Firemen mourn the loss
of second home

Sunday, December 12, 1999

By MICHAEL CASEY
Staff Writer

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS -- Standing in a circle Saturday in front of the gutted Borough Hall, teary-eyed firefighters and town officials held hands and offered prayers at a place many considered their second home.

They talked about how Friday's fire had decimated the nearly 50-year-old building known for its immaculate City Hall chambers and its colonial architecture. It had damaged piles of documents and photos, and as many as 30 mayoral portraits. And most of all, the borough's worst disaster had stolen part of the town's identity.

"It was the heart of this town," said Assemblywoman Rose Heck, R-Hasbrouck Heights, who served as the town's mayor from 1984 to 1992 and was on the council from 1981 to 1984. "I would never have believed this building would burn down. It's devastating, just devastating."

Residents on Saturday were shaken by the loss of Borough Hall, especially since it came on the heels of another disaster -- Thursday's plane crash in a residential neighborhood that left four dead. Many felt the borough had fallen under a curse, and wondered what calamity would strike next.

Yet police and firefighters appeared most affected by the blaze. Not only were they forced to find temporary headquarters, but they had to accept the loss of a building with a very personal connection. It was place that had spawned and nurtured numerous careers, built long and lasting friendships, and become a comfortable hangout for the close-knit departments.

"I was choking up a couple of times," said Fire Chief Vincent Monahan, who was in the building critiquing his department's response to Thursday's plane crash when the fire started. "I was looking up at the building and seeing all the mementos and traditions that we have on our walls. I was hoping we could save them, but knowing we couldn't."

Monahan, who has been with the volunteer department for 35 years, said they were able to save all their equipment. They also were able to save some mementos, including the horns that were used in the early days to call firefighters. But many photos, plaques, and other historical documents of the fire department were either damaged or destroyed.

"They were things other people would look at and just walk by," Monahan said. "But for us, each one has special meaning."

Assistant Fire Chief Art Knobloch was coming back from a funeral in Massachusetts for six dead firefighters when he first heard about the plane crash in the borough Thursday.

A day later, he was outside fighting another disaster. Like many of his fellow firefighters, he looked emotionally drained from spending most of the night trying to put out the fire and then much of the morning trying to save what little was left. Time had lost all meaning.

"You've got a lot of memories here," he said. "It's like watching your home burn down. It's hard to take. It's shaken some of the guys up. It's been very trying."

Many other firefighters lingered at the scene for much of Saturday. Some cried, others looked at the building in stunned silence. One walked slowly away from the building carrying a fire-damaged American flag. One young firefighter screamed, and then was consoled by fellow firefighters.

"The memories will continue on," said Joe Pickard, the fire department's chaplain. "What brought the squad together will always be there. The team doesn't dissolve with the loss of a building. The building was a symbol, a place."

Mayor William Torre agreed that the municipal building was a special place for many in town.

"It's sentimental for us, and the Borough Hall has quite a history," Torre said. "It's really the heart of the community . . . I felt sad that we were losing a beautiful building, but I thank God that no one was hurt."

Residents, too, joined firefighters and officials at the scene. Some wondered what would happen to the myriad of services provided by Borough Hall, while others just wanted to see the damage. As chainsaws buzzed and firefighters carried out water-soaked documents, residents expressed shock and disbelief that a building where they attended council meetings, paid their taxes, and even spent time as youngsters was now a charred shell.

"It touched so many people in town," said SuzAnne deRussyPacala, whose mother works for the borough and whose father was a volunteer firefighter. "I'm sad. It's like losing something special that you can't have back."

Saying bad things happen in threes, others worried that the town was cursed and had not yet seen the end to the string of freakish disasters.

"It's very upsetting. I feel like everything is falling apart," said Audrey Winters, who has lived in the borough for 33 years and was heading toward Borough Hall on Saturday to see the damage. "The building was our security. Everything was always here and was the same. Now, it's not."

But most residents and officials said the loss of Borough Hall would be only temporary. They talked of how most services will be back to normal, albeit in a temporary location, by next week, and how eventually there will be a new building, most likely on the same site.

"We're going to rebuild this brick by brick," Monahan said almost defiantly. "We're going to move forward. We're not quitting."

And despite being temporarily homeless, firefighters vowed to keep up a long-running borough holiday tradition called "Santa Around Town." Starting around 4:45 p.m. next Sunday, firefighters will climb aboard firetrucks and ride around town with sirens blaring, stopping to pass out candy canes to children.

"Our fire department has decided our town deserves it, and we're going to be there for our town," Monahan said.