Additional Vacancies Filled
April 18 - Three more officer vacancies were filled from among the ranks of the department's most veteran firefighters, all of them from the same 2005 graduating class of the Connecticut Fire Academy. Ed Hilbert, Doug O'Rourke, and Scott Blake all joined the department in February 2005. Several others from that class of thirteen Hamden members were also in attendance.
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Chief Gary Merwede was joined by Mayor Garrett’s Chief of Staff Sean Grace and members of the Hamden Fire Commission to swear-in Firefighters Ed Hilbert, Doug O’Rourke and Scott Blake to the rank of lieutenant. The three are the latest in a long string of department promotions necessitated by last year's departure of an unprecedented number of department members.
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| Lt. Ed Hilbert |
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Lieutenant Ed Hilbert, also from the Class of February 2005, started his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter in Wallingford before becoming a paramedic and being appointed to the Hamden Fire Department on the same day as Scott and Doug. Ed has taken multiple courses at the Connecticut Fire Academy completing Fire Instructor I, Fire Officer I & II and Health and Safety Officer.
Lt. O'Rourke has received commendations for cardiac arrest saves, a water rescue, and for his actions at structure fires. He is also a members of our Peer Support Team. He will be assigned to Engine 3 on Platoon 2.
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| Lt. Doug O'Rourke |
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Lieutenant Doug O’Rourke, also a 17 year member, is a United States Navy veteran. Doug received his Bachelor of Fire Science Administration degree from the University of New Haven in May of 2005 just after he was appointed to the department.
He is a certified pump operator, certified as Fire Officer I & II and Fire Instructor, and leads our departmental Peer Support Team.
Doug is passionate about the mental health of our first responders, a calling for which he should be very proud. Doug will take over at Station 2 on Platoon 3.
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| Lt. Scott Blake |
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Scott Blake, a 17 year member of the department, attended Youngstown State University and became a paramedic in 2002. He served the department for many years in that capacity, receiving multiple commendations for both his treatment of patients and his actions at emergency scenes.
He is a certified pump operator and an experienced rope technician, spending most of his career right next door at Station 4, he will be remaining on Platoon 1 and be moving to Station 2.
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Seven of the thirteen members of the Connecticut Fire Academy's
Class of 2005 attended Monday's swearing-in of three lieutenants from their class.
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| Photo by Lieut. Joe Anderson - CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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L-R: Ff. Tim Doyle, Dep. Marshal Nelson Hwang, Lt. Scott Blake, Lt. Doug O'Rourke, Ff. Kevin Martin®, Lt. Ed Hilbert, and Capt. Daryl Osiecki. Other 2005 class members were Ff. Brian Leddy, Insp. Brian Gilson, Ff. Cerrone Davis, Ff. Luis Torres, Ff. Paul Tavaras (ret.), and Ff. Christopher Moreland (dec.)
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