North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR) promoted five fire officers and unveiled new equipment last week, adding to its fleet of fire protection apparatus.
The five veteran firefighters promoted to new supervisory positions are Captain James Corso to battalion chief, and Firefighters Jose Vargas, Steven Hillis, Brian Stahl, and Mike Flood to captain. The ceremony, held at NHRFR Headquarters in West New York, was attended by North Bergen Mayor and State Sen. Nicholas Sacco, as well as Weehawken Mayor and NHRFR Management Committee Chairman Richard Turner.
“As our department has grown younger with the hiring of new firefighters over the past two years, many of whom are military veterans, having outstanding supervising officers who can serve as mentors and leaders is more important than ever,” said Turner. “Each of these young men have been outstanding members of our department and we are all proud to see their careers continue to advance today.”
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue was created in 1999 when North Bergen, Union City, West New York, Weehawken, and Guttenberg combined their individual fire departments into one fire-protection unit that is the third largest fire department in the state.
New equipment
Following the promotion ceremony, NHRFR leadership unveiled several new pieces of fire equipment which it has purchased or acquired recently. Included was the department’s new 81-foot tower ladder truck, as well as its four new pumper trucks, each of which are capable of supplying up to 1,500 gallons of water per minute. Also on display was an additional tower ladder received in an equipment swap with the Town of Secaucus.
“The past few years have been an exciting time for North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, with many outstanding new members of our department and now this addition of new state-of-the-art fire protection equipment that will help us continue to protect all the residents of our communities from fires and other disasters,” said NHRFR Chief Frank Montagne. “I would like to thank the leaders of our five communities for continuing to make the proper investments in fire safety and making sure NHRFR continues to be the best fire operation in New Jersey.”