We are in the process of archiving all weekly updates by the month. All of the weekly updates for this month are on this page.
Just scroll down to locate the desired update.
July 2021
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 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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HFRA Spring Meeting
NEXT Tuesday, April 9th, 5 p.m.
Hamden Elks' Lodge
175 School Street
Menu: Sausage & Pepper subs with spaghetti on the side - $6.00
Agenda: A by-law proposal to hold the quarterly meetings in the usual months
on the second Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday on a rotating basis.
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| May 1954 - Firefighter John O'Hare working a non-Hamden pumper at fire school (Photo courtesy of Local 2687) |
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65 Years Ago
Flooded Hamden Homes
HFD's Wartime "Blitzbuggies" Pressed Into Service
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| The Hamden Chronicle - April 8, 1948 (Courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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| Arcadia Street - April 3, 1948 (I.A. Sneiderman photo courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society) |
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The Office
32 Lee Street
Wednesday, April 3, 1963
Originally posted three years ago, we are recycling this story on the 50th anniversary of the fire.
(CLICK on the photo for the original posting)
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| Recruit Firefighter Leddy - 1941 |
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| Lieut. V. Paul Leddy - 1949 |
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| Chief V. Paul Leddy - 1968 |
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Several years ago HFRA member Paul Wetmore, who served as chief of the department from 1993 to 1996, found some photos (c. 1941) of early career firefighters among his dad's memorabilia. Clem Wetmore, Paul's dad, served as Supt. of Alarms and Appparatus from 1941 until his retirement in 1968. Among Clem's photos was this one (far left) of recruit firefighter V. Paul Leddy, who served as chief of the department from 1960 until his 1984 retirement.
Posted 4/5/13
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HAMDEN EARTH DAY
CELEBRATION
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2013
10 AM - 3 PM
Hamden Middle School
2623 Dixwell Avenue
PLEASE CLICK ON POSTER AT LEFT
Posted 4/5/13
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 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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HFRA Spring Meeting at the Elks
About 20 members gathered at the Elks Hall last Tuesday, April 9th, for the 18th regular meeting of the Hamden Fire Retirees' Association. President Mark Barletta welcomed our old friend and colleague Ed Kopjanski to his first meeting. We'd been trying to find Ed for four years! Ed retired in 1984 after 26 years on the job. He and his wife Judy now live in Madison.
NOTE: Minutes of the April 9th meeting will not be published on the website at this time. Members wishing to receive the minutes should email the website: HFDBadge102@aol.com. Posted 4/12/13
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| Ed Kopjanski, Bobby Viglione, Mark Barletta and Ray Dobbs |
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| John Reynolds, John O'Dea, Ed Kopjanski, Gil Spencer, Bobby Viglione and Chick Manware |
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| Chick Manware, Harold Mangler, Tom Doherty, Richie Lostritto, and Augie Williams. Ray Dobbs, Jim Leddy and Ralph Purificato at the table in back. |
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| Richie Lostritto, Augie Williams, Brian Forsyth and Joe Yoga |
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| Mark Barletta and Dave Johnson |
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April 1976
Thirty-seven years ago this month the second rescue, funded partly through Hamden's Unitas Club, was placed in service in conjunction with the certification of Hamden's first paramedics. Although this newspaper photo was shot at Station 4, the new Rescue 2 was placed in service at Station 2 on April 9, 1976.
Posted 4/12/13
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| Newspaper Article courtesy of Gil Spencer |
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Reporter Joe Zeigler photographed 16-year old Chan Brainard on Co. 4's 1939 Diamond-T pumper with station mascot "Blackie" for an article that was published in July 15, 1954 edition of The Hamden Chronicle. The building to the far right is still standing. The building to the left is long gone - now a parking lot for Eli's on Whitney.
Note the SNET repair truck with the Bell System logo on the door, parked at the curb. Bell System vehicles were painted dark olive green until the late 1960s when they went white. Curbside parking on Whitney between School and Dixwell was permitted until the early 1970s.
Posted 4/12/13
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| Hamden Chronicle photo by Joe Zeigler |
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A few weeks ago, the website ran a small item about the 1998 demise of the Gamewell telegraph fire alarm system in Hamden. Many municipalities today still employ Gamewell fire alarm street and master boxes. Below are a couple of pages from a 1930s Gamewell catalog, courtesy of Victor Mitchell, which show the Cleveland, Ohio Class "A" Gamewell alarm center. Each alarm circuit had its own tape register to record fire box locations when alarms were received, and the dispatcher then retransmitted the box to the appropriate stations. CFD must have had a man whose sole job was just to keep the tape registers and take up reels wound. More Gamewell catalog photos will be published here in the future.
