By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
West Haven’s three fire departments saluted the community’s 100th anniversary while celebrating their storied fire service at the Centennial Fire Expo on Saturday.
The five-hour exposition, presented by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee, was part of a six-month series of free events commemorating the community’s 1921 birth and its incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest municipality, said Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman.
Families, fire service enthusiasts, and paid and volunteer firefighters from across the state turned out to see the array of engines and trucks, including antique fire apparatus, on display in the parking lot of the Savin Rock Conference Center, along with a fire service exhibit in the center’s Savin Rock Museum featuring West Haven Engine & Hose Company 1.
The colorful fleet included apparatus from West Haven’s three fire departments and the Orange Volunteer Fire Department.
The large public exhibition, also held in front of Savin Rock, was organized by West Haven Fire Department Chief James P. O’Brien, West Shore Fire Department Chief Stephen Scafariello, City of West Haven Fire Department Allingtown Chief Michael R. Terenzio and committee Chairwoman Beth A. Sabo.
West Haven’s fire service includes the independent West Haven Fire Department, which serves the First Fire Taxation, or Center, District, and the independent West Shore Fire Department, which serves the Shore’s 2nd District. It also includes the 3rd District’s formerly independent Allingtown Fire Department, which was taken over by the city in July 2012 and is now known as the City of West Haven Fire Department Allingtown.
Together, the departments have been in operation for 350 years — West Haven since 1888, Allingtown since 1907 and West Shore since 1918.
The expo included a hazmat trailer, rides in West Haven’s 1935 Mack pump firetruck, fire merchandise vendors, and the Lucky Dog and Franco’s Fried Dough-Licious food trucks, as well as the departments’ rescue boats, including West Shore’s amphibious marine unit.
It also included educational demonstrations on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, drone technology, fire sprinkler systems, first aid, and fire code and investigation.
Sparky the Fire Dog interacted with children, and musical duo Acoustic Mafia played Top 40 hits.
West Haven firefighters, led by Fire Marshal Keith T. Flood, demonstrated the departments’ 35-foot smoke trailer and showed children what to do in the event of a fire.
West Haven firefighters also demonstrated the Jaws of Life tool by prying open parts of a vehicle to free those trapped inside.
As part of Allingtown’s Child Safety Car Seat Installation and Inspection Program, Capt. Jason Cameron and firefighters Mike DiMassa and Thomas O’Toole installed car seats for people. They also inspected those already installed to ensure that the portable seats were properly fastened for securing small children.
Fire apparatus dealers and members of the University of New Haven’s Fire Science Club presented information on products and programs. Members of the UNH club also showed adults and children how to use a fire extinguisher.
Jennifer A. Amendola, the director of the 911 Communications Center at police headquarters, educated people on West Haven’s Emergency Reporting System by showing illustrations of the ERS structure and images of a 911 workstation.
Amendola and ERS dispatchers played back a real 911 call for people to hear and showed them how to text 911 if they could not call in the event of an emergency.
Dispatcher John Morris showed city residents Jaedon Lucas, 10, and his sister, Lyla, 6, how to call 911 during an exercise in which Morris called the 911 center so the siblings could talk with the call-taker and listen to questions.
Members of the city Health Department administered Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to those 18 and older, including first and second doses and boosters, and displayed information on the coronavirus, food sanitation and the flu.
Emergency Management Director Joseph Soto presented information on West Haven’s Community Emergency Response Team, storm preparation, post-storm recovery, and natural and human-made disasters.
Soto said the CERT program, which needs volunteers, educates volunteers on disaster preparedness for hazards that could impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.
Soto also signed up residents for the city’s emergency notification system to receive alerts. Sign up at https://member.everbridge.net/1332612387831850/new.
The Citizen Notification System enables the city to quickly provide residents with critical information in various situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons, and building or neighborhood evacuations, Soto said.
The system is operated in partnership with Everbridge Inc. of Burlington, Massachusetts, the world leader in incident notification systems.
Once registered in Everbridge’s secure database, the site will send subscribers time-sensitive messages via cell, home or business phones or email or text messages. The notifications are broadcast through West Haven’s Emergency Operations Center.
The expo joined a long list of special events observing West Haven’s secession from Orange a century ago, including the Centennial Boat Parade in June, the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in July, the Centennial Fireworks and the “Hubbard Farms” exhibit in September, and “A Salute to Veterans of the Last 100 Years,” an exhibit at the West Haven Veterans Museum on Sunday. The rural and residential sections of Orange separated in 1921 when the residential part, West Haven, became the state’s youngest town.
In the spirit of West Haven’s birthday, Sabo sold signed copies of the new centennial book, “City of West Haven: Village to Town,” along with centennial coins, lapel pins and WestHavenOpoly, the centennial version of the board game Monopoly.
All book and merchandise proceeds generated by the committee will offset expenses and support the $50,000 centennial budget approved by the City Council, said Sabo, the city’s commissioner of human resources.
For other centennial merchandise, visit the official online store at https://merchwebstores.com/West-Haven-Centennial/shop/home.
The store, hosted by West Haven vendor West Shore Associates, sells such centennial-branded merchandise as long- and short-sleeved T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, stainless steel tumblers, stemless wine glasses, insulated beverage bottles, ceramic mugs, retro sunglasses, canvas and cotton tote bags, eco-performance face masks, and pigment-dyed twill and mesh trucker caps.
A portion of the vendor’s merchandise proceeds will support the centennial account, Sabo said.
For a complete list of centennial events, see the schedule at https://www.cityofwesthaven.com/343/Centennial-Events.