| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, March 17th.
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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| Lieut. Lubowicki |
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Lieut. Charles Lubowicki Jr. Named Training Officer
Sixteen-year department veteran, Lieut. Charles Lubowicki, Jr., was named by the Board of Fire Commissioners last week to be the department's eighth training officer, replacing Capt. John Grasso, who retired last month to become fire chief in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
A Hamden native, Lubowicki joined the department in October 2000 and was promoted to lieutenant in September 2007. Lieut. Lubowicki, son of retired veteran Hamden police officer, Charles Lubowicki, Sr., was sworn in last Monday in a ceremony in the rotunda of Memorial Town Hall.
The members of the HFRA wish Lieut. Charles Lubowicki, Jr., success and all the very best in his new and challenging department role.
Posted 3/10/17
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| Mike Ambriscoe |
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Our Loss - Their Gain Dept.
Mike Ambriscoe Retiring (Again)
After Battalion Chief Mike Ambriscoe retired from Hamden in December 2004, he was greatly missed by all the department members he left behind. But Mike had put in twenty-five good years at Hamden, so seeing an opportunity, he and his family moved to Cape Cod where he would serve as Chief of the Chatham Fire Department. Now, after more than 12 years at the helm in Chatham, Mike is retiring for good.
In a recent phone conversation, Mike admitted that he was hitting the mandatory retirement age later this month. Despite protestations from some of Chatham's town fathers, Chief Mike Ambriscoe must pack it in on March 31st.
Mike said he was going to miss his department and the folks he has worked with, but he was happy to report that recently he was able to finally get Chatham to spring for its first aerial ladder truck, along with two new pumpers and a new fire headquarters.
Chatham definitely got a good man. Those of us who worked with Mike will recall that he also was an instructor at the University of New Haven, where he taught courses in Fire Science. He will be a tough act to follow.
Mike, your fellow retirees at the HFRA wish you a long and happy retirement.
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70 Years Ago
Fire destroys plans for the Wilbur Cross Parkway
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| March 7, 1947 |
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| CLICK to enlarge |
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The plans shown above for the route of the parkway through Hamden were published in The Hamden Chronicle seven months after the March 1947 fire that destroyed a new highway department building on Connolly Parkway. (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society)
Originlly posted 3/9/12
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March 12, 1959
Snuff's warning saved his family in the middle of the night,
but "The dog never made it."
The family was sleeping as the fire got started behind the kitchen refrigerator. Their six-month old pet puppy, "Snuff," began barking, waking the family just in time for them to escape the house unharmed. Long before the advent of smoke detectors, the actions of this little dog may have saved all five lives. Sadly, the little furry hero was overcome by smoke and did not survive.
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| I.A. Sneiderman photo |
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| New Haven Evening Register, Thursday, March 12, 1959 (Brainard Collection) |
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Below are all of Hamden's fire apparatus on the day of the fire at 605 Still Hill Road. They are listed by their radio designations. The two-digit radio designations were a throwback to when the police, fire and public works shared the same radio frequency. The fire department got numbers 30 through 59. Hamden's apparatus radio designations were changed to match their individual company designations on July 1, 1974.
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Hamden Fire Department
Apparatus Inventory
(By Apparatus Radio Designation)
March 12, 1959
Station 2
Engine 31 – 1938 Seagrave 600 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 4/12/38 - $7,524
Engine 32 – 1952 Maxim 750 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 7/16/52 - $16,060
Ladder 42 – 1958 Maxim 75' "Junior" aerial truck - Delivered 11/19/58 - $32,135
Rescue 44 - 1958 International Travel-all - In service 12/10/58 - $2,016.64
(NOTE: Rescue 44, which was parked in the north bay in front of the '38 Seagrave,
was reassigned to Station 3 in early 1961.)
Repair Shop
Shop - Car 49 - 1952 Dodge D126 Maintenance Truck - Delivered 1/22/53
Car 50 - 1955 Ford 1/2 Ton Pickup Truck (CD)
Station 3
Engine 33 – 1951 Maxim 750 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 8/7/51 - $15,475
Spare - 1930 Maxim 600 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 1/6/30 - $8,500
Station 4
Engine 34 – 1954 Maxim 750 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 10/3/54 - $17,868
Squad – 1938 Diamond-T e/w 150 g.p.m. pump - Delivered 2/26/38 - $1,976
Station 5
Engine 35 – 1942 Diamond-T 600 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 4/6/42 - $4,375
Ladder 43 (Spare) – 1941 Diamond-T city service ladder truck - Delivered 2/11/42 - $6,000
Station 6
Engine 36 – 1939 Diamond-T 500 g.p.m. pumper - Delivered 6/13/39 - $5,400
Station 7
Engine 37 – 1935 Dodge 150 g.p.m. pumper - Purchased new 8/12/35 - $750
Station 8
Engine 38 – 1942 Diamond-T 500 g.p.m. pumper - Purchased from Prospect 12/10/57 - $1,500
Station 9
Engine 39 – 1925 Seagrave Suburbanite - Purchased 5/7/25 - $6,500
Staff Vehicles
Car 40 - Chief - 1956 Pontiac 4-dr Sedan - $2,200
Car 41 - Fire Marshal - 1957 Ford - Purchased 10/15/57 - $2,506
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| 1982 - Ff. Ralph Dievert at Station 2, Platoon 4 (Photo by Dave Strawhince) |
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| c. 1960 - Ff. Stan Brown (Photo courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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NEVER FORGET!
We will always remember our brother firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice, and the thousands of other innocent victims who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Always keep them, their families and the FDNY in your thoughts and prayers.
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