October - November - December

DECEMBER 31
"The Last Alarm" feature has been updated with the accounts of Firemen Daniel McGee and James Stivers.

DECEMBER 30
"The Last Alarm" feature has been updated with the accounts of Foreman Jacob Allen, and Firemen James Lee, George T. Yatman, Wilson E. Hennion, and Alfred H. Budd.

DECEMBER 29
A new, and long overdue, feature entitled "The Last Alarm" has been added, and can be accessed via the home page menu buttons. This page is dedicated to the members of the NFD who have given their lives in the performance of their duties. The page is a list of all the members who have made The Supreme Sacrifice. As time goes by, visitors will be able to click on a name to bring up more detailed information about the member. This is a long-term project, hence the page being marked as "Under Construction." The information that will be contained in this feature is the result of research done by Ted Vrana, Captain William C. Barrett, Captain Joseph Sperli, Captain Tom Sablom, and myself. I hope visitors to the site will find the new feature to be of interest, and perhaps take a minute to say a prayer for our fallen Brothers, and their surviving family members.

DECEMBER 15
On the "Fire Feature Pages," under "Other Fires," photos have been added to the newly formed "Miscellaneous Fires" section.

DECEMBER 14
The "NFD News" section has been updated with reports for October 6 and 27, November 30, and December 3 and 8. I'll try to get a couple more up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay in getting these news bits up. I'll try to keep up with them more regularly.

All of the visitors to NFH are reminded that it takes a HELLUVA lotta work to keep a website constantly updated. I know I have said this all in the past, but it hasn't seemed to register with some people. I have many NFD historical projects that I am working on, several of which will always be works in progress. While I admit to having not much of a life, I DO have other interests that I enjoy pursuing, mainly gaming and photography. I do have a few close friends who might stop by at any given time, and I enjoy spending time with them. It might be for an hour, or it might be for the whole day. I don't forsake friendships for research or websites. It's also spring/summer here now, and I do enjoy the occasional ride to air myself now and then.

In addition, I'm gettin' older and my health isn't exactly the greatest. Sometimes I just don't feel like sittin' in front of the computer for hours on end... sometimes I can't. I'm not gonna go into a whole list of my maladies here, which I'm sure will relieve most of you. LOL!! Just let it suffice to say that after over 42 years of researching the NFD's history, the eyes are getting old, the hands hurt, and the concentration levels aren't what they used to be.

The bottom line is that I work on the site when I have the time, and when I feel like it. It's not my job, nor do I earn a living from it. It is purely a labor of love, and I wanna keep it that way, because if the love goes out of it, believe me, there'll be no website. To those who have been patient and understanding, I thank you with all my heart. To those who haven't been... okay, I'll be nice. Patience is a virtue...one that should be learned and practiced. It is said that good things come to those who wait. See? Wasn't that better than me saying, "Tough shit! Get over it!" LMAO!!

NOTE: With the retirement of Deputy Chief Tommy Reiss, I now need new sources for current NFD news. If anyone has anything they'd like to submit, please feel free to do so. Appointments, promotions, apparatus, fires, etc. are always newsworthy, but some of the little things that may go unnoticed could also prove to be interesting. I reserve the right to decide whether or not submissions will be used on the website.

DECEMBER 10
The "Chariots of Fire," "Met By Accident," "Dems Da Rules!" and "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" features have been updated. There have also been some changes made to the main "NFH Features" page.

DECEMBER 7
The "The Newark Shops," "We Got A Job," "NFD Box Locations - 1955," and "This 'n' That" features have been updated.

DECEMBER 5
Some changes in the "Fires" section have been made to keep navigation simpler, and to keep from having to scroll through long lists of choices. The fires have been broken down into categories by the number of alarms, i.e. Single-Alarm Fires, Two-Alarm Fires, etc. As more accounts of fires are added to the site, it will keep from having to scroll down through one, huge list. Some of the pages are currently under construction, so please bear with me until they are completed. I hope the visitors to the site will find this method to be satisfactory. A new posting has been made in the "Two-Alarm Fires" section entitled "Miscellaneous Two-Baggers."

DECEMBER 5
A feature entitled "Working Fire Statistics - 1980-1989" has been posted in the "General" section. It is a very comprehensive and detailed look at fires that were of Signal 11 magnitude, or greater. The stats have been broken down into 16 categories, showing the ten-year period. The information for this feature was taken from copies of reports that I once issued back in the late '70s, into the '80s. I'd like to offer a tip o' the ol' NFH high-eagle leather to Battalion Chief Greg Sereico for sharing the reports with me that he has kept in his collection all these years. Thanks, Chief!

