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News Archive» March 2001 3/29/01 Line of Duty Death
Our brother Jim left a wife, Patti, and two sons, Jim (16), and Mike (14). Donations can be made to the:
Structure fire and MVA Rollover 3-25-01 - Photos in
WFD Press Photo Gallery.
Well, I hate to get technical, but here goes. The way I had the site designed - with server-side-includes, caused the pages
to load VERY slowly. I have found a way to make global changes without using server-side-includes, so as you may have noticed, the pages are
opening much faster. There may still be a bug here and there, if you find one - please email me and let me know.
If you have this site as a Favorite, or as your Homepage, please click on the approriate links to the left to reassign them
because the page names have changed - .shtml to .html. Thanks.
The second raffle I was informed of by a friend. It is to benefit the
Litchfield Fire Department.
First prize is a 2001 Harley Davidson Fat Boy, 2nd prize is a Big Screen TV, 3rd prize is a computer system, 4th prize is a trip to Disney,
5th prize is a canoe. Tickets are $25.00 each and will help purchase new safety equipment for the Litchfield Fire Department. Tickets
can be purchased online along with more information
here.
I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the Ellison family and the Anderson and
Miami Township Fire Departments. Bill Ellison, 38, a firefighter on both departments succumbed to injuries sustained at a
structure fire on March 8, 2001. During a search, the floor collapsed, sending him into the well involved basement. When
rescuers found him with a thermal-imaging camera, he was badly burned and unconcious. Bill was hospitalized for 12
days at University Hospital, where doctors treated him for third degree burns to 50% of his body. Bill stayed with
his family long enough for his wife and two daughters to see him, tell him they loved him, and say goodbye. Shortly
afterwards, doctors removed him from the respirator. His heart stopped within a couple of minutes.
Our brother Bill left a wife and two daughters. Donations can be made to the William Ellison fund at any Fifth-Third Bank
branch, or by mail: FireFighter Bill Ellison's Fund, 38 Fountain Square Plaza, Cincinnati, OH 45263.
For more information please visit
Bill Ellison's Memorial Page and
Bill Ellison's Photo Gallery.
I added 10 more photos to
Bret Tarver's Photo Gallery and
I added a phone number for donations to
Bret Tarver's Memorial Page.
I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the Tarver family and the Phoenix Fire
Department. Bret Tarver, 40, an eight year veteran firefighter paramedic of Station 14 of the Phoenix, AZ Fire Department,
lost his life while battling an afternoon blaze at a shopping center on March 14, 2001.
For more information please visit
Bret Tarver's Memorial Page and
Bret Tarver's Photo Gallery.
I have consolidated the State Senators and State Representatives into an excel spreadsheet.
You can download it here:
voteresults6982.xls - 77Kb.
It contains their district, party, last name first, first name first, email address, and whether or not they they voted for
Amendment 4580/4555 and/or Bill 6982.
I also took the liberty of sorting those lists and created an email list for senators
and representatives who voted FOR the amendment only.
Just copy and paste it into your email program and you can send
a thank you to the pro-labor senators and representatives. You can download it here:
ctrepsenemailaddresses.txt - 4Kb.
I myself wrote an email to these senators and representatives and will be forwarding it to the mailing list subscribers. If your
not on the mailing list, please join
here.
Robin McDonald sent me three more photos for
Kevin McDonald's Photo Gallery.
The Waterbury Coalition of Municipal Unions elected Jack Cronan, the president of the
Waterbury Teachers Association, to be our representative on the state appointed board that will oversee
Waterbury's finances. He will be one member of a seven member board. The other members of the board will be:
a Governor appointed Waterbury taxpayer, a Governor appointed Waterbury business owner, a Governor appointed
financial expert, the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the state treasurer, and Mayor Giordano.
Congratulations to the Connecticut Firefighter Pipes and Drums for being recognized by
Lieutenant Governor M. Jodi Rell with the Connecticut Treasurer's Award. I added 2 photos to the
Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums Gallery.
