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| Hartford, CT is the hub of a nearly 30 town capital region of the nutmeg state. The capital city was founded by Dutch Fur Trader’s in 1633 and it’s fire department began serving it’s citizens in 1864. Currently the fire departments 378 member force is lead by Fire Chief Charles Teale. Chief Teale recently was recently appointed to the position by the city manager. In addition to Chief Teale (Car 1), there are two Assistant Chiefs. Assistant Chief Mike Parker (Car 2) is in charge of operations and another Assistant Chief (Car 3) is in charge of personnel but that psoition is currently open. The Chief and two Assistant Chiefs are the only uniformed department members who are not part of the International Association of Fire Fighters (I.A.F.F.) Local # 760. |
| The suppression force is led by 8 Deputy Chiefs who ride as District 1 and District 2 on the four firefighting groups. District 1 is the senior shift commander and is located at Fire Department Headquarters on Pearl St. He is responsible for the filling of all overtime shifts and the detailing of firefighters to help cover shorthanded companies. As the senior shift commander, District 1, can respond to any call in the city and generally assumes command of larger fires (2nd alarm and greater) until one of the Assistant Chiefs or Chief Teale arrive on scene. District 1 covers the area of the city south of Farmington Avenue. District 2 covers the city from Farmington Avenue north out of the quarters of Engine 2 and Ladder 3 on Main St. Each on-duty Deputy Chief also has an aide (District 1-A and District 2-A), who is the chief’s driver, helps track companies at fires and helps with the notification of the Fire Marshal’s Office, Building Department, Housing Authority, Utility Companies and others. The following is the list of the current deputies and which group they work: |
| Group 1 District 1 D/C Kevin Sullivan |
| Group 1 District 2 D/C Tony Milner |
| Group 2 District 1 D/C Dan Lagosh |
| Group 2 District 2 D/C Ted Cetola |
| Group 3 District 1 D/C Mike Ciccarelli |
| Group 3 District 2 D/C Carlos Huertas |
| Group 4 District 1 D/C Jim Ericksson |
| Group 4 District 2 D/C Bob Walsh |
| The 2002 run totals as submitted to Firehouse Magazine for the busiest companies only are listed below. The survey period is January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002 |
| Total Runs....21,723 |
| Fires Calls .....7,133 |
| False Alarms....1,303 |
| EMS Calls......13,287 |
| Here are the busiest companies |
| Engine 1.....3454 |
| Ladder 6.....2070 |
| Tac 1........4507 |
| District 2...3154 |
| Busiest Station Eng 2/Lad 3/Dist 2...7642 |
| The Training Division, which is located in the North Meadows next to Hartford Police Headquarters, is run by Deputy Chief/Training Officer Dan Nolan (Car 5) with help from 1 captain, 2 lieutenants and 3 detailed firefighters. Chief Nolan is notified on all second alarms and generally assumes the position of safety officer. |