NOVEMBER 30
An important posting for past and present members of NFD Rescue Squad 1 has been made for November 30 in the "NFD News" section. Please pass it on to anyone you know who may have been an officer, or fireman, in Rescue 1. There is also a new feature story in the "Fires" section. The photo at the top of the page appeared on the front page of the Newark Evening Star newspaper, September 12, 1910 edition. While the photo may not appear to be the best, please bear in mind that it was scanned from a duplicate microfilm reel of a newspaper nearly a century-old. Taking all that into consideration, the photo isn't that bad after all. It's a photo that probably doesn't even exist any more, and is an image that hasn't been seen for close to 100 years. It took three hours just to produce this one feature. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did putting it together.

NOVEMBER 26
An item for November 25 has been posted in the "NFD News" section.

NOVEMBER 25
Engine 22 and Truck 7 have been added to "The Boys Who Fight The Flames" series, which can be found in the "Companies" section. These two entries now complete that series of articles. I hope you all found them to be as interesting and informative as I did.

NOVEMBER 21
Four transcripts of actual radio transmissions at fires, which occurred during 1980 and 1981, have been placed in the "Fire Alarm Feature Pages" section.

NOVEMBER 6
Engines 20 and 21 have been added to "The Boys Who Fight The Flames" series, which can be found in the "Companies" section.

OCTOBER 31
Hi, Folks. Newark Fire History was created and launched on October 31, 2008, meaning that today is NFH's birthday, making it one-year-old! To all of you who helped make NFH what it is by the warm generosity shown in sharing your collections, memorabilia, and memories, I offer you a tip o' the ol' NFH high-eagle leather! Thank you so much.

I'm sure there are those out there who may wonder why there isn't more info on the site. Well, folks, one only has to take a look at the site to see what has been accomplished in one year. And don't forget that only up until recently, the regular NFH features were updated once a week! I estimate that a couple thousand hours have been spent this past year on researching, planning, programming, etc. to make NFH what it is. That equals about one-quarter of my life for the past year devoted to NFH. And I assure you, I loved every minute of it! However, because I don't have much of a life beyond NFH, doesn't mean that I don't have other interests I like to indulge in.

Please keep spreading the word about NFH. There are still a lot of people out there who don't know about the site, including guys on the job. I'm sure there are those who don't wanna know, or who don't care. That's fine... one man's candy is another man's poison. To each their own. But, there are a lot of other people who DO enjoy the site, and others who enjoy it once they find out about it. LOL!

Again, thank you all for your help and continued support. Newark's Bravest are the best!

OCTOBER 30
The "This 'n' That," "Chariots of Fire," "Met By Accident," "Dems Da Rules!" and "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" features have been updated. Also, the "Firemen Are Racists???" posting that was shown the last "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" feature has been made permanent in the "Personnel" section. If you don't think it's appropriate, too bad.... don't look at it.

OCTOBER 29
The "The Newark Shops," "We Got A Job!" and "NFD Box Locations - 1955" features have been updated.

OCTOBER 7
The "This 'n' That," "Chariots of Fire" and "Met By Accident" features have been updated.

OCTOBER 10
Retired Fireman Jerry Knight has shared more of his memories, which have been added to the present photo in the "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" feature. Thanks, Jerry! The "The Newark Shops," "We Got A Job!" and "NFD Box Locations - 1955" features have also been updated.

OCTOBER 9
Additional info has been added to the latest "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" feature. A tip o' the ol' NFH high-eagle leather to retired Fireman Jerry Knight for the info he supplied. Keep it comin', guys!

OCTOBER 7
An addition has been made to the caption under the fourth picture in the "The Newark Shops" feature. A tip o' the ol' NFH high-eagle leather to retired Battalion Chief Joe Ryan for his "heads up" on that item. Also, the "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" and the "Dems Da Rules!" features have been updated, as well as Engine 19 being added to "The Boys Who Fight The Flames" series, which can be found in the "Companies" section.

OCTOBER 6
A new report entitled "Newark's Mack "L" Pumpers"  has been added to the "NFD Apparatus Feature Pages" section. Check it out. I'm sure it will prove to be of special interest to all you Mack aficionados out there. I've been busy with many projects, one of which was this one. Others include multiple alarm fires, civilian fire deaths, and NFD personnel. They take much time to research and compile, but the end product is worth it. That's why my motto for NFH is, "Quality, Not Quantity." I hope you all enjoy the report.