FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section

mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


PAID BROOKLYN FIRE DEPARTMENT 1869-1898

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ENGINE COMPANY NO. 3 BFD:

Engine Company No. 3 also began its existence on Sept. 15, 1869. It occupies a Three-story brick building with brownstone front on Hicks Street, near Degraw which in the days of the Volunteer Department was the quarters of Neptune Engine No. 2. The figure of a "rooster " and the words " Neptune No. 2 " carved in the keystone over the doors are still plainly visible to the passer-by. The first floor of the building as in all other engine-houses, is taken up by the apparatus and horses. On the second floor are the sleeping apartments of the men, and the third floor is fitted up as a gymnasium.

The company is equipped with a second-class Amoskeag engine, a hose-cart of the old two-wheel style, and three of the finest horses in the Department; -Paddy," a large handsome iron gray horse, is used on the hose-cart, and "Sam." a glossy black, and Pete, a gray, draw the engine. These fine young animals are the best groomed and

fleetest-footed in the service. Chief NEVIN's horse, "Jim," a beautiful chestnut sorrel occupies one of the stalls. There are, also, three finely bred dogs, whose superior intelligence entities them to favorable mention in the history of this company. " Bob" a thoroughbred Gordon setter is the exclusive property of chief NEVINs. and "Frank" and "Nell", both English coach-dogs with long pedigrees, are the especial pets of every man in the company. "Nell" is noted for her high-jumping qualities, and her agility in hand-ball playing. She can easily bring down a piece of sugar from the top of an eight-foot fence, and can catch a ball in her mouth as well as the average boy can with his hands. The company is one of the best disciplined in the Department, and every man in it is a worker.

They have one of the largest and most important districts in the city to cover and one in which many disastrous fires have occurred. Joralemon Street is the northern boundary; Third Avenue and Twenty-first Street the eastern; Gowanus Bay the southern; and the East River the western boundary. On a first-alarm they respond to calls from eighty-seven boxes, and sixty-five additional on a second-alarm. Among the most important buildings in the district are the Harbeck, Pierrepont, Watson, Martin, Columbia, Mediterranean, Dows, Robinson, Baltic and Anchor Line stores which form a continuous chain along the river front south of the Fulton Ferry slips; the India Wharf Brewery, Marks & Rowell's glycerine works. United States Warehousing Company stores, Atlantic Dock Company stores, Dow's, Pinto' s and Lambeer's large grain elevators. Hydraulic Works, Richardson & Boynton's stove works. Pioneer Iron Foundry. Lidgerwood Manufacturing Company, German American stores. New York Warehousing Company, Beard's stores and elevators, Boston Dry Dock Company, J. K Bricks fire-brick yards, Burtiss' ship-yard, Cheeseboro Manufacturing Company, Casey's rosin works, Taylor's saleratus works, Reilly & Crowley's foundry, Williams- Drop Forging Works, Gill's machine shops.

Smith & Gray's storage house at foot Hamilton Avenue, Downing & Lawrence ship-yard, POILLON's ship and lumber yards. New York Mica Roofing Works, Bowne's storage and grain elevator, Clombach's boiler shops, Creamer's brass foundry, Hodge's sale stables, Brooklyn City Railroad stables. Swan & Finch's oil works. Nelson Brothers' wood yard, Haggerty's glass works. Roebuck's Planing and Moulding Mills, South Brooklyn Saw Milling Company, John ROGAN & Sons' storage house. Bay State shoe and leather factory, Newmada kid works, New York Color Works, Hobby & Dudy's lumber yard, Fitzsimmon's bird gravel works, Weber & Quinn's coal elevators. Bush's saltpetre works, Buchanan & Lyle's Planet Mills and tobacco factory. New York Tile Works, New York Cream Tartar Works, Gray's Sulphur Mills. Still's Sulphur Mills, Gregory's oil works, Roger's Planing Mills, New York packing box factory, Dykman's packing box factory, Loomis Planing Mills, Kenyon & Newton's sash and blind factory, Watson & Pettinger's lumber sheds, Sylvester & Ross' lumber yard, Hughes' lumber and lime yards, the works of the Citizens' Gas Light Company, Bergen's feed storehouse, Whipple's sash and blind factory, Witte's Weiss beer brewery, Shinnick's pipe works, McCaldin's lumber yard, Jansen & Hamlin Naval Storage Warehouse, the Anglo-American stores, Stein's Sale and Livery Stables, the stables of Wescott's Express Company, O'Brien's dry goods and storage house, Latimer's storage house.

Good Care Storage Company, W. H. Mere's wall-paper factory, "Herman Behr's sand-paper factory, F. 0. Pierce's paint works. New York ink works, Brooklyn Button Works, Forsyth Chair Manufactory, Sperry's church furniture and cushion factory, Columbia Chemical Works, Higgins' soap works. New York Oil Pressing Company, Brooklyn Stained Glass Works, Gleason & Howland's coal yard, Casey's wood yards, Klein's coal yards, and the Union Ferry Company repair yards. Among the large flat-houses in the district is the Fougera, the Home and Tower flats at Baltic and Hicks Streets, the Columbia on Union Street, the St. Charles on Sackett Street, and a row of flat-houses on the same street, the Tower flats at Sedgwick and Van Brunt Streets, the Waldo and St. Ann's on Hamilton Avenue, and the Windermere on First Place.

