." Fortunately, there were no injuries and the truck came through undamaged.
The driver of Truck 2 was at a loss for words. What do you say to a new firefighter taking his first ride on a fire truck when something like this happens? What can you say? Slipping the mike back onto the bracket, the driver of Truck 2 smiled at the new recruit sitting beside him and sighed, "Have you considered maybe a career in hair dressing?"
The woman driving the LeMans was cited for failing to obey a policeman's signal and not granting the right-of-way to emergency apparatus. She also was the secretary to the president of the Board of Fire Commissioners, who managed a local bank.
In 2010, the recruit firefighter completed thirty-two years with the department, retiring as a battalion chief. The driver of Truck 2 spent another twenty-plus years with the department and, in retirement, has chronicled stories such as these as your webmaster. The kitchen fire on Eleanor Street turned out to be very minor, which was good news to the recruit. It was his wife's parents' house. (You just can't make this stuff up!)
Posted 9/20/13
