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July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to go to HGSRA webpage |
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"Whitneyville Annex" Station 6
This photo from the archives of the Hamden Historical Society identifies the gentleman in front the "Whitneyville Annex Fire Dept." on Merritt Street as "Chas. Flaherty." According to a history published in 1934, the name of the fire company was changed to "Merritt Street Volunteer Fire Co." in 1925.
Firefighter Ed Doiron drove Engine 6 out of the Merritt Street fire station for the last time when it closed in September 1970 (see other posting below).
Posted 12/6/13
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| c. 1921 - Charles Flaherty in front of the Whitneyville Annex Fire Department. The fire company was renamed the Merritt Street Volunteer Fire Co. 6 in 1925. (Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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Sitting Watch at Station 3
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| 1969 - Firefighter Ed Doiron at "old" Station 3 Watch Desk |
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| 44 Years Later at "new" Station 3 Watch Desk |
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Retiree Ed Doiron helped to monitor voting at Station 3 this week and found himself on familiar turf at the watch desk. Ed related how he and fellow "old" Platoon 1 firefighter Bob Slater reported to work as usual at Station 6 one night in September 1970 and were ordered to drive Engine 6 to "new" Station 3, thus leaving Station 6 for the final time. Upon arrival, Ed and Bob found the new fire station locked up tight. They had to wait for the deputy chief to show up with the key. Firefighters Doiron and Slater were also the first crew to respond to a call out of the new station. Ed served as Local 2687's first treasurer, from 1979 until his retirement in 1993.
Posted 12/6/13
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| August 1970 - Firefighter Ed Doiron at Station 6 |
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| August 1970 - Firefighter Bob Slater at Station 6 |
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| Scanned from the Board of Fire Commissioners' Minutes - Wednesday, November 12, 1958 |
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| Dedication Plaque for the 1959 Maxim "Cab-Forward" 750 Pumper, the first of that design manufactured by Maxim. (CLICK either image to enlarge) |
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| Factory photo courtesy of Chan Brainard |
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| December 2013 - Capt. Bernie Amatrudo and Ff. Ralph DiFonzo |
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| November 1984 - Chief John Tramontano congratulates Bob Kelo following his swearing in as Lieutenant |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2013
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to go to HGSRA webpage |
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Town Dedicates New
West Woods Fire Station
December 13, 2013 - This week marks the 45th anniversary of the dedication of the West Woods firehouse, Station 9, the first free standing fire station built by the Town of Hamden. Except for the Centerville fire station, which was included in the design of Hamden's new town hall in 1924, all other Hamden fire stations had been built and owned by the individual volunteer fire companies that were organized before 1956.
Posted 12/13/13
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The Little Red Schoolhouse That Became a Firehouse
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| (I.A. Sneiderman photo courtesy of Brian Leddy) |
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Following its organization in 1956, the West Woods Volunteer Fire Association acquired Hamden's last one-room schoolhouse for its meeting hall. Located on the corner of Johnson and Still Hill Roads, the little red schoolhouse had been vacant since its final class let out in June 1954. The volunteers worked hard during 1957 to add an apparatus bay to the building, which was completed by early 1958.
This photo of Volunteer Co. 9's newly-renovated station was taken by veteran news photographer I.A. (Izzy) Sneiderman, who happened to live right across the street on Still Hill Road. The HFRA is grateful to Firefighter Brian Leddy, son of retired Hamden fire chief and HFRA member Jim Leddy, for providing this and many other of Sneiderman's Hamden news photos to be scanned by the Association for future website publication.
Posted 12/13/13
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1984
Station 9 became a four-man house with the transfer from Station 5 of Truck 1, the 1958 Maxim 75' "Junior" aerial truck. Left to right are Firefighters Brian Forsyth and Ernie Braun, Acting Lt. Dan Murphy, and Firefighter Carmen Amarante. When this photo was snapped, the 1959 Maxim "cab-forward" was subbing as Engine 9 because the 1973 Maxim foam truck was being rebuilt by Pierce in Appleton, Wisconsin.
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| November 3, 1984 (CLICK to enlarge) |
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1975-76 MDA Drive Kick-off
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| New Haven Register, Monday, December 15, 1975 (Courtesy of Guy White) |
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Iconic 1960's VW Microbus Heats Up on Four Rod Road
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| Lt. Bill Hines and two Engine 4 firefighters extinguishing a fire in a VW Microbus on Four Rod Road. The firefighter crouching by the engine compartment is Gil Spencer, who believes the guy with the pikepole is probably Milner Benham. (Photo scanned from the 1965 Hamden Town Report) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2013
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to go to HGSRA webpage |
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The Executive Board of The Hamden Fire Retirees' Association, Inc. wishes all of our active and retired
Hamden firefighters, their families, and all of our other website visitors a very Merry Christmas!
