Montville firefighters support colleague with COVID-19
Truck parade comes as they criticize comments by mayor on outbreak
Montville — Firefighters held a surprise drive- by parade Sunday evening for firefighter Sean Hawkins, who has been in quarantine for more than two weeks battling the COVID-19 virus.
Hawkins, a firefighter and emergency medical responder with the Oakdale Fire Department and Montville Fire Company, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Oct. 13. He was medically cleared to return to work this week, but said he is choosing to stay in quarantine in his Oakdale home for a few more days for his own health and the safety of his community.
More than 20 fire company and police vehicles drove past Hawkins’ condominium on Carolina Drive about 5:45 p. m. Sunday. Hawkins stood outside near his truck and watched as the trucks rolled by, some decorated with signs that said “we’re all in this together.”
The surprise drive-by was organized by all four of Montville’s fire companies, which decided to join together to brighten up Hawkins’ day, and his neighborhood, with a show of fire trucks.
“Since he can’t go riding for a while, we might as well bring the lights and sirens to him,” said Steven Frischling, public information officer for Chesterfield Fire Co.
Hawkins himself participated in at least six drive-by parades for COVID-19 patients earlier this year. He said that when he heard the sirens in the distance, he knew they were headed his way.
“It absolutely brightened up my day,” said Hawkins, a lifelong resi
dent who has been a volunteer firefighter since 2012.
“I don't even know how to describe it,” he said. “It's overwhelming, the amount of support I've gotten from the other volunteers, and I can't tell you what an honor it is to serve with these guys.”
Since Oct. 12, at least nine firefighters in Montville have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Mayor Ron McDaniel told The Day last week that the eight paid firefighters and one volunteer had likely contracted the virus during a company maintenance night on Oct. 12. McDaniel said that a firefighter with the virus had been at the maintenance night and had direct contact with two paid staff. On Oct. 14, McDaniel said, Fire Marshal William Bundy was informed an Oakdale Fire Co. volunteer member was symptomatic and had tested positive.
According to Frischling, Hawkins was not at the maintenance night and has had no recent contact with any of the other firefighters who have tested positive.
Frischling said that on Oct. 12, Hawkins was studying for his EMT test with some fellow firefighters, none of whom have tested positive.
Frischling and Hawkins have both criticized the mayor for his comments.
“It's a shame that the mayor is spreading false information about me,” Hawkins said on Sunday.
Frischling questioned why Hawkins' case had been linked to the other cases of COVID-19 when he hadn't been in contact with those who are infected.
“For one, why are we pointing fingers?” said Frischling, adding that blaming a firefighter “who is at home battling a respiratory illness” was inappropriate.
Frischling also said the Montville fire community was not happy that the mayor “pinned [the spread] on a volunteer firefighter from Oakdale” and felt that the statements placed blame on a volunteer firefighter for infecting career firefighters.
Earlier this week, Hawkins posted a statement on Facebook, denouncing the mayor's comments and criticizing the indication that he was a super spreader throughout the Montville fire community.
“While I quarantine at home, looking at a long two weeks away from my Fire Station and Fire Family, sidelined from serving my community, I realize there is no need to point fingers, or misstate facts, regarding myself and my fellow Firefighters who have tested positive for COVID-19,” he wrote.
Hawkins wrote that as COVID-19 cases are increasing in southeastern Connecticut, with Montville and many surrounding towns being named “red alert” areas, some first responders were likely to come into contact with the virus.
“The details of my contracting COVID-19 are of little importance to my community and to the Mayor's Office, other than to say it was inevitable that First Responders, especially those working in Emergency Medical Services, would eventually start to contract the virus,” he wrote.
“There is no blame to go around, we tested positive for COVID 19, like nearly 65,000 other Connecticuters and close to 400 other residents of Montville.”
Hawkins said he was disappointed that the mayor referred to his case as the cause of the outbreak.
“As a Volunteer Firefighter and Emergency Medical Responder, proudly serving with both the Oakdale Fire Department and Montville Fire Co. # 1, I have never sought recognition, or even thanks, for my service to community,” he wrote in his post. “However one thing I never expected was to discover my Mayor's Office to be providing incorrect information about me, and my contracting the COVID-19 virus, to journalists.”
On Sunday, McDaniel said that he never pointed a finger at Hawkins or used his name.
“It spread through the fire department and it was a situation that was bound to happen based on the volunteer system that they use,” he said.
Sunday's surprise parade was organized by the chiefs of the town's four independent fire companies as a way to show Hawkins that they had his back, Frischling said.
“The four chiefs decided to do this to show him that despite the situation being caused by the mayor's office, we support him,” Frischling said.
Frischling said this drive-by wasn't a protest against the mayor's statement per se, but rather a show of camaraderie “directly in response to showing support to Sean Hawkins for everything he has experienced in the past couple of days."