Served as Fire Chief (1920 - 1954) Fire Chief Victor H. Veit, Chief of the department for 33 years, got his start in 1896, just around the corner from his job at Yale & Towne. "It was a little old barn," recalled the Chief. George Walton was Captain, and nobody [...]
The horse, drawn carriage, and steamer pumpers at Stamford Fire Station #3 on Fairfield Avenue, replaced by motorized equipment around 1920. In this phot, dated 1933, we see truck driver, Edward Gleason, and seated beside him is Henry Dugdale. Standing from left to right are Michael Donovan, John Solomon, [...]
The Stamford Fire Department has grown to fifty-eight personnel in 1922, staffing three fire stations. Chief Victor Veit is in charge. During the previous year, 1921, the Department received and responded to 94 Bell Alarms, 140 Telephone Alarms and 18 verbal calls, for a total of 252 Alarms. This is [...]
On February 4, 1922, a massive explosion of a railroad tank car carrying mixed acids was felt as far away as Sound Beach. The tank car was located at the canal waterfront factory of Richards and Co., today's address is 845 Canal Street. The explosion destroyed one of Richards & [...]
Stamford Fire Department receives its new American LaFrance Triple Combination Hose, Pumper, and Chemical Equipment Car. It went into service as Engine No. 4 after the acceptance testing was completed on the Broad Street bridge.
In a shocking turn of events, the east and north walls of the former Masonic Hall building on Atlantic Street collapsed on April 24, 2023. The incident, which sent shockwaves through the community, was under the supervision of the Metropolitan Wrecking Company at the time of the disaster. [...]
On the morning of June 21, 1924, Stamford Fire Department Engine No. 4 skidded off the road at Bulls Head during a strong thunderstorm, throwing Firefighter William McCarthy from the rear step of apparatus and onto the rocks, The fall caused a significant laceration to his head. Three other firefighters [...]
These pictures of Stamford Fire Departments' "Alarm Room," come from the 1924 Ball Program,. They include instructions on how to transmit an "Alarm of Fire".
Stamford firefighters have a long-standing tradition of helping to improve the job that they love so much. In 1925, when budget constraints prevailed, Stamford Firefighters saved taxpayers $1,500 ($23,0000 in today's money) by building their own training tower in the back of the Central Fire Station. The tower was designed [...]
The picture shown is a high-resolution scan of an image found in the 5th Grand Ball Program in 1928. The view is looking west, across the East Branch Canal. The building along the canal still stands today but has recently been completed stripped down and rebuilt (shown below). The Yale [...]
