| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, December 29th.
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NOTICE TO MEMBERS: Due to unforeseen scheduling issues, the January 2018 "Winter" Meeting of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association will be delayed one week, to Thursday, January 18th at 9 a.m. at the Hamden Elks Lodge. A meeting agenda and menu will be sent to all members right after the New Year.
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The members of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association wish everyone a very
Merry Christmas.
To our brothers and sisters who continue to serve in the fire, police and EMS services in Hamden and elsewhere, we wish you and yours a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year.
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60 Years Ago!
$100K Fire at Hamden Plaza
2100 Dixwell Avenue
Monday, December 23, 1957
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| Photos by John Mongillo Sr. |
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Just two days before Christmas 1957, a two-alarm fire of unknown origin started in a rear storage area of an Eli Moore store at the Hamden Plaza. The fire department was notified at 5:25 pm. and the fire was out about a half-hour after the first apparatus arrived. Losses were estimated at more than $100,000.
A New Haven Evening Register article the next day stated, "Virtually all of the damage was in the store occupied by Eli Moore, Inc., children's wear and toy retailers."
Actually, there were two Eli Moore stores at the Plaza. Sandwiched between both Eli Moore stores was Morrison's, a women's clothing store. The fire started in the Eli Moore store to the left of Morrison's in the photo above. The Eli Moore Prep Shop, to the right of Morrison's, specialized in clothing for young men.
Smoke from the blaze spread into Morrison's, the Eli Moore Prep Shop, Besse-Richey and the W.T. Grant Co., one of several national chain department stores at the Plaza in its earliest days. The Register article continued, "At the height of the fire, the adjoining W.T. Grant Co. store and Morrisons, a women's apparel shop, were ordered evacuated."
Three firefighters were briefly overcome by carbon monoide fumes from a gasoline powered portable pump operating in an enclosed area. They were treated at the scene with oxygen. Engines 1, 2, 3, and 4, Ladder 1, and the Emergency Squad responded. The Register reported that two ambulances stood by. "Most off duty firemen, officers and volunteer firemen also reported for duty."
The buildings that once housed all of the affected stores were torn down several years ago to make way for the new Shaw's (now Shop-Rite) supermarket.
The Hamden Plaza opened in November 1955. Johnson's Bowling Lanes, originally Hamden Plaza Bowling, is the only original tenant.
Originally posted 11/30/10
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| (Mongillo photo) CLICK to enlarge |
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| (Mongillo photo) CLICK to enlarge |
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Scores of shoppers became spectators as Hamden firefighters fought a costly blaze in one of two Eli Moore stores at the Hamden Plaza. The 1938 Diamond-T "Emergency Squad," with its unique rear-step windshield, is parked in front.
| Batt. Chief Everett Doherty watches as Capt. Bob O'Donnell nails a hot spot. Captains wore white helmets in those days - probably a carryover from when they were the platoon commanders.
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| (Mongillo photo) CLICK to enlarge |
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| (Mongillo photo) CLICK to enlarge |
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Capt. O'Donnell and an unidentified firefighter examine damage. Scott SCBAs were introduced a few years earlier.
| Afterward, Batt. Chief Everett Doherty and outgoing First Selectman Herbert Hume pose with a popular seasonal visitor.
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Christmas 1953 at Station 5
A while back, Tom Doherty found these photos dated 1953. Firefighters Fred Fletcher and Jack Laffin worked on Platoon 2. In 1953, old Platoon 2 was on nights December 23, 24, 25 and 26. Looks like these photos may have been taken during this stretch.
On the left, from left to right, are Fred Fletcher and Jack Laffin, and volunteers Tom Doherty (right behind Jack), Bill McAvoy, and Gil Spencer. In the photo at right, Jack and Fred mug it up for the camera with the soda cans doubling as ersatz brews. Jack celebrates his 93rd birthday on Christmas Eve. Happy birthday, Jack!
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| Firefighter Fred Fletcher (in chair), Tom Doherty (behind couch), and Firefighter Jack Laffin, volunteers Bill McAvoy and Gil Spencer on couch. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) |
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| Jack Laffin and Fred Fletcher - yes, just pretending to be "in their cups." It's Christmas!! (CLICK TO ENLARGE) |
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Christmas 1951 at Station 5
The Mount Carmel station really got into the spirit of the season in 1951 with this 20-year old truck, painted red and appropriately decorated with yuletide adornments. If you enlarge the photo - CLICK on it - you can read the whole story of how an HFD legend put it all together.
The truck is parked approximately where the annex ramp is today. Barely visible in the right side of the photo are the snow covered steps of the fire escape on the north side of the building, which was moved to the south side in 1975.
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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70 Years Ago!
Christmas at Town Hall
Santa Claus was flying high at Hamden's Memorial Town Hall during the 1947 Christmas season. The neon "HAMDEN" sign, placed there for the 1936 sesquicentennial, was replaced in December 1948 by a slightly larger sign. The replacement sign was gone by around 1970.
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| I.A. Sneiderman photo - Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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| Hamden Firefighting
128 pages - 214 photos
Now on sale
HFRA price in USA is only $19.00
plus USPS media mail rate
Barnes & Noble, Amazon or directly from the HFRA
- - USE PAYPAL LINK BELOW - -
All profits from sales on this website will benefit the HFRA.
All royalties will be shared equally by the HFRA
and the Hamden Historical Society.
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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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