Posted 4/12/13
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 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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The victims in Boston are in our thoughts and prayers.
Please keep them in yours.
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| The Bridgeport Telegram, Thursday, April 17, 1947 (CLICK to enlarge) |
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It has been a tough week. The Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, an act of terror that will be avenged, brought us together once again as a country steeled with resolve. Now, a few days later, our thoughts and prayers are also with the people of West Texas, Texas, following a devastating explosion in a fertilizer plant located there. Many lives were lost, including several members of the fire department.
This week's Texas explosion was reminiscent of another horrendous Texas disaster, exactly 66 years earlier (April 16-17, 1947), when the freighter Grand Camp, loaded with ammonium nitrate, caught fire and exploded in the harbor at Texas City. It was the worst industrial disaster in American history. Hundreds of lives were lost and the entire Texas City Fire Department was wiped out.
Click below to view a 50th anniversary YouTube video account of the 1947 Texas City disaster.
Posted 4/19/13
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| 1972 - At Station 3, Joe Rahl (left), leaning on Doug Yocher's 1971 Chevy, watches as Ray Dobbs gives his 1972 Datsun 240-Z a bath. (Photo by Doug Yocher) |
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| This May 1982 photo by future fire chief John Tramontano shows Asst. Supt. of Alarms (and future fire chief) Paul Wetmore, Sr. in the "bucket" of Car 53, a 1969 Ford. |
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| Department Bulletin - April 19, 1982 reveals lots of changes in 31 years.
The Hamden Fire Department Communications Bulletins, issued from 1982 until 1989, are among the Department's many time capsules. Of all the buildings mentioned in the bulletin issued on April 19, 1982, only the new Miller Library at 2901 Dixwell Avenue is still standing. The other seven buildings (and even one street) are but a memory.
Not only is the apartment building at 10 Prescott Street gone, but so is the entire street. What was Prescott Street is now part of the S.C.S.U. campus. 251 Leeder Hill Road was replaced by condos. The building at 1881 Dixwell Avenue was razed to make way for the shopping plaza located just north of where Home Depot is today.
Long after the W.I. Clark Company moved to Wallingford, their old building at 2195 Dixwell Avenue was transformed into a roller skating facility during the "Disco Era." A Wendy's restaurant stands there today.
Chimney Square, at 1125 Dixwell Avenue, was a small group of businesses (and one very popular gin mill) that was originally part of the Safety Electric Company, a large complex that ran from the corner of Putnam Avenue, south to opposite Third Street.
The original Spring Glen School was razed several years ago and replaced by a new school.
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Finally, the "old" Miller Library, mentioned in the final entry at the bottom, was torn down only a couple of months ago to make way for the new police parking garage.
Posted 4/19/13
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| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
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| CLICK here for daily flag status |
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FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 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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20 Years Ago!
349 Morse Street
Monday, April 26, 1993
Quick thinking by small child saved family and
quick reaction by Supt. Mike Murray saved life of Ff. John Reynolds.
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| The New Haven Register, April 27, 1993 (Courtesy of Gil Spencer) |
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| Fire service support for West Texas, TX this week. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. |
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60 Years Ago!
(scroll slowly and read everything)
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| (Photo courtesy of Tom Doherty) |
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60 years ago someone snapped this photo of Hamden's "Emergency Squad" outside Fire Headquarters. This week, the special significance of this particular photo isn't the truck, it's the building in the background. Scroll down.
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Website thanks to Lieut. Gary Merwede, who shot the photos of the demolition earlier this week of 2384 Whitney Avenue, the building right next to Station 4. It is sad to see the disappearance of a landmark that held so many fond memories for those of us who worked at 4's ("Flo Alerts" anyone?).
Over the past century many different commercial establishments and apartments occupied the building. It even survived a fire 41 years ago in a fabric shop that occupied the same store that later housed Conte's Jewelry Store. Early Centerville photos confirm that this building was older than the town hall and even the old Reilly's Restaurant building that once stood on the other side, where Eli's stands today. Bye, bye!
Posted 4/26/13
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Website thanks to Bob Freeman for yet another view of the mayhem next to 4's.
(Is that really a power shovel in the basement?)
Posted 4/26/13
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| Hamden's 1926 Maxim city service ladder truck near old Staion 3 on Putnam Avenue. This photo was provided to the archives many years ago by the late G. Donald Steele, who served as a volunteer at Co. 5 from the early 1960s until the 1980s. |
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