News

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devistated St. Bernard Parish. Every home and business was flooded, and every resident of our Parish, including our firefighters, have suffered great loss. In the midst of unimaginable conditions, St. Bernard Firefighters fought rain, wind and water to save thousands of lives. They continue to perform this mission today and are commited to continue this until St. Bernard is back on it's feet.

St. Bernard Firefighters would also like to thank all of the agencies who have come to help us perform our mission in these very trying times. Your assistance is very much appreciated by our members. Thanks again!

Due to many requests from people, other Firefighter Locals, and other agencies which assisted us in many ways, we have established a Firefighters Relief Fund at Regions Bank in Mississippi. Anyone who would like to make a monotary donation to help our firefighters and thier families survive and rebuild thier lives, please stop in at any Regions Bank and specify you would like to donate to the "St. Bernard Firefighters Local 1468 Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund." Also specify that the account was set up in Mississippi.

If anyone wishes to mail in a donation, please mail to:

"St. Bernard Firefighters Local 1468 Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund"

P. O. Box 18954

Hattiesburg, MS 39404-8954

We do not have a permanent location yet to accept other donation items. As this is set up, we will update our website.

Thanks again and god bless.

With the grand opening of the playground at Torres Park it shows that many hands can build something spectacular. On May 18, 2008 the playground opened again thanks to many volunteers including Our Saint Bernard Fire Department. All members of the fire department helped on duty as well as off duty. We enjoyed giving back to our community which we serve. It was unfortunate the playground was destroyed by arson, and now the children of St. Bernard Parish can once again enjoy the playground.

St. Bernard Fire Firefighters responded Thrusday, January 15 at approximately10:30 p.m. to a structure fire at a single family dwelling home located at 3636 Mumphrey Rd in Chalmette. The unoccupied brick home was under renovation for storm damage from Hurricane Katrina. The house had flames and smoke showing through the roof when firefighters arrived. The one alarm fire had nin firefighters on scene. The fire is currently under investigation.

Also, on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 18, a one alarm structure fire, which occured at 11 a.m., at #3 Cape Cod court, kept firemen busy. The first arriving companies found heavy smoke coming out of a FEMA travel trailer. An initial search found no occpants inside the trailer. The fire was quickly extingguished, no injuries were reported. The fire is under investigation.

More examples of growth in St. Bernard Parish

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr., the Fire Department and the Parish Council held a Ground Breaking of Fire Station No. 5 at 2000 East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette and one at Fire Station No. 7 at 5680 East Judge Perez Drive in Violet on Feb. 18 to celebrate more examples of Recovery and Growth in St. Bernard Parish.

"This is another bright spot for our 2009," Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said. "We want to recognize our partnership with the Governor's Office and with FEMA."

Robin Keegan, deputy director for the Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA Board member Walter Leger and Parish Councilman Mike Ginart was on hand for the ceremonies to celebrate the projects as were several officials involved with the projects.

JaRoy Construction is in charge of construction at Fire Station 5. Work at this station began in mid-January and is expected to be completed in eight months. This brand new station, which is being built on the corner of Judge Perez Drive and Lena Drive to replace the one at Jacob Drive, will cost $1,396,428.

Stallings Construction is in charge of the construction at Fire Station 7. The previous, flood-damaged station at the corner of Guerra Drive has been demolished. Work on the new station began in mid-October and is expected to be completed in eight months. It will cost $2,396,700.

Stuart Consultants and L-7 Architects are in charge of the design for both stations. Dennis Tauzin is the project manager for both projects for CDM which provides oversight for all FEMA-funded projects. Gil Carlin is the project manager for both stations as well for St. Bernard Parish Department of Public Works.

Fire fighters kept busy with two school ground fires

St. Bernard Firefighters were busy with two separate school ground fires on Wednesday, February 25.

The first fire occurred at the gym of the former Chalmette Middle School. The two alarm fire broke out while demolition crews were knocking the school gym down.

The fire was contained to the interior of the building. The fire was somewhat of a challenge for firefighters due to the instability of the gym from the demolition crews. No injuries were reported.

In a second fire, firefighters responded to a one alarm blaze at a construction trailer at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday Firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the construction trailer at the site of the former Borgnmouth school located in the 5900 block of E. St. Bernard Hwy.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in under an hour no injuries were reported. Fire Dept. investigators and sheriffs detectives are investigating the cause of this fire.

