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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2019
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, February 22nd.
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35 Years Ago
John Tramontano Appointed Hamden's Fourth Fire Chief
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In anticipation of the late April retirement of Chief V. Paul Leddy, Hamden Mayor Peter Villano named Hamden training officer, Deputy Chief John Tramontano, to be the next fire chief. Once approved by the Legislative Council, Chief-designate Tramontano would spend the next two months learning the ropes from the man who had led the department since 1960.
Mayor Villano also formally requested the creation of the position of assistant fire chief. Since the five deputy chiefs and the fire marshal joined the union two years earlier, Chief Leddy remained the only management member of the department. Once the Council approved of the new position, the department's EMS officer, Lieut. Walter Macdowall was named to fill it. He was sworn in with Chief Tramontano on Monday, April 30th.
Chief Tramontano joined the department in 1959 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1973. He was appointed the department's third training officer in April 1981, succeeding retired Deputy Chief Ken Harrington.
Asst. Chief Macdowall joined the department in 1965 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1973. Also the town's director of Civil Preparedness, he was named the department's first EMS officer in late 1982 and served as the department's second-in-command until he retired in 1991 to accept appointment as fire chief in LaGrange, Illinois. Chief Macdowall passed away suddenly in March 1995. Chief Tramontano retired in January 1993 and passed away in September 2015.
Posted 2/15/2019
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| New Haven Register, Saturday. February 11, 1984 |
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| The Hamden Chronicle, Wednesday, February 22, 1984 |
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35 Years Ago
Saturday Night, February 18, 1984
Smokey Job on Laurel Road
Platoon 2 under the command of Dep. Chief Joe McDermott caught this smoky fire on Laurel Road and made quick work of knocking it down. The firefighters in the photo are not identified in the caption, but we have been advised that the nozzleman is Firefighter Doug Yocher and the fellow to his immediate left is Firefighter Mark Barletta. The other firefighter is probably the officer, who is not known.
Doug Yocher made lieutenant later that year after the department was reorganized under Chief Tramontano. Mark Barletta became deputy fire marshal in 2000 and was subsequently appointed Hamden's fourth fire marshal on the retirement of Marshal Bob Westervelt in 2003.
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| The New Haven Register, Sunday, February 19, 1984 |
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The homeowner named in the photo caption is not to be confused with our own Firefighter James Moore, who would have reported to work for his first of three nights on the day this article was published.
Posted 2/15/2019
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Spark Time
This nice looking open-cab Maxim 750 GPM pumper was the pride of Danbury when it was delivered in 1952.
Posted 2/15/2019
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| Courtesy of Chan Brainard |
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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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