| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc |
| Please keep our first responders in your thoughts and prayers. |
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| Half-staff for the duration |
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| APRIL 2020
For the duration of the COVID emergency, we are opening up
all password protected pages except those for Members Only.
Enjoy!
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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Hot One on Evergreen Avenue
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| 385 Evergreen Avenue - Courtesy of the Fire Chief's Office (CLICK to enlarge to 1500 pixels wide) |
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April 23, 2020 - At 1:56 this afternoon, fire was reported in a garage next to the house located at 385 Evergreen Avenue. Fire companies arrived on scene at 1:58 pm and a working fire was given by Car 44, Lt. McCarthy. All fire was extinguished within ten minutes by engine company crews under the direction of Battalion Chief Couture. Fire Marshal is currently investigating the cause.
As some of us are in the spring cleaning mode and this is was a garage fire, we remind everyone of the importance of reducing clutter whenever possible. Keep exits clear and flammables away from heat sources. We also recommend the storage of chemicals in approved containers and cabinets that are away from the reach of small children. Visit www.USFAfema.gov for more safety tips as fire is everyone’s fight.
Website thanks to Asst. Chief Charles Lubowicki for the info and photo.
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| N. Branford Mayor Bob Viglione |
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| Bob Viglione came on the department in 1969. He retired twenty years ago at the rank of captain. For many years Bob was in charge of the department's Haz-Mat Team, but in all those years he never faced the kind of invisible enemy that he faced during the last few weeks.
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After Bob retired in 2020, he opened his barber shop on Rt. 80 in North Branford. Many of our other local retirees are his regulars (he gives damn good haircuts). Several years ago Bob got involved in local politics and last November, by virture of acquiring the most votes of all council candidates, he was elected Mayor.
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Sometime in March, Bob Viglione became infected with the coronavirus that has been plaguing the nation and the world. He endured some very scary moments - indeed, weeks.
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| CLICK to enlarge |
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| Hamden's 1959 Maxim "cab-forward," one of the first of that configuration manufactured by the Middleboro MA firm, took the honors at the 1961 Connecticut State Firemen's Convention Parade in August 1961 at Bethel.
More photos and a newspaper tribute.
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For the last several weeks, volunteer researchers with the Hamden Historical Society have been designing an online survey to allow adult Hamden residents to share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
Take the COVID Survey!
Posted 4/19/2020
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| E5 crew at Standish Avenue, North Haven, basement fire - CLICK to enlarge |
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| Church Street at Crown Street in 1959 |
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60-Year Old Fire Training Film Featured New Haven
"A Tale of Two Towns" was a fire training film produced in 1959 by the National Board of Fire Underwriters to train proper salvage and overhaul techniques in, and to stress the importance of preserving damaged property during salvage and overhaul. The White Plains (NY) Fire Department and the New Haven Fire Department participated in the production.
The film was shown to new Hamden recruits during the 60s and 70s by Dep. Chiefs Hume and Harrington. Although its message is timeless, by the 1980s the film was probably considered obsolete since firefighters are shown without SCBAs during fire attack scenes - something still being practiced in Hamden and in other departments as late as the 1970s.
The film recently surfaced on YouTube. It is interesting to see scenes of New Haven before redevelopment completely reconfigured the downtown area. The interior store scenes were filmed in the old Sears store on Church Street, just north of George Street.
Watch "A Tale of Two Towns"
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HFD and other area first responders give thanks to health care workers at Y-NH
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Posted 4/8/2020 - 1806 hrs
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| Station 4, Platoon 3 begins their 24-hour shift with masks and face coverings meant to protect you from them. If everyone wore such a covering, we would not need the n95 masks. - Photo from Twitter. (CLICK to enlarge) |
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| "Hamden High School helps residents create masks for town's fire responders." Check out the article and photos in the Monday, April 6th edition of The New Haven Register.
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November 2001
The current COVID "Stay Home!" emergency gives lots of us the opportunity to tackle household chores we often put off to - uh, well, never. Following some home organizing and cleaning-out, Jimmy Dunlop emailed this November 2001 photo to the website, along a few others to be posted later (heh heh heh).
