Fire Mike On All Things Fire: October 2014

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

October 15th, 2014 | Category: Other unclassified

The last alarm was sounded for Firefighter Kevin Bell. As he was laid to rest, Dispatcher Andrew Nichols paid tribute.

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Brother Patrick Dooley recorded the services and has shared the photographs with us.

He has created a tribute for Firefighter Kevin Bell on his website. Thanks Patrick.

October 14th, 2014 | Category: Obituaries

City left in good hands while Hartford Firefighters attended memorial service.

Numerous fire departments sent apparatus and personnel to protect the Capital City while Hartford Firefighters said goodbye to their fallen brother.

Here is the audio from 07:00 to 17:00. Condensed into 50 minutes.

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Unofficial HFD Historian, Ignatius Kapalczynski documented the fire companies and their assignments during the Firefighter Bell Memorial Service and Funeral. Thanks Iggy.

Engine Companies:

Bridgeport E-1, Acting Engine 1
East Hartford E-3, Acting Engine 2
Manchester E-4, Acting Engine 5
New Britain E-1, Acting Engine 7
Waterbury E-4, Acting Engine 8
UCONN HCFD E-1, Acting Engine 9
Southington E-51, Acting Engine 10
Middletown E-4, Acting Engine 11
Stamford E-1, Acting Engine 14
Meriden E-4, Acting Engine 15
Westport E-2, Acting Engine 16
Bristol E-1, Acting Engine 21 @ E-7 Quarters
West Haven E-25, Acting Engine 22 @ E-10 Quarters
West Hartford E-7, Acting Engine 23 @ E-11 Quarters

Ladders:

UCONN-Storrs TL-122 Acting L-21? @ Tac-1 Quarters
Norwich TL-2, Acting Ladder 2
New Britain L-1, Acting Ladder 3
Norwalk T-2 (Tiller), Acting Ladder 4
West Hartford Q-3, Acting Ladder 5
Bridgeport TL-5, Acting Ladder 6

Rescue:

Fairfield R-1, Acting Tac 1

Chiefs:

East Hartford, Acting District 1
New Britain, Acting District 2 @ Engine 7’s quarters

Safety: East Hartford Chief

Mechanic:

New Britain Unit 21

It should be noted that the East Haven Fire Department committed to send an Engine or Truck with a crew, however they were not assigned.

Kevin Bell laid to rest.

The last alarm was sounded for Firefighter Kevin Bell. As he was laid to rest, Dispatcher Andrew Nichols paid tribute.

00:00

Brother Patrick Dooley recorded the services and has shared the photographs with us.

He has created a tribute for Firefighter Kevin Bell on his website. Thanks Patrick.

City left in good hands while Hartford Firefighters attended memorial service.

Numerous fire departments sent apparatus and personnel to protect the Capital City while Hartford Firefighters said goodbye to their fallen brother.

Here is the audio from 07:00 to 17:00. Condensed into 50 minutes.

00:00

Unofficial HFD Historian, Ignatius Kapalczynski documented the fire companies and their assignments during the Firefighter Bell Memorial Service and Funeral. Thanks Iggy.

Engine Companies:

Bridgeport E-1, Acting Engine 1
East Hartford E-3, Acting Engine 2
Manchester E-4, Acting Engine 5
New Britain E-1, Acting Engine 7
Waterbury E-4, Acting Engine 8
UCONN HCFD E-1, Acting Engine 9
Southington E-51, Acting Engine 10
Middletown E-4, Acting Engine 11
Stamford E-1, Acting Engine 14
Meriden E-4, Acting Engine 15
Westport E-2, Acting Engine 16
Bristol E-1, Acting Engine 21 @ E-7 Quarters
West Haven E-25, Acting Engine 22 @ E-10 Quarters
West Hartford E-7, Acting Engine 23 @ E-11 Quarters

Ladders:

UCONN-Storrs TL-122 Acting L-21? @ Tac-1 Quarters
Norwich TL-2, Acting Ladder 2
New Britain L-1, Acting Ladder 3
Norwalk T-2 (Tiller), Acting Ladder 4
West Hartford Q-3, Acting Ladder 5
Bridgeport TL-5, Acting Ladder 6

Rescue:

Fairfield R-1, Acting Tac 1

Chiefs:

East Hartford, Acting District 1
New Britain, Acting District 2 @ Engine 7’s quarters

Safety: East Hartford Chief

Mechanic:

New Britain Unit 21

It should be noted that the East Haven Fire Department committed to send an Engine or Truck with a crew, however they were not assigned.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

City left in good hands while Hartford Firefighters attended memorial service.

