12 minute read
Task Force Tips
Uniforms, Badges and Scale Models
UPS & DOWNS
Notes from Ron Jeffers
Chief Fierro is in charge of some 18 full time members and 20 part time employees, which includes tour chiefs. The unit answers and average of 10,000 calls a year in a city of some 80,000 jammed into 1.3 square-miles. DOWNS: A log cabin style home on Coles Ave., Mountainside, was On a side street east of Palisade Avenue in Union City sits a store filled with first responder uniforms and accessories. In a way, you could call it out-of-sight, out-ofmind, if you didn't know it was there. George Fierro, and G & F Enterprise, Inc., has been in business for 22-years, with the store at 201-18th Street. The store is filled with uniforms, patches, badges, hats, and other items needed for on duty police, firefighters, EMS personnel, security personnel and DPW workers. What else is there? Many 1/24th scale models of first responder vehicles representing local police, fire and EMS agencies. Fierro has a personal hobby of collecting such models and customizing some into local department vehicles. Some model companies make police car and SUV units that are either all white or black and white, with no decals. This is done for the serious modelers to place their own logos on them to make them more personal. Fierro uses models from companies like Motor Max, Die Hard and First Classic. Most are 1/24th scale. Sometimes he can use the color of the original model, or he has to repaint them to match the department vehicles. In order to get things right, he takes many close up photos of the various emergency vehicles. The graphics are very important and he is meticulous about his work. He then lines up the graphics to a “paper mold,” to fit the model and scale, and then the color. His graphics are then converted to Scotch Guard-the same as used on the real vehicles. Fierro began putting his work on display at his store. They became eye catchers. He started selling some and getting request to assemble models from various local departments. An unexpected addition to the uniform business. As a matter of fact, after this author was retired for about 20-years from the UCPD, I finally got a scale model of a Union City radio car (still call them that), custom made by Fierro. Also on display in the store are pieces of his personal collection including the Hess toy trucks and NJ PBA official toys. G & F Enterprise has been in business for 22-years, but that's not all that George Fierro does. He also serves his city as a dedicated EMT. He joined Union City EMS in 1994 and worked his way up the ranks to Chief of EMS in 2014. involved in flames, in October. Officials said the home was being razed to make way for a new dwelling. UPS: Wallington ex-fire chiefs Richard Sedor and James Furtak have completed 45-years of service to the community and the fire department. Both are members of Truck Co. 1. DOWNS: Members of the NJ Fire Museum reported that on the morning of Nov. 2nd their black and silver colored enclosed trailer was stolen from the museum's yard in Allentown. The trailer had donated firematic items inside it. The trailer is 24-feet in length with NJ plate TVU63Z. UPS: On Nov. 11th the Ridgefield F.D. received a large shipment of toys from First Responders Children's Foundation as part of their Toy Express program for Christmas. The toys were distributed to children of first responders in the immediate area through the holiday season. DOWNS: A Paterson woman ran back into her burning home to save her dog and did not make it out as a 5-alarm fire raced through a row of homes on Summer St., Nov. 8th. Two city firefighters were treated for burn injuries at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. A total of 47 residents were displaced. UPS: The Rutgers School of Public Health received a $1.5 million FEMA grant to support cancer research for volunteer firefighters, according to the grant's principal investigator, Judith Graber. DOWNS: A 73-year-old woman died after firefighters removed her from a burning apartment on Juliustown Rd., in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Twp, Nov. 4th, officials said. She was pronounced dead at an area hospital. The Burlington County fire marshal preliminary ruled the fire as accidental. Investigators believe the victim was smoking near oxygen tanks in the residence. UPS: Blairstown volunteer firefighter and EMT Bob Halberstadt, 80, has served his community for decades. He was recently honored by Rachael Ray, who honored him on her television show as part of her “Thanks for Giving” series leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Halberstadt