(October 28) At 8:42 a.m., the Hamden Fire Department was dispatched to a reported fire at an apartment building at 667 Mix Avenue. Arriving first on the scene at 8:44 was Engine 2, which was at Paradise Avenue and Cooper Lane when the call was dispatched. They were heading to Bear Path School for a demonstration. Engine 5, on the road to cover in at Station 2, arrived immediately thereafter along with Fire Inspector Ray Poncey, who also was nearby when the call was dispatched.
Front
Back of 667 Mix Avenue
On arrival, the crew of Engine 2 found a 44-year old female sitting on a second floor window sill with heavy smoke coming from the window. Engine 2 Firefighters Jason Davis and Terry Gould, assisted by Insp. Pouncey, immediately extended Engine 2's ground ladder to the window sill. Ff. Davis guided the woman down to safety, while Lt. Daryl Osiecki stretched a line into the building. A 51-year old male occupant was rescued from an interior stairwell.
Crews were able to locate the seat of the fire in the kitchen and quickly extinguished the blaze. The apartment had heavy fire damage in the kitchen and there was significant smoke damage throughout the unit.
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In addition to Engines 2 and 5, responding units included Squad 1, Engine 3, Engine 9, Rescue 1, and Cars 1, 3, 5, and 6. An engine and truck company from North Haven also responded.
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Deputy Fire Marshal Nelson Hwang has determined that the fire started on the kitchen stovetop. The female occupant stated she had turned on the stove to cook breakfast. She then fell asleep and woke up to the smell of smoke. Smoke detectors were activated.
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The occupants had safely exited the building, but then re-entered to gather personal belongings. The woman became trapped in the bedroom where she awaited rescue by Hamden firefighters.
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The female occupant was transported to the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital for treatment of her burn injuries. The male occupant was treated for smoke inhalation at Yale New Haven Hospital.
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The Hamden Fire Department would like to remind residents to never leave cooking unattended. Always evacuate your home immediately when a fire condition exists, and never re-enter the building to retrieve personal belongings.
Posted 10/28/2021
Website thanks to the Fire Marshal's Office and Engine 2 for the information. Photos by Brad Young.
When its members celebrated Co. 5's centennial in 2011, former member Tom Waite Jr. sent a few photos that he took in the summer of 1950. We re-scanned them this week and they enlarge fairly well considering that the source images were only 3" x 5". Be sure to click on the images.
Posted 10/26/2021
Unidentified Co. 5 volunteer with 1930 Maxim (Photo courtesy of Tom Waite Jr.)
August 1950 - Mt. Carmel's 1930 Maxim 600 GPM pumper (Photo courtesy of Tom Waite Jr.)
Vic Mitchell, longtime friend and frequent attendee at our association meetings, is recovering following triple bypass heart surgery last Friday at Yale-New Haven. Vic was at our October 13th meeting at Liberty Community Church, when he told us about his upcoming surgery two days later.
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Vic has been a member of both Companies 7 and 5 going back to 1973, and for 35 years he worked as an industrial firefighter at Sikorsky in Stratford before retiring as a lieutenant in 2015.
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The members of the HFRA wish you a quick recovery, Vic, and look forward to seeing you back at the Elks in January.
One of the first structure fires to hit Hamden after the closing of the Highwood fire station occurred sixty-five years ago when a large barn was destroyed on Hubbard Place off Ridge Road. This was just over three weeks after Engine 1 and the Ladder Truck were reassigned to the Humphrey fire station to be quartered with Engine 2.
Arrivng firefighters directed efforts at protecting exposures that had already sustained damage from flying brands. The four responding companies were most likely Engine 6, Engine 3, the Emergency Squad and the Ladder Truck.
Reposted 10/21/21
* New Haven Evening Register, Wednesday, October 24, 1951
* Remains of the barn.
The Hamden Chronicle, Thursday, October 25, 1951 (Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society)
We believe this is the first time this photo has been posted on the website. Firefighters Carmen Amarante (Left) and Jimmy Moore are teaching a few young folks CPR sometime in the mid to late 1970s, perhaps at the YMCA day camp at the end of Downs Road.
