The night that Gary, Bernie, Mike, and Kerry were appointed
The story of Gary's appointment to the fire department starts with an outrageous faux pas committed by the Chairman of the Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners the night Gary was appointed with three other recruits, Bernie Amatrudo, Mike DiStefano, and Kerry Paull (Castracane).
Civil Service rules dictate that an appointee is selected from among the top three candidates on the civil service list. With four recruits scheduled to be appointed that night, the top six candidates were interviewed - the four aforementioned individuals and two other candidates.
On Tuesday night September 1, 1987, all six candidates for appointment to the Hamden Fire Department waited with the HFD training officer in his office while the fire chief and the five members of the fire commission conducted individual candidate interviews in a nearby meeting room.
After being interviewed, each candidate returned to the training officer's office to await learning their fate. Once the interviews concluded, the commissioners went into executive session to make their selections. When the commissioners were done voting, the Chief called the training officer, instructing him to escort all six candidates back to the commissioners' meeting room to hear the big announcement.
To some, the walk back to the commissioners' meeting room seemed like a 50-mile hike. The anticipation and tension were palpable. "Will I become a Hamden firefighter?"
Upon entering the meeting room all six candidates sat down, each eagerly and nervously awaiting the news. The decisions made by these five fire commission members might be among the most significant of their young lives.
The commission members included a retired NHFD battalion chief, a well-respected Hamden volunteer fire department alumnus, a teacher, and a retired nurse - all of them good people. The chairman, however, was someone who was considered by many, including the fire chief, to be a self-important blowhard.
A former mattress salesman from an adjacent state, the chairman apparently thought that the title "fire commissioner," just like in NYC, meant that he actually ran the department and granted him fire ground line authority, something that Chief Tramontano eventually had to address with a certain measure of diplomacy.
So, now we are at the big moment. The candidates are all sitting on the edges of their seats. Hearts are racing. The Chairman of the Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners clears his throat and begins reading of the list of those candidates who have been appointed to the Hamden Fire Department - and he gets it WRONG!
He announced the name of one of the candidates who was not appointed and omitted one of the candidates who was appointed. OUCH!
For one brief shining moment a man from the Valley thought he had been appointed, and for one ugly moment a future HFD member thought he had been passed over.
Fortunately, for the department and the Town, two months later there was a change in the administration. This particular commission chairman, whose overall appearance had earned him the nickname "Jabba the Hut," returned to selling mattresses. Such is Hamden politics.
The morning after their appointment, a ceremony for the four recruits was held in the Chief's Office. A milestone was reached the night before when Kerry Paull was appointed Hamden's first career female firefighter. (The occasion was dampened somewhat, however, because a house fire during the middle of the night had taken the life of the young occupant at 495 Woodin Street.)
Gary, Bernie, Mike, and Kerry started their recruit training on September 21st. Capt. Bernie Amatrudo is still on the job, one of the last three active department members to have served during the Tramontano era. Firefighter Kerry Castracane retired in 2010. Capt. Mike DiStefano retired in 2008 and is now a battalion chief in The Villages, Florida.
The members of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association thank Batt. Chief Couture for his 34 years of dedicated service in the HFD, and wish him a long, happy, and healthy retirement.
Posted 8/30/2021