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| (Courtesy of Jim Koutsopolos) |
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This photo appeared in the December 30, 1981 edition of The Hamden Chronicle. The 1981 Hamden Professional Firefighters' Local 2687 drive to help a Hamden family at Christmastime would continue on in many forms, including toy drives for the Hospital of St. Raphael, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Hamden High Cheerleaders and, more recently, the Local's annual Thanksgiving turkey drive.
Posted 12/20/13
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December 19, 1998
Retired Hamden Firefighter's Instructions to Mom Saves Child
Fifteen years ago, retired Hamden Firefighter Joe Yoga, then a dispatcher for the Cheshire Police Department, assisted a frantic mother who called for assistance when her child stopped breathing. While EMS was en route, Joe provided life-saving instructions to the child's distraught mother over the phone. Joe, a member of the HFRA, was appointed to the Hamden Fire Department in 1965. While fighting a Sherman Avenue fire that caused one fatality, Joe sustained severe back injuries and he retired in 1980.
Posted 12/20/13
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| This photo from the 1968 Hamden Town Report was captioned, "Police-Fire refresher co-operation." |
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At fire headquarters, Lt. Luke Tobin and Firefighter Bill LaVelle are demonstrating the E&J resuscitator as Firefighter Howie Hurlburt, Sr. looks on at the extreme right. The Hamden police officers kneeling are Officers John Battick and Arnold Brown. Standing are Officers John Collack, John (Jack) Lynch, Fred Morton and Ray Copeland.
Shortly after this photo was taken, Lt. Tobin was promoted to captain when Capt. Bob "Bubby" O'Donnell was appointed Fire Marshal. We want to thank Sergeant Bill Gibson (HPD-Ret.) for identifying the police officers in this photograph. Bill supervised Central Communications from its beginning in 1981.
Posted 12/20/13
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| Website thanks to Richie Maybury for providing this photo of Local 2687 members at Station 3 preparing to deliver hundreds of toys to Yale-New Haven Hospital for Christmas 1997. L-R: Mark Bareltta, Richie Maybury, Unidentified Rep. from Y-NH, Dave Johnson and Ray Ramelli. |
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| (Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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This is the original quarters of the Centerville Volunteer Fire Co. 4, built in 1908. It was located approximately where the driveway apron to the town hall is located today. The building next door was torn down last April. Note the similarity in the design of both buildings.
Company 4's firehouse was razed in 1924 when the present town hall building was constructed. The Town of Hamden provided the fire company with a meeting room in the basement of the new fire station for its use until it disbanded. Although the company went inactive after World War II, Co. 4 members continued to meet regularly in Station 4's "volunteers' room" for decades thereafter. Well into the 1980s, several oldtimers showed up each week for their regular Sunday card game. One of them, Mario "Bucky" Serafino, was a career department member from the late 1930s until his retirement in 1973. Bucky passed away in 2001 at age 91.
Posted 12/20/13
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to go to HGSRA webpage |
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(An ad will play first, but you can "X" out of it.)
Posted 12/29/13
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| Firefighter Polite |
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| Brother New Haven Firefighter Battling Pancreatic Cancer
The fire service is really about helping others in need, which sometimes includes those of our own. Hamden firefighters are no strangers to helping out when one of their own needs help. During this past week one of our HFRA members read a New Haven Register account of decorated 16-year veteran New Haven Firefighter Jaime Polite, who is battling pancreatic cancer. Our member contacted the website so that we might help by sharing Ff. Polite's story with our members and website visitors.
Firefighter Jaime Polite's brother firefighters are trying to help him and his family during a very difficult time. We urge our website visitors to read the aforementioned Register article (link below). Some of our members have already helped out.
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Empire Kitchens
1188 Dixwell Avenue
Thursday, December 30, 1965
This fire was reported at 7:17 p.m. and immediately went to two alarms. Responding were Engines 2, 3, 4, 6, Ladder 1, Rescues 1 and 2, Car 40 (Chief Leddy) and Car 30 (Dep. Chief James Strain).
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| December 30, 1965 - 2nd Alarm - Empire Kitchens - 1188 Dixwell Avenue |
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Originally posted 10/3/10
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| Dedication plaque for one of two 1968 Maxim 1000 GPM S-Models (CLICK to enlarge) |
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| Engine 4, one of two 1968 Maxim 1000 GPM S-Models - Photo by Frank Wegloski (CLICK to enlarge) |
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Two brand new Maxim S-Model 1,000 GPM pumpers costing nearly $65,000 were delivered to the Hamden Fire Department in October 1968. The dedication plaque (above) was salvaged from one of the pumpers, although it is not known just which one. Both pumpers served well into the 1990s before being off auctioned to private buyers, as has been the case with all obsolete Hamden fire apparatus.
