| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, May 19th.
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NOTE: The next update will be Friday, May 19th.
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May 12 - Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he is directing U.S. and state flags in Connecticut to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, May 15, 2017, in recognition of Peace Officers Memorial Day, a national observance that pays tribute to local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. It is recognized annually during National Police Week.
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.
Please remember Hamden Police Officers Milton Hodder (1943) and Frank Donarumo (1964),
who died in the line of duty.
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Leeder Hill Drive, before it was Leeder Hill Drive
In August 1964, right off Putnam Avenue, very close to what is now Leeder Hill Drive, the Hamden Fire Department burned several buildings on the site of the old Winchester "powder farm." The buildings belonged to the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. of New Haven, which donated them to the department for practice.
These photos were scanned from several color slides taken by Ed Doiron Sr. Ed was a member of the Mt. Carmel Volunteer Fire Company at the time. Two months later he was appointed as a career firefighter. Over the course of several decades, Ed's photos and slides have chronicled scores of incidents, events, and department training sessions.
Posted 5/5/17
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| All photos by Ed Doiron Sr. |
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| May 1982 - Rescue 1 with Firefighter/Paramedics Bob Surprise and Howie Hurlburt, Jr. |
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When the late Chief John Tramontano was the department's training officer (1981-84), he played a key role in spreading the news about the Hamden Fire Department. On his own dime and with his own camera, Tramontano shot hundreds of slides of Hamden firefighters in the performance of their duties, which he then organized into slideshows for presentation in Hamden's schools, service clubs and fraternal organizations.
Shortly after the HFRA was organized nearly eight years ago, Chief Tramontano donated his collection of slides to our archives. Here are three slides shot by then-Deputy Chief Tramontano in the spring of 1982. Firefighter/Paramedics Bob Surprise and Howie Hurlburt, Jr. are shown with Rescue 1, to which they were assigned on Platoon 4.
Re-posted 5/5/17
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| Another Look Back
Between the summer of 1971 and New Year's Eve 1972-73, the members of Co. 5 completely remodeled the fire station basement into a new meeting room. The company even held an open house on January 1, 1973 to celebrate their new digs. This slide found in Ed Doiron's collection reveals what the new room looked like in May 1973, mere months after it was completed.
Firefighter Tony "Moonman" Melillo is seen on the house phone acknowledging something, perhaps a dispatch or another company "ringing back in service." Look closely. That ancient wall telephone is the kind you might see in a rerun of The Andy Griffith Show.
Unfortunately, the room has not fared well in recent years. When the rescue was station there while Station 4 was being remodeled, water from melting snow seeped through the apparatus floor above, severely damaging the ceiling, the floor and some of the paneling purchased years earlier from Grossman's (remember them?).
Posted 5/5/17
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Our SCUBA Team
Another Car in the Lake
Our own Dennis Baker was the department's SCUBA Team when yet another car found its way into Lake Whitney in 1981. Dennis was a certified SCUBA diver and clould be called upon when needed. Fortunately, his services on this occasion were not for a rescue or a recovery, but to attach cables to the sunken automobile.
Posted 5/5/17
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| The Hamden Chronicle - April 1, 1981 |
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NEVER FORGET!
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.
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