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caption, page 12:
Honored
Sixty-five year member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department, Kenneth Marvin was recently honored for his service. Left to right, David Brown, Tom Converse, Kenneth Marvin, Calvin Neely, Adam Shinkiewicz, Stacy Shinkiewicz, Evelyn Brown, Kristen Brown, Amy Kay Shinkiewicz. Courtesy photo.
Long-time
firefighter,
innovator
honored
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
WOODSTOCK --- In 1946, when Kenneth Marvin volunteered at the Muddy Brook Fire Department, there were three pieces of fire equipment. And using 2 1/2-inch hoses was the accepted practice.
Sixty-five years later, the department has eight pieces of equipment and Marvin is credited with being a visionary for the entire state: It was Marvin who taught the rest of the state's fire departments --- including the big cities --- that vital life saving water moves faster through larger connections and larger hoses.
Recently honored, Marvin recounted what it was like when he first joined the department in 1946.
"WWII ended in late 1945 and many young veterans were returning home and the small town fire departments were looking for young men to volunteer. I was among a group of five to join the MBFD." he said.
Marvin, who held all the line positions in the department and was chief from 1964 to 1971, said, "When I joined Muddy Brook, they had three trucks in service, a 1939 Ford hose pumper truck, a 1935 Chevrolet pumper truck and a Huppmobile truck used for brush fires.
I retired from active firefighting on Dec. 31, 2004, and at that time, Muddy Brook had eight pieces of fire equipment."
Marvin might be modest, but Richard Baron, Woodstock's fire marshal and also a past chief of the Muddy Brook department, called Marvin an innovator.
Baron said, "Back in 1963, Chief Marvin was instrumental with working with other fire chiefs in the northeast part of the state who could see advantages of using larger diameter hose to move water. Back then, the 2 1/2-inch line was the largest and most commonly used to move water. Chief Marvin was thinking ahead of his time, using 3-inch hose with 3’ couplings to reduce friction loss and move much more water. In a pumping drill in New Haven, back in 1963, he and some other fire chiefs from this area showed the big city departments how they could move much more water by increasing the hose and coupling size from the traditional 2 1/2 inches”. It was so impressive, that an article about this featuring MBFD of Woodstock, and the Mortlake Fire Co. of Brooklyn was written in Fire Engineering. To me, this was the start on using large diameter hose in firefighting."
He added, "Throughout his career in MBFD, Chief Marvin was innovative when it came to hydraulics and moving water through hoses or fire pumpers. He was instrumental in increasing the piping size in fire attack tankers so water could be pumped into the tank at a higher volume and could flow to the pump in larger piping, thus increasing the flow from tank to pump."
"The department today is a direct result of the innovation and progressive thinking of Chief Marvin and other past fire chiefs," Baron said.