The Hamden CERT Advance Team was activated three times in a 15-day period for three major (2 alarm) residential structure fires. On Sunday, November 17th Hamden Fire Department responded to a single-family home on Country Hills Road that was fully involved in fire on arrival of the first responding companies. During the ongoing red-flag conditions, very dry & high wind) the fire was contained to the structure of origin and luckily all of the residents were able to escape the home. Hamden CERT assisted the HFD, AMR and Red Cross with rehabilitation of the firefighters and relocation of the occupants. Two days later on November 19th our Hamden CERT Members were dispatched to another 2-alarm fire in a 3-story multi-family apartment building on Park Road. There was heavy fire damage that was held to 1 unit with some extension to the unit above. Seven individuals were displaced and Hamden CERT members assisted in their relocation and provided rehabilitation and logistical support to the firefighters. On December 1st, Hamden CERT assisted Hamden Fire for a residential structure fire on Second Street. Firefighters made a great stop of a fire in the walls of the 2nd floor that had extended into the 3rd floor. All of the occupants were able to evacuate the structure and were assisted by Hamden Community Services and the Red Cross for relocation. Again, there were no injuries to occupants or firefighters. All three incidents are under investigation of the Hamden Fire Marshals Office. Also on scene were the Hamden building department official, Red Cross, AMR, Hamden Community Services and utility companies who all assisted at all 3 scenes. Country Hills Road Park Road 2nd Street

Congratulations to our members from Hamden CERT Class #23 who graduated on 11/14/24. Our new members completed 8 weeks of basic training that started in September. We thank you for your commitment and dedication over the last two months and look forward to having you join us in the near future!

Hamden CERT, along with our  Hamden Police officers and our school crossing guards, managed the hundreds of vehicles and trick or treaters who came out to the Spring Glenn area on Halloween for a well-known haunted house . Thanks to our team effort and dedication, we were able to help keep our community and visitors safe throughout the seven-hour assignment.

The Hamden CERT program had a very busy year providing service to the Hamden community. Along with the many planned community events, the team was also active with public service, emergency activations, emergency preparedness, public education, and our ongoing training schedule. Hamden CERT provided logistical support to Hamden Fire Department, Hamden Police Department, Hamden Parks & Recreation, Town Center Park Commission, Hamden Arts, Keefe Community Center, and the Hamden Veterans Commission along with Hamden Community Services. We also were instrumental in the 2024 Hamden Holiday Toy/Food Drive that took place over the Christmas Holiday Seasons! On April 18th, we graduated ten (10) students from our 22nd CERT Basic Training Class at the Dunbar Hill Volunteer Fire Station. We conducted another class (Hamden CERT Basic Training Class 23) that started in September and graduated eleven (11) students on November 14th. Here are the details of our activity for 2024: Emergency Calls - 5 emergency activations included CERT Response for four residential structure fires where we assisted displaced occupants and supplied rehabilitation services for our firefighters. CERT assisted with one other emergency activation to assist the Hamden Fire Department with logistical support during an extended operation at Sleeping Giant State Park during a search for a missing person on a very warm day back on July 13th. Hamden CERT provided 92 service hours related to emergency activations during the year. Planned Community Events – 14 requests for assistance and logistical support that included: Earth Day, our Fireworks and Summer Concert Series, along with the organization of the Memorial Day Parade, The Hamden Festival & Road Race, Hamden Middle School 2-day Graduation Ceremony, National Night Out, Caribbean Festival, Hamden Animal Control Fundraiser, Brooksvale Fall Festival and the Silver Bells Holiday Venue. Hamden CERT provided 780 service hours related to Community Events during the year. Public Service/Public Education –29 We offered over 40 hours of emergency preparedness training to our residents at our two CERT Basic Training Classes along with ongoing review classes for our sworn members. Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness information is also distributed by our members throughout the year at planned events, with classes given to community agencies on request. Hamden CERT provided 778 service hours related to Public Service & Emergency Preparedness Training during the year.

On Wednesday, April 30th the Hamden Middle School sponsored a Career Day for its students. Along with our Municipal Partners like Hamden Police and Public Works, nine of our Hamden CERT Members were on site to explain what we do and how we play a large role in our town’s Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness. Thank you to all of the other private businesses who donated their time and brought along their vehicles and/or the equipment that they use to serve our community. Also, a special thank you goes out to Mayor Garrett, Acting Fire Chief Carter and Laura Hutchinson from WTNH, Channel 8, who took the time to greet the students.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the staff and students from Hamden Middle School enjoyed themselves during the festivities! Thank you to the staff of Hamden Middle School for their planning and for the coffee and snacks that they provided to the many agencies that made this event possible.

February 17, 2025 We had a great turnout for our monthly training session with 34 members attending a tour of the Connecticut Transit bus terminal on State Street. Thank you to the CT Transit personnel Chris Allen and Frank DiGistina along with Senior CERT Member Jackie Romprey (also a CT Transit Employee) for making this informative training session possible. The main subject of this tour was to see the operation, equipment, and safety features of the battery electric buses (BEBs). Due to the increase in chargeable lithium-ion battery powered vehicles, this class gave our members better insight into the operation, charging, and safety issues that all of us should be aware of. Many lithium-ion batteries (either small appliances or tools with both small & large batteries) have caused tragic results and major fires due to incorrect charging methods and incorrect care nationwide, causing many serious injuries and fatalities. This class is another example of the ongoing safety training that our CERT Members participate in even after our basic training.

