HomeMy WebLinkAbout1947-01-22 A special'meeting was held January 22,'194V with ~
~Messrs. I..S°verino, H. smith, W. Glidden and J. Har~y
~esent Of th~ Board and· Patrolman Howes', Henderson and
Lamb of the Police Department to interview Chief William J,
~iair of the Fire Department.. Mr. Howard Hull was not.
present although he had been notified of the meeting. The
purpose of the meeting was to confer relative to conduct of
C~hief Blair as set forth in the following records from the
~Police Department. Also record Of Howard W~'Hull.
" "January 19, 194V - 12:20 A. M. Fire truck Went up
Main St. to a fire in Gordon Peters car near Satlers house.
~.Cruiser followed up fire t~uck. Officers Lamb ~ Howes notice.
the operator of fire truck Howard Hull was in no 'condition
to drive fire truck so Officer Howes drove fire truck back
to the· Fire Station,~and backed it in. I located, Fire Chief
Blair at his house at 1:05 A. M. and he said he Would be
right down to the Fire Stationto observe conditions.. Fire
Chief Blair came to the ~01ice Station at 1:30 i. M. and
Said he had'gotten Anthony Sylvia and his son Robert
Blair
to stand watch.
~"In regards to Howard Huli's condition of Jan. 19,
at 12:20 A.M. when oPerating.Fire truck could sme!l'iiquor
on his breath, mumbled when talking'& when a~rived at
got off of truck staggered & had difficulty in'pu~ti~g'out
red flashing light. Talked with Hull with Officer Lamb at
scene-of fire when noticed Hula-had been drinking & t01d
him he wou~d not be allowed to take truck back to Station.
Hull moved from oPerators seat & I 'drove truck back to
Station. Fire truck No. ~ American La France'
signed: Howe~s''
"~anuary 21~ ~9~g - 11':~0 P, M. While trying m~ doors
on Main St. I heard a siren blow and a motor roaring and I
thought it was a fire but heard no alarm or saw any fire
aparatus. After I turned off of Main-St. to try the bank
doors and Mirror office doors l~observed a car up Orange St.
~ /~ .....'~ ~.' ~ /~. Special Meeting January 22,L~194V,~.(continued)
All of a sudden this terrible car roar and this ~car came back
down Orange St. backwards going ~very fast and almost t0'~the
entrance of 0range'& Main St. the 6ar being out of c~0nt~ol
'jumped the Stdowalk and/,s~ashed into', the Brock block and
jambed'itself b~tWeen the pole with fire box 45 on~it and
the building smashing the rea~ end up considerable.. Later
went up the hill and found in' front ~of Congdons house Pole ~54~
with cab'lo on it had been hit tearing cable ~.°ut of the ground
'and away from pole. Also car cartooned across the Street and
struck hTdrant. ~ound the Vehicle to be a Ford/ Sedan Reg.
'cut across the bridge of Blairs nose ~sked him 'if he w~nbe~'
to be taken to a Doctor and he said no he Wanted to be taken
home. Operator had been drinking and was in a ~dazed cofidition
We took him home after talking with him at the ~Police Station.
Signed: Henderson"
"January 2i,'~ 194V - 12:10 A; M. Selectman Ha~dy notified
and pulled out Blair's car off of Sidewalk which was very much
wrecked.
Signed: Henderson"
"January ~2, 194V - 9:30 P. M.' Ha~ a talk with Gordon
Peters to dete~ine the condition of Chief Blair'at the~Bow-
ling alley last night. Peters stated that Chief Blair c~e
in there about "half-shot" and that when he left b~tween
11 P. M. and 12 midnight he was feeling p~etty d~n good.
Signed: L~b"
"¢130 P. M Patrolman Howes, Henderson and L~mb met
~with the Board of selectmen~ J. Hardy, I. so~erino,. H.
Smith~ and W. Gliddin. Purpose-of meeting to give
officers repo~ts regarding Howard Hull incident ~of"Jan. '10th
and Fire Chief ~. Blair as to his incident of Jan. ~lst.
Chief Blair was present in his behalf.~ ,~H°ward-. Hull was not
present but SeleC~en had been notified by~. Patrolmen
excused at 9 P. M.
gigned: Lmb"
~. . Statement by Chief Blair_as told the Board~ of.~Selectmen.
',~"He ~,¥as:~at the Bowling Alley all evening~' After leaving
the Alley,~"he Went to .the Fire S~ti0n ~to check up on the c0nditi.
Of. the Station~.. While 'at the: Station, he opened' Some of his
'a~d did some paper work for the R;d I~Ien's. He then'left the
Station for home going by the way. of Nain St~. and orange
On ~turning the corner of Orange St. he put the car in second
and pr~>~ceeded up the hill. The next thing h~e knew was the
Crash which was proven to be when the car hit a' p01e With the
right front fender. It would appear 'that l~IX;. Blair then Put the
~ar in reverse and tried to back away from the pole and in so
doing lost control of the car and shot across the street in re-
ver:se hitttng'a hydrant and then shot across the street' in ~the
opposite direction and up over the side walk ~and jammed'the cdr
between the Brock building and a telephone p°le on the outer
edge of the side walk. The ~pole had a Fire Alarm box on it.~
The Chief says he does ~ot r~member' anything except 'the.
~ Notion made and so voted that Chief Blair and Howard Hull
be requested, in'writing,' to resign and their replies to be
~'received in writing' not later than 8:00 P. N. ThurSday, jan.
2~rd, 19~V at t~e selectmen's office.
Secretary.