"I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even of supreme sacrifice."
It is with Deep regret we report the Line of Duty Deaths of Lt. Steven Velasquez and Firefighter Michel Baik of Bridegport Fire Department Local 834. Our brothers died while fighting a structure fire at 41 Elmwood Ave in.
WAKE & FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS:
The viewing for Brother Velasquez will be held on Thursday, July 29, 2010 from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Klein Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06605; (203) 337-6195.
The viewing for Brother Baik will be held on Thursday, July 29, 2010 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Abriola Parkview Funeral Home, 419 White Plains Road, Trumbull, Connecticut 06611; (203) 373-1013. The funeral service for Brother Velasquez will be held on Friday, July 30 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Augustine Cathedral, 359 Washington Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604, (203) 368-6777.
The funeral service for Brother Baik will be held on Friday, July 30 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, 5458 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604, (203) 372-9767.
A Collation honoring both our Brothers will be held on Friday, July 30, 2010 at the conclusion of the services at the Arena at Harbor Yard, 600 Main Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
I-95 n/b exit 29.ALL UNIFORM PERSONNEL are asked to park here and be bused to 1st Church, then 2nd Church, then Reception at Harbor Yard and will provide shuttles from Harbor Yard to Steel Point.Bus starts shuttling to Church at 0700 hrs.
Anyone who plans on attending the funerals, and would like to take the bus are asked to be at Northside no later than 7AM on Friday.
For those working the “C” shift and plan on attending please remember to bring your full dress uniform to work and call your relief person to see if they can come in early. For those on the “D” shift, please try to accommodate the “C” shifters and come in early for them.
The first Bus will leave to come back to Waterbury at 6:00PM. We do not have a time yet for the return of the second bus.
For those who want to come back either earlier or later than the bus, there are trains leaving from Bridgeport Train Station to Waterbury at 3:38, 5:55, 8:11 and the last one leaves at 10:37. The train station is right across the street from Harbor Yard.
Local 834 and the Bridgeport Fire Department have established a fund to support the families of the two fallen fire fighters. Donations to the "Bridgeport Fallen Firefighters Fund" can be made through the Bridgeport Fire Department Employees Federal Credit Union at 3115 Madison Ave., Bridgeport CT 06606, Attn: Bridgeport Fallen Firefighters Fund. The credit union can be reached at (203) 374-8120 or 1-800-242-8120.
Other expressions of sympathy or condolences can be sent to Local 834 at 30 Congress Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604 or emailed to bfdlocal834@aol.com.
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Waterbury Fire Fighter Ray Corbo, Left, (aka Mr. January) and Calendar Organizer Fire Fighter Scott Breive, right, present an $18,000.00 check to Frank Szivos, Executive Director of the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation. The money was raised through the sale of the Waterbury Fire Fighters 2010 Calendar.
For the fourth time, Waterbury Fire Fighters have bared it all to raise money for children, who have suffered devastating burns, to attend summer camp at the Arthur C. Luf Childrens Burn Camp located in Union Connecticut. The calendar was started in 2006 as a fun way to try to raise the much needed money to help fund the camp so that every child that wants to attend can do so at no cost.
With this year’s check, the Waterbury Fire Fighters have raised $60,000.00 for the camp with the sale of their calendars. Organizer Scott Breive considers this a huge success and notes that it would not be possible without the help of many volunteers, especially the photographers Georgia Sheron, Debbie Gagne, and Elac Aviles. He also thanks Dana Alsdorf for doing the layout and Fire Fighter Shawn McDonald for the website design.
Local 1339 held our first annual St. Baldricks Foundation on March 15 at the Waterville Fire House. Men, Women and Children came and got their heads shaved to raise money for childhood cancer research. To say that the event was a success would be an understatement. When all was said and done we had raised over $42,000 and over 100 people came to get their head shaved.
We would like to thank Brass City Barber and Salon for providing the barbers, Napoli Imports and Shop Rite Waterbury for donating the food, and Heineken USA for donating the beverages. We also thank Fire Fighters Charlie Cicchetti and Bill Gannon for doing such a great job with the cooking and Fire Fighter Shawn McDonald with A&E Entertainement, who did a fabulous job as an MC and Danielle Fortier for doing a fantastic job with the face painting.
Most importantly we would like to thank all of the shavees, volunteers, and everyone who contributed to the St. Baldricks Foundation.
January 15, 2010 -- With a health care reform deal announced loudly in the media between “labor,” the administration and Congress on changes to the excise tax provision, I want to provide you a new update today that outlines some of the key elements of that deal and what we know about the potential impact they will have on each and every one of you.
From Day One, we forcefully argued that the excise tax was bad policy and bad politics and that it had no place in any health care reform bill. Not once did we waver from that argument.
Our message was heard and we believe had a significant impact on what ultimately came out of the negotiations between representatives of the labor movement, the administration and Congress.
We believe we can say with confidence that our constant and consistent message resulted in significant changes to the excise tax provision of the reform bill that the House and Senate now must finish debate on and send to the president.
I don’t want to overstate this, but suffice it to say that our hard opposition to the excise tax convinced negotiators to agree to new provisions that, while they fall short of our goal of eliminating the excise tax, these changes do effectively eliminate the burden of additional taxes that would have fallen on our members had the tax remained unaltered.