Governor Lamont Directs Flags To Half-Staff in Honor of General Colin Powell
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that – in accordance with a proclamation issued by President Joe Biden directing flags to be lowered throughout the country as a mark of respect for General Colin Powell – he is directing U.S. and state flags in Connecticut to be flown at half-staff beginning immediately until sunset on the evening of Friday, October 22, 2021.
. Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag, all other flags, including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise, should also be lowered during this same duration of time.
HFRA October Meeting and Memorial Plaque Presentations
The 48th regular meeting of the Hamden Fire Retirees Assn. was held last Wednesday, October 13th at the Liberty Community Church in North Haven, the same place where our first three organizational meetings were held before we adopted the Hamden Elks Halls for our regular meetings in late 2009.
CLICK HERE for a summary of the meeting and to learn why we moved outside Hamden for this particular meeting, as well as for photos of our 6th Memorial Plaque Presentation, when the Association honored the memories of five of our members who had passed since our last memorial plaque presentation in October 2019.
At 8:20 on Thursday evening, October 14th, the Hamden Fire Department was dispatched to a reported fire at an apartment building at 95 Kaye Vue Plaza.
Arriving first at 8:25, Engine 2 reported heavy fire coming from a third-floor window. Firefighters quickly advanced a hose line up the stairwell to the third-floor apartment, where they encountered a heavy fire and smoke condition.
Crews performed a search of the apartment and other units as other firefighters were extinguishing the blaze. A 21-year old male was located and rescued from another third-floor apartment and was treated on scene for smoke inhalation by paramedics.
A 56-year old female was found in the bedroom of the apartment where the fire occurred. Firefighters carried the woman out of the building and administered CPR. The woman, later identified as Cherie Adamczyk, was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital by American Medical Response. Sadly, Adamczyk succumbed to the burn injuries and smoke inhalation she suffered.
The Hamden Fire Marshal’s office along with the CT State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit are investigating the cause of the three-alarm fire, which originated in the living room of the third-floor apartment.
In all, nine dwelling units were declared uninhabitable due to fire, smoke, and water damage. Residents were assisted with lodging arrangements by the American Red Cross and Hamden Community Services.
Fire Departments from Bethany, Cheshire, New Haven, North Branford, and North Haven provided mutual aid and station coverage during the fire.
Website thanks to Fire Marshal Brian Dolan for providing the above information.
According to the New Haven Evening Register, Hamden firefighters spent five hours at the scene of a mysterious barn fire at 204 West Todd Street, just west of and opposite where Chatterton Road begins today.
Ten years before Engine 9 in West Woods was manned by career personnel, the first apparatus on the scene was Mt. Carmel's Engine 5. The two Engine 5 career firefighters were assisted by Brock-Hall Dairy route salesman Wes DeGroot. Engine 4, the Squad, and volunteers from companies 5, 7, 8 and 9 followed. Damage was estimated at $18,000.
Originally posted 10/7/16
Both photos from The Hamden Chronicle, Thursday, October 9, 1958 (Chan Brainard)
The Hamden Chronicle, Thursday, October 9, 1958 (Chan Brainard)
The fellow in the middle appears to be Firefighter Fred Fletcher (see inset) of Engine 5. The 2nd Platoon was working that day and that was Fred's platoon.
117 Water Street in Torrington was once the address of that city's fire headquarters. After the city built a new fire headquarters right next door, the old building for a time housed the Northwest Connecticut Firefighting Museum. Since December 31, 1987, the building has been listed with the National Register of Historic Places.
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The museum closed about fifteen years ago. The building is now home to the Bad Dog Brewing Company Restaurant, with a bar and tables for walk-in patrons on the apparatus floor and a bar and several rooms upstairs for private gatherings.
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On the former apparatus floor is parked a fine example of a Seagrave canopy-cab pumper from the late-1930s-early-1950s era. The exact model year unknown, although the pumper is much like the 1938 Seagrave canopy-cab that was in Hamden's inventory until 1968.
