[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE STRATFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT AS THEY CELEBRATE THEIR 
                         CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2009

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise 
today to join the community of Stratford, Connecticut in marking the 
100th Anniversary of the Stratford Fire Department. This is a 
remarkable milestone and a testament to the dedication and commitment 
of those men and women who devote their professional lives to 
protecting the Stratford community.
  One hundred years ago the town's paid firefighting force was 
established with the hiring of the first paid fire chief and then 
volunteer, Allen Judson as well as the merging of two volunteer units, 
the Mutual Hook and Ladder Company and the Chemical Hose Company. In 
its earliest years, Chief Judson was the sole paid employee of the 
Department and he would lead the Department for the next forty-three 
years. Volunteers were called to emergencies by the ringing of the 
church bells with Chief Judson coordinating the ``bucket brigades,'' 
the hand-drawn hook and ladder apparatus, as well as the manually 
operated water pump. By day the men who worked in Stratford Center 
responded and by night those who lived within a thousand feet of the 
Center responded while horses drew the fire apparatus. Nine years after 
its establishment, the second paid member of the Department, Assistant 
Chief William Anthony, was hired and by the 1930s there were more than 
half a dozen paid members.
  Many changes have occurred since those early days of the Department--
its responsibilities expanding dramatically and the job becoming more 
complex and dangerous. Today's 97-member Department staff four stations 
throughout Town and respond to fires, Haz-mat calls, vehicle 
extrications, medical calls, as well as plane incidents. Department 
members also participate in a variety of community activities aimed at 
fire safety and prevention as well as annual celebrations such as the 
Memorial Day Parade. The Department does all of this in a Town which 
today has 50,000 residents, is bordered by eighteen miles of shoreline, 
is intersected by Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, and the Metro-
North railroad, and has an airport within its borders.
  What makes this centennial celebration even more special is that the 
proceeds from the parade and festival will benefit the Stratford 
Professional Firefighters Burn Foundation--a non-profit organization 
founded in 1999 by the members of the Stratford Fire Department, Local 
998 of the International Association of Firefighters to provide 
economic support to the funding of projects in the areas of fire and 
burn prevention through education, research, and public awareness 
programs.
  We owe a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who dedicate 
themselves to the protection of our communities as firefighters. They 
face risks that few of us can truly comprehend. Each day, they must be 
ready to perform under intense pressure--literally in life or death 
situations. For one hundred years, the men and women of the Stratford 
Fire Department have ensured the health and safety of the Stratford 
community and I am proud to rise today to pay tribute not only to their 
rich history but to their outstanding and unwavering commitment to 
public service.

                          ____________________