Page 60 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 52 Winter 2025

employees. New England’s variable
winter weather, especially in recent
years, has increased the danger of
animals and people falling through
thin ice. It happens most often
when dogs fall though the ice and
their owners, naturally, go onto the
ice to rescue them, all too often
resulting in both of them requiring
emergency rescue. This most often
happens in smaller bodies of water,
and the department would ask that
residents avoid venturing out on the
ice and to call 911 to have the Fire
Department perform the rescue
as they have properly trained and
equipped personnel for that pur-
pose. the members and the department. Having said that, however, the Wall-

One additional topic that Chief Buck ingford Fire Department welcomes anyone interested in joining. Appli-
cations are available at Headquarters at 75 Masonic Avenue, or at either
wanted to discuss in the interview of the stations noted above.
was how impressed he is of the two
volunteer companies in our depart-
ment. These are overseen by Depu- In conclusion, it must be said that the Wallingford Fire Department has
ty Chief Mike Shaw, and the depart- been a source of pride for everyone in town for many, many years. It has
ment has a big focus on securing, a statewide reputation for professionalism of its management and the
training and supporting these expertise and dedication of every firefighter. This reputation will contin-
selfless individuals. He noted that ue under the new leadership that Chief Jim Buck brings. Of that we can
these volunteers receive the same be assured, as you have seen in the paragraphs above.
training as the paid firefighters, and
receive intense 16-week training to
become a State of Connecticut Cer-
tified Firefighter.

There are two volunteer companies:

Volunteer Company 7 is located
at the North Farms station and is
headed up by Chief Tim Wall, who
has held that position for many
years. They share the building at
846 North Farms Road with the paid
firefighters in Company 7 and Medic
1.

Volunteer Company 8 is located at 2
Kondracki Lane, and the Chief Wil-
liam Celata. It should be noted that
Bill Celata has recently celebrat-
ed 50 years as a volunteer of this
company. Congratulations, Bill and
thanks for all you have done in your
50-years to protect the residents of
Wallingford!

By the way, unlike so many other
volunteer companies, these two
companies are not short of volun-
teers at this time, a compliment to

60 Wallingford Magazine - Winter 2025