Based on the initial information we have received from the AFL-CIO on the changes to the excise tax provision, we know that:
• Every health plan covering our members is exempt from the tax until 2018, based on new provisions that collectively bargained health benefits will be exempt from the tax until 2018, as would the benefits of all state and local municipal worker plans even if not collectively bargained; • The threshold for the tax to kick in on family plans has been raised from $23,000 to $24,000 for all workers, and from $26,000 to $27,000 for our members; • The cost of dental and vision coverage will be excluded from the cost of the plans when determining if they rise above the threshold beginning in 2015; • Each year after 2013, the $27,000 threshold for our members will increase by the CPI + 1 percent and will rise even more in high cost states; • Further, if health care costs rise faster than expected prior to 2013, the initial thresholds will also be increased, as well.
While there’s significantly more to the deal than just these initial bullets, and we are going to do a full and complete analysis over the coming days, we have not been able to identify a single IAFF member’s health care plan that would or will be subject to the excise tax based on these new provisions scheduled to take effect in 2018.
We know there’s a lot more to go in the political process before this bill is finally approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, but we are pleased that our efforts to protect our members from a severe economic penalty appear to have made a significant impact on what we are told will be in the final legislation.
We will update all of you as more details of the bill emerge.
Buffalo Fire Fighters Local 282 are selling T-Shirts in memory of two fallen fire fighters, Lt. Chip McCarthy and Fire Fighter Jonathan Croom. All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go directly to the families of our fallen brothers.
10 Years Later, IAFF Remembers Fatal Worcester Cold Storage Fire
December 3, 2009 – On the 10th Anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, which claimed the lives of six Worcester Local 1009 fire fighters, the IAFF pays homage to Brothers Paul Brotherton, Jeremiah Lucey, Joseph McGuirk, Timothy Jackson Sr., Thomas Spencer and James Lyons III.
“We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by six of our best that dark day,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “They served every day on the job with dedication and professionalism and will not be forgotten.”
IAFF 3rd District Vice President Mike Mullane says, “We must also remember the families of the fallen. Let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
Worcester Local 1009, the Worcester Fire Department and the City of Worcester is holding a memorial and remembrance event. Fire fighters will march to the Franklin Street fire station, built on the former location of the cold storage warehouse. Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts President Bob McCarthy expects at least 3,000 to attend the tribute. Click here for more information.
The 1999 fire started when two homeless people knocked over a candle. As the blaze grew to five-alarm status, Worcester and neighboring fire companies were called to respond. When fire fighters arrived, the homeless people were thought to still be inside.
Complicating their efforts was the building’s structure: it was windowless with thick walls designed to maintain cold temperatures. But, on the day of the fire, the building held in the heat and smoke.
Fire fighters inside the warehouse made repeated mayday calls and activated audible location alarms. However, Brotherton, Jackson, Lucey, Lyons, McGuirk and Spencer perished. It took eight days to recover them.
Local 1009 President Ronald Armstrong, a 33-year veteran fire fighter, was serving as PFFM 7th District Vice President at the time. “I was on duty that night and was called to the union office while our local president, Frank Raffa, went to the scene. The sense of loss was powerful. It was hard for everyone,” he says.
On December 9, 1999, an estimated 100,000 visiting fire fighters from around the world, along with President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Representative McGovern (D-MA), Governor Paul Cellucci and thousands of mourners participated in a memorial service for the six fallen fire fighters. Kennedy delivered one of the more memorable speeches in fire fighter history. He closed his speech with the Firefighters Prayer/Poem, which is now hanging in every firehouse in Massachusetts.
Following the funerals, Steve MacDonald, then a member of the Boston, MA Local 718 Executive Board who was on the ground from the start, wrote about the fire and memorial service, documenting the tragedy and the story of the IAFF response and the part of this union in taking care of its members and their families. Click here to read the story.
After the fire investigation was complete, the building was demolished and the lot left vacant. After Worcester’s former central fire station was usurped for development purposes, a new central fire station – dubbed the Franklin Street station – was dedicated and became fully operational in November 2008.
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Honoring Those Who Serve
Fire Fighter David Shatas
Waterbury Fire Department
U.S. Army Reserve Serving in Afghanistan
Fire Fighter Bill D'Occhio
Waterbury Fire Department
Connecticut Army National Guard Serving in Afghanistan
We would like to thank Brass City Barber and Salon for providing the barbers, Napoli Imports and Shop Rite Waterbury for donating the food, and Heineken USA for donating the beverages. We also thank Fire Fighters Charlie Cicchetti and Bill Gannon for doing such a great job with the cooking and Fire Fighter Shawn McDonald with A&E Entertainement, who did a fabulous job as an MC and Danielle Fortier for doing a fantastic job with the face painting.
December 3, 2009 – On the 10th Anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, which claimed the lives of six Worcester Local 1009 fire fighters, the IAFF pays homage to Brothers Paul Brotherton, Jeremiah Lucey, Joseph McGuirk, Timothy Jackson Sr., Thomas Spencer and James Lyons III. 
Local 1009 President Ronald Armstrong, a 33-year veteran fire fighter, was serving as PFFM 7th District Vice President at the time. “I was on duty that night and was called to the union office while our local president, Frank Raffa, went to the scene. The sense of loss was powerful. It was hard for everyone,” he says.