| The city’s firefighters work a 3-on, 3-off schedule in four groups. They work 3 day shifts from 0800 to 1800, then have 3 days off, then work 3 night shifts of 1800 to 0800, then have 3 days off. Starting July 1, 2003 the Hartford Fire Department will experiment for one year with a 24 hour shift schedule giving a group a schedule of 24 hurs on/72 hours off. They man 11 Engines, 5 Ladders and 1 Heavy Rescue, each company is led by a Captain and 3 Lieutenants. Each of the 11 Engine Companies is staffed with an officer, pump operator and 2 firefighters the minimum manning is 4 people per shift. Each of the 5 Ladder Companies has an officer, ladder driver and 2 firefighters the minimum manning is 4 people per shift. The Heavy Rescue (Tac 1) has an officer, a pump operator and 3 or 4 firefighters for a total of 5 or 6 people per shift. The minimum manning on the Tac is 4 per shift. Each shift has a varying amount of manpower with some companies having extra personnel that get detailed to other companies for all or part of the tour due to sick-time, injury or vacation leave. Each shift has to have a minimum of 70 on duty not counting the two district chief’s. |
| On May 1, 2001 the Hartford Fire Department started to provide First Responder EMS service to the City of Hartford replacing the Hartford Police Department as the primary First Responders. AMR will continue to provde the transport service. |
| The current station locations with apparatus assignments and company captains are as follows: |
| Headquarters - 275 Pearl Street (Ann Street) |
| Tac 1 - 1996 Mack/Saulsbury Heavy Rescue Captain Frank Costello (Grp 4) |
| District 1 - 2000 Ford Expedition Command Vehicle |
| 197 Main Street (Park Street) |
| Engine 1 - 1996 Mack/Saulsbury 1500/500 Captain Carol Stiles (Grp 4) |
| Ladder 6 - 1991 Sutphen 100’ Tower 1500/300 Captain Sammy Goicoechea (Grp 1) |
| 1515 Main Street (Belden Street) |
| Engine 2 - 1996 Mack/Saulsbury 1500/500 Captain Kevin Barry (Grp 1) |
| Ladder 3 - 2000 Sutphen 100' Tower 1500/300 Captain Benny Guzman (Grp 4) |
| District 2 - 2001 Ford Expedition Command Vehicle |
| 129 Sigourney Street (Niles Street) |
| Engine 5 - 1994 Mack/Saulsbury 1500/500 Captain Steve Kenney (Grp 2) |
| 181 Clark Street (Westland Street) |
| Engine 7 - 1986 Pirsch 1500/500 Captain Kevin Walsh (Grp 3) |
| 721 Park St (Affleck Street) |
| Engine 8 - 1987 Sutphen 1500/500 Captain Mickey Sanchez (Grp 3) |
| 655 New Britain Avenue (Forester Street) |
| Engine 9 - 1980 Mack 1000/500 Captain Al Russo (Grp 2) |
| 510 Franklin Avenue (South Street) |
| Engine 10 - 1999 Pierce Sabre 1500/500 Captain Leigh Shapiro (Grp 1) |
| 150 Sisson Avenue ( West Boulevard) |
| Engine 11 - 2000 Pierce Sabre 1500/500 Captain Dave Serpliss (Grp 1) |
| Ladder 5 - 1984 Sutphen/1999 Pierce 100’ Tower 1500/300 Captain Ray Kasey (Grp 2) |
| 25 Blue Hills Avenue (Albany Avenue) |
| Engine 14 - 2000 Pierce Sabre 1500/500 Captain Darron Hudson (Grp 2) |
| Ladder 4 - 1987 Sutphen 100’ Tower 1500/300 Captain Stanley Denisiewicz (Grp 3) |
| 8 Fairfield Avenue (New Britain Avenue) |
| Engine 15 - 1999 Peirce Sabre 1500/500 Captain Scott Brady (Grp 4) |
| Ladder 2 - 1996 Sutphen 100’ Tower 1500/300 Captain John Mahoney (Grp 3) |
| 636 Blue Hills Avenue (Harold Street) |
| Engine 16 - 1982 Pierce Arrow 1250/500 Captain open (Grp 3) |
| Executive Officer - Assigned to Chief's Office Captain Eugene Cieri |
| Special Services Captain Terry Waller |
| To make your Hartford Buffing Experience a good one there are a few places where the local buffs will gather. They are: |
| Box 360 P/Lot Capital Ave and Oak St |
| Box 623 P/Lot Dunkin’ Donuts on Farmington Ave |
| Box 366 P/Lot rear of McDonald’s Washington St and Park St |
| Box 62 P/Lot behind Arthur’s Drugs Farmington Ave and Sigourney St |
| Box 625 Elizabeth Park eastside of Prospect St and Asylum Ave |
| In addition to those listed above there may be other unpublicized locations or feel free to create your own. The Hartford Fire Department took out all of the street boxes several years ago, the old box locations were used for location names (the buffs may refer to a location by the box number). |
