Seeing red: Fire muster returns to New Haven

Wall-to-wall antique and new fire trucks and emergency vehicles will be on display on Broadway in downtown New Haven Saturday, Aug. 24 for the third annual New Haven Fire Muster. More than 100 trucks from across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut and as far away as Canada will be taking part in the 10 a.m. parade and then take up assigned positions along the streets. The parade will start at U.S. 24 and Rose Avenue and move west to Broadway, where the trucks will turn south and then one block later turn east onto Powers Street (no sirens on Powers) and go to Green Street. At that point they’ll head south to Park Avenue, make a turn to the west and then at Broadway the trucks will turn north and pull into their assigned positions along Broadway and the side streets. Food trucks and vendors will already be in place.
KPC News

Car crashes into front of Hamden house

Residents of a Hamden house got an unwelcome visitor at their front door Thursday afternoon. Hamden firefighters tweeted a photo of a car that crashed into the front of a house at 38 Westminster St. Fortunately, the operator received only minor injuries, firefighters said. The building inspector responded to inspect the building for serious damage. According to Hamden property records, the two and one-half story house was built in 1926. The single-family home has three bedrooms and 1,503 square-feet of living area.
Greenwich Time

Antique fire truck returns to Taftville home

PHOTOS: After 47 years and a lot of trying, a piece of the Taftville Fire Co. #2's history is back in the village’s fire station. Inside an equipment room at the Providence Street facility, a few feet away from shiny modern ladder and other emergency trucks, sits a 1915 Cadillac touring car that was transformed a century ago by Ponemah Mill workers into a working fire truck. “Having this back with us means a lot,” Capt. Scott Boenig said. “It’s the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of pride.” The “truck” for years was displayed at the Manchester-based Connecticut Firemen’s Historical Society but returned to its hometown earlier this month after years of inquiries by Boenig, a 10-year veteran of the department generations of his family volunteered at. The car was originally donated to the mill’s fire department, Engine Co. #1, 102 years ago by one of the former mill owner’s presidents after fires sprang up in the sprawling mill town at the time.
Norwich Bulletin - Metered Site

Bridgeport fire sends 1 occupant, 3 firefighters to hospital

PHOTO: Several families were displaced by a two-alarm fire that tore through an Iranistan Avenue residence Wednesday afternoon, sending one resident and three firefighters to the hospital. The call came in around 4:30 p.m. for a reported structure fire at 1042 Iranistan Avenue. As fire units rushed to the scene, the dispatcher said multiple people were reporting black smoke coming from the three-story home. The first unit was on scene just minutes later and confirmed heavy fire and black smoke coming from the dwelling, as well as an occupant hanging from a third-floor window. A rescue company was able to get the occupant from the window using a ground ladder, according to fire officials. A second-alarm was struck because of the volume of the fire and the humidity.
Connecticut Post

Firefighter Jim Pickering to ride final shift with the New Canaan Fire Department

Next week, for the first time in some 75 years, the Pickering family will not have a presence in the New Canaan firehouse. After 30 years on the job, Firefighter Jim Pickering is retiring. His official last day is Sunday, Aug. 25. “I would have stayed if not for an opportunity that fell in my lap,” Pickering said. Jim Pickering volunteered to be a firefighter on Sept. 11, 1980, and was hired to start a paying job July 31, 1989. “I think fires burn hotter and faster,” Pickering said of changes in his decades as a firefighter. ‘Look around, everything is plastic.” A positive, however, is in the increased use of fire alarm systems in private dwellings. “We used to get a call from a neighbor that a house was on fire, then get a half dozen more calls,” Pickering said. “With alarms there is earlier detection.” Alarms also detect the presence of carbon monoxide, causing more responses, but saving lives.
New Canaan Advertiser

Norwalk fire department to add injury prevention program

In an effort to reduce on-the-job injuries, the Common Council has approved funding for an injury prevention program for the fire department. “An injury prevention program for the Norwalk Fire Department would focus on improving firefighter mobility and stability to prepare for dynamic environments required of firefighters,” Fire Chief Gino Gatto wrote in a letter to Common Council. “Currently, no such program exists within Norwalk Fire Department.” The council approved a five-year agreement with First Response Health and Wellness LLC to provide the program for the department for $187,500 for the duration of the contract. There’s also an opportunity to extend the program for an additional five years for $193,125.
Wilton Villager

Manhole explosion in Westport after live power line dug up

The Westport Fire Department responded to a manhole explosion on Wednesday on Railroad Place. Officials said crews found smoke coming from a manhole and the cover displaced. That’s when firefighters quickly determined that an explosion had occurred. According to the department, an excavator unintentionally dug up a live underground power line at a construction site on Franklin Street. No injuries were reported. Eversource responded to the incident to assess the situation and make sure the area was safe. It’s estimated that repairs will continue until Thursday morning.
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