| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc |
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| JUNE 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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60 Years Ago
June Fire School
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| New Haven Register, Friday, June 10, 1960 (Courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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Four career and four volunteer department members attended June Fire School at the New Haven Fire Training Center on Chestnut Street in 1960. The four career members included Batt. Chief Daniel Hume, who was the department's "Drillmaster" at the time, and Firefighters Robert "Ace" Callahan, Dick Carney and Dick Stacey.
Of the four volunteers, all of Co. 5, three would go on to join the department. Tom Doherty joined seven months later, in January 1961. Walt Macdowall and Bill Davin would follow in 1965. Tom Doherty is pictured with a white helmet shield because at the time he was captain of Company 5.
Originally posted 6/5/15
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| Photo by Ed Doiron, Sr. |
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At first glance, the apparatus in the foreground in this summer 1974 photo looks like Engine 3, the 1973 Maxim Telesqurt. But the cab-mounted turret nozzle says otherwise. It's Engine 4, Hamden's 1973 Maxim 1000 GPM pumper with the foam delivery system. The Telesqurt is parked right behind. The older Maxim is Engine 5, the 1954 750 GPM. The flatside compartments (not visible in the photo) and the 10 lugnuts on the front wheels distinguish this pumper from the almost identicial 1951 and 1952 models.
The apparatus are just inside the Dixwell Avenue parking lot to the old Centerville School (now the Miller Library), where the Fire Chief's Office had been moved a few months earlier. Previously, the Chief's Office was on the second floor of the town hall right above the north entrance just south of Station 4.
Originally posted 6/10/11
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| Jack Laffin in 1968 |
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Battalion Chief John "Jackie" Laffin
(1924 - 2020)
We are deeply saddened to report the passing in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Saturday, May 30th, of retired Battalion Chief John "Jackie" Laffin, 95, who served on the department from October 1949 until his retirement on the first day of January 1990.
Jack was born on December 27, 1924 and served at the U.S. Navy during World War II. He joined the Hamden Fire Department in October 1949, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1968, Captain in 1973, and Commander (Battalion Chief) in 1984, taking over Platoon 1 from retired D/C Paul Rosadina.
B/C Laffin was a valued firefighter and highly respected officer, who always had the backs of his officers and firefighters. Many of us retirees vividly recall the profound and painful loss endured by Jack, his wife Joyce, and their large family with the loss of their son, Officer Tim Laffin of the North Haven Police Department, who died from injuries on May 29, 1980, 40 years and one day before the death of his father, when his patrol car crashed while in pursuit of a wanted suspect.
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Private funeral services have been entrusted to The Havens Family, North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue, North Haven. A memorial service will be held at a later date. The HFRA will advise our members of the date and time.
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Please keep Batt. Chief Laffin's family in your thoughts and prayers at this sad time.
CLICK HERE for a complete obituary for Batt.Chief Laffin as published in The New Haven Register.
Revised 6/5/2020 - 1330 hrs.
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This photo was posted only a couple of months ago after the passing of Joe Rahl, who had been our oldest survivng retiree, a designation then conferred upon Jack Laffin.
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c. 1954 - On the ramp of the Mt. Carmel fire station. (L-R), Firefighters Fred Fletcher, Jack Laffin, and Co. 5 volunteer captain Joe Rahl with Engine 5, the 1942 Diamond-T 600 GPM pumper. Fred Fletcher and Jack were both assigned to Station 5 in those days. Joe Rahl was eager to get on "the paid department," and he finally got his wish about two years later.
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For years after WWII, the Mt. Carmel Volunteer Fire Co. was sort of a Petri dish for up-and-coming career members. Ever since the Highwood, Whitneyville, Centerville, and Humphrey volunteers went inactive around 1950, the Mt. Carmel and Merritt Street members were the only volunteers who shared quarters with career personnel. The friendships and rapport that developed among the volunteers and paid men undoubtedly proved an inspiration to volunteers seeking to enter the fire service as a career.
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| Three men received promotions when D/C James Strain retired in the spring of 1973. Jack got his second stripe when Joe McDermott moved up to shift commander. Walt Macdowall took Jack's place as a lieutenant on Platoon 3 - New Haven Register, May 15, 1973 |
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| 1976 - Jack's crew at 3's: Firefighters Doug Yocher, John Reilly, Art Heriot, and Bill Davin. The sixth member was taking the photo - John O'Hare. |
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| 1982 - A little ground ladder training behind 7's. |
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| December 1953 - Jack is seated with Co. 5 volunteers Jack Barnes and Gil Spencer. Volunteer Tom Doherty is right behind Jack. |
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| As commander of Platoon1, B/C Laffin is pictured here with future B/C Gary Couture during a March 1988 training exercise. |
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Jack is pictured at left this 1953 Christmastime photo with two other future HFD shift commanders. All three served at the same time. Tom Doherty (standing) got his third stripe at the same time Jack did in 1984. Gil Spencer at right got his two years later. The fellow seated on the couch between Jack and Gil is believed to be Jack Barnes, another Co. 5 volunteer. At right, Jack is pictured with another future battalion chief, then-Firefighter Gary Couture, in March 1988 when Chief John Tramontano was conducting high elevation rope training as Bassett Park.
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| October 10, 1950 - Firefighters Dave Howe and Jack Laffin at HQ |
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Pictured here in October 1950 are Jack and his brother-in-law, Firefighter Dave Howe, who started on the job in January 1948. In addition to their firefighting duties, Jack and Dave had a successful landscaping business.
Dave's sister Joyce and Jack were married in 1949. They raised seven children and shared 52 years together until Joyce passed away in early 2002.
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Jack is flanked by granddaughter Christine and daugher Kate Burns when your webmeister snapped this photo in April 2017. A highly respected officer with a great sense of humor, Jack never forgot his department colleagues, for whom he always had the greatest affection and respect.
CLICK HERE for a complete obituary for Batt.Chief Laffin as published in The New Haven Register.
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| Bobby "Vee" Viglione |
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| Good News - Bobby Vee's Barber Shop Re-Opens
Since many of our local retired and active Hamden firefighters get their haircuts at Bobby Viglione's North Branford Barber Shop, we are very pleased to report that his shop is now open.
By appointment only - 203-484-6789 - and you must wear a mask.
Mayor Bob is feeling great, but he won't be there until June 18th. Judy and Fred are there right now.
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Chief William "Wiggy" Johnson, West Haven FD (Ret.)
From Pete Buonome, CFDIA: It is with sadness that I relay from Chief O'Brien of the West Haven Fire Department the passing during the night of an institution in the fire service, West Haven (Retired) Chief William "Wiggy" Johnson.
Chief Johnson was an active member of the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors Assn., a long time instructor, a contributing editor of the "Fire Chief's Handbook," a long time Adjunct Professor of Fire Science at the University of New Haven, and one of the legends within our fire service.
A prayer and a "toast" to his memory.
The members of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association extend sincere condolences to our West Haven brothers and sisters on the loss of Chief Johnson.
Related articles in The New Haven Register / West Haven Patch
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Tweet from The New Haven Register
HAMDEN — Town firefighters had a busy Saturday, first dealing with a rescue at a state park and then with a crash requiring extrication on Route 15, according to fire officials.
Firefighters responded to Sleeping Giant State Park around 11 a.m. for a report of an injured hiker in the woods. Hamden fire officials said firefighters had to use a rope system to remove the victim, who fell 15 feet.
Then, shortly before 7 p.m., units responded for a report of a crash where the vehicle had gone into the woods with entrapment. Responding firefighters quickly extricated the driver.
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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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