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July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA meeting is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th at the Elks!
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| March 1979 - Engine 4 and Engine 5 at a Hillfield Road house fire. Engine 5 was a 1978 Pierce 450 g.p.m. mini-pumper on a Ford chassis. This apparatus is still in service as Engine 15. (Photo by Jim Moore) |
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| March 1979 - Hillfield Road house fire - Deputy Chief George Reutenauer of Platoon 3, and HFD chaplain Rev. Owen Sanderson with young civilian (Photo by Jim Moore) |
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| March 1979 - Some of the damage (Photo by Jim Moore) |
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| Firefighter Fred Knudsen |
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30 Years Ago
HFD Communications Bulletin No. 1
When the fire dispatchers' position moved from the alarm room at Station 4 to Central Communications in November 1981, a number of new "dispatch protocols" were instituted. Additional information to assist responding units, such as providing cross streets and map numbers, was announced over the PA system and on the operations frequency with every dispatch.
The current status of out-of-service hydrants & sprinkler systems, closed streets, and other abnormal situations, previously disseminated only through notices tacked onto station bulletin boards, was now also announced at the start of every shift.
At every roll call, the fire dispatcher announced a litany of out-of-service hydrants, sprinkler systems, alarm boxes, and all other conditions that posed a potential problem. One of the unintended consquences of this new procedure, however, was that roll call announcements became lengthy and monotonous. No one was listening.
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Thirty-year veteran firefighter Fred Knudsen came up with the solution: Eliminate the lengthy and repetitive announcements at roll call and replace them with a weekly bulletin distributed to all fire stations that would list any new, old or repaired conditions since the previous bulletin, as well as any other announcements.
On Monday, March 1, 1982, Xeroxed copies of the first of 233 Communications Bulletins were issued to all stations and staff. Roll call announcements thereafter included only those abnormal conditions that occurred, or were repaired, since the current bulletin was issued.
Bulletin contents were not limited to official Department announcements. They frequently contained announcements for Local 2687, as well as information on upcoming Town and Department social events. Once in a while you might even find a homemade cartoon submitted by someone on one of the shifts.
From time to time, the website will post some of these and other possible items of interest from the Communications Bulletins.
Most of the time, the Bulletin was printed weekly on Thursday mornings so the Deputy Chief could drop them off at each station with the paychecks. Newly issued bulletins were easily identified because they were printed on different colored paper each week.
The Hamden Fire Department Communications Bulletin, inspired by Firefighter Fred Knudsen, lasted nearly seven years.
Fred Knudsen joined the Hamden Fire Department on October 8, 1951. He was president of the Hamden Paid Firemen's Sick Benefit Association during 1967 and 1968, when non-management department members fought for and won a 42-hour workweek that began with the start of the 1970-71 fiscal year. Fred served more than 34 years with the Department, retiring on March 1, 1986, the fourth anniversary of Communications Bulletin No. 1. He passed away on July 2, 1998, at the age of 75.
Posted 3/2/12
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| 1st Communications Bulletin - March 1, 1982 (CLICK to enlarge) |
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| Final Communications Bulletin - January 6-11, 1989 (CLICK to enlarge) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
DAILY FLAG STATUS
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FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA meeting is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th at the Elks!
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| CLICK HERE to see details and to print your application |
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| 2012 UPFFA Golf Tournament
Friday, May 18th, starting at 11 a.m.
Laurel View Country Club
Proceeds to benefit the UPFFA Emergency Relief Fund, MDA, The Tommy Fund, Scholarship Fund, Bridgeport Hospital Burn Fund, and the Health & Safety Committee
CLICK on the UPFFA logo at left to read
all the details and to print your application.
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Rondo of America, 100 Sanford Street
August 24-25, 1979
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The Rondo of America factory and warehouse were located at 100 Sanford Street. The company manufactured cardboard packaging and inserts. On Friday evening, August 24, 1979, the Rondo complex was almost totally destroyed by a multiple alarm fire that was well under way when the first apparatus arrived.
Platoon 4, under the direction of Dep. Chief Francis "Chalky" Leddy, worked for hours to keep flames from the front offices, but firefighters' efforts to save the rest of the complex were largely in vain. Firefighter Harold Mangler was transported to HSR for smoke inhalation, but released the next day. The building was rebuilt shortly thereafter and it now houses B-P Products, which also fabricates cardboard packaging.
