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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, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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Two Newest Hamden Firefighters Sworn In
At eleven o'clock last Monday morning in the rotunda of Hamden's Memorial Town Hall, a huge turnout of friends, family and members of the Hamden Fire Department witnessed the swearing-in of Hamden's newest firefighters, Cal Brennan and Steven Sorrentino.
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| Hamden Town Clerk Vera Morrison administers the oath to Firefighters Brennan and Sorrentino in Memorial Town Hall |
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Firefighter Cal Brennan (left), a resident of Beacon Falls, had been serving with the Norwich Fire Department. Cal has been assigned to Capt. Kobbe's crew at Station 2 on Platoon 4.
Firefighter Steven Sorrentino (right), a Hamden resident and former member of Dunbar Hill Co. 8, had put himself through the Connecticut Fire Academy last year. Steve has been assigned to Capt. Evers' crew at Station 4 on Platoon 1.
The members of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association wish both of these gentlemen many happy, healthy, safe and fulfilling years with the department.
Posted 2/5/16
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| Ff. Brennan's wife pins on the badge |
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| Co. 8 Capt. George Hindinger does the honors for Ff. Sorrentino |
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| © 1972 Time-Life - LIFE Cover - Feb. 4, 1972 CLICK to enlarge |
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44 Years Ago!
Hamden Winter Water Rescue
Published in LIFE Magazine
February 4, 1972
Photo by John Mongillo, Jr.
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Thanks to an alert 25-year old but very experienced local photographer named John Mongillo, Jr., this remarkable photo of a water rescue by Hamden firefighters made LIFE Magazine in 1972.
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Hamden firefighters were featured in this dramatic photo of a mid-winter water rescue, published in LIFE magazine in February 1972. The firefighters are identified (clockwise from the white shirt) as Wes DeGroot of Co. 7, and career firefighters Gerald Wolf, Edward Charbonneau, Walter Macdowall and Bob Viglione. The four career firefighters were all assigned to Station 4 (town hall) on Platoon 2. (Photo by John Mongillo, Jr.) - © 1972 - Time-Life
Originally posted 4/19/2010
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| Firefighter Smart and Chief Berardesca |
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Hamden Elks Firefighter of the Year
When Chief David Berardesca presented Firefighter Craig Smart with his Hamden Elks 2016 Firefighter of the Year plaque last Saturday night, Craig acknowledged that he was very flattered. But he kidded the packed house by stating that he didn't know how it was possible that he could have merited the award because he always spoke his mind. Perhaps always speaking his mind was one of many reasons why Craig was worthy of the accolade.
Firefighter Smart, an Emergency Medical Technician, was an EMS Award recipient in 2008 and received a Letter of Commendation in 2007. He has been a member of the Connecticut Urban Search and Rescue Group for the last six years, assigned to the Rescue Component. Craig is also a member of and contact person for the Hamden Fire Department's Honor Guard.
Craig is a graduate of Ansonia High School. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1989 to 1996, where he attained the rank of Sergeant. In May 2000, Craig graduated from the 17th class of Recruit Firefighter Training. In his years on the job, Craig has obtained certifications in Rope Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Trench Rescue, Vehicle Rescue, Aerial Ladder Operations, Structural Collapse Technician, Fire Service Instructor and Incident Safety Officer.
Craig resides in Ansonia and enjoys spending time with his friend Ruth and his son Michael. During his leisure time, he enjoys camping and attending Renaissance Festivals.
The other 2016 recipients of the Hamden Elks Community Service Awards were Police Officer of the Year Mark Gery and Citizen of the Year Mimsie Coleman.
Posted 2/5/16
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Posterity Project
Platoon 4 - Station 4
A website celebration of today's future HFD retirees.
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Left to right: Lieutenant Matthew Sarracco, Firefighter/EMT Craig Smart, Firefighter/EMT Michael DeLine, Jr., Firefighter/Paramedic Nick Borelli and Firefighter/Paramedic Tom Paranzino.
Posted 2/5/16
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| February 12, 1809 |
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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"For one, brief, shining moment . . ."
35 Years Ago
Hamden's Civilian Fire Dispatchers
Thirty-five years ago this week, Hamden Chronicle reporter Robin Chait visited the alarm room at Station 4 to do a story about Hamden's four civilian fire dispatchers, newly appointed under Civil Service.
The Town started employing part-time civilian fire dispatchers under the Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) in 1976, ostensibly to save money by returning four Grade AIII firefighters to line duties. The move was very controversial. Many in the department were concerned that civilians lacked the necessary practical experience to handle the many different kinds of emergency situations that dispatchers encounter. Adding to the tension, the four former firefighter dispatchers who were reassigned back to the line were all twenty-plus year veterans, two of them well over sixty years of age.
