Baltimore City Fire

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and other city officials today announced a schedule of special events leading up to, and including, an advanced screening of the movie Ladder 49, filmed locally. The drama about firefighters with the Baltimore City Fire Department and their families stars John Travolta as Fire Chief Kennedy and Joaquin Phoenix as young firefighter Jack Morrison. The movie is scheduled to open Oct. 1 at theaters nationwide. "Ladder 49 is a powerful depiction of the lives of firefighters in Baltimore City and throughout our nation," O'Malley said in a statement.

On August 9, 2004, ROBERT E. TAVAREZ, 78, beloved husband of Dolores M. (nee Hare) Tavarez; devoted father of Tracie L. Kalb of Elkridge and Kathy E. Healy of Hampstead; son of Antone and Stella Belle (Morris) Tavarez; brother of Howard M. Tavarez of Long Neck, DE; and brother-in-law of Mildred L. Mc Nulty of Baltimore. He is also survived by three grandchildren. Mr. Tavarez was a member of Holtzschwamm Paradise Lutheran Church, Thomasville and Hanover VFW. He served in the US Army Air Corps during WWII and retired from the Baltimore City Fire Dept.

On August 8, 2004, JOHN MICHAEL FISH; beloved son of the late Earl W. and Agnes P. Fish; loving brother of Vernon Hibline, Claire Matheson, George Fish and Earline Braatz; step-father of David Skuland. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Michael is a retired captain from the Baltimore City Fire Department, surving from 1979 to 2002. Visitation at the HUBBARD FUNERAL HOME, INC., on Monday and Tuesday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. and where funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 12 noon.

David L. Pipkin Jr., a retired city firefighter who later became a nursing home personnel director, died of kidney failure Monday at his West Baltimore home. He was 73. Born in Baltimore and raised on Lauretta Avenue, he was a 1949 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School and served in the Air Force in Alaska. He later studied at Hampton University in Hampton, Va. In 1953 he joined the Baltimore City Fire Department and served for a quarter-century, spending much of the time at Engine 8, Lafayette Avenue and Stricker Street.

On July 19, 2004, RAYMOND F.; beloved husband of Elaine (nee Franz) Johnson; dear brother of Dorothy Citrano. A Prayer Service will be held at the family owned LILLY and ZEILER INC. FUNERAL HOME, 700 S. Conkling Street, on Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Friends may call on Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the Baltimore City Fire Dept.

In just two months, the Baltimore City Fire Department could go from a small list of job candidates nearly void of diversity to having too many qualified minorities. After announcing last month that it would hire 50 firefighters in October, the Fire Department expects more than 2,200 people will take its entrance exam tomorrow morning -- most of them minorities. "From crisis comes opportunity," said Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., who was sharply criticized in April by Mayor Martin O'Malley when it was learned that Goodwin had hired the agency's first all-white class of recruits since the department integrated in 1953.

The Baltimore City Fire Department launched a new hiring process yesterday, a month after it was reported that the agency had hired its first all-white class of recruits since it integrated in 1953. In a city with a predominantly black population and the mayor pledging racial diversity in city agencies, the Fire Department's failure to have any minorities in the class embarrassed officials and drew a discrimination lawsuit threat from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The following is a guide to the annual pre-race events. Miller Lite Nites Miller Lite Nites continue today with a concert from Shinedown. The Florida-based metal act will play in support of its first major-label release, Leave a Whisper. Rock group 1,000 Ft. Krutch is also billed. The show begins at 7 p.m. Tomorrow, the series wraps with country music star Darryl Worley, who'll sing his hit "Have You Forgotten?" Detour is also scheduled to play a set. The show begins at 7 p.m. The Power Plant Live!

Anne Arundel officials want the county Fire Department to avoid joining the list of area fire companies embarrassed by a lack of minority hiring, so they're reaching out to community leaders in search of new recruitment strategies. At a meeting last evening in Millersville, department officials discussed recruitment with representatives from the NAACP and Latino and Korean community groups. They implored members of those groups to spread the word that the department wants as many minority applicants as possible.