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July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Company 4 - Headquarters - Station 4
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| c. 1907-24 |
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| 1924-2009 |
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Until two years ago, fire department apparatus had been stationed on Whitney Avenue in Centerville since Company 4 was organized in 1907. From 1908 until 1924, Company 4 was quartered in a two-and-a-half story wood frame building on the north side of the old town hall.
When the new town hall was built in 1924, a new fire station was incorporated into the northeast corner of the building. Company 4 was provided with a meeting room in the new building, which their members continued to use until the last member passed away in the 1990s.
The fire station at Memorial Town Hall was officially "Fire Headquarters" until the chief's office was relocated to the old Centerville School (now Miller Library) in 1974, at which time the town hall fire station became "Station 4." The chief's office returned to the town hall in the late 1970s, occupying two different basement areas until 1989. But Station 4 remained "Station 4."
In an article published in The New Haven Register on March 14, 1966, Chief V. Paul Leddy noted that the town hall fire station, "is too old and too small to accommodate the proper apparatus, offices and living quarters." Today, a multi-million dollar addition to Memorial Town Hall is in progress, which includes renovating the fire station - the first since 1940. When the job is done, it will be interesting to see how Chief Leddy's concerns of 45 years ago have been addressed.
Since September 22, 2009, Station 4 apparatus has been temporarily reassigned to other quarters. The Squad (formerly Engine 4) is at Station 3 and Rescue 1 is assigned to Station 5. Original estimates for the completion of the renovation of Station 4 were eighteen to 24 months. Station 4 is now expected to reopen sometime after January 2012. We'll keep you posted.
Posted 9/2/11
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| Addition to Hamden's Memorial Town Hall, in progress for the past two years. |
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| CLICK on this photo for more photos |
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Memorial Town Hall in the 1960s
This above postcard photo (c. 1960) is a nice view of Memorial Town Hall, showing Grace Episcopal Church situated in its original location on the north side of Dixwell Avenue, right next to the town hall.
The Town bought the church's property for future expansion (now in progress) and the church building was moved across Dixwell Avenue to its present location 45 years ago this month. The website thanks Kris Beirne for preserving the remarkable photos below, taken by I.A. Sneiderman, and for donating the images to the HFRA.
Posted 9/2/11
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These four photos of the 1966 relocation of Grace Episcopal Church were taken by I.A. Sneiderman and were generously donated to the HFRA by Kris Beirne, wife of former Hamden firefighter Jim Beirne. CLICK on any photo to enlarge.
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| We will always remember our brother firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice, and the thousands of other innocent victims who lost their lives ten years ago on September 11, 2001.
Always keep them, their families and the FDNY in your thoughts and prayers.
Please observe a minute of silence at 8:46 a.m. on Sunday, September 11, 2011.
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Tradition 5 Golf Tournament
in Wallingford
Thursday, September 22nd
"Shotgun" starting at 9 a.m.
$75 (Golf, Hot Dogs, Burgers, BEER, etc.)
Contact Jim Moore - 203-248-4268
| Next HFRA Meeting - Tues., Oct. 11th at noon
Menu: Brian and Robin's B&R Burger
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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September 5, 1951 - Firehouse Becomes Schoolhouse
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| July 26, 1951 - The Hamden Chronicle |
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| 1951 - Station 5 was an annex of the neighboring Mt. Carmel School |
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Station 5 4th Graders Surprised During CD Drill
Was It Early Sex-Ed?
Through the years, a few Hamden fire stations have served as temporary school rooms and even places of worship when the need arose. For several weeks in 1944, the Humphrey station became a temporary schoolhouse after a disastrous mid-winter fire at Church Street School. A quarter of a century earlier, religious services were held in the Humphrey station meeting rooms after fire destroyed the Hamden Plains Methodist Church.
By 1951, Hamden's postwar population expansion was felt most heavily in Mt. Carmel, where the school population had exceeded the capacity of the Mt. Carmel School on Woodruff Street. As a result, some classes were held upstairs in Station 5 during the 1951-52 school year.
When school was in session, the paid men and volunteers at Mt. Carmel were relegated to the firehouse basement. And, of course, the basement decor echoed that of the two upstairs bedrooms, which were off-limits to the students.
Bill Farrell, who still lives in Mt. Carmel, was a fourth grader at Station 5 that year. Bill recently recalled when he and his young classmates got an unexpected lesson from Station 5 paid men during an unscheduled civil defense drill.
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As the drill got underway, 4th grade teacher Miss
Margaret Fitzgerald carefully shepherded her 10-year old students from
the second floor of the firehouse to the safety of the basement. The
paid men were unaware of the drill and were definitely not
expecting guests.
When Miss Fitzgerald and her kiddies arrived safely
in the basement, they got an eyeful: Impressive displays of trophies, banners and other fire company memorabilia lined the walls. But the most memorable display, according to Bill Farrell, were the numerous photos of young ladies in various states of (un)dress.
Whoops! (A memo from the Chief followed, no doubt.)