However, once the CETA dispatchers, both male and female, began working together with the firefighters under the same roof a mutual respect developed between the two groups. The civilians proved themselves very adept at dispatching, benefiting greatly from the experience gleaned from the officers and firefighters they worked with at Station 4.
After three years as a temporary CETA job, the position of civilian fire dispatcher became a full-time civil service position in late 1979. The four ladies photographed with Chief Leddy, all seasoned veterans of the CETA days, were appointed. Each of them worked the same 3-on-3-off schedule as the firefighters, except each dispatcher worked her first two days on the last two days of one platoon, and her final day on the first day of the next platoon.
Hamden's new civilian fire dispatchers had finally arrived. But the ladies' days working at Station 4 as "fire dispatchers" were numbered . . .
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| The Hamden Chronicle, Thursday, February 18, 1981 (Courtesy of Gilbert Spencer) |
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With the introduction of 9-1-1 a few months after the above newspaper photo was taken, Hamden's fire and police chiefs agreed to combine their dispatch facilities and personnel. At 0800 on Thursday, November 19, 1981 the Hamden Fire Department alarm room at Station 4 closed and Central Communications opened in the basement of the old Miller Liberary building. Hamden's four fire dispatchers joined their Hamden Police Department counterparts being cross-trained to dispatch for both agencies. And it worked.
Posted 2/12/16
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A Nice Backstory . . .
The very attractive young lady on Chief Leddy's left in the photo above, identified as Margaret Smith in the caption, is known to all her friends as "Marty." While working as a Hamden fire dispatcher, Marty met a young Hamden firefighter. Shortly thereafter she became Mrs. Mark Barletta.
Mark Barletta retired in 2006 as Hamden's fire marshal. He also was the first president of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association. Mark and Marty are now grandparents living in sunny Florida. They are also the parents of HFD Captain Adam Barletta.
Posted 2/12/16
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| Supt. James LaFond |
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Posterity Project
Repair Shop
Maintenance Division
The website is celebrating today's future HFD retirees with the HFRA "Posterity Project," a collection of photographs of every current active member of the department, line and staff.
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| Asst. Supt. Glen Tricarico |
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Featured this week are Superintendent of Apparatus James LaFond and Assistant Superintendent Glen Tricarico,
who oversee all apparatus and equipment maintenance and repair.
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Summer 1971
Training at Willimantic Fire School
During the summer of 1971 the Hamden firefighters hired from late 1969 through mid-1970 were bussed each day from Hamden to the Willimantic Fire School. There they joined new hires from other departments for training in basic hands-on firefighting. Then-Lieutenant Jack Laffin accompanied the group as the department's supervising officer.
(Photos courtesy of Doug Yocher)
Posted 2/12/16
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| Hamden firefighters can be identified by the new flip-flop clear visors on their helmets. Looks like Joe Mulligan on the extreme RH side (above). |
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| L-R: Firefighters Bob Macauley, John Reynolds, Joe Mulligan and Ralph Dievert |
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| L-R: Lt. Jack Laffin, Firefighters John Reynolds, Joe Mulligan, Ralph Dievert, Bob Macauley and Ray Ramelli. |
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15 Years Ago
Instant Convertible
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February 15, 2001
Capt. Mike DiStefano and his crew + Hurst Tool = Grandma's customized Ford Escort convertible wagon.
L-R - Capt. DiStefano and Firefighters Jay Connolly, Kim Shara (Talmadge), Scott Chasney and Julio Lopes.
(Photo by Bob Mordecai)
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February 15, 2002
Firefighters Jason Blythe and John Longo at Clark's Pond
(Photo by Bob Mordecai)
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February 15, 2002
Firefighters Jason Blythe and John Longo at Clark's Pond
(Photo by Bob Mordecai)
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| February 15, 2002 |
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February 15, 2002
Great shot of Firefighter Austin "Augie" Williams at Clark's Pond
(Photo by Bob Mordecai)
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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Once a Landmark Hotel,
Malavolti Building Destroyed 75 Years Ago
Whitney and Dixwell
Tuesday, February 18, 1941
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$15,000 was the estimated loss when fire gutted the 111-year old Malavolti building at the corner of Whitney and Dixwell Avenues on the night of February 18, 1941. The fire in the two-and-a-half story combination commercial-residential wood frame building was believed to have started when faulty electrical wiring led to an exploding gas meter.
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| ©1941 - New Haven Evening Register |
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| Empty Lot Until 1949 |
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Ten residents of the second floor apartments escaped without injuries. Hamden firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze to the building of origin. The Hamden branch of the American Red Cross assisted the ten individuals who were displaced by the fire.
