I had the unique opportunity to take part in the Ronald Reagan emergency preparedness drill this past Fall.  Excellent training opportunity, also had the chance to get a few pictures at the conclusion of the event.  As usual, not a lot of info; just a random mix of apparatus that attended.  Input is welcome.

 

Starting off with the staging area.

 

   

 

   

Hey everyone, I'm reaching out for some help here.

 

I am looking for info on the "Holden Combat Unit", a pumper/tanker that was developed by the Newington Volunteer F.D., Inc., in conjunction with the Heil Corporation. Newington had one of the first ones built on a 1947 Mack E series chassis. I know of a couple others, one being Somers, NY.

 

Unfortunately over the years, any and all info that my department had regarding the design, development, and sales of these rigs has been lost, and the only sales brochure I have ever seen was online, the link sent to me by the former Somers chief.

 

To give you a little bit of history, from the mid 1930's until 1958, the Newington, NH Vol. FD was privately owned by a man named John Holden, who owned the Atlantic Terminal Sales Corp, a tank farm in Newington.  Holden was the self appointed fire chief, and he provided the station, trucks (converted oil trucks, go figure), equipment, and drivers, while the townspeople provided the bulk of the firefighters, and forestry gear. In 1947 we had the big forest fires that swept thru NH and Maine, and Chief Holden was appointed by the governors of both states to be in charge. he used his 5000 gal oil trucks as fire trucks, and had the state police find every tank truck they could and commandeered them for firefighting. After the fires, Holden got together with Hiel and they developed the Holden Combat Unit (makes sense, Holden owned a tank farm and knew oil trucks, and that was what Hiel specialized in), which had tank sizes ranging from 400 gallons to 1000 gallons which was unheard of in that day. He was even written about in Readers Digest and the National Safety News.

 

How long they built these rigs I don't know, nor do I have a clue how many were actually built or if any remain in existence. I have tried speaking to someone at Hiel Corp, and to say they are less than helpful is an understatement. SO I come to the group here asking for your assistance and to pick the collective brain of the group for any info that may be available.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Just after 2300 on 12/16/13, Cumberland, RI firefighters responded to a building fire at 3393 Diamond Hill Rd, which was a building set back from the street by a long shared driveway, making access difficult.  The fire had possession of a 2-1/2 story wood frame, and rapidly extended from left to right, as defensive lines were set up.  

 

   

Help needed:

Twords the end of last year I had started a thread looking for our old 1974 Pacemaker.  Someone (who had worked at the old New Lexington plant in Pa) had replyed with the name of the dealer from Alabama who purchased it.  I have since lost his name and telephone number. 

 

Gap Fire Company  Lancaster County Pa

1974 American Lafrance Pacemaker

 

Any help with the name of the dealer would be a huge help!

Thanks in advance

 

Chris

 

_________________________________

Chris Slaymaker

Lieutenant

Gap Fire/Rescue

Lancaster County, Pa

cslaymaker@lcwc911.us

Engine 38    

Around 19:00 Adcom dispatched Bennett, Strasburg, Byers, Sable Altura & Buckley Air Force Base Firefighters to a reported structure fire at 40139 East Florida Avenue.  Sheriff Deputies reported explosions and first due Bennett Engine 91 found heavy smoke showing.  A transitional attack and was attempted and quickly turned to totally defensive.  3 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescue, 1 Ambulance and 5 Tenders responded.  Mutual aid from Brighton & the City of Aurora was requested to move up and cover several hundred square miles of Adams & Arapahoe Counties while all the volunteers were committed to the fire.

 

   

 

   

 

   

Lou Angeli


 

 

I regret to inform you all of the passing of Lou Angeli. Lou passed, December 14th at 1010 hrs along side his wife in Christiana Hospital, in Newark Delaware.

 

 

Lou was a firefighter, a long time buff and photographer of fires and apparatus.

 

 

See here:  http://www.whoislog.info/profile/lou-angeli.html 

 

and  

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Angeli

 

 

 


Please send cards to:


In Memory of Lou Angeli

102 W. 42nd Street

Wilmington, DE 19802

Around midnight Denver Firefighters were dispatched to multiple reports of a building fire in the 800 block of South Cherry Street.  Engine Co. 5 is housed nearby and could see heavy fire in the air on the way in.  When they arrived a 5 story wood frame, apartment building under construction was already fully involved.  A 2nd Alarm was immediately requested as exposures were becoming involved.

 

Witness video shows just how intense the flames and heat were...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-fsuANUd...e=youtu.be

 

I live 16 miles away in southeast Aurora and could see not only the glow, but flames from my house.  Here's a shot taken by my wife as we left the neighborhood.  A 3rd Alarm had been struck at this point and it was followed by a special call for 2 Engines & 1 Truck.  When it was all said and done a 4th Alarm equivalent was on scene.

   

 

I had my dash cam rolling and it shows fairly well what we could see, I included a short segment of it.  You can Aurora dispatching a structure fire in the background and it was one of four reported that were actually 911 callers seeing the Glendale fire several miles away.  Not sure why the date and time got messed up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b87ZR9KxO...e=youtu.be

 

First shot walking up...

   

Vehicle fire I-95 North on ramp at exit 54.  Call came in at 5:50

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Last night, 7661 Marmora...single digit temps. This was a campus that housed challenged adults at one time...I don't believe it has this use anymore. It is on a cul de sac and the hydrant near the building is on a dead end main I'm told. They had some long lead outs for additional water. The fire was through the roof on arrival, and they had some master streams working in short order. These are the first shots I was able to get of their new engine 17. Ice and extreme cold were definitely factors at this fire. This building appeared larger than some of the cottage types, leading me to believe it may have been used as some sort of admin center...I would also like to say bright blue mars lights on a rig ruin a lot of photos    did some black and white experimenting on some of those images

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