Engine Companies:

Ladders:

UCONN-Storrs TL-122 Acting L-1? @ Tac-1 Quarters)
Norwich TL-2, Acting Ladder 2
New Britain L-1, Acting Ladder 3
Norwalk T-2 (Tiller), Acting Ladder 4
West Hartford Q-3, Acting Ladder 5
Bridgeport TL-5, Acting Ladder 6

Rescue:

Fairfield R-?, Acting Tac 1

Chiefs:

East Hartford, Acting District 1
New Britain, Acting District 2 @ Engine 7’s quarters

Safety: TBD

Mechanic:

New Britain Unit 21

It should be noted that the East Haven Fire Department committed to send an Engine or Truck with a crew, however they were not assigned.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

The arrangements for Fallen Fire Fighter Kevin L. Bell are as follows:

Monday, October 13, 2014

The First Cathedral

1151 Blue Hills Avenue

Bloomfield, CT 06002

1100 hrs

Uniformed Personnel from outside Departments are asked to assemble at the Xfinity Theatre parking lot, 61 Savitt Way, Hartford, at 0600 Hrs, where there will be bus service to The First Cathedral.

Upon Conclusion of the service, busses will transport personnel to the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd, for a gathering to honor F/F Kevin Bell.

Continuous bus service to the Xfinity Theatre parking lot for vehicle retrieval will be available until 2100 hours.

All outside agency Honor Guard Units and Pipe and Drum bands are requested to contact:

Lt. Richard Driscoll

(860) 209-1062

DrisR001@hartford.gov

Friday, October 10, 2014

Kevin Bell Funeral Service Information

Updated information for the October 13, 2014 service for Hartford Fire Fighter Kevin Bell:

The 10:00am - 11:00am viewing is for Hartford Fire Fighters ONLY. The funeral service begins at approximately 11:00am. The staging area/assembly area for all non-HFD uniformed personnel will be at the Xfinity Center, the address is 61 Savitt Way. All personnel will be bused to the church in Bloomfield. All fire departments attending are asked not to bring fire apparatus.

As additional information becomes available please share, especially in regards to what time the buses will start departing the Xfinity, and how bus service to the cemetery and Convention Center is being arranged.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Funeral Arrangements Firefighter Bell

October 9, 2014 TO: General Membership FROM: Vincent Fusco, President RE: Funeral Arrangements for Firefighter Kevin Bell Dear Brother and Sister Firefighters, Preliminary Wake and Funeral arrangements have been completed for Brother Kevin L. Bell as follows: Date: October 13, 2014 Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am Calling hours and Firefighter Walk Through 11:00 am Funeral Mass Location: The First Cathedral 1151 Blue Hills Ave. Bloomfield, CT 06002 Class A Uniforms are to be worn by all members Additional information will be disseminated as it becomes available. The Kevin L. Bell Memorial Family Fund has been established through the Hartford Fire Fighters Survivors' Fund to benefit the family of Brother Bell. Donations may be sent to the following: Kevin L. Bell Memorial Family Fund C/O Hartford Fire Fighters Survivors' Fund Farmington Bank 669 Hebron Ave Glastonbury, CT 06033 Please keep Kevin's family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank You

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Hartford,CT fire dept LODD

Father Of Firefighter Killed Tuesday: “I Was Very Proud Of Him”

