8-2-78....THE WALDBAUMS FIRE.

Turn up the volume & listen to this & play it & explain the heavy timber truss roof danger to a younger FF & how to spot the classic bow string hump ( any truss heavy or lightweight is a danger though ).....as much as i liked being in R*2 this day was not a day i liked at all because of the outcome & a day i will NEVER FORGET !....i was there & will NEVER FORGET it ! ... (another Member of my proby class gone along w/others ..not the first & not the last LODD from our class) ...our R*2 Roofman & good friend Tom V. was one of the FFs who fell thru the roof into the cockloft but luckily saw light in a hole in the ceiling & dove into the hole landing in the store below & although badly burned managed to escape
& become the only seriously injured FF to eventually return to full duty from this Fire...that night after getting off duty we went to Coney Island Hosp to visit him (no Burn Center back then)....as we were walking thru the wards there was a guy w/a basketball sized head waving as we walked by the glass windows ...we waved back & kept walking looking for Tom...when we got to the end of the corridor & had not found him we went back to the Nurse's Station & asked where he was ....it turned out that the basketball sized head guy was Tommy swelled up from burns ....after a long recovery he stayed OTJ & RET as a BC a few years ago but continued to suffer in the weather extremes mostly from the burns he received on his hands ........
 
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One of the SADDEST DAYS in the history of the FDNY.

The entire nation watched their televisions with sorrow for the families and friends of these FDNY members. I won't forget it either.

May those FDNY members Rest in Peace and my condolences to all those who still feel the loss of their family members and friends. 
 
Rest in Peace to the men lost that day. Continued thoughts and prayers for their families at home and on the job.
Never trust a truss and never forget
 
DC JONAS DV*7 Newsletter in the link above may take time to open but contains a wealth of info on both the Waldbaums Fire & Truss Roof Ops in general.
 
May God rest the souls of those who sacrificed, both those lost and those who worked so hard to try and save them
 
The Waldbaums Fire from August 2, 1978 was reported by WCBS-TV's Channel 2 News, WNBC-TV's Newscenter 4, WNEW-TV's Channel 5 News, WABC-TV's Channel 7 Eyewitness News, and WPIX-TV's Channel 11 Action News.
 
8-2-78 .....39 YEARS AGO ......LESSONS TO BE LEARNED....SCROLL TO TOP ^^^^^
 
Rest in Peace to the members lost that day. Continued thoughts and prayers for their families at home and on the job.
 
God Bless Those Who Serve; and Those Who Mourn.
Continued Rest In Peace.

I was working a 7-Up Soda Route at the time, that Waldbaum's was one of our stops.
We passed-by That Job Early-on, Pre-collapse, and continued on the Route.
We were down in Coney Isl. when the Radio News broadcast word of the Collapse & Entrapment.

We stopped back on the way home after Members had been Extricated.
It was like being at a Funeral.
The next day, there was a BBQ Fire in my neighborhood, (E.31 & Ave. L),
Members of 'The Highway House' (E.276/L.156) were On-scene, along w/
255/157. Again, The Funeral Atmosphere Prevailed. FDNY Members were going thru
the motions, quietly, with the 'Thousand Yard Stare' look on their faces. Dreadful Stuff.

Rest In Peace.
 
May the Brothers rest in peace.

Lt. James E. Cutillo, Battalion 33
Firefighter Harold F. Hastings, Battalion 42
Firefighter James P. McManus, Ladder 153
Firefighter George Rice, Ladder 153
Firefighter Charles S. Bouton, Ladder 156
Firefighter William O’Connor, Ladder 156
 
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