retired from his job as a driver for the New York Daily News eight years ago and, despite being a member of the Bliarstown volunteer ambulance corps for 26years, he felt the need for additional service to his community. Last year, he completed training to become a volunteer firefighter with Hose Co. 1. Halberstadt has a desire to remain active along with his belief in the adage that age is just a number. DOWNS: A man accused of setting an Abinger Pl. dwelling on fire, in Newark on Nov. 11th, had to be rescued from the burning building after he ran to its roof, officials said. Stephen Jones, 24, was charged with arson following his rescue, according to Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose. Firefighters rescued the man and he was immediately arrested. Jones suffered burns to his hands and a firefighter sustained neck burns. Both were treated at University Hospital. UPS: The Ridgefield F.D. has received a donation of a 53-foot trailer from Toufayan Bakeries. It will be converted into a large mask confidence course training maze, according to Fire Chief Dave Brierty. DOWNS: A Hasbrouck Heights firefighter fell through the secondfloor of a burning Henry St. dwelling, Nov. 16th, but escaped serious injury, officials said. Firefighter Robert Knobloch was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, following the mayday call. UPS: The Market Street firehouse in Morristown was built in 1870 and now serves as a location for antique apparatus and historical paraphernalia. Recently, the brick structure received an exterior upgrade with new garage doors. They are described as carriage house style garage doors. The firehouse was the home of Washington Engine Co. 1 and the Independent Hose Company. No longer in use, volunteers continue to restore the structure and apparatus. DOWNS: Nine buses suffered damage as a result of a fire at a Route 27 bus yard in Franklin Twp., Nov. 3rd. Fire units from the Community Fire Co. and East Franklin extinguished the fires. UPS: On Nov. 3rd, Linden firefighters helped deliver a baby at the woman's home on 4th Ave. Firefighters found the woman in bed with the baby crowning, according to a statement from Linden Fire Chief William Hasko, Jr. The birth was imminent, and they were able to safely deliver the girl at 7:12 a.m. and transport mother and infant to a local hospital. DOWNS: Police charged a 12year-old Ocean City boy with arson related charges for a November 15th fire that closed the Acme supermarket on Eighth St., officials said. The fire was limited to the parking garage under the supermarket. UPS: On Nov. 23rd, members of Hackensack IAFF Locals 2081 & 3172 donated 100 turkeys and nearly a thousand pounds of dry food and Thanksgiving fixing to the Center for Food Action in Hackensack and Saddle Brook. DOWNS: Members of a Hudson Avenue family, in Englewood, were displaced from their home after the house caught fire while plumbing work was being done on the secondfloor, Oct. 31st., officials said. UPS: Hackensack firefighters, using a boat and ropes, rescued a troubled 32-year-old man from the Hackensack River after he plunged from a pedestrian bridge on FDU campus grounds, Nov. 23rd. The man was suspected of committing a series of burglaries, according to police. The man was taken to HUMC for treatment and a mental health evaluation. DOWNS: One firefighter was injured and 10 residents displaced after a fire at a Franklin Ave. dwelling in West Orange, Nov. 5th. The firefighter suffered a fall resulting in a minor knee injury and was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center for evaluation. A pet cat was rescued from one of the apartments, officials said. RON JEFFERS Union City EMS Chief and president of G & F Enterprise, Inc., George Fierro, with some of his custom made first responder vehicles made for local departments.
Five-Alarm Fatal Inferno Claims One Life in Paterson
Paterson, NJ - Paterson firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze that destroyed two homes, severely damaged three others, and claimed the life of one resident early on the morning of Sunday, November 8th.
Paterson dispatch began receiv- JUMPTOFILE# ing multiple calls 110920103 for a house fire on Summer Street shortly after 1:30 A.M. Police arrived on scene within minutes and advised that there was heavy fire showing from a two-and-a-half story home with possible entrapment.
Engine 1 and Tower 1 arrived on scene and began an attempt on an interior attack to locate the victim. The main fire building, which was heavily involved in fire, began to spread to the 'Delta' exposure, which became well involved in minutes.