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The pumper appears not to have been part of the Torrington's inventory, as it is markled "KATONAH," a sleepy little bedroom community a few miles west over the New York state line from Georgetown, Connecticut. All of the photos below can be enlarged by clicking on the images.
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The conversion of former fire stations into restaurants is apparently not all that uncommon. Two of New Haven's former stations, No. 3 at Park and Elm and No. 8 on Edwards Street, became restaurants after falling into private hands.
Since it closed seventy years ago this week (see related article below), the one-time Highwood Station No. 1 has had numerous post-fire service lives, including a lamp shop, a glass store, a Subway sandwich shop, and several other restaurants featuring Far-East cuisine. Presently it is home to Hing Wah, a Chinese Restaurant and catering service.
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Starting in the early 1970s, the one-time Bishop's Gate Restaurant, on State Street near the Hamden-New Haven line, became the Firehouse Restaurant, complete with a beautiful mural of a white open-cab Seagrave New Haven pumper gracing the huge front window. Also a popular hangout for Hamden firefighters, the Firehouse Restaurant was owned and operated by a couple of then-still-active New Haven firefighters.
Posted 10/4/2021
* 1940s-era Seagrave canopy-cab pumper
* Late '30s to early '50s-era Seagrave Canopy-cab marked "KATONAH"
On October 16, 2001, President George W. Bush signed legislation asking that the American flag to be lowered to half-staff on all Federal buildings to honor fallen firefighters, however this may also apply to all who fly the American flag.
. The resulting Public Law 107-51 involves this action to occur every year in conjunction with observance of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service weekend which is October 2-3, 2021.
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A PROCLAMATION ON FIRE PREVENTION WEEK 2021 from President Joseph Biden:
During Fire Prevention Week, we honor our brave firefighters and first responders who risk their lives to protect us every day and reaffirm the importance of fire safety and preparedness. This week, I call on all Americans to educate themselves about fire prevention and safety and recommit to taking the necessary steps to prevent fires. Whether you are in your own home or camping in one of America’s majestic National Parks, taking the proper precautions and safety measures can help prevent fires and save your life and the lives of your family and others while protecting our natural wonders.
October 1, 1951 marked the closing of Highwood Station No. 1, when Engine 1, a 1942 Diamond-T 600 g.p.m. pumper, and the 1941 Diamond-T ladder truck were moved 6/10 of a mile north to join Engine 2, a brand new 1951 Maxim 750 g.p.m. pumper in the newly-renovated Humphrey Station No. 2.
Posted 10/1/2021
1951 - Note that "Engine Co. 1" has been changed back to "Hose Co. No. 1"
A few weeks later the old station was up for sale. The old fire station remains standing today, with a long history of various businesses having occupied where two pieces of fire apparatus were once stationed.
This late 1980s photo by Chan Brainard shows the old Highwood fire station when it was Hamden Glass. Previously, it was the Jodi Lamp Shop. Since this photo was taken it has been a Subway Store and is now a restaurant specializing in Asian cuisine.
Humphrey Station in 1942
A 1949 study by the National Fire Underwriters had recommended the consolidation of the two stations, given their close prominity to each other and that Station 1 was almost on the New Haven city line. Station 2, which had been donated to the Town by the Humphrey volunteers in late 1949, underwent a massive renovation to create three bays from the one-and-a-half bays that were there when the building opened in 1913.
March 1976 - Station 2 shortly before Truck 1 was reassigned to Station 5
The townwide mask mandate re-introduced in August for ALL indoor public occupancies, not just municipal, made it necessary to find another venue outside Hamden. HFRA thanks to our own Rev. Ralph Purificato for the use of his church, Liberty Community Church, 540 Washington Avenue, in North Haven for this very important occasion to honor those of our brothers lost since October 2019. It was here that the first three meetings of this association took place twelve years ago. Thanks, Ralph!
We have received replies from all five families of our brothers being honored.
We will always remember our brother firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice, and the thousands of other innocent victims who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Always keep them, their families and the FDNY in your thoughts and prayers.
