Raising The Flag To Full Staff

Newtown Hook & Ladder Company #1 Chief Jason Rivera and Firefighter Mike Aurelia used the volunteer fire company’s ladder truck to access the ropes of Newtown’s Main Street flagpole and return the American flag to full staff on Tuesday, May 10. Hook & Ladder Firefighter Brian Slattery also helped perform the duty for the town.

The truck’s ladder was carefully extended to allow Chief Rivera and Mr Aurelia to climb out and reach ropes controlling the flag. Traffic moved cautiously around the fire company’s ladder truck parked for just a brief time around noon in the middle of Main Street.

The First Selectman’s office had received word from the governor’s office in late April to lower the flag to half staff to honor one of Connecticut’s fallen soldiers. Residents and businesses across the state lowered their flags after word came of the April 27 death of Major Raymond G. Estelle II, a 40-year-old Connecticut native who was killed in action in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Major Estelle had been based out of Langley-Eustis, Va., and was a 19-year veteran of the Air Force. He served in the Air Force Smart Operations 21 Directorate. His funeral was conducted in Florida on May 9.