Battalion 1 arrived on scene and transmitted a second-alarm, reporting that he had (two) twoand-a-half story frames with severe exposure problems, and companies were to go into a defensive operation. Minutes later, a third-alarm was transmitted as homes at 489 and 491 Summer Street were fully involved with extension to the 'Bravo' and 'Delta' 1 exposures.
Heavy fire and embers lit up the street as companies set up two ladder pipes, a deck gun and multiple exterior lines. Reports came in that a third exposure in the rear was on fire and a fourth-alarm was transmitted.
All Paterson and mutual aid companies fought the fire for about two hours. A fifth-alarm would be transmitted as both fully involved structures collapsed. Firefighters went to an interior attack on the remaining exposures and knocked down any remaining fire.
Quick work kept the fire from spreading down the block. Two firefighters suffered burn injuries and were later released from the hospital. One victim and a dog perished in the blaze.
Mutual aid from Clifton, Passaic, Prospect Park, Haledon, Hawthorne, Totowa, Ringwood, West Paterson and Fair Lawn assisted Paterson units on scene. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and under investigation.
- CHRIS TOMPKINS
CHRIS TOMPKINS WWW.BTFIREPHOTOS.COM
ACTION SHOTS
If you have photos you would like to see in our “Action Shots” feature, please upload them on our website, www.1stResponderNews.com or email them to Lindsey@1stResponderNews.com.
RON JEFFERS Fire units from several South Bergen departments operated at a chimney fire, with extension to the Jocelyn Avenue dwelling, in Wood-Ridge on an unusually warm November 10th.
CHRIS TOMPKINS WWW.BTFIREPHOTOS.COM Paterson Battalion Chief Lisco at a mutual aid 3rd alarm in Passaic on 11-9-20.
2021…Let’s start it off on the right foot!
FORK & HOSE CO.
a Food Blog by A.J. Fusco
There is absolutely no reason to go into what 2020 was like, we were all there. Instead, let’s look into 2021 with some optimism, hope and culinary adventure. January usually brings on plenty of resolutions and self promises, most often revolving around health and wellness. This is absolutely a good thing, and something I myself tend to partake in. But where I think we fall flat on those commitments is our diet. This is by no means a reference to “diets” like South Beach, Paleo, Keto or any of the other numerous ones out there. I am referring simply to what we are eating and how it will affect the resolutions and promises we made to ourselves. Healthy food is connected to all sorts of negative connotations, whether it be “expensive” or “lacking in flavor”. Many of these are not true, and sometimes quite the opposite. Fresh produce for instance is almost always cheaper than the canned variety. And while flavor is highly subjective, many healthy recipes contain tons of flavor, usually in the form of good fats, fresh herbs and spices.
It would be easy to say just throw some chicken on the grill or toss up a kale salad. These are obviously healthy for you and by all means if that’s what you enjoy, go for it. But sometimes I think the key to sustaining healthier eating habits lie in the more adventurous recipes. The ones that take what we would normally consider unhealthy, but delicious all the same, and flip it upside down using more nutritious ingredients and different techniques. When we make these recipes, it breaks up the monotony of the “grilled chicken, sweet potato and broccoli” meals. These new and unexpected recipes keep us and our palates excited for more, hence the sustainable aspect of it all.
I challenge you in 2021 to try and think outside of the box when it comes to your cooking. Think of foods that you may not make as often as you would like or should. Think…cauliflower. Yes, cauliflower gets a bad rap sometimes. But it is the perfect blank canvas for flavors and textures. And it just so happens to make a great alternative to mashed potatoes. When combined with sweet roasted garlic and some plain Greek yogurt, the cauliflower turns into a creamy dish that will make you forget about potatoes. This recipe has tons of flavor, nutrients and will certainly turn you into a believer that healthy food can be delicious.
Here’s to a Happy and Healthy New Year!