I also added a new photo gallery for the bar that the band will be raffling off soon. Tom Cassin, a Waterbury FireFighter
and Piper in the band, sent me these photos. More info and more photos will follow. Please visit
Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums Bar Raffle Gallery.
I would like to express my congratulations to brother Waterbury FireFighter J.P. Dias and
his lovely wife Eva. Joseph was born Monday March 13 at 9:37 PM. He was 7 pounds and 8 ounces. Mom and baby are
doing well.
Unfortunately, despite our letters, emails, phone calls, and lobbying at the state capitol, the
representatives and senators did not pass the amendment to remove the anti-labor provisions of the state take-over bill for
Waterbury. They did however pass the bill with the anti-labor provisions included. Only time will tell how the mayor and
the state financial oversight board negotiates with the collective bargaining units of Waterbury.
I have added three photos to the
WFD Press Gallery.
The very night the representatives and senators were debating these amendments and bills, the WFD was battling a
structure fire that went on until 1330 hours Thursday night. Please take a moment to view the photos of Local #1339
union representatives lobbying at the state capitol this week as well as the photos of the structure fire that displaced three
families Thursday night on my shift.
Here are links to Bill 6982, the Roll Call Votes for it, and Amendments 4580 & 4555, and the Roll Call Votes for it also.
Waterbury bargaining units were able to come up with $7-10 million dollars in concessions.
Unfortunately, that was not enough, and that means the labor provision will probably be included in the state takeover bill.
This is all the more reason why everyone should email, call, and send letters to state representatives and senators
expressing their non-support of this anti-labor provision. Please visit the the page I have that created that has the email
addresses of Waterbury's representatives and senators. It also has links to pages where ALL state representatives and
state senators email addresses can be located. There is also some sample form letters that can be copied for your
emails. Find the email addresses and links
here.
I have received the files I was waiting for. Please visit
Letters to Representatives and Senators.
This page contains email addresses for Waterbury's State Representatives and Senators, along with some
sample text to inform them of our union's plight. Please email and send hardcopy letters if possible.
Unfortunately, the information released at the informational meeting was -
there is no information. The state wants the unions to agree to the concessions before they will remove
the labor provisions in the takeover bill. They are unable to give specific concessions as of yet. The
meeting was more of an awareness meeting. Pete Carozza would like all union members to call and/or
email their state representatives pleading our case as to removing the labor provisions, which basically
would eliminate collective bargaining. I am waiting for an email containing these email addresses,
phone numbers, and sample letters. As soon as I get it I will post the information.
Attention all WFD Members. There will be an information meeting at the Union
hall at the Elton Hotel on Saturday March 3rd at 12 Noon. There will be discussions about the city's
financial crisis and union concessions. There will be only one meeting - so be there.
Photo Galleries
are jammin! There are 3 New galleries -
Waterbury Fire Dept. Press,
Waterbury Fire Dept. Apparatus
(in progress), and
Elac Aviles Waterbury Fire Dept. - CT.
Check'em out.
I also wanted to reiterate that reminder about the upcoming raffle. I will be posting
information on a raffle for the Connecticut FireFighters Pipes and Drums. They are raffling off a bar - made out
of the nose of a fire apparatus. Details will follow soon. For now, you can get a glimpse of what it will look like
in the
Connecticut FireFighters Pipes and Drums
photo gallery.
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Our sympathies go out to the Heenan family and the Verga Fiire Department. Jim Heenan, 37, an 18 year veteran volunteer
firefighter with the Verga Fire and Rescue died from injuries sustained while fighting a structure fire on January 1, 2001. He was searching for
reported victims when the floor beneath him collapsed and he fell into the basement. He was trapped in debris for about 20 minutes before being
rescued. He suffered burns to 74% of his body and had been through several surgeries before he passed away March 25, 2001.
Sometimes you just can't catch a break. A new aerial ladder truck on loan to the Boston Fire Department came to an
abrupt stop today when it became wedged under an overpass. Three firefighters sustained minor injuries in the accident. The truck was removed
from the scene by about noon, but not before causing a major traffic back-up on the north-bound lane.
Our brother Bret left a wife and three daughters. The
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