Retired Lt. William Heffernan was sworn in as the official Historian of the West Haven Fire Department on Jan. 26. Bruce Sweeney, Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, administered the oath of office as friends and family looked on. Heffernan is just the second man to be appointed to the position of Historian. Chief William “Wiggy” Johnson was the first official Historian, appointed on Feb. 22, 2013, during the Department’s 125th Anniversary.
“I have huge shoes to fill.”, said Heffernan. “Chief Johnson may have been our first official Historian but he was also our unofficial Historian for generations. As a young boy growing up, his father was the Fire Chief and he got to witness decades of our department history with his own eyes. That kind of first-hand knowledge and experience can never be duplicated.”
In 2010, the department celebrated the 50th anniversary of the West Haven Firemen’s Memorial on the green. As Heffernan and Chief James O’Brien worked on the project they began to delve into the history of the Memorial and the Department. This history project would evolve into the current West Haven Fire Department Historical Library.
“As we began to research our history stretching back through the years to 1888, we had so many questions. We quickly found that the answers to these questions was always the same. Just ask Wiggy. Chief Johnson always knew the answer.” said Heffernan.
When Chief Johnson was appointed Historian, he was presented with a gold Historian badge. Starting with Heffernan, and going forward into the future, it has been decided that the Historians of the West Haven Fire Department will wear silver. This is out of respect for Chief Johnson, not only as our first Historian but in recognition of his unparalleled knowledge of the department’s history. He will be the only Historian to wear gold.
The WHFD Historical Library has made some significant strides in the past couple of years. Just this past summer it was incorporated and became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. This will open many doors for the library as far as funding and grant writing.
“Chief O’Brien and I worked very hard to make this happen.” said Heffernan. “We do have to give a shout out to my daughter Anita. Anita helped us by filing all the paperwork. We could not have done it without her navigating us through several government bureaucracies.”
So, what is on the horizon for the new Historian?
“We have many projects in the works. One of our biggest challenges is organizing all of our history into one archive. We have so many documents and photographs to catalogue and we get more all the time. We continuously search for historical artifacts from our department. As well as all the past history, we also have to keep up with current events as well. We are currently preparing to take photos of all the department personnel. We try to do this every few years to make sure we document all the firefighters as they are hired and rise through the ranks.”
One of the bigger projects they have recently completed was finding and restoring the scale model of the James Grahams Ladder Wagon. This was hand made by the members of the company and was pulled by their children in parades and at conventions. They were quite well known throughout the region. When the James Grahams Hook & Ladder disbanded in 1902 most of their records and equipment went with them. The model wagon was missing and thought “lost to time” for 120 years. But, through their research, they found it and had it restored. It is a priceless piece of their department’s early history.
As well as being in the process of locating a couple of other relics from their past, the Historical Library is working with Beth Sabo to relocate the Savin Rock Museum.
William Heffernan began his firefighting career as a volunteer with the West Haven Hook & Ladder Company 1 in 1982. He was hired by the Paid Department on Feb. 16, 1993 and was promoted to lieutenant on September 14, 2005. He retired on Jan. 1, 2021, after a 28- year career. Now he can add one more line to his resume, he was appointed as the department’s official Historian on Jan. 26, 2023.