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07/03/2018 08:00 AMEileen Parlato is the daughter of two East Haven Merit Award Recipients, Fred and Noreen Parlato. Now, like her parents, the firefighter battalion chief is being recognized for her contributions to the East Haven community, having been named as one of the recipients of the annual Joseph Buonome Memorial Public Safety Awards.
The awards, announced by the East Haven Rotary Club, were given at the Rotary’s annual Installation of Officers Dinner on June 28.
One of seven children, Eileen was born and grew up in East Haven, and now she has a family of her own including her two children, Jordan and Noah, current college students, that she has raised in town.
She has been a career member of the East haven Fire Department for 24 and a half years—she says her 25th anniversary with the Department will be in December. Before becoming a career member, Eileen was a volunteer for two years.
“I’d always wanted to do something in the medical field, so if I joined the volunteer fire department, they would reimburse you for your tuition for emergency medical technician (EMT) school,” says Eileen. “So you had to give like a year of time and then they would reimburse you, and so I did—and I fell in love with both aspects, the medical aspect and the firefighting aspect.”
After she took the course, she took the test required to become a career member of the department, and she was hired as a career member; she was the first female career member of the East Haven Fire Department.
Eileen has been a battalion chief for 13 years now.
“There are four battalion chiefs; we are each in charge of a crew,” she says. “I am in charge of the daily operations that go on within the town, I have some administrative duties, report writing, things like that. Also, I’m in charge of any of the incidents that happen in the town unless the chief or assistant chief decide to come to the call.”
She responds to most incidents including fires, car accidents, hazardous materials, and more. She doesn’t typically respond to medical calls, unless they are major.
“It’s different every day, and I just love getting out and seeing different people and interacting with the community,” says Eileen.
Serving as a career member of the fire department is not the only way in which Parlato is involved with the East Haven community. For 17 years she was in charge of the Fire Truck Christmas Toy Program in conjunction with the fire department’s assistant chief. She has also volunteered as a coach for East Haven Little League and was also a member of their board, volunteers time with her daughter to deliver Thanksgiving dinners to those in need in town, organized the T. William Webster scholarship fundraisers, including golf tournaments and bowling fundraisers for five years; volunteers for Clean Up East Haven to pick up trash and beautify the town, and more.
“You know, when you love your community you want to give back, and they’ve given me so much,” says Eileen.
In terms of the Joseph Buonome Memorial Public Safety Awards, Eileen says that it is an honor to be recognized as one of the recipients, particularly because she was familiar with the award’s namesake himself.
“I did know Joe, who it’s named after, and his family, so I’m honored that I’m being offered it in his name because he was all about volunteering and giving time back to the community,” says Eileen. “If I am being spoken about in his image, I don’t think that there is a higher honor.”
Though the award is an honor, Eileen says that there is no need for so much appreciation for her to keep to her good deeds. She is and always will be happy to contribute to the town.
“It’s nice to be recognized, but I don’t need the recognition to keep doing what I’m doing,” says Eileen. “I was always taught you do what you do because it’s the right thing to do and give back to the community.”