OCTOBER 8, 2014, 10:33 AM
HARTFORD — Hartford firefighter Kevin Bell was killed and three others were injured fighting a house fire on Blue Hills Avenue Tuesday night.
Bell, 48 and a member of the department for six years, came to firefighting relatively late in life, inspired by a relative, according to his father Manuel Gomes.
“He saw how [retired Hartford chief] Charlie [Teale] came up through the ranks and made chief,” Gomes said Wednesday. “I would always see him talking to Charlie.”
Gomes said Teale, who is his cousin, showed Bell how to apply for the academy, but left the rest to him. “He mentored him but everything Kevin did he did for himself,” Gomes said. “I was very proud of him” Gomes said Bell was married to Wayatte Statham-Bell and had a daughter, Raquel.
One of the injured firefighters was burned over 10 percent of his body and was flown to the burn center at Bridgeport Hospital, but he is expected to survive, Mayor Pedro Segarra said. The other two were being treated for injuries at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.

”Today, we lost one of our own, someone who lost his life so that others might be saved,” Segarra said at a news conference Tuesday at the city’s public safety complex. “He’s a hero.”
He was the first Hartford firefighter to die battling a fire in 40 years.
The fire was reported about 6:30 p.m. at a two-story home at 598 Blue Hills Ave. Members of two families were in the home at the time, but escaped without injuries, fire Chief Carlos Huertas said at the news conference.
Segarra did not identify the firefighter “out of respect for his family,” but said he was 48 years old and had been with the department for six years. The firefighter was born and raised in the city, Segarra said.
“Our hearts are extremely heavy at this time with the knowledge that these brave men and woman risk their lives every day to protect our city,” the mayor said.
“I can tell you the suffering and grief is indescribable” for the family of the victim, Segarra said. “One of our firefighters lost his life serving others,” Huertas said.
Gomes said Wednesday that Bell’s lifelong passion was music and that he produced music and also dee-jayed parties and events around town.
“Firefighting was his vocation but music was his passion,” said Gomes, adding that he talked to his son about the dangers of the job.
“I said I’m glad you got the opportunity, but be careful,” Gomes said. “And he said ‘they trained us great, I’m very careful.'”
“This is a tragic, tragic accident.”
Bell’s cousin, Ed Martin, said Bell was one of the first rap/hip-hop producers in the state. “He was a great person,” Martin said.
He said Bell played several instruments, managed bands and even put out a few albums.
“He was always a person who wanted to learn and get better,” Martin said. “He could go outside and hear the wind or hear birds and make music out of that.”
The fire department ordered all firehouses to lower flags to half staff.
The last firefighter to die at a fire in the city was Thomas Fischer, who died on Sept. 15, 1974, on Park Street.
Huertas said he did not want to go into the specifics of the fire other than to say it was a two-alarm assignment, but he said it was under investigation and that the state fire marshal’s office was assisting.
“Our entire department is grieving but there will be no loss of service,” Huertas said.
A witness to the fire, who did not want to be identified, said he saw one firefighter jump through a second-story window.
Mary Lewis of Bloomfield said her daughter was home in the lower portion of the building when the fire broke out in the second story. Lewis said her daughter got out safely and that her daughter’s son was up the street at the time.
The woman who lives on the second story was not home when the fire started, Lewis said.
Blue Hills Avenue, a major road in Blue Hills section of the city, was closed from Tower Avenue to Boothbay Street as of 10 p.m. Some residents who had not been home at the time of the fire were still waiting to be let into the area.
Witnesses said initially they could see massive amounts of smoke, but that soon they could see flames in the rear of the house.
“You could see the smoke and when you went around back you could see fire,” said Andre Suarez, who lives on Blue Hills Avenue.
Suarez was heading south on Blue Hills Avenue from Bloomfield with a friend when they saw smoke. He said the stopped and saw a woman outside the home screaming.
“We saw the smoke and we asked if anyone was in the house,” he said. “She said no. … So we called 911.”
A fire station is not far away at 636 Blue Hills Ave. Huertas said that companies responded within minutes of the call.
“Tonight’s tragic events are another reminder of the incredible sacrifice that our state’s first responders make on a daily basis,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the hero we lost tonight and those who were injured in the line of duty in our capital city.”