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“Amidst the worst thunderstorm I have ever seen, multiple trees blown down across the roadway, large tree branches falling without notice, live power wires down in the street and on fire, this selfless firefighter took the time to walk over to my lawn, pick up my American flag off the ground that had fallen during the strong winds and then returned to his work,” resident Kaitlin Cafone said.
“Thank you,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
"I thought this was such an awesome [site] to see," Cafone, of Sycamore Street, told Daily Voice while sharing the post. "This firefighter was such a gentlemen."
The volunteer firefighter, 22-year-old Vincent LaBarbiera, is the son of Mayor Richard LaBarbiera.
The younger LaBarbiera, who works for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, has been a special police officer in the borough the past four years.
Earlier this year, he filed a notice of intent to sue the borough and three Republican council members who’ve refused to include him on a list of police officer candidates because of nepotism concerns.
Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenburg, his command structure and a bi-partisan police committee recommended hiring LaBarbiera as a police officer after reviewing more than 100 applicants.
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