Madison Hose Co. No. 1 Elects New Officers

, the all-volunteer fire company that protects the south end of town, has a new group of officers.

The new officers include

• Chief David Thomas

• Captain Bob Kyttle

• First Lieutenant Chris Yenco

• Second Lieutenant Greg Carroll 

The former chief, Bob Gerard, who has been a member of the company for 25 years and chief for 10, plans to remain with the company and serve on the Board of Directors.

"Being chief can take a lot out of you," he said. "After 10 years, I thought it would be best to let some of the younger group move up."

Officers work in town, ready to respond at a moment's notice

Gerard said all of the officers work in town, and have employers who allow them to leave at a moment's notice to fight fires and rescue people in need. "As a town, we are very lucky to have that," Gerard said.

In addition to fighting fires and doing rescue work, the members of the company are engaged in ongoing work to renovate the firehouse, in the center of downtown Madison, and make sure that equipment is replaced and kept in good repair.

While much of the work is done by the members of the hose company themselves, often with their own equipment, Gerard said the department is in great need this year for donations from the public. The department's biggest fundraiser, the annual dance, had to be canceled in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, when the venue for the dance was damaged by the storm.

Repairs needed, new generator needed, donations needed

"Some of the work we can do ourselves, but some of it, such as work on the roof, has to be contracted out," he said. In addition to physical repairs of the historic building, the company also wants to buy a new generate to supplement its aging unit. While the old generator worked well during Irene, Gerard said the company realized how reliant they were upon it, and what a huge problem it would be if it went out. So they will be keeping the old unit to provide the department with some redundancy the next time there is an extended outage.

"We try to keep the cost low on all of this by doing work ourselves, but donations are welcome," he said.

Gerard said the fire company also is looking for new recruits to its the Madison Fire Department Junior Hose Co. No. 1. Madison residents between the ages of 16 and 20 are welcome to apply.

New recruits for junior fire company sought

"All of our current officers came up through the junior fire company," Gerard said. "We're looking for some new junior officers since we had a few go off to school." The roster of the fire company itself is currently full at 35 members, Gerard said.

Anyone who is interested in supporting the fire department or finding out more about it is welcome to stop by at 655 Boston Post Road any Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to noon, when members of the fire company are often working on the firehouse.

To find out more, or to find out how you can support the volunteer operation, you can write Madison Hose Co. No. 1, PO Box 573, Madison, CT 06443. Donations also can be sent to that address.