'Hot Off the Press' East Haddam Volunteer Fire Department News

In recognition of National Fire Prevention Week (October 9th -15th), members of the East Haddam Volunteer Fire Department spent a day at the East Haddam Elementary School in Moodus, instructing students about fire safety and prevention techniques for Fire Safety Day.

East Haddam Fire Chief Don Angersola and Firefighters Walt Parkos, Ryan Scholes and Wick Haylon met with groups of students throughout the day, teaching them about fire-safety at home, proper procedures about how to protect themselves in the event of an emergency and different types of fire-fighting equipment.

A brief introduction and description of two of the department's trucks, Ladder 7-15 and Engine 1-15, and a tour of the mobile Fire Prevention Trailer was included in the day's activities.

The children each received their own Junior Firefighter Helmets and educational fire-safety-themed coloring books to take home. The hallways at the school were all a-buzz with excited conversation, as the students talked among themselves about the day's experience and what they had learned from the firemen during the classes.

For more about fire prevention and safety information, videos and stories, visit the National Fire Protection Association at their website.

This month's 'Truck of the Month', East Haddam Volunteer Fire Department's Ladder 7-15 is a 1977 Maxim fire apparatus, has an 85-foot aerial ladder assembly, a naturally-aspirated (non-turbo) 871 Detroit-Diesel V-8 engine with an automatic transmission, and measures 45-feet long from nose to tail.

The ladder-truck can save crucial time in the event of a multi-level structure fire, as it allows firefighters to work above the blaze, as opposed to only around and beside it. The ladder assembly allows for safer evacuation (compared to a regular ground ladder) of trapped occupants from a building, and gives firefighters a safer and more efficient means of reaching the top of a structure when needing to ventilate a roof during an incident.

Areas with uneven ground, obstacles in and around the work area, and weakened structures can make it challenging or almost impossible to work from ground ladders alone, and are just a few examples of issues that make Ladder 7-15 an important part of the department's fleet of trucks.

The East Haddam Volunteer Fire Department reports the following incidents for the month of September:

SMOKE INVESTIGATION - 40 North Moodus Road, Thursday, Sept. 1 at 2:03 a.m.
GOOD INTENT CALL - 12 Mott Lane, Thursday, Sept. 1 at 2:36 a.m.
TRANSFORMER INCIDENT - 40 Warner Road, Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:34 a.m.
CARBON MONOXIDE INVESTIGATION - 92 Clark Hill Road, Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7:12 a.m.
SMOKE INVESTIGATION - 29 Alger Road, Sunday, Sept. 4 at 11:31 a.m.
TREE IN THE ROADWAY - Hem Street, Sunday, Sept. 4 at 9:23 p.m.
WIRES DOWN - Route 151, Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 4:05 a.m.
MOTOR-VEHICLE ACCIDENT - East Haddam-Moodus Road, Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 3:15 p.m.
ELECTRICAL FIRE - 54 Town Street, Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 7:50 p.m.
FIRE ALARM - 106 River Road, Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 8:31 a.m.
CARBON MONOXIDE INVESTIGATION - 6 Briarwood Road, Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 5:46 p.m.
FIRE ALARM - 106 River Road, Thursday, Sept. 8 at 3:52 a.m.
FIRE ALARM - 9 Ridge Road, Thursday, Sept. 8 at 5:50 p.m.
TREE ON WIRES - Hungerford Road, Thursday, Sept. 8 at 8:40 p.m.
FIRE ALARM - 129 Wickham Road, Friday, Sept. 9 at 3:00 a.m.
MOTOR-VEHICLE FIRE - Main Street, Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:41 p.m.
SMOKE INVESTIGATION - 3 Norwich Road, Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 9:22 p.m.
MOTOR-VEHICLE ACCIDENT - 105 Town Street, Saturday, Sept.17 at 9:48 a.m.
ASSIST POLICE - Essex Turnpike, Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10:49 a.m
MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT - 163 Smith Road, Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11:12 a.m.
MOTOR-VEHICLE ACCIDENT - Ray Hill Road, Sunday, Sept 18 at 10:51 a.m.
FIRE ALARM - 1 Brook Hill Road, Monday, Sept. 19 at 7:48 a.m.
FIRE ALARM - 40 North Moodus Road, Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6:04 a.m.
ASSIST WITH SEARCH - Hopyard Road, Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7:42 p.m. (Two hikers, found safe.)
WIRES DOWN - 364 Hopyard Road, Friday, Sept. 23 at 3:03 p.m.
MOTOR-VEHICLE ACCIDENT - Clark Hill Road, Sunday, Sept. 25 at 9:49 a.m.
FIRE ALARM - 1 Hopyard Road, Monday, Sept. 26 at 11:29 a.m.