Included also in this territory are the Long Island College Hospital, St. Peter's Hospital, St. Joseph's Home, Public School No. 78 on Pacific Street, No. 13 on Degraw Street, and a branch of that school on Union Street, No. 29 on Amity Street, No. 27 on Nelson Street, No. 30 on Walcott Street, No. 31 on Hoyt Street, and a branch on Degraw Street, St. Paul's Roman Catholic church and school, St. Charles Roman Catholic church and school, St. Peter's Roman Catholic church and school, St. Mary's "Star of the Sea" church and school, St. Bernard's church and school, St. Stephen's church and school. Church of the Visitation and school, and St. Agnes church and seminary for young ladies.

Among other edifices are the Baptist Tabernacle, the Italian and German Catholic churches, Pilgrims' Chapel, South Congregational. Church of Our Saviour (Norwegian) St. Matthew's Lutheran, St. Paul's Lutheran Trinity Lutheran, Carroll Park Methodist Episcopal, First Place Methodist Episcopal, St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal, Warren Methodist Episcopal, St. Ann's Protestant Episcopal churches, St. Margaret's Protestant Episcopal Chapel, St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church. Strong Place Baptist and the Tompkins Place Episcopal church. There are men in the company who have been to all the big fires since the Department was organized.

The horrible scenes enacted at the burning of the Brooklyn Theatre are vividly impressed on the minds of these men. for they were among the faithful, untiring number who worked for days among the ruins to recover the bodies of the victims of that disaster. Nearly every man in the company has some reason for recollecting the fires which have occurred at Arbuckle's Coffee Mills. Pierrepont stores, Harbeck stores. Standard Oil Works. Richardson's Car Stables, Palmer's Cooperage Havemeyer's Sugar Refinery, Denslow & Bush's oil works, Ridgewood Ice Company's stables, the Paint and Starch Works fire at the foot of Sixth Street, the Columbia Heights flats, the Glass House on State Street at which several of the men were nearly suffocated by smoke or killed by the falling walls, the Planet Mills fire, the Boston Dry Dock, SHAW's grain stores, and the burning of the ship Pythomone, loaded with jute butts, at Pierrepont stores.

PETER FAGAN was the first Foreman of Engine Company No. 3. He was succeeded by Samuel Duff, who in turn was succeeded by John Duly. Subsequently Charles D. RUDDY was put in command of the company, where he remained up to March 12, 1892, when he was sent at his own request to take command of the new company No. 31 in East New York.

Foreman EDWARD F. CONROY. his successor, has found a warm spot in the hearts of the men who make up a company which has no superiors in the Department as a "working " body. Mr. Conroy was born in Brooklyn. Nov. 7. 1858. He became a fireman, April 22, 1878, and first saw active duty with Engine Company No. 8. From this company he was transferred to Engine No. 5, and later to Engine No. 6. While in this company, on June 29, 1889, he was promoted to the grade of Assistant Foreman. He was advanced to the grade of Foreman, on March 13,1892, and placed in his present command.

Assistant Foreman MICHAEL F. JUDGE was born in Brooklyn, Nov. 18, 1861. He was a truck driver when he was made a fireman, June 15, 1887. He was assigned to duty with Engine N0.4. and remained with the company until June i. 1891, when he was promoted to Assistant Foreman and transferred to Engine No. 3.

Engineer ROBERT REARDON was born in New York City, in 1857. He is a widower And lives at No. 62 Waverly Avenue. He was appointed a fireman, June 1, 1883, and has done duty since that time with Engines Nos. 7, 10, 24 and 3.

MICHAEL F. ROGAN, the driver, was born in Ireland, May 6, 1857. He is married and lives at No. 497 Hamilton Avenue. He was made a fireman, April 4,1885, and saw active service with Engines Nos. 4, 5 and 24, before he became the driver of this company. Mr. ROGAN was a member of No. 4, when the glass house on State Street was burned, May 5, 1885. When the walls fell he had both ankles sprained and his body badly bruised, and was laid up for a long time thereafter.

GEORGE L. MOLLOY was born in Brooklyn, Aug. 17, 1861, and his career as a fireman began June 15, 1885, when he was assigned to duty with this company. When the paint works on Gowanus Canal were burned, in July, 1890, he stood at his post until his left leg was so severely burned, that it was at first believed amputation would be necessary to save his life. It was several months before he was able to return to duty. In January, 1892, he assisted in the rescue of two children from the third floor of a burning building in First Place near Smith Street.

