Date: Fri 22-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Rich-Liska-Hook-&-Ladder

Full Text:

Liska Honored By Hook & Ladder Volunteers

(with cut)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

If it was painted red, had an engine, and was used to help put out fires,

Richie Liska, Sr, has probably driven it during the past 50 years while

serving as an engineer with the Newtown Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire

Company.

Mr Liska, who now lives in South Thomaston on the Maine coast, a town of about

1,200 people, remains a member in good standing of Newtown Hook and Ladder,

the local fire company which was chartered by the state in 1883.

"Actually, I haven't departed [Hook and Ladder] yet. Basically, I'm still a

member," he said.

Mr Liska lives with his wife, Ruth, in a Cape style house he built on a

peninsula near a tidal cove several miles south of Rockland in rugged

mid-coastal Maine.

Before relocating about 18 months ago, Mr Liska and his wife had regularly

been visiting Maine for the past 25 years.

"This is a little bit more laid back up here," he said, noting the social

atmosphere is "very friendly."

"We kind of fit into it," he said.

Mr Liska said he expects he may become involved with the Maine town's

volunteer fire service, known as the South Thomaston Fire Department.

In his retirement years, Mr Liska especially enjoys fishing from his 14« foot

aluminum boat in both salt water and fresh water, seeking out mackerel and

various types of bass.

Mr Liska lived in Newtown for 60 years. He joined Newtown Hook and Ladder in

1948.

"I enjoyed doing that," he said of his Newtown firefighting.

"I could... give something back to the town," he said of his Newtown service

in a telephone interview from his Maine home.

"I enjoyed the company" he said of the friends he made among the good people

in the fire service.

During the past 50 years, Mr Liska was an engineer on pumper trucks, aerial

trucks and rescue trucks. After he drove those vehicles to the scenes of

emergencies, he would stay with them and operate their controls, providing

support for firefighters on the fire line.

Returns To Newtown

Mr Liska, a former resident of Aunt Park Lane in Hattertwon, visits Newtown

about once a month. He is in the third of five generations of his family that

lived in Newtown.

Mr Liska's two sons, Richard Liska, Jr, and Jeffrey Liska still live in

Newtown with their families.

While he served as a local fireman, Mr Liska was employed as an industrial

service technician for International-Harvester at the equipment dealership

that was housed in the town building on Main Street, now known as Town Hall

South.

Later, Mr Liska took a job repairing John Deere power equipment. His

background in industrial equipment repair aided him in the care and

maintenance of fire trucks. He retired from industrial equipment repair work

in July 1995.

Mr Liska recalled the many times he would hear his fire scanner emitting tones

for calls in the middle of the night, summoning him to the scene of the next

emergency.

Mr Liska also recalls responding to major fires that caused the destruction of

Lloyd's Lumber on Commerce Road in October 1985, several buildings in Sandy

Hook Center in December 1973, the Yankee Drover Inn on Main Street in January

1981, Tuttle's Glen Lodge on Glen Road in February 1973, and others.

Newtown Hook and Ladder Fire Chief David Ober fondly recalls Mr Liska's many

years in the local fire service.

"He was an engineer as long ago as I can remember, and I've been here 20

years," Chief Ober said. "He was a volunteer's volunteer," the chief added.

"He was probably the most dedicated person here," the chief said.

"He has a very good working knowledge of how things worked," Chief Ober said

of Mr Liska's understanding of pumps, motors and engines.

As a fire engineer "you make sure the truck is maintained. You fix big things,

little things, and make sure it [is] ready to go," the chief said.

Chief Ober said a May 16 testimonial to Mr Liska held at a Bethel restaurant

was attended by about 120 people. "Everybody had a good time," he said.

Mr Liska expressed gratitude to the organizers of the testimonial at which he

was to be honored for his 50 years of service at Newtown Hook and Ladder.