The building was condemned and razed, leaving a vacant lot on which local kids played softball until the Malavolti family built the Brown Stone House Restaurant on the site in 1949. We are grateful to G. Donald Steele for the newspaper articles and photos that are posted below.
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| Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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Centerville House
What was to later become known as the Malavolti Building, started out as a hotel in the early 19th century. The former Centerville House, also known as the Sackett Hotel, fronted on Dixwell Avenue at the intersection of Whitney Avenue.
According to an article puiblished years ago in The Hamden Chronicle, the hotel was built in 1830 and also had a popular tavern. The wrap-around veranda disappeared sometime before it became a multiple commercial building in the early 20th century.
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| Photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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This beautiful Victorian Era edifice pictured on the northwest corner of Whitney and Dixwell Avenues was Hamden's first town hall, constructed in 1886.
This late 19-teens photo shows the prominently displayed Honor Roll of Hamden soliders and sailors who were then serving in the World War.
Accounts from annual town reports in the early 1920s indicated that the building's foundation was sinking on one end, causing some interior walls to crack.
The enormous cost to repair the foundation, coupled with the fact that the building was by then becoming inadequate in size, forced the town to build a new town hall. The old town hall was razed in early 1924 to make way for construction of Hamden's new Memorial Town Hall.
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1924 Cornerstone Laying Ceremony at Memorial Town Hall
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| Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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| According to Rachel Hartley's "The History of Hamden Connecticut, 1786-1936" (1943), "Memorial Town Hall [was] Hamden's lasting tribute to her military heroes. It was erected in 1924, at a cost of $160,000."
The cornerstone for the new town hall was laid during a ceremony led by Hamden's government and civic leaders.
There is no record of the contents of the cornerstone.
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| CLICK the cornerstone! |
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1925 Memorial Town Hall Dedication
- - - 91 years ago this week - - -
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On Monday, February 23, 1925, Hamden's new town hall was formally dedicated to the memories of those Hamden souls who had fought and died in every war since the Revolution.
The names of Hamden's fallen are engraved on the walls of the rotunda, beneath the names of wars in which they fought and died. World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War have been added in the many decades since the dedication.
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The original dedication program is pictured at right. CLICK on the image to read it. Lots of history there!
Posted 2/19/16
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| CLICK to enlarge |
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| Excerpt from February 22, 1925 article in the New Haven Sunday Register, courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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North End of Town Hall Shortly After Completion
Fire station bay doors are hidden from view on the north side
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| Centerville Fire Station 90 Years Ago |
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Centerville Volunteer Fire Co. 4 was quartered in the far north section of the new town hall, where Station 4 is located today. The bay doors faced School Street until 1940.
The building at the far right was heavily damaged by fire in December 1964 and was razed shortly thereafter. Eli's-on-Whitney now occupies the building that replaced it. The building next door to the town hall with the American Legion billboard was demolished in April 2013 to make way for present extension of Eli's building.
This previously unpublished photo was taken by an employee of the United Advertising Co. around 1925. The original negative was discovered in a Whalley Avenue antique store several years ago.
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| Photo courtesy of Gil Spencer |
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When the Memorial Town Hall was constructed in 1924, the town provided room for the Centerville fire company in the northeast corner of the new building.
As can be seen in this photo taken in 1938, the fire station bays doors did not face Whitney Avenue. They were located on the north side of the station, facing School Street.
After exiting the station, apparatus had to make a ninety-degree righthand turn in order to exit onto Whitney Avenue.
Work to relocate the bay doors to the Whitney Avenue side of the town hall began in November 1939. The renovation was completed in early 1940.
Official Town of Hamden stationery continued to show a pre-1940 rendering of the town hall until well into the 1970s.
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Station 4 - 1940 to present
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Station 4 in 1940 - Asst. Chief R.C. Spencer and Ff. Edward Kromer pose with the 1938 Diamond-T "Squad" and Engine 4, a 1939 Diamond-T pumper, in front of the newly-renovated bay doors that once faced north. The plaques above the doors have yet to be installed. Photo scanned from the 1940 Hamden Town Report, courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society.
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Posterity Project
Platoon 1 - Station 3
TOWER 1
A website celebration of today's future HFD retirees.
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Crew of Tower 1
L-R: Captain Bernard Amatrudo, Firefighter Ralph DiFonzo and Firefighter Brian Leddy.
