New Hamden Chief Gary Merwede with map of fire districts.
At the southern end of the little bridge where Skiff Street crosses the Mill River, a car went off the road, broke through the parapet barrier, and catapulted, landing upside down in the dark, icy waters.
Temperatures were in the single digits. Then-Fire Lt. Gary Merwede — who later this month gets sworn in as Hamden’s new fire chief — was awakened from his sleep about a half mile away at the Whitney Avenue firehouse.
It was 2 a.m. in the February winter of 2007. Alarms within in the firehouse blared as Merwede slid down that iconic pole to be part of the team rushing to respond to the crash.
It turned out the driver was stuck inside the overturned car and drowning while locked behind his seat belt.
Thanks to rapid rescue and emergency medical care provided, the driver survived, is flourishing today in the news business, and still stays in touch with some of his rescuers, including Merwede. (Merwede declined to identify the man.)
Wading In The Water
Scene of the crash, on opposite side of the parapet, where Skiff St. crosses Mill River.
Merwede has already begun serving as Hamden’s new fire chief pending his formal swearing-in. In an interview in his office, adjacent to that same firehouse, Merwede recalled that moment — and one other in particular — as emblematic of the teamwork, camaraderie, and joy in doing good things that continue inspire him on the job.
His unit, along with firefighters from Engine 72 on Circular Drive, where Merwede had first been stationed when he joined the fire service in 1994, arrived that February night to find the car having dropped down the embankment and was completed overturned. The water was knee-deep but very cold.
Wading into the water that night, Merwede recalled, “we were able to extricate the driver, who was hanging upside down from his seat belt.
“The driver had taken in water and had drowned. But our crews provided ALS [advanced life support] while taking him to the hospital, and the driver survived.”
Merwede said he’ll always remember that day, because everything had to go right for it to work, he said, and it did. Merwede called the result “miraculous.”
Pacing
Merwede’s two helmets, each representing ten years of service. He wore the one on the right to the 2007 winter crash rescue.
The other moment he remembers most vividly as he is about to take the top job in the department, he said, is the day he was hired to be a Hamden firefighter.
He joined the Dunbar Hill Volunteer firefighters in the Mt. Carmel neighborhood where he grew up. He was impressed with the men, drawn to their profession, and began preparing for and taking the tests.
“I was very fortunate to score well enough to be interviewed here” by the Hamden Fire Commission, he recalled. He remembered that he bought new clothes for the interview — a blue blazer and gray slacks. He felt he did well enough, but that didn’t keep him from going home and pacing, and waiting for the phone to ring with the decision, which was to be conveyed to him by then-Commissioner Marsha Walsh.
“I was pacing in the living room. At the risk of sounding trite, I recall exactly where I was standing when I received the phone call from the chair of the Hamden Fire Commission offering me a position as a firefighter. It was certainly a pivotal moment in my life.”
Merwede was assigned to the third platoon at Station 2 on Circular Avenue, where he served for ten years. He served another ten years at the Whitney Avenue firehouse. He said he never set his sights specifically on becoming chief, but “because I love the fire service, I’ve always wanted involvement” in all aspects.
That led him, as a member of the union, to participate on a range of committees. Hhe ultimately became president of the local and then executive vice president of the statewide Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut (UPFFA)
Budget Challenge
Photo of Hamden FD, circa 1912, hanging in Merwede’s office. “I’m not in it,” he said.
Merwede now presides over a department of 92 line firefighters and, including himself, ten administrators. His responsibility: All the 33 square miles of Hamden and the safety of its approximatley 62,000 residents.
He said the department got about 11,700 calls last year, with about 70 percent of them involving some medical assistance. That 11,700 is up 15 percent from the preceding year, and a whole lot up from the approximately 4,000 calls that came in the year he joined the fire service in 1994, he recalled.
Yet the number of stations, pieces of equipment, and number of firefighters has remained roughly the same.
“The largest challenge for the future will be securing an operating budget that prepares our department to meet the challenges of the future,” he said.
When anyone around the department is having a bad day, Merwede said, he’d like them to remember, as he does, that day the call came in from the fire commission offering him the job, and the joy he felt, which is still palpable.
“I’m still inspired by this job,” he said.
He was appointed on Dec. 20 to take the chief’s job. The appointment was scheduled to be approved by the Legislative Council at last week’s meeting, which was canceled. Merwede said expects the approval at the Jan. 22 meeting, and followed by a modest, formal swearing-in.
Another good reason for paying first responders well and providing pensions.