Beacon Hose Remembers Past Asst. Chief Kevin Swan

kevin-swan-headshotWe remember Past Asst. Chief Kevin Swan, whom we lost in a line-of-duty death five years ago.

Kevin died March 10, 2010, after suffering a heart attack while responding to a call. He was the captain of the Beacon Hose Fire Police at the time. He was a member of our department for nearly 50 years, during which time he served as assistant chief and an active member of our area’s two major chiefs’ associations.

Beacon Hose bestowed full honors upon Kevin’s passing, including a funeral procession down Main Street led by our 1929 Seagrave.

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Beacon Hose Meat-O is Back in Time for Easter!

Update: Thanks for your support!

The craze that is Beacon Hose’s Meat-O is coming back for Easter!

Beacon Hose will host an Easter Meat-O night Saturday, March 28, at 7 p.m. at the firehouse. A $5 admission fee includes a buffet dinner and one drink ticket. The whole point of the event is to pay into games of chance to win something special for your Easter table — including kielbasas, pierogis, shrimp, babka, hams, turkeys and more.

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Beacon Hose, New Harvest to Host Tip-a-Firefighter Dinner

Update: Thanks for your support!

Beacon Hose will team up with our good friends at the New Harvest Restaurant for a fundraiser Tip-a-Firefighter Dinner on Thursday, March 5, beginning at 5 p.m.

Meal choices include lamb shank, New York strip steak and chicken parm with pasta. Each meal also includes hot and cold non-alcoholic beverages, salad, bread and dessert.

The dinner costs $30 per person, and a $6 children’s meal is also available.

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How to Prevent and Treat Frozen Pipes at Home

It’s been awfully cold this winter.

Since it’s been abnormally cold lately, it’s worth sharing a few tips about preventing frozen pipes. (These are from the American Red Cross.)

  • Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
  • Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
  • When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing.
  • Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.

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BHC’s Extraordinary History with George and Robert Butz

Beacon Hose was sad Monday to learn of the passing of Robert Butz, the son of our very first chief, George Butz Sr. On behalf of Beacon Hose’s officers, we send our condolences to Robert’s family and would like to share a bit of a lengthy story — but one very much worth reading — to illustrate the Butz family’s history with our department.

These two men shared an extraordinary connection with Beacon Hose — one which held beginning and end points more than a century apart. We’ll recap using a combination of our department history and a pair of news stories (which we’ll link to at the end).

George was elected the first foreman of Beacon Hose when it was established on May 11, 1899, as the Beacon Falls Fire Department (which was actually formed as the firefighting unit of the Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company and housed in one of the company’s buildings).

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