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| November 4, 1968 - Two new Maxim S-Models on display at Hamden Fire Headquarters |
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In the above photo, Mayor William Adams presents two 1968 Maxim Model-S 1000 GPM pumpers to Chief V. Paul Leddy, while Dep. Chief Training Officer Daniel Hume and Supt. of Alarms and Apparatus Clem Wetmore look on. They were designated Engine 3 and Engine 4. A portion of the CITGO gas station that once stood on the southwest corner of Whitney and Dixwell can be seen in the background. The building was razed in the early 1970's to make way for Adams Park and the fountain located there.
The two pumpers were absolutely identical except for their serial numbers. In 1974, both pumpers were transferred to Station 2, as Engine 1 (#2686) and Engine 2 (#2687). Serial #2686 remained as Engine 1 to the end. Serial #2687, coincidentally the same as the HFD union's IAFF local number, was reassigned as Engine 5 in 1984. Because of the potential for long lays in the north end, the bed of #2687 was reconfigured to accommodate 1,800 feet of LDH.
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| Serial #2687 on the ramp at 4's for a stand-by in 1994 with Ff. Jim Dunlop, it was now Engine 5, packed with 1,800' of LDH. (CLICK either photo to enlarge) |
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| This photo provided by Ff. Daryl Osiecki shows how it looked in April 2007, several years after being sold. (God only knows what it looks like now!) |
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Firefighters' Support of MDA Goes Back a Long Way
The fire service has been a huge supporter of the MDA for many decades. Hamden Firefighter Ken Harrington is pictured below in December 1960 with East Haven Firefighter William Jackson and New Haven Fire Captain Francis Sweeney, presenting a $17,000 check to the New Haven County Chapter of the Firefighters' March on Muscular Dystrophy.
Following promotions to lieutenant in 1963 and captain in 1970, Harrington would eventually become Hamden's deputy chief in charge of training. Capt. Sweeney would rise further through the ranks to become Chief of the New Haven Fire Department in 1965.
Posted 12/27/13
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| The New Haven Evening Register, Saturday, December 31, 1960 (Courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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The New Haven area was served by two newspapers each weekday until 1987. Monday through Friday the New Haven Journal-Courier was the morning paper, and The New Haven Register the afternoon paper. The Register was also published on weekends, a morning paper on Sunday. Both newspapers were owned and published by the same company. Until 1961, the afternoon newspaper was called the New Haven Evening Register. On Sunday mornings it was the New Haven Sunday Register.
The photo above appeared in The New Haven Evening Register on the last day of 1960. The next day, the official name of that newspaper was changed to simply, The New Haven Register. Later in 1961, New Haven's Saturday newspaper became a combined Journal-Courier and Register morning edition called The Saturday Special. When the New Haven Journal-Courier ceased publication in March 1987, the Register became New Haven's only daily newspaper, a morning edition published seven days a week.
Posted 12/27/13
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| This IH Travel-al was Rescue 1 from 1959 to 1971 |
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| 40 YEARS AGO!
December 15, 1973 - The 22-year old driver of this former HFD rescue truck died when it flipped over several times in West Haven. The 1959 International Harvester Travel-al had served as Hamden's Rescue 1 until mid-1971, when it a 1960 model were both removed from service and auctioned off to private buyers.
(CLICK to enlarge either photo)
Posted 12/27/13
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| An ironic ending to a vehicle that was once used to save lives |
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Hamden Historical Society Archivist Retiring After 13 Years
Joe Pepe: A Very Good Friend to the HFRA
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With the advent of the website in June 2009, the HFRA began an informal yet very productive association with the Hamden Historical Society. The result was the sharing of many important photgraphs and documents preserving the history of the Hamden Fire Department.
The key to the success of this relationship has been Hamden Historical Society Archivist Joe Pepe, a retired school teacher, whose combined service in Hamden and Wallingford exceeded 30 years. Now, after serving an additional thirteen years as the HHS Archivist, Joe is stepping down as of January 1st to enjoy a genuine, well-deserved retirement.
The members of the Hamden Fire Retirees' Association want to thank Joe for his generous assistance and encouragement to the HFRA's History Committee for the past four and one-half years. Joe will be succeeded by Hamden resident Beth Shutts, who recently retired from the Cheshire Public Library.
Posted 12/27/13
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| Last Day: Retiring H.H.S. Archivist Joe Pepe (center) with HFRA History Commiittee members Spencer and Johnson. |
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