Posted 3/9/12
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| Rondo of America, 100 Sanford Street - August 24, 1979 (Photo by John Mongillo, Jr.) - CLICK to enlarge |
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| New Haven Journal-Courier, Saturday, August 25, 1979 - (Article courtesy of Gil Spencer) |
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| Rondo is now B-P Products |
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65 years ago fire destroys plans for the Wilbur Cross Parkway
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| March 7, 1947 |
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The plans shown above for the route of the parkway through Hamden were published in The Hamden Chronicle seven months after the March 1947 fire that destroyed a new highway department building on Connolly Parkway. (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society)
Posted 3/9/12
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| Truck 2 - 1970 Maxim 100' Aerial Ladder (CLICK to enlarge) |
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| Truck 1 - 1958 Maxim 75' Aerial Ladder (CLICK to enlarge) |
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October 1983 - Both of Hamden's ladder trucks were attractions at the annual Fire Prevention Week Demonstration at the Hamden Mart. Ed Doiron, Jr., who took numerous color shots of the activities that day, reports that these interesting frontal views of both trucks were probably shot by his younger brother, John.
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
DAILY FLAG STATUS
CLICK here!
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FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA meeting is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th at the Elks!
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| Superintendent Richie Lostritto and Chief V. Paul Leddy - CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| Marshal Bob O'Donnell, Chief Leddy, and Supt. Lostritto - CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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1972 - During an inspection of the brand new Ridge Hill Elementary School, Chief V. Paul Leddy examines a fire alarm pull station as Supt. of Alarms and Apparatus Richie Lostritto looks on. On the right, Fire Marshal Bob O'Donnell is pictured with Chief Leddy and Supt. Lostritto in one of the common areas of the new school. (Photos by R.N. Prete of East Haven)
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Several years earlier, in the photo below, Supt. of Alarms and Apparatus Clem Wetmore and Asst. Supt. Richie Lostritto test the internal loop on another school fire system connected to Hamden's municipal Gamewell fire alarm system. (Photo by I.A. Sneiderman)
Posted 3/16/12
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| Firefighters John Longo and Seth Patrick are hauled back to shore during a cold water rescue training session at Clark's Pond on February 15, 2003. Assisting are Firefighter Jason Blyth and Batt. Chief Paul Wetmore, Jr. (Photo by Bob Mordecai) |
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| No St. Patrick's Day would be complete without this previously published 1985 photo of Donny Buechele, Jimmy Moore and John O'Dea in the March 17th Uniform of the Day outside Station 4. Don't miss the balloons! (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
DAILY FLAG STATUS
CLICK here!
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FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA meeting is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th at the Elks!
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It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of brother retired Hamden firefighter, Paul Reutenauer, on Sunday, March 25, 2012 in Florida.
Paul's fire service career began when he joined the Mt. Carmel Volunteer Fire Co. in 1951. He became a member of the career department in December 1957 and was assigned to old Platoon 2 under Deputy Chief Everett Doherty. From the start of the 42-hour workweek in 1970 until his retirement in March 1993, Paul served at Station 4 on Platoon 3. A great guy with a wonderful sense of humor, Paul will be missed by all who knew him.
Arrangements are being handled by the North Haven Funeral Home. Once the arrangements are complete, we will notify all online members by email and will post them here on the website.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's family.
Posted 3/25/12
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Ed. Note: This notice of Paul's passing was added to this Home Page on Sunday, March 25th.
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| May 11, 1986 - Lieut. Howie Hurlburt, Jr., Firefighter Jim Moore and Firefighter Paul Reutenauer getting ready to step off in the 1986 Hamden Bicentennial Parade on Whitney Avenue (Photo courtesy of Jim Moore) |
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Sunday, January 12, 1941
Midnight Fire Guts the "Old Peck School" on Hillfield Road
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The Hillfield School, referred to by locals as the "Old Peck School," was a private girls' school that opened in 1916, when Miss Florence Peck moved the school from its original location in Wallingford. The building was located atop a hill on the left hand side of Hillfield Road, where Hillfield makes a hard right and Johnson Road goes straight ahead.