Firefighters were called to the scene of an abandoned, boarded up home in the early morning hours of Thursday, February 26. The 4 a.m. fire had flames and smoke visible when firefighters arrived. It took firefighters about an hour to extinguish the one alarm blaze which was located in the 1900 block of Licciardi Ln.

The fire occurred after another Violet area fire less than a mile away. Fire Dept. investigators and sheriff’s dectives are investigating the cause of the fire. No injuries were reported.

St. Bernard News – Vol. 43, No. 09 – 3/4/09 – pg 6

The St. Bernard Parish Fire Department shall begin Fire Hydrant Inspections Monday, March 16. This is a two-week earlier start than the normal spring inspections. We also will be adding a half hour to the daily inspections. The Parish Office of Recovery and FEMA are working with the Fire Department to identify all non-operational hydrants damaged by Katrina. The non-operational hydrants will be replaced as part of the FEMA Public Assistance Project Worksheet Program.

Throughout the parish individual fire hydrants will be opened for approximately two minutes to record water pressure and flow readings and also be rated for FEMA. The inspections times will be between 8:45 am and 11:15 am Monday through Friday.

This is a necessary procedure performed twice a year to ensure that all fire hydrants in the parish work properly. Residents may experience rusty water during this testing. By running water for a few minutes, the rust should be flushed out and clear up.

The Fire Department would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, on Saturday, April 4, captured the third annual basketball game with the Sheriff's Office, for the benefit of the St. Bernard Recreation Corporation, which makes donations to youth recreation services in the parish. Firefighter Capt. Mike Dragon holds the trophy after the game, which is sponsored annually by Gulf Coast Bank. Two members of the New Orleans Hornets' Honeybees were special guests.

The construction on Fire Station No. 6 will cost $1,597,500 to be paid for with FEMA funds and insurance proceeds. It should be completed near the end of the year. Aegis Construction is the contractor, and Stuart Consulting and L-7 Architects are the firms responsible for the design for Fire Station No. 6, located at 4119 E. Judge Perez Drive, near Paul Drive in Meraux

The construction on Fire Station No. 8 at 613 Bayou Road near Torres Drive in Poydras will cost about $1,739,000 to be paid for with FEMA funds and insurance proceeds. It should be completed by the end of February 2010. Ja-Roy Construction is the contractor, and Stuart Consultants and L-7 Architects are the firms responsible for the design.

Three St. Bernard Fire Stations are completed: one on Aycock Street in Arabi, the Central station at Packenham Drive in Chalmette and one on Bayou Road in Verrett. The others are operating out of temporary quarters. Fire Chief Thomas Stone said these two are the final of the remaining seven stations to hold construction ground breaking ceremonies to mark progress of critical emergency service for residents.

St. Bernard Parish Firefighters are going back to school, not as students this time, but as teachers. October is traditionally National Fire Prevention Month and firefighters are eager to get back into the schools and teach the students about Fire Prevention, Fire Safety, Fire equipment, 911, and what to do in case of an emergency. The firefighters have a new tool in their arsenal this year besides Sparky the fire safety dog. They will be taking with them the new Fire Safety House, or as it is commonly known by past students "The Smoke House,” which was delivered to them in early October. This is the first time the new “Smoke House” has hit the streets since Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed the original one. Throughout the month of October, firefighters will be in St. Bernard Parish Schools teaching fire home safety. For more information, please contact St. Bernard Parish Fire Headquarters at (504)278-4275.

St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone and Capt. Michael Moolekamp were honored by Louisiana State Fire Marshall H. Butch Browning, the St. Bernard Parish Council, Parish President Craig Taffaro and the New Orleans City Council for their efforts as part of Louisiana Task Force 1. They were part of a statewide team that went to Tuscaloosa, AL in response to the EF4 tornado as part of an Urban Search and Rescue team to look for the 279 people missing in the area. Pictured in the front row, from left: Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr., State Fire Marshall H. Butch Browning, Capt. Michael Moolekamp and Fire Chief Thomas Stone. Shown in the second row, from left: Parish Council members Frank Auderer, Mike Ginart, Ray Lauga, Wayne J. Landry, Kenny Henderson, George Cavignac and Fred Everhardt. Photo by Ryan Fink.