We are in the process of archiving all weekly updates by the month. All of the weekly updates for this month are on this page.
Just scroll down to locate the desired update.
July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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HFRA Meeting
Next Tues., Oct. 11th, Noon
Hamden Elks' Lodge, 175 School Street
Nomination and election of officers for 2012
Menu: 3/4 lb. of onion seasoned beef w/cheddar cheese, barbeque sauce, bacon and an onion ring, French fries and cole slaw - $6.00
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Humphrey Hook & Ladder Company
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| c. 1911 - Members of the Humphrey Hook & Ladder Company pose with their apparatus. The HFRA thanks Joe Taylor for his generosity in permitting the reproduction of this photo on our website. |
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Fire Prevention Week
This week marks the 140th anniversary of the infamous Chicago fire, and the less heralded but far more deadly Peshtigo, Wisconsin fire which occurred the same day. The Great Chicago Fire gave rise to Fire Prevention Week, observed annually throughout the U.S. during the second week of October. For many years, the Hamden Fire Department conducted various firefighting and fire prevention demonstrations at the Hamden Plaza and Mart.
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| In a photo dated October 12, 1962, Chief V. Paul Leddy and Supt. Clem Wetmore observe a young lady showing how to transmit a fire alarm from a Gamewell box during a Fire Prevention Week demonstration at the Hamden Plaza. The young lady in the photo was (and is) the wife of a Hamden firefighter, who retired as a BC thirty years later. She is also closely related to a present HFD BC. Gamewell boxes numbered in the 800s were assigned to schools. Box 815 was Margaret L. Keefe School (now the M.L. Keefe Center) on Pine Street. Hamden's Gamewell system was in service until 1998. (I.A. Sneiderman photo) |
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| October 10, 1987 - During a Fire Prevention Week demonstration twenty-five years later, Hamden firefighters demonstrate FFFP foam on a combustible liquid fire right next door at the Hamden Mart. |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Commissioner Duane K. Wetmore
June 26, 1926 - October 11, 2011
The website regrets to announce the passing last Tuesday, October 11, 2011, of Hamden Fire Commissioner Duane K. Wetmore, who also was a prominent member and past captain of the Mix District Volunteer Fire Co. No. 7. Commissioner Wetmore's father, the late Clement Wetmore, served as Supt. of Alarms and Apparatus from 1941 until his retirement in 1968. Wetmore's brother, Paul Wetmore, Sr., a 34-year veteran of the Hamden Fire Department, served as the department's fourth career fire chief from 1993 until 1996.
Funeral services for Comm. Wetmore were held Saturday morning, October 15th, at the Mt. Carmel Congregational Church.
The members of the HFRA extend their condolences to the Wetmore family.
Revised 10/15/11
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Humphrey Hook & Ladder Company
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c. 1911 - This is the one and only known photo of the Humphrey's hand-drawn hose wagon. This photo is owned by Joe Taylor, who has amassed an outstanding collection of old Hamden photos, including numerous photos of various Hamden fire companies. The HFRA thanks Mr. Taylor for his generosity in permitting the reproduction of this photo on our website.
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| November 1984 - Chief John Tramontano poses with one of two new Pierce Dash 1000 GPM pumpers at the Pierce factory in Appleton, Wisconsin. |
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| c. 1957 - This fixer-upper, a mid 1950s Cadillac convertible, is delivered to the Sunoco station that was once operated by the Murray family. Note the Glenwood Drive-In shown in the background. The original building was razed in January 1965. The present building was erected a few feet north of the original building. (Sneiderman photo) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Remembering a Great Photographer and Newsman
John Mongillo, Jr.
(1947 - 2011)
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| John Mongillo, Jr - HHS '65 |
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| Just one of many HFD action images captured by John Mongillo, Jr., who discovered this blaze at Reilly's Restaurant on Christmas morning 1964. CLICK on this photo to view more Mongillo photos. |
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Noted photographer and Hamden native, John Mongillo, Jr., passed away this past week.
Some of the most memorable Hamden Fire Department photos of the past 50 years were
shot by John, who started out as an assistant to his father, the late
John Mongillo, Sr.
The HFRA extends condolences to the Mongillo family.
Posted 10/21/11
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In addition to being a veteran photographer, John Mongillo, Jr. was also a reporter for The New Haven Register. John was one of several reporters who covered a devastating apartment building explosion thirty-four years ago this week in Whitneyville. Check it out below.
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Apartment Explosion
1181 Whitney Avenue
Tuesday, October 18, 1977
Off-duty Hamden firefighter Ralph Tomaselli was working his part-time job at Stone's Sunoco station at Whitney and Auger when a gas-fed explosion destroyed an
apartment building right across the street at 1181 Whitney Avenue. Ralph, along with fellow employee Wolfram Kaminskas
and by-stander Gary Jones, immediately rushed into the burning debris in an attempt to rescue two elderly victims. CLICK on The New Haven Register article below for the story. Posted 10/21/11
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| CLICK image to enlarge for easier reading |
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Firefighter Ralph Tomaselli and Civilians Recognized for Heroic Efforts Following Blast
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| Annual Dinner at the Hamden Elks' Lodge, April 6, 1978 - Hamden Firefighters' Association president Bob Slater presents the 1978 Alfred Ramelli Award to Firefighter Ralph Tomaselli. L-R: Craig Reynolds, Rev. Owen Sanderson, Pres. Slater, Wolfram Kominskas, Ff. Tomaselli, and Bob Stone. On October 18, 1977, Ff. Tomaselli, who was off duty, and the civilians pictured here were at the scene within seconds to search for and assist victims following an apartment building explosion at 1181 Whitney Avenue. |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| L-R: Ff. Henry Puciato, Lt. Bob Mordecai and Ff. Ron Desroches were recognized for saving the life of a woman during a fire in a Mix Avenue apartment in November of 1997. Desroches, now a captain, is still on the job. |
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| 1954 - B/C Everett Doherty in Hamden's brand new Maxim 750 pumper in a Connecticut State Firemen's Convention Parade - location might be West Haven (Photo courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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