Posted 2/19/16
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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c. 1968 - Firefighter Walt Macdowall at Old 3's
Website thanks go out to to Ed Doiron, Jr., who recently dug up some old negatives of his dad's. This photo of Walt Macdowall was taken around 1968 when Ed Sr. worked at old 3's. Walt worked on Lieut. Ken Harrington's crew on Platoon 3. Ed was a Platoon 1 guy at the time, so he was either going off or coming on duty when he snapped the photo. (No, actually. If it were the change of shift, then Walt would have had on his dress blues. Note the bucket. The guys at 3's parked at the post office, but frequently washed their vehicles on the ramp. Thank you, Bobby Slater!)
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| (Ed Doiron, Sr. Photo - Courtesy of Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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Walt Macdowall was appointed to the department in June 1965. He was promoted to lieutenant in May 1973. Three years later he was among the department's first eight certified paramedics. Walt became the department's first EMS Officer in 1983, and the following year he was appointed Assistant Fire Chief. Following more than 26 years of service, Walt Macdowall retired from the department at the end of November 1991 to become Chief of the LaGrange [Illinois] Fire Department.
Chief Walter T. Macdowall passed away suddenly at his LaGrange home in March 1995. Members of the Hamden and LaGrange Fire Departments participated in his funeral observances in Hamden.
Well liked by all who knew him, Walt will always be remembered for his dedication to the fire and EMS services and, of course, for his friendly demeanor and wicked sense of humor.
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HFD Parade Honor Guard - 1969
Another of Ed Doiron, Sr's images caught on a Kodak Ektachrome slide is this view of the Hamden Fire Department Honor Guard leading the department's marching contingent in Hamden's 1969 Memorial Day Parade.
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L-R: Firefighters Ray Carofano, Wayne Butterworth, Carmen Amarante,
Walt Macdowall, Robert "Ace" Callahan (flag bearer) and Gene Maturo.
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The house in the background, on the west side of Dixwell just south of the parkway bridge,
was razed many years ago to make way for a building that housed many restauarants,
none of which lasted very long. That building was razed recently to make way for a self-storage facility.
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Testing Hose
(always a lot of fun!)
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Ed Doiron, Sr. snapped this image of some Platoon 1 guys from Stations 3 and 6 as they got ready to roll it all up during annual hose testing in June 1969.
In the foreground is Firefighter Sid Trower, senior man of the crew. At right is junior man Firefighter Bob Chadwick, who came on the job just five months earlier. Firefighters Dave Hermann and Bobby Slater are fiddling with the 2-1/2" nozzle. Lieut. Joe McDermott was the boss - and a fine one, at that! (Looks like a '58 Plymouth in the background.)
Posted 2/26/16
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Nice!
Thirty-five year veteran Firefighter Jay Connolly, senior man of the entire department, poses with this classic sliding barn-style door that now separates and sound-proofs the laundry room from the living quarters at Station 9.
Jay and fellow Platoon 1 personnel constructed the door from salvaged materials, although it could easily pass for a high three-figure fixture purchased from Cheshire's House of Doors.
Jay and his Station 9 cohorts have done an outstanding job of preserving and improving the appearance and overall livablity of their 48-year old workplace. Kudos!
Posted 2/26/16
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Posterity Project
Platoon 1 - Station 9
A website celebration of today's future HFD retirees.
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L-R: Lieutenant C.J. Hedges, Firefighter Jay Connolly and Firefighter Russell Quick.
Posted 2/26/16
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Spark Time
The "Canopy Cab" style pumper pictured below was manufactured by the Maxim Motor Company and delivered to the West Hartford Fire Department in 1944. This appears to be a closed-cab version of the design that Maxim introduced in 1931.
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| Factory photo courtesy of Chan Brainard |
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World War II put an end to the manufacture of motor vehicles for civilian use from early 1942 until mid 1945. However, fire apparatus continued to be manufactured during the war, although on a somewhat limited basis.
Hamden's 1941 Diamond-T city service ladder truck and 1942 Diamond-T 600 GPM pumper, manufactured by the Wood Engineering Service of Topsfield, Massachusetts, were both delivered in April 1942. However, they both were ordered well before the United States entered the war in December 1941.
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| This 1946 Maxim pumper once owned by four Hamden firefighters |
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Hamden had three pumpers and one ladder truck of the basic 1921-1930 design and three pumpers and one aerial ladder truck of the new postwar design introduced in late 1946. But Hamden never had any Maxim apparatus of the 1931-46 styling. However, in 1975 four Hamden firemen purchased a Maxim pumper of the 1931 open-cab design, a 750 GPM model formerly of the New Britain Fire Department. It carried a 1946 model year designation and was undoubtedly one of the last Maxims of the 1931 design.
In late August 1975, that same former New Britain Maxim pumper was the first piece of apparatus to sit on the concerete floor of the newly-built annex at Station 5, albeit for just three minutes.
Posted 2/26/16
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