On Thursday evening we were happy to host some of our CERT brothers and sisters from Manchester, Southington, and Hartford CERT Programs. We displayed some of our firefighter rehabilitation equipment and supplies and also gave them a tour of both of our emergency response vehicles. Thanks to Manchester CERT for bringing along their vehicles and displaying their cache of drones and equipment. As always, it’s a pleasure to visit with our other CERT members from other towns since there is no distance between us when it comes to emergency management and CERT programs!

Congratulations to our members from Hamden CERT Class #22 who graduated on April 18, 2024. Our new members completed 8 weeks of basic training that started back on February 22nd. We thank you for your commitment and dedication over the last two months and look forward to having you join us in the near future!

Hamden CERT's New Emergency Response Vehicle Is Now Ready To Serve! With a project that started back in October of last year, we have finally reached completion of adding another vehicle to our Hamden CERT program. With our original vehicle reaching the 30-year milestone, it was time to look for a back-up that would be more dependable. We purchased a 2000 Ford 350 Ford transit van that was originally used by other local departments as a dive team response vehicle. With emergency lighting, scene lighting, and an interior with two bench seats (seating for at least 8) and storage underneath, it was a perfect fit for what we needed. Our plan is to have this vehicle serve as our primary vehicle for emergency response (firefighter rehabilitation & fire victim assistance) and our older vehicle to be used for planned events and traffic and crowd management. As you can see from many of the before & after photos, this project would not have been possible without the many months of work done by our members who saved us additional time and expense in cleaning, building custom cabinetry, and preparing for the exterior reflective emblems and lettering. We also thank our Mayor’s Office, our Fire Chief, our FD maintenance division, Economic Development Office, the Purchasing Department, and Century Sign of Hamden for their assistance and support of this project that will not only benefit our first Responders but all members of our local and regional communities.

The Hamden Firefighters Awards Committee has chosen Hamden CERT for a 2023 Community Service Award in recognition of our contributions to the town. We would like to thank Mayor Lauren Garrett, Fire Chief Jeffrey Naples, and the Hamden Firefighters Awards Committee for their recognition of our team. Our Volunteer Members are always there to support our firefighters, other first responders, and any civilians who may be the victims of any large-scale emergency. It is always our privilege to respond and be by the side of our firefighters and other responders while they perform their duties to protect the lives and property of our community members. For those of you who took the time to come out to honor our firefighters and civilians who helped make a difference, when misfortunes or emergencies occurred, we thank you! Special thanks to the Dunbar Hill Volunteer firefighters from Station #8 for their hospitality in giving us a home in opening their station to us. We also would like to recognize our unseen partners from our Hamden Central Communications Office who answer every 911 call and dispatch our emergency responders. Not only do they assist callers in their most trying moments but also serve as our guardians when we call them to send additional resources for our well-being and the needs of our community.

On October 19th a multi-alarm fire was reported at a single-family dwelling on Downes Road. The fire originated in an attached 2-car garage and extended into the living area of the home. This incident was complicated because of its location approximately 1 mile at the end of a dead-end road with no fire hydrants available. A regional tanker task force was activated and assisted the Hamden Fire Department with a 4-engine, relay pumping operation supplied by 3 portable water tanks set up at the intersection of Gaylord Mountain Road and Downes Road. Tanker trucks from Bethany Fire Department and other mutual aid departments resupplied their tankers from a hydrant over 2 miles away at West Woods School. There was extensive damage to the structure of origin with a total collapse of the roof area and also the loss of a private vehicle that was parked outside the garage area. Luckily, there were no injuries and the three displaced adults were assisted by Hamden Community Services and the American Red Cross. Hamden CERT assisted with logistical support and rehabilitation services to all of the firefighters, (providing a meal) including all of the many mutual-aid departments who responded to this extremely difficult, multi-operational-period incident. Thank you to our mutual aid partners from Bethany, North Haven, New Haven, Wallingford, Cheshire, Prospect, Oxford, and Beacon Falls along with station coverage from neighboring towns and support from the Hamden Police Department. Thank you to AMR, who covered all of our medical calls along with scene stand-by at this extensive multi-agency incident. Hamden CERT Personnel cleared the scene at 07:00 hours. This fire is under investigation by the Office of the Hamden Fire Marshal.

The Hamden CERT call-out team had a busy 15-day period with two multi-alarm fires within this short period of time. A 2-alarm fire in a multi-family apartment building at 98 Kaye Vue Drive on October 4th did considerable damage to two apartments on the second floor and extensive smoke and water damage to all the other apartments. There were no injuries reported at this incident. Hamden CERT provided logistical support along with rehabilitation services, assisting with displaced residents and assisting the HFD shop personnel with the resupply of the many air bottles used by the firefighters. Firefighters and neighbors were able to alert and evacuate numerous families from the building. Engine 2 began an aggressive interior attack of the second-floor unit while Rescue 2 began a primary search for occupants. They encountered heavy fire and smoke in the apartment of origin that extended through the roof. The fire was escalated to a 2nd alarm. North Haven, Wallingford, and Cheshire Fire Departments provided assistance at the scene while the New Haven and Bethany Fire Departments, along with American Medical Response, offered station and town coverage. The apartment building contained 9 units. Only two of the units suffered considerable amounts of fire, smoke, and water damage. Another 4 units had light to moderate smoke and water damage. No injuries to residents or firefighters were reported. A total of 22 occupants were displaced. Numerous agencies assisted the Hamden Fire Department and residents at the scene including Hamden CERT, (providing firefighter rehabilitation and resident relocation assistance), Hamden Police, Hamden Community Services, and the American Red Cross. Hamden CERT Personnel cleared the scene at 02:30 hours. The fire is under investigation by the Hamden Fire Marshal’s Office.