4/7/20 - Retired Asst. Chief Bob Surprise just wrote, "It is one of my favorite pictures. It was a kitchen fire on Dawes Ave. If memory serves me right, we had just finished overhauling and were about to start packing up. Newly-appointed Assistant Fire Marshal Mark Barletta had just gotten a new digital camera and was testing it out, so naturally we had to stop for a quick pose! Jim was on E3, I believe, but the rest of us were from E2 and R2. Missing from E2 crew was Chief Merwede; he was out in front running the pump!"
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| L to R: Lieut. Jim Dunlop, Ff. John Bradbury, Ff. Jay McCarthy, Ff. Scott Chasney, Capt. Bob Surprise, and Ff. Rob "Mad Dog" Madigosky - CLICK to enlarge |
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Saluting the other heroes . . .
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| April 1, 2020 |
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| #FDNY 1st Battalion companies showing their appreciation for our Doctors, Nurses & EMS at New York Presby Downtown hospital. Duane Street Manor Engine 7 Ladder 1 Battalion 1, The Ten House Engine 10 Ladder 10, Engine 4 Ladder 15, Beekman Street Tigers Engine 6 & Ladder 8.
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Website thanks to Hamden Car 1 for sharing this.
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Firefighter Stan Brown took this portait of Station 2 sometime in the mid-1960s. When the 1913 fire station was enlarged to three bays in 1951, the IDs above the bay doors corresponded to the apparatus housed therein. But later interior changes dictated swapping of positions. (L-R) - Engine 2 (1959 Maxim), Truck 1 (1958 Maxim) and Engine 1 (1938 Seagrave).
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| Stan Brown Photo courtesy of Chan Brainard |
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Despite the "TRUCK 1" sign above the door, the official department term to denote this type of apparatus was "Ladder." On July 1, 1974, radio designations for all apparatus were changed and "Ladder 42" became "Truck 1." Previously, the department term for the 1941 Diamond-T and 1926 Maxim city service ladder trucks was "Hook and Ladder."
Photo courtesy of Chan Brainard - Posted 4/4/14
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Connecticut Fire Officers' Weekend
April 7-9, 1989 - Emmitsburg, Maryland
For several years on the second weekend of each April, the National Fire Academy at Emmitsburg, Maryland hosted fire officers from Connecticut, offering courses in leadership, strategies and tactics, hazardous materials, incident command - you name it.
Students arrived Friday afternoon. Following a get-acquainted Friday night mixer, everyone found his bunk in the dorm rooms of the former all-girl school. Classes began early Saturday morning. Following lunch, classes continued until late afternoon, concluding Sunday morning. Everyone was headed home by early Sunday afternoon.
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| Sunday, April 9, 1989 (CLICK to enlarge) |
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The 1989 Hamden contingent to the Connecticut Fire Officers' Weekend at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD. L-R: Dave Johnson, Gil Spencer, Don LaBanca, Bill Coppola, Clark Hurlburt, Ron Wetmore (Co. 7), Don Buechele, Carl Backus, Vic Mitchell (Co. 7), Tom Doherty, Bernie Amatrudo, and Dennis Harrison. Ron and Vic of Co. 7 were also fire officers at the Milford and Sikorsky fire departments, respectively. All of these guys are retired except for Amatrudo, now a captain in the HFD, and Wetmore, now a B/C in Milford.
Originally Posted 5/3/2010, revised 4/1/2020
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The Lunch Menu (Woof!)
On Saturday afternoon, dozens of fire officers from all over Connecticut filed into the cafeteria for lunch. Before picking up a tray and utensils, each man inspected the menu listed on one of those old-fashioned black menu signs once found in diners - the kind with those white plastic letters pressed into the grooves of each line.
The two meal choices that afternoon were "Chinese Pepper Steak" and "Baked Cod."
Those in attendance will never forget it. While standing in line, a Hamden lieutenant modified one of the meal choices by substituting just two letters. We understand the cafeteria that afternoon ended up with a surplus of the fish entrees.
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| People in my line of work take mutual aid requests very seriously. I asked @QuinnipiacU for assistance to house firefighters or police officers if necessary during the #COVID19 response. They never hesitated and came though for us and I’m thankful. #Hamden |
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| 3/30/20, 7:34 PM |
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New Haven Sunday Register
October 14, 1951
© 1951 - New Haven Sunday Register
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| Newspaper article 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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