| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 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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Tech Plywood, 1047 Dixwell Avenue
Wednesday, October 18, 1972
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| October 18, 1972 - Tech Plywood Co., 1041 Dixwell Avenue (Photo by John Mongillo, Jr.) |
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Platoon 4 was finishing its third day. The initial call came in right after 5 p.m. Robert "Ace" Callahan was the dispatcher at Headquarters. The first alarm brought Engines 1 and 2, Ladder 1, and Rescue 1.
The Tech Plywood Company was only a short distance up Dixwell Avenue from Station 2. As soon as the apparatus cleared the fire station they could see the flames. The second alarm brought Engine 3, Engine 6 and Truck 2, all out of new Station 3.
In the photo below, the men on the right are moving the 2-1/2" lines to one side to make way for Truck 2, which Doug Yocher (in the foreground) is directing toward the driveway. The driver backed the truck in along side the building. The truck crew attached the ladder pipe to the top fly of the aerial, raised the aerial, charged the ladder pipe, and began deluging the flames. The main concern was City Fuel, the exposure immediately south of the fire building.
Doug recalled that the radiant heat was so intense on the firefighters manning 2-1/2" lines on the ground, that some of their bunker coats caught fire. But a quick repositioning of the ladder pipe stream took care of that.
Reposted 10/18/13
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| October 18, 1972 - Firefighter Doug Yocher directs Truck 2, just out of camera range (Photo by John Mongillo, Jr.) |
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October 18, 1961
The Cold War Was Heating Up
World events of the early 1960s drove the priorities of public safety services just as it did twenty years earlier during the Second World War. The Hamden Fire Department acquired Geiger counters and dosimeters because of the ever-present threat of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. Events would get even hotter a year later with the Cuban Missile Crisis. CLICK on the news article for more on that very scary time.
Posted 10/18/13
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| Cold War Necessities - Geiger Counters and Dosimeters |
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| October 18, 1961, Journal-Courier (Courtesy of Chan Brainard) CLICK photo for more on Hamden's preparations for M.A.D. |
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| The New Haven Register, Friday, August 16, 1963 (Courtesy of Chan Brainard) |
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The sincerest form of flattery: "Same Circus, Different Clowns"
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ABOVE: Sept. 1995 - Hal Prescher, Dave McDermott (in his new "Lolita" sunglasses) and Johnny Longo doing some needed landscaping at Station 3.
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BELOW: October 2013 - Website thanks to Lt. Gary Merwede, who sent the photo below with the following commentary: "The men decided to re-do the walk way at 3's....so naturally, being clowns, we decided to recreate a rather famous picture. Left to right: as Prescher, Daryl Osiecki, as McDermott, Paul Anderson, and making his debut as Longo, Dave Beaton."
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| This begs the question: Who will portray Osiecki, Anderson and Beaton in the 2031 re-remake? |
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(ED. NOTE: McDermott's sunglasses in the original 1995 photo were not available for the 2013 remake. They now belong to the estate of Vladimir Nabokov.)
Posted 10/18/13
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After his retirement, Hamden fire retiree Joe Yoga began a 25-year career as a dispatcher for the Cheshire Police Department. Joe recently came across this mid-1980s Cheshire Herald article which shows him in an interesting pose with some evidence seized from a disgruntled local. Joe once saved a young child. While EMS was en route, Joe provided life-saving instructions to the child's distraught mother over the phone. We will post that article in the near future.
Posted 10/18/13
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| January 12, 1968 - Ff. Charlie Carlson, Lt. Kenny Harrington and Ff. Joe Shields attempt to thaw out a bit with some hot coffee after the Fleming Co. fire was under control. CLICK to see article. (Mongillo photo) |
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