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July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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| November 1999 - Standing next to Engine 9 are Lt. Jack Mordecai, Ff. Ray Ramelli and Ff. John Bellmore. Bob Mordecai's photo documented Ray's last day on the job. |
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Hamden Firefighters and their Numbered Badges
No. 1 Was the Top Guy
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Fire department badges everywhere sport certain insignia which designate the rank or position of the bearer. In all departments, including Hamden's, lieutenants have one bugle (horn), captains have two, and chief officers have three, four or five (depending). The insignia on a firefighter's badge is usually the traditional "scramble" or "cluster," consisting of a helmet, pike pole, axe, bugle, and ladder.
Hamden's fire officer badges have always had their bugles. However, for nearly a half century the badges of Hamden's firefighters were numbered. When numbered badges were introduced in the early 1940s, the numbers only went as high as No. 20. By the early 1980s, they went as high as No. 115.
You could usually tell how long a guy had been with the department by looking at his badge number - the lower the number, the greater the seniority. Every year or so as veteran firefighters retired, the Chief collected all the badges and then reissued them, with almost everyone receiving a lower badge number. If no one ahead of you retired, you kept your present number. New hires would eventually be assigned the higher badge numbers that were collected from the previous group of rookies.
The most junior member of the department had the highest badge number which, by January 1981, was No. 115. The most senior firefighter of the department always wore the coveted badge No. 1.
Firefighter Joseph ("Joe Marks") Marchitto was Hamden's first firefighter to wear badge No. 1. After Marchitto, the distinction of wearing badge No. 1 passed to Firefighters Frank Nolan, Clem Kammerer, Walt Thomas, Mario "Bucky" Serafino, Wilbur Baker, Art Smith, Fred Fletcher, Dave Howe, and Hugh McLean.
After Ff. McLean retired in 1987, Hamden Fire Department badge No. 1 was assigned for the last time, to Firefighter John O'Hare. The badge was presented to O'Hare following his retirement on October 31, 1991.
Hamden's numbered badges disappeared shortly thereafter, when the department ordered new non-numbered generic shields that looked more like a cop's badge. Fortunately, HFD's badges were redesigned in recent years and now more closely resemble the original badges. But, alas, there are still no numbers.
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| John O'Hare was the last holder of Badge No. 1 |
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The only badge ever to be retired was No. 14. The last man to wear it was Firefighter Alfred Ramelli, who passed away January 1, 1972 after having been stricken on duty on Christmas Eve 1971.
In addition to according well-deserved recognition to veteran firefighters, badge numbering had a practical advantage. There was never a problem with lost badges. Whatever your badge number, you had to produce it when the Chief came to collect it for the next reissuing.
Those traditionalists among us fondly remember the days when a senior firefighter could take some tacit pride in his low badge number. After all, not everyone longed to have bugles on his badge - right?
Posted 5/4/12
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Rich Maybury Still Looking for Badge No. 101!
Rich was the first Hamden firefighter to get that badge. Hamden firefighters were assigned numbered badges from the 1940s until about 20 years ago when, for some reason, new non-numbered badges were distributed. The lower your number, the higher your seniority.
If you have badge No. 101, Rich has No. 92 to trade.
Reposted 5/4/12
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The Big Day
Did all that studying pay off?
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| c. 1960 - Hamden firefighters taking the lieutenant's exam in the cafeteria at either the Michael J. Whelan or Sleeping Giant Jr. High School. (I.A. Sneiderman Photo) |
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| In the 1890s, the New Lebanon Mission building at 375 Morse Street was the home of the Highwood Volunteer Fire Association, Hamden's first fire company, before it moved to the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Morse Street in 1909. The building was razed in 1975 to make way for a modern building for High Precision, Inc., which occupied the building at the time this photo was taken in the late 1950s. (Photo from the John Della Vecchia photo collection, courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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| CLICK HERE to see details and to print your application |
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| 2012 UPFFA Golf Tournament
Friday, May 18th, starting at 11 a.m.
Laurel View Country Club
Proceeds to benefit the UPFFA Emergency Relief Fund, MDA, The Tommy Fund, Scholarship Fund, Bridgeport Hospital Burn Fund, and the Health & Safety Committee
CLICK on the UPFFA logo at left to read
all the details and to print your application.
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IMPORTANT
Legislative Council Meeting - Monday, May 14th - 6 PM
Hamden Government Center
2750 Dixwell Avenue (corner of Evergreen)
3rd Floor Conference Room
An actuary will report on the condition of the pension plan and will answer questions. Council President Judi Kozak has informed representatives of the HFRA that she will recognize any retiree who wishes to speak before the Council. The proposed 2012-13 budget must be passed by May 15th.
All HFRA members who live locally are urged to attend. The proposed budget allocates $9.3 million toward funding the Town's pension plan. That amount is less than half of what the plan pays out in one year for all retirees, not just those retirees of the fire and police departments.