On Sunday morning, January 12, 1941, a fire of suspicious origin was discovered shortly after midnight, destroying the building which had been vacant for several years. This was fifteen years before the Westwoods Volunteer Fire Co. was organized, so the nearest fire companies were Companies 5 and 7.
Miss Alice Peck, sister of Florence, also taught at the school. She would later teach at the town's last one-room schoolhouse on the corner of Johnson and Still Hill. That school closed in June 1954 and would later serve as quarters for the Westwoods fire company. In September 1954, a new elementary school was erected on the north side of Hillfield at the corner of Shepard Avenue and was named for Miss Alice Peck.
Posted 3/23/12
The headline below should have read "Spectacular Fire Levels School in West Woods." This building was not the Mt. Carmel School, which was located on Woodruff Street - and demolished in 1981.
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| New Haven Journal-Courier, Monday, January 13, 1941 (Steele Collection) |
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| New Haven Evening Register, Sunday, January 12, 1941 (Steele Collection) |
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| The "Old Peck School," which stood atop the hill near the corner of Hillfield and Johnson Roads (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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Once in a while something is found among the "stuff" that brings back memories of a less complicated era. At right are the two sides of the very simple fire report form that served the department for decades.
These forms were completed by the drivers of every piece of apparatus that responded to an incident. The "Report Number" entered at the top of the form corresponded to the specific run for that piece of apparatus, and not the incident.
A new form was introduced in the 1980s, only one of which was required for each incident. The new form was completed by only the officer on the first arriving piece of apparatus.
Posted 3/23/12
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
DAILY FLAG STATUS
CLICK here!
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FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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Next HFRA meeting is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th at the Elks!
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Saturday night, March 24th, twenty-two retirees were the guests of the Hamden Professional Firefighters Assn., Local 2687, I.A.F.F. at their annual dinner, held at the Laurel View Country Club.
L-R: Eddy Doiron, Bob Kelo, Gil Spencer, Austin Williams, Joe Rahl, John O'Hare, Rich Maybury, Jim Moore, Dave Johnson, Kerry Castracane, Mark Pratt, John Tramontano, Harold Mangler, Mark Barletta, Bob Slater, Tom Doherty, Bill Coppola, Rev. Owen Sanderson, Jim Dunlop, Jack Mordecai and Bob Mordecai. Ben Mikolinski was also among the group but unfortunately was hidden from view. (Photo courtesy of Bob Mordecai)
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CLICK on either of the photos below to view more pix of the dinner.
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| Chief and Mrs. David Berardesca |
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| 25-year veteran, Batt. Chief Bill Fitzmaurice, receives Local 2687's "Jake" Award for 2012 |
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 7 p.m. at the Hamden Middle School
We need to be heard!
All HFRA members who live close enough to attend are urged to be at the Hamden Middle School next week on Tuesday night, April 3rd at 7:00 p.m. for the Legislative Council's hearing on the 2012-13 budget.
As we all know, the pension plan has been grossly underfunded by numerous administrations over three decades. Actuaries who have examined the pension say that there is only enough money in the pension fund to pay existing pensions for about the next three years. The mayor's request for additional pension funding in 2012-13 would only fund the pension for about six months. And a year from now the pension would be six months closer to going broke.
Circle the date on your calendars! TUESDAY, APRIL 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the HAMDEN MIDDLE SCHOOL (Dixwell Avenue across from Sanford Street).
Check out the two websites below to see how municipal pensions around the country are in jeopardy.
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| L-R: Ff. Carl Backus, Ff. John O'Dea, Ff. Paul Reutenauer and Ff. Clark Hurlburt (Photo courtesy of Dep. Chief Bob Surprise) |
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In August 1983, Hamden Firefighter/Paramedic Clark Hurlburt and Firefighter/EMTs Paul Reutenauer, Carl Backus and John O'Dea saved the life of retired Hamden police sergeant Louis Boyce, who was in anaphylactic shock following numerous bee stings. The four Hamden firefighters were subsequently presented with the Mayor's Award by Mayor Peter Villano.
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| CLICK on the above photo to read Paul's obituary in The New Haven Register, and view several photos of Paul with his colleagues over the years. |
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Silent Tribute to an Old Friend
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Hamden firefighters at attention in front of Station 5, in honor of Paul as his funeral procession passed by last Friday.
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Ed. Note: These photos were added to the March 30th home page on April 2nd.
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