JOSEPH C. RUSSELL was born in Brooklyn, Dec. 23,1858. He resides with his family at No. 595 Clinton Street. He was made a fireman Dec. 15, 1885, and has been attached to Engines Nos. 2,4 and 3. In Feb., 1892, Engine No. 3 was first at the scene of a fire on Warren Street, caused by a lamp explosion, and Russell dashed up the stairway, burst in the door, wrapped his coat about a German woman whose clothes were set on fire by the explosion, and carried her out. She was so badly burned that she died later at St. Peter's hospital. In Sept. 1890 while carrying a hose at midnight into the hold of a burning ship lying at the North Central Pier, Atlantic Basin, he fell through an open hatch, forty feet into the hold, but fortunately struck on a pile of coffee bags, and escaped without having any bones broken. On Dec. 29, 1891, at a fire in the Amalga Soap Works, at Nos. 85 and 87 Sedgwick Street, he fell two stories through a hatchway and dislocated one of his shoulders.

JAMES LAWLER is an " old-timer" and has been an active worker at all the great fires since he was appointed to the force, April 28, 1870. He was a member of this company when the Brooklyn Theatre burned, and assisted in taking out the bodies of many who perished in that fire. He was born in Ireland, July 21, 1845, is married and lives at No. 140 Van Brunt Street. He is detailed as an operator at the fire telegraph office in Jay Street.

JAMES MCCARTHY was born in New York City, May 20,1848. He resides at No. 505 Hicks Street, and was made a fireman Nov. 20, 1870. In 1880 while with Engine Company No. 4, he with fireman John MULLALY of that company, rescued a man, his wife and three children from the second story of a dwelling on Atlantic Avenue, near Court Street. At a fire on Second Street, in the winter of 1880 -'8l, he with Mr. DOOLEY, now Foreman of Engine No. 26, saved the lives of two women, who lived on the third floor and had been overcome with smoke. He was present and assisted in taking out the bodies of the victims of the Brooklyn Theatre fire.

MICHAEL HART was born in Brooklyn, Dec. 19.1861. He became a member of the Paid Department, March 1, 1884 and was assigned to Engine Company No. 5. He is married and lives at No. 459 Sackett Street.

THOMAS F. BURNS is a native of Brooklyn, born March 17,1865. He lives with his family at No. 194 Hicks Street, and has been connected with this company since the date of his appointment, Aug. 1, 1889. At the Smith & Gray fire. Feb. 28, 1892 he fell from the roof of a building on Grove Place and received severe injuries to his back and shoulders.

JOHN H. GORDON was born in this city Sept. 15, 1853, and since he became a fireman, on March 20, 1888, has been doing duty with this company. He is married and lives at No. 106 Baltic Street.

JOHN W. FARRELL first saw the light on May 29, 1852, in New York City. His career as a fireman began Dec. 15. 1885 as a member of Engine Company No 3 While coming down the pole in the engine-house to respond to an alarm of fire on the night of March 5, 1890, he fell and broke his right ankle, and was laid up for four months. In January 1892, he assisted Fireman MOLLOY in rescuing two children from a dwelling-house fire on First Place, near Smith Street.

PATRICK HARRIGAN is a native of Ireland, and was born in Jan., 1868. He is a bachelor and lives at No. 76 Mill Street. He has been attached to this company since he was made a fireman, Aug. 11, 1891. 533 Hicks Street firehouse:

-from Our Firemen the Official History of the Brooklyn Fire Department


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ENG*203s Qtrs can be seen from the depressed roadway of the BQE on the left hand side heading toward the Verrazano Bridge....after 203 was disbanded a private company that specialized in removing bird nest's from chimneys & other high places....they had a surplus 100' Tiller Rig kept in the old FH that they used for removals...over the apparatus door they had lettering that looked like the traditional FH lettering complete with the greenish tint on the letters....it read the name of the company "BYE BYE BIRDIE".....the bldg was used for that purpose for a few years.
 

mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


BFD - THE FIRST DISTRICT (BECAME BATTALION 22 FDNY)


COMMISSIONER ENNIS' plans for extending the facilities of the Fire Department and increasing its efficiency, took what will be their final shape for some time to come in July, 1892 when he announced the newly apportioned fire districts and appointed five new District Engineers to fill existing vacancies and assume the new commands. The growing density of population in the built-up portion of the city, and the constant extension
of the house-covered area in the outlying portions, had for a long time past given the companies guarding the immense interests at stake an undue amount of work. The District Engineers found their duties growing more and more pressing, as the city grew and even with the increase already made in the number of new companies there was still the need of others to divide the work with them. Besides two new companies organized daring the early part of the year plans were laid for the organization of four others as soon as accommodations could be gotten ready for them-two engine-companies, one truck-company and a second fire-boat, for which houses and apparatus were at once put under construction, and the city was re-districted for fire purposes, making ten districts in place of eight.

By this apportionment, the districts may be said, generally, to cover the city as follows : the First District includes South Brooklyn south of Harrison and Butler Streets; the Second District protects the Heights and the shopping centre, as far up as Sixth Avenue; the Third surrounds the Navy
Yard, as far as Cumberland Street; the Fourth continues on from the border of the Third as far as Throop avenue ; the Fifth and Sixth cover the most
populous portion of the Eastern District of Brooklyn and its water-front; the Seventh adjoins them, toward the east; the Eighth