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| August 29, 1996 - Batt. Chiefs Tom Doherty and Mike Ambriscoe in the B/Cs' office at Station 3, a few minutes before Tom left the station for the last time after 35 years, 7 months and 19 days on the job. Tom recently returned to Station 3 for a visit and was greeted warmly by today's firefighters. Mike retired in 2005 and is now the fire chief of Chatham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. |
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| CLICK to enlarge for IDs (Shirley Mangler photograph) |
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| Photographer Shirley Mangler used this November 28, 1987 training session to create this unique, previously unpublished photo op. The all-day Saturday training session was part of Fire Fighter I certification for members all four Hamden volunteer fire companies that were active at the time.
The house was donated to the department for training by the property owner, who was preparing to develop the Autumn Ridge subdivision off Paradise Avenue. All interior firefighting evolutions were done, so there was really nothing left to do but to let 'er rip - and that we did.
Shirley, who is the wife of retired Firefighter Harold Mangler, preserved much of our history with hundreds of Hamden Fire Department photos of emergencies and training sessions taken between 1980 and the early 2000s.
Posted 5/11/12
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Any firefighter who ever worked at Station 4 knows the Brown Stone House, where the elite meet to eat here in Hamden. Located since 1949 on the northeast corner of Whitney and Dixwell, the Brown Stone is Hamden's "Times Square," where local politicians, business big shots and regular folks could be seen satisfying their gastronomic needs in a comfortable setting, and at very reasonable prices.
When the Brown Stone recently celebrated their 63rd anniversary with a grand reopening following renovations, Ann DeMatteo covered the occasion for the New Haven Register. Among Ann's several interviewees was our own John O'Hare, who shared some special memories of his own. (Unfortunately, Ann's video is no longer available.)
Posted 5/11/12
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| 1953 advertisement originally published in The Hamden Chronicle. |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
DAILY FLAG STATUS
CLICK here!
| MID-WEEK UPDATE
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
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COUNCIL and the PENSION
May 14th Meeting
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| Hamden Legislative Council members preparing for Monday night's meeting at the Government Center |
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Fourteen HFD retirees attended last night's Legislative Council meeting devoted exclusively to discussing the current pension crisis with three financial advisors.
The financial advisors who were questioned by the Council suggested that remedies to the pension underfunding will be tough and might include Pension Obligation Bonding, full funding and the so-called "pay as you go" method to fulfill the Town's pension obligations.
They warned that the worst case scenario could be one in which the State of Connecticut takes over and mandates a municipal tax increase commensurate with the needs of the pension plan.
Several fire and police department retirees offered comments and observations about the pension crisis. Hamden Police Department retiree Bob Maturo told the Council that the financial health of the Town is at stake, but the Town must keep its promises. He said that it is now the job of the Council to figure a way to fix the pension plan while maintaining the Town's financial health.
Former Local 2687 President Bob Anthony, who was on the Retirement Board for many years, stated that the actuaries who consulted the Hamden's retirement board every two years always recommended full funding of the pension plan, but the Mayor and/or Council usually ignored their recommendations.
Citing Milford specifically, current Local 2687 president Kurt Vogt noted that several area pension plans were currently in very good financial condition, even after the 2008 financial downturn, because they were always properly funded.
Council member Carol Noble, an eighteen-year veteran of the Council, said that she was unaware of the role that actuaries played in the planning and proposing of Hamden's pension funding until the financial crisis of late 2008.
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Council president Judi Kozak said that she would like to see a committee organized, consisting of representatives from the executive and legislative branches, as well as the unions and the retirees, to help formulate a strategy for funding the pension plan properly in the future.
In the end, the Council voted to infuse $9.3 million into the pension plan for fiscal 2012-13, with the intention of formulating a long-term solution to the pension funding crisis during the coming fiscal year.
The Council votes tomorrow night (Wednesday) on the budget. The venue has not been announced as yet. We'll keep everyone posted.
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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| All HFRA members who still have their dress blues are once again invited to join the active members of the Hamden Fire Department marching contingent in Hamden's Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 28th.
At present, the marching contingent is scheduled to assemble on the parkway side of the high school starting at 0915. The HFRA wishes everyone a safe and meaningful Memorial Day holiday.
Posted 5/18/12
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Before EMTs and Paramedics
The vast majority of fire department emergencies these days are medicals, although there will always be fires and other types of emergencies where only the fire department can be counted upon to save lives and property. There was a time in Hamden and everywhere else when medical calls were few and far between. In 1952, thirty "emergency" or "oxygen" calls were logged for the entire year! Today, that quota can be easily filled in one day by the HFD.
It wasn't until 1971 that the Hamden Fire Department had trained EMTs, and it would be another five years before it had paramedics.
