Last night, the 2017 firematic officers were sworn in at the mayor and council meeting. Pictured L-R: Chief Erik Vierheilig, Assistant Chief Lawrence Rauch, Captain Brandon Bach and, Senior Lieutenant Nico Brusco. Congratulations to the others sworn in tonight, as well as the award recipients.

Congrats to the 2017 USRFD Fire Officers:

Chief Erik Vierheilig
Asst Chief Larry Rauch
Captain Arman Fardanesh
Lt Brandon Bach
Lt Nicolas Brusco

Yesterday, the USR Police faced off against the USR Fire during their first annual softball game. The score was close throughout the game, entering into the last inning tied when the fire department pulled ahead for a 14-11 win. Perfect weather, lots of laughs and a great time had by all! Stay tuned for info on the rematch next year!

Recently, the USRFD took delivery of Car 1230, a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe incident command vehicle. The unit is outfitted with SoundOff Signal lighting, Kenwood radios and carries firefighting gear, extinguishers and other lifesaving equipment.

When firefighters responded to the Ford dealership on River Street in Hackensack 28 years ago, they did not know how deceptive the blaze would prove to be, nor how ill-equipped they were to fight it. They did not know that five of them would not survive.

That fateful day, July 1, 1988, the firemen rushed inside to knock down a fire they thought to be like any other they’d faced.

After 35 minutes, the dealership’s 60-ton bow-truss roof collapsed, killing three firefighters. Two others were trapped inside, radioing for help, but they could not be rescued before their air ran out.

It was one of the deadliest fires in Bergen County history, and it marked a turning point not only for Hackensack, but for fire service across the U.S. The Ford fire spurred reforms in safety, training and equipment, and highlighted the dangers of truss roofs in a fire. The lessons of Hackensack are now studied in firefighter classrooms from coast to coast and have been written into textbooks. Those lessons, experts say, certainly have saved lives.

Saturday was a very busy day for not only the volunteers of our department, but also for departments from our mutual aid. The USRFD hosted the North West Bergen Mutual Aid Association’s annual field day. Congratulations to Franklin Lakes Volunteer Fire Department for taking home first place for the best time in all events. After cleaning up and as the volunteers were just getting home from their all day event, the USRFD was called for service within the borough. First was for a broken water pipe which Chiefs 1230, 1240 and Engine 1232 handled, then later in the evening Chief 1240 and Rescue 1242 handled a fire alarm caused by an unattended culinary disaster. Great job to all the teams who participated in today’s events! See you all next year in Waldwick! And a huge thank you to (CPT Fire Ground Photos) http://CPTFireGroundPhotos.Smugmug.com for being there to take these amazing pictures.

Last night, USRFD firefighter Nico Brusco was sworn in as Lieutenant of the fire dept. Congrats Nico!