Posted 9/9/11
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| Miss Margaret Fitzgerald taught fourth grade at Station 5 during the 1951-52 school year (your web editor had her for third grade four years later). Former Station 5 career firefighter, Bill Bossoli, fondly remembered Miss Fitzgerald as a very nice lady. Indeed, she was. A Hamden native, Miss Fitzgerald taught at Mt. Carmel School until 1958, when she joined the faculty of the new Sleeping Giant Junior High School as an Art teacher. She retired in the 1970s.
The Station 5 schoolhouse experiment lasted only the one school year. Starting in 1952, Mt. Carmel School went on double sessions for all grades except 7 and 8. Normal class times returned in October 1954, when a new addition to the school opened. DGJ
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| 1951 Maxim on the scene in November 1953 (Photo by Chan Brainard) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Ten Years Later
We will always remember our brother firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice, and the thousands of other innocent victims who lost their lives ten years ago on September 11, 2001.
Always keep them, their families and the FDNY in your thoughts and prayers.
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Tradition 5 Golf Tournament
in Wallingford
Thursday, September 22nd
"Shotgun" starting at 9 a.m.
$75 (Golf, Hot Dogs, Burgers, BEER, etc.)
Contact Jim Moore - 203-248-4268
| Next HFRA Meeting - Tues., Oct. 11th at noon
Menu: Brian and Robin's B&R Burger
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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| Lt. Bob Viglione, Ff. Jim Dunlop, Ff. Mark Barletta and Lt. Clark Hurlburt |
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| c. 1988 - Platoon 2 Hazmat Incident |
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| Hazmat photos courtesy of Bob Mordecai |
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| Yale Field, July 3, 1977 - Hamden's 1939 Diamond-T 500 GPM, which started out as Engine 4, and 1942 Diamond-T 600 GPM, which started out as Engine 1, just a few months after being purchased by a private buyer. It was believed that these engines were purchased to be scrapped for the brass in their pumps. However, this photo gives hope that such was not their fate. Does anyone know if either of these pieces is still around? (Photo by Bill Celentano of Box 22 Associates, New Haven) |
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| 1982 - Capt. Jack Laffin during ground ladder training behind Station 7. Jack retired Jan. 1, 1990 and now lives on Cape Cod. (Photo by John Tramontano) |
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| 1953 - Gil Spencer with his WWII era Jeep. The black-on-silver CT license plates were phased out in 1957 in favor of the white-on-blue plates that lasted until 2002. |
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| September 10, 2011 - At the 40th Annual Engine 260 Muster in Milford, Shelton's 1938 Ahrens-Fox Model BT 1250 GPM pumper still going strong. On March 1, 1975, this pumper drafted from the Housatonic River and supplied Hamden's Engine 3 (and four other pumpers!) during Shelton's infamous Sponge Rubber fire. |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| October 1982 - In front of Bradlees at the Hamden Mart. An unknown spectator watches at left as Ff. Paul Reutenauer monitors Engine 4's pump panel during a fire department demonstration for Fire Prevention Week. Truck 2, as it was designated at the time, the 100' Maxim aerial, can be seen right behind. (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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Wild Ride 25 Years Ago Eventually Leads to Chet's - and a Training Session
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| 1976 Malibu wagon ready for Hurst tool training |
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| Ff. John Longo checking out the Hurst tool before going to work on the front door |
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| Ff. Harold Mangler operating Hurst tool at Chet's Auto Parts |
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When it came to fire department training, Chet's Auto Parts on Welton Street was always generous with their "inventory," like this 1976 Malibu wagon that once belonged to the family of a Hamden Fire Department member (we're not talkin'!).
And thereby hangs a tale: 25 years ago this week (September 26, 1986, to be exact), a department member's three-year old son coasted his mom's station wagon down their driveway and through their backyard, on a wild ride that has become somewhat legendary (at least to those who were on the job in '86).
The very good news is that the kid wasn't hurt when the station wagon he was piloting collided with the neighbors' house, and neither were his three brothers. The wagon got the worst of the deal, and seven months later it was put to good use in this training session at Chet's.
Posted 9/23/11
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| Early 1950s - Whitney Avenue near Augur Street. (Photo by Chan Brainard) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA Meeting - Tues., Oct. 11th at noon
Menu: Brian and Robin's B&R Burger
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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| 1986 - Lt. Bob Mordecai, Ff. Ed DeFrancesco and Ff. "Red" Ralph Purificato assigned to 100' Maxim aerial at Station 3 |
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| September 1991 - B/C Joe McDermott during a Station 4 visit. He retired a few days later after 38 years on the job. Joe is well and lives in Branford with his wife, Helen. Joe has attended several HFRA meetings. |
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| Station 4 as it was 20 years ago. 1984 Pierce Dash and 1988 GMC rescue unit. |
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September 11, 1982 - 11th Annual Engine 260 Muster in Milford - These photos, taken by Bill Celentano of Box 22 Associates, are of the 1942 Diamond-T 500 GPM pumper that was once Engine 8. It was purchased from Prospect in December 1957 and served as Engine 8 until the late 1970s, when it was purchased by Dunbar Hill resident Ken Lewis - hence the name on the door. Mr. Lewis acquired several other pieces of fire apparatus, including a 1941 Diamond-T city service ladder truck, bought new by Hamden in early 1942 and sold to New Milford in 1963.
The whereabouts of both trucks is presently unknown. Does anyone know?
Posted 9/30/11
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