A "save" for any department member is a wonderful experience - truly a reward in itself. During the past 40-plus years, we undoubtedly have had thousands of them. However, in those days before EMTs, a "save" was especially gratifying given the limited training and comparatively primitive equipment available to the fire service at the time. Below are two such examples from the early 1960s, both involving small children and Hamden firefighters who had the knowledge, skills and abilities at the right moment to meet the dire situations.
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| CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE FOR EASIER READING |
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| From the minutes of the February 15, 1961 meeting of the Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners:
"The clerk [Richard P. Cusson] read a letter from James T. O'Brien thanking the Dept. for help recently rendered to their son.
"Chairman [Elton] Wetmore moved and Mr. [Michael] Sullivan seconded a motion to give a citation to Joseph McDermott for his work during the above emergency and to give a station citation to the rest of the men on duty at the time of Station #2. The clerk was instructed to write to Joseph McDermott and ask him to appear before the next Board meeting."
From the minutes of the March 15, 1961 meeting of the Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners:
"Joseph McDermott appeared before the Board with the O'Brien family and was presented with a citation from the Board for recently helping to save the life of the O'Brien child."
Posted 5/18/12
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Article and photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society
This photo of the Red Cross citation presentation was taken at the September 11, 1961 meeting of the Commission.
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Fred Fletcher Saves Youngster's Life
Anthony Zaino is the son of Dino Zaino, a popular Mt. Carmel barber whose shop was right across Whitney Avenue from Station 5. In early August of 1959, Anthony's mother rushed her infant son from her home across the street to the Mt. Carmel firehouse after he suffered a seizure. Firefighter Fred Fletcher administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, thereby saving young Anthony's life.
Anthony Zaino sent this article to the Mt. Carmel Volunteer Fire Co. website (www.mtcarmelvolunteers.org) last year in connection with Co. 5's 100th anniversary.
Posted 5/18/12
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| Newspaper article courtesy of the fellow whose life Fred saved in 1959. |
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| Ff. Fred Fletcher in 1976 at Station 3 (O'Hare Photo) |
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| Summer 1950 - The Emergency Squad preparing to leave a Fennbrook Drive call. Looks like that might be Chief Raymond C. Spencer talking to the driver. (Photo by Chan Brainard) - CLICK to enlarge |
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A couple of weeks ago we featured a story about John O'Hare, the last Hamden firefighter to wear Badge No. 1. The second Hamden firefighter so honored was Frank Nolan, who came on the job in 1924. In a Hamden Chronicle article published nearly thirty years later, Ff. Nolan recalled his early days on the department and some of the guys he worked with.
Posted 5/18/12
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| Article courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society |
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| Hamden Fire Retirees' Association |
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The HFRA wishes everyone a safe and meaningful Memorial Day.
Please take a moment to remember those who gave all of their tomorrows so that we might have today.
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| A reminder to all HFRA members who still have their dress blues:
We are once again invited to join the active members of the Hamden Fire Department marching contingent in Hamden's Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 28th.
At present, the marching contingent is scheduled to assemble on the parkway side of the high school starting at 0915. The HFRA wishes everyone a safe and meaningful Memorial Day holiday.
Posted 5/18/12
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To observe Memorial Day this year, our weekly update photos are from past Hamden Memorial Day Parades, some previously posted and some new to the website. The Hamden Fire Department has always been well represented.
Posted 5/25/12
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1973 - "If they could fight in the rain and die in the rain, then we can damn well march in the rain to honor them!"
Short of a hurricane, it couldn't have gotten any wetter that 1973 Memorial Day. But Hamden's parade went off as scheduled and there were plenty of stalwart spectators along the way. In the photo above, snapped by Patricia Doiron, most of the large HFD contingent is eclipsed by the spectators to the right.
Unfortunately, some Hamden parades since '73 have been canceled because of a light rain, or when it only looked like it was going to rain. (Hoping it doesn't happen again in '12.)
Posted 5/25/12
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By clicking on the photo below you can check out Harold Spencer's three minute home movie of the 1963 and 1964 Hamden parades, featuring HFD personnel and apparatus, as well as some notable locals. Enjoy!
Posted 5/25/12
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| Memorial Day 1967 - HFD Color Guard - Ffs. Bernie Early, Dave Herrmann and Walt Macdowall (Photo by Ed Doiron, Sr.) |
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| Memorial Day 1949 - The Hamden Fire Department steps off on Old Dixwell Avenue, between Evergreen Avenue, in the background, and Dixwell Avenue. (Photo courtesy of Hamden Professional Firefighters Assn., Local 2687, I.A.F.F.) |
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| Memorial Day 1964 |
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| Memorial Day 1966 |
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| Memorial Day 1969 - HFD Color Guard (Photo by Ed Doiron, Sr.) |
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| Memorial Day 1969 |
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| Memorial Day 1988 (Photo by Shirley Mangler) |
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| Memorial Day 1998 (Photo courtesy of Tim Sullivan) |
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