| The Hartford Fire Department uses a 800mhz trunked system for it’s communications which is simulcast on it’s old VHF Hi frequency of 154.310 (PL167.9) with Fire Dispatch channel as the priority channel. |
| Some typical assignments your hear in the City of Hartford are: |
| Type of Call |
| Structure Fire...3Eng, 2Lad, Tac1, 1Dist Chief |
| Working Fire (10-3)*...2Eng |
| 2nd Alarm (1-1-2)+...3Eng, 1Lad, 1 Dist Chief, 2 Asst Chiefs, Chief of Dept |
| 2nd Alarm (2-2)...same as 1-1-2 except with off duty call backs |
| 3rd Alarm ++...3Eng, 1Lad |
| Elevator rescues...Tac1 |
| Most Bldg Alarms...3Eng, 1^Lad, Tac1, 1Dist Chief |
| Major Haz Mats...3Eng, 1^Lad, Tac1, 1Dist Chief |
| Smell of Nat Gas...3Eng, 1^Lad, Tac1, 1Dist Chief |
| Car Fires...1Eng, 1#Dist Chief |
| EMS Assist...1Eng |
| EMS Assist on highway...2Eng, 1Dist Chief |
| EMS Assist with possible violence...1Eng, 1Dist Chief |
| Brush Fire...1Eng, 1#Dist Chief |
| MVA’s with fluids only...1Eng |
| MVA’s with injuries...1Eng, Tac1, 1Dist Chief |
| MVA’s with extrication...1Eng, Tac1, 1Lad, 1Dist Chief |
| any above MVA situation on highway...additional Eng |
| Minor Haz Mats...1Eng, 1#Dist Chief |
| Service Calls, Water...1Eng or 1Lad, 1#Dist Chief |
| Wires & Dumpsters...1Eng |
| * - Automatic 4th (RIT) and 5th (Rehab) engine plus FMO & Special Services if occupied bldg |
| + - also FMO, Training Officer, Special Services, Machine Shop & PIO |
| ++ - Off Duty Shift called back plus East Hartford & West Hartford put on standby |
| # - If call is on interstate the deputy chief is assigned as well |
11. Structure Fire 12. Fire outside structure 13. Vehicle Fire 14. Brush, grass fire 15. Refuse Fire 16. Explosion, no after fire 17. Outside spill. leak with ensuing fire 19. Fire, explosion not classified above 20. Over pressure rupture 21. Steam rupture 22. Air, gas rupture 29. Over pressure rupture not classified above 30. Rescue Call, insufficient info to further classify 31. Inhalator call 32. Emergency Medical Call 33. Lock-in 34. Search 35. Extrication 39. Rescue call not classified above 40. Hazardous Condition 41. Spill, leak no fire 42. Explosive, bomb removal 43. Excessive heat 44. Powerline down 45. Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 46. Aircraft standby 47. Chemical emergency 49. CO Investigation 50. Service Call 51. Lock-out 52. Water evacuation 53. Smoke, odor removal 54. Animal rescue 55. Assist police 56. Unauthorized burning 57. Cover Assignment 59. Service call not classified above 60. Good Intent Call 61. Smoke scare 62. Wrong location 63. Controlled burning 64. Vicinity alarm 65. Steam, other gas mistaken for smoke 69. Good intent call not classified above 70. False Call 71. Malicious false call 72. Bomb scare, no bomb 73. System malfunction 74. Unitentional call 79. False call not classified above 99. Type of Situation Found not classified above |
| I hope this guide to Hartford will provide you with enough information to make your fire buffing trip an enjoyable experience. I would also like to thank Deputy Chief (Retired) Ron Squiers, Deputy Chief Bob Walsh, Captain (Retired) Ed Pospisil and Deputy Chief Aide Jim McLoughlin of the Hartford Fire Department and Joe Marino for their help with this article. |
© 1998-2003 Rick Burnham
Fire Department Profiles© 1998-2003 Hartford Citywide Radio Association
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