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FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, March 8th.
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| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
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| Capt. O'Callaghan |
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O'Callaghan to Serve as Assistant Chief in West Hartford
The Hamden Fire Retirees Association congratulates Capt. Hugh O'Callaghan, who has been tapped to serve as second-in-command in the West Hartford Fire Department.
Capt. O'Callaghan's last shift is this coming Monday, March 4th, when Platoon 4 will will honor him with a small reception at Station 2 starting at 2 p.m. Retirees are welcome to stop by.
The members of the HFRA thank Capt. O'Callaghan for his service in the HFD, and wish him all the best as he embarks on his new career in West Hartford. Be safe, Chief!
Posted 3/1/2019
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CLICK HERE about last Monday's Fallon Drive fire - additional photos.
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50 Years Ago
Arch Street House Fire
Tuesday, March 4, 1969
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Comparing the recent Government Solutions photo (above) with the newspaper photo at left, it appears that sometime during that last fifty years 65 Arch Street, now a two-family dwelling, lost what appears to have been a two-story annex on the right-hand side of the building, complete with hatchway and basement.
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Platoon 2 under shift commander Dep. Chief George Reutenauer brought this house fire under control in short order.
Although the personnel in the photo caption at left are unnamed, the Engine 2 officer would have been Capt. Luke Tobin. Engine 3's officer, stationed at Putnam Avenue, would have been Lieut. Danny O'Connell.
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Commissioner Irving Saslow
(1919 - 2006)
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| Cmmr. Saslow |
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Beginning in 1968, Irving Saslow began serving numerous consecutive and non-consecutive terms on the Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners.
A distinguished member of Hamden's Democratic Party, Mr. Saslow often chaired the commissions on which he served. Among them were his three terms as chairman, from 1968 through 1973, when the Fire Commmission appointed a record number of 53 recruit firefighters.
At various times during the next three decades, Mr. Saslow would continue to serve on the Fire Commission in mayoral administrations of both parties.
Born 100 years ago this year, Commissioner Irving Saslow passed away on September 5, 2006.
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Below is a photo of Hamden's ladder truck, taken on Wednesday, March 13, 1968 by Commissioner Saslow, as crews were getting ready to return to quarters following a closet fire at 299 Forest Street Extension.
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| March 13, 1968 - 299 Forest Street Ext. - Photo by Commissioner Irving Saslow |
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According to the log book kept by Co. 5's G. Donald Steele, responding to this call were [radio designations] Engines 34 and 35, Rescue 45, Ladder 42, Car 40 and Car 30. Rescue 45 was the radio designation for Rescue 2, which was out of Headquarters in those days. Ladder 42 was the radio designation for Hamden's only ladder truck at the time, out of Station 2.
On July 1, 1974, the radio designations for all apparatus became the same as their department designations. Engine 34 became "Engine 4." Engine 35 became "Engine 5." The label "Ladder" was replaced by the more traditional term, "Truck." Thus, Ladder 42 became "Truck 1."
But it wasn't until the early 1980s that the staff car designations followed suit, when Car 40 became "Car 1" and Car 30, the shift commander's vehicle, became "Car 3."
Posted 3/1/2019
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Spark Time
Just where this photo came from is a mystery, but it was gathering dust among "the archives." We immediately recognized this truck, built in 1939 for the Fairview [NY] Fire Department. In American Fire Engines Since 1900 (Crestline Publishing, 1976), author Walt McCall wrote, "This was the only quint built by Ahrens-Fox, and at $20,000 was the most expensive single unit to ever roll out of the Cincinnati plant." Mr. McCall noted that as of 1976 the truck was up for sale. Wonder where it is today?
*Approximately $360,000 in 2019
Posted 3/1/2019
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| 1939 Ahrens-Fox Quint - one-of-a-kind! - CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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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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