| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Department Promotes Three More
2015: A Near Record Year*
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| Town Clerk Vera Morrison administers the oath to Capt. Adam Barletta, Lt. Kevin P. Martin and Lt. Michael Dowling |
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| A happy moment for all three as Lt. Dowling's wife, Sara, pins on his new badge. |
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Dec. 18 - The Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners met Wednesday night to fill one captain and two lieutenant vacancies. Lieut. Adam Barletta was promoted to captain and Firefighters Michael Dowling and Kevin P. Martin were promoted to lieutenant. Dozens of active and retired department members joined family members at the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday morning in the rotunda of Memorial Town Hall.
Captain Adam Barletta, a fifteen year veteran, will be assigned to Station 9 on Platoon 2. He fills the vacancy created when Capt. John Grasso was recently re-appointed to the position of training officer. Capt. Barletta is the son of Mark and Marty Barletta. Mark served as Hamden's fourth fire marshal from 2000 until his 2006 retirement (q.v.).
Lieutenant Michael Dowling, an eight-year department veteran firefighter assigned to Platroon 4 since his appointment, has been re-assigned to Station 2 on Platoon 3. Lt. Dowling is a member of the Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums and frequently performs on the bagpipes with HFD Capt. Ed Evers on formal department occasions.
Lieutenant Kevin P. Martin was appointed to the department in 2008 and served on Platoon 1, most recently with Capt. Evers' crew on Squad 1. He has been re-assigned to Station 3 on Platoon 2. Lt. Martin was recently married and is a player on the HFD Hockey Team. He is one of the active members who maintains the website of Local 2687.
2015, a near record year*, has seen the appointments of seven new firefighters, and the promotions of three battalion chiefs, four captains, three lieutenants, Training Officer, Deputy Fire Marshal, Superintendent and Asst. Supt. of Apparatus.
The HFRA wishes Capt. Barletta and Lieutenants Dowling and Martin the very best in their new capacities.
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*Only 1984 saw more promotions: Chief, Assistant Chief, two shift commanders (BCs), four captains (out of 5), nine lieutenants (out of 12), Training Officer, Deputy Fire Marshal and Mechanic. But no new firefighters.
Posted 12/18/17
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| Capt. Barletta |
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| Lieutenant Martin |
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| Lieutenant Dowling |
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| Only some of the spectators - The place was full |
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| Dep. Chief Gary Merwede, Capt. Barletta, Lieut. Martin, Lieut. Dowling and Chief David Berardesca |
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And, by coincidence . . .
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Monday, December 18, 2000
Mark Barletta Sworn In As HFD's Fourth Fire Marshal
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| Monday, December 18, 2000 |
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Almost 15 years to the day before his son was sworn in as Hamden's newest fire captain, Mark Barletta was sworn in as Hamden's fourth HFD Fire Marshal* on Monday, December 18, 2000.
The occasion also marked the swearing-in of eight recruit firefighters, including Michael Battick, David Beaton, Michael DeLine, Sr., Victor Jackson, Charles Lubowicki, Jr., Kevin Recca, John Slot and Kim Talmadge, all of whom had finished recruit training following their October 6, 2000 appointments.
Mark Barletta served as Hamden's fourth Fire Marshal, from 2000 until his retirement on June 30, 2006. He also served as the HFRA's first president until he and his wife Marty moved to Florida two years ago. Marty Barletta was one of Hamden's first four civil service civilian fire dispatchers, serving during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
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*Fire Marshal Albert Purce (1943-68), Fire Marshal Robert O'Donnell (1968-87) and Fire Marshal Robert Westervelt (1987-2000) were the first three department marshals. Prior to Marshal Purce's 1943 appointment, the fire marshal's duties were performed by the First Selectman.
Posted 12/18/15
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Oooops!
Another Chevy Corvair Bites the Dust
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| Photographer Unknown, probably John Mongillo, Sr. |
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The date, location and circumstances of this accident are not known, neither is the Hamden firefighter in the photo, but the fence posts suggest it occurred on a main artery.
The body style of this particular Chevy Corvair ran from 1960 through the 1964 model. The trim on this Chevrolet Corvair looks to be from a 1960 model, the first year of production. 1965 models saw a complete facelift, which lasted until the end of production with the 1969 model year.
The Corvair, with it's VW-like 4 cylinder rear engine and front-end trunk and gasoline tank, was the subject of Ralph Nader's 1965 groundbreaking exposé "Unsafe at Any Speed," which led to many improvements in vehicle safety.
Posted 12/18/15
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Posterity Project
Platoon 4 - Station 3
The website is celebrating today's future HFD retirees with the HFRA "Posterity Project," a collection of photographs
of every current active member of the department, line and staff. A new photo will be posted here each week.
Featured in this week's photo is Station 3's crew of Platoon 4, of Engine 3 and Tower 1.
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Left to right: Firefighters Dave Beaton and Mike Dowling*, Lt. Richard Lennon,
Capt. Brion Tierney, and Firefighters Doug O'Rourke and Paul Anderson.
*Now Lieutenant Mike Dowling Posted 12/18/15
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Pictured on the same spot as the group in the photo above, Lieut. Frank Eitler, Ff. Guy White and Ff. Jeff Stoehr of Platoon 3 were featured in this December 15, 1975 Register photo heralding the MDA canister drive.
Lieut. Eitler was appointed on December 5, 1947, was promoted to lieutenant in 1972 and retired October 1, 1981. He and his wife Helen were regulars at Local 2687 retirement dinners until the late-1990s. Frank passed away in 2000.
Jeff Stoehr joined the department in July 1970, was promoted to lieutenant in July 1986 and retired at the end of June 2003. Guy White joined the department in 1971. He left in 1978 for a fire investigator position with an insurance company in Georgia. Jeff and Guy are both members of the HFRA.
Posted 12/18/15
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Spark Time
This Public Domain photo of unknown origin shows a team of three horses hauling an ancient fire department water tower down F Street in Washington, D.C. Despite the 19-teens auto in the background, it is likely that this unit was still in service as a horse drawn piece when the photo was taken.
Apparatus like this very specialized piece for delivering massive amounts of water were found in many larger departments in the days when aerial ladders, usually made of wood, could not support master streams. These water towers often survived the horse-drawn era, sometimes well into the 1960s, with the addition of motorized tractors.
Posted 12/18/15
Website thanks to HFD Lt. Daryl Osiecki for additional information
about this photo, which will be shared in next week's update.
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| (Photo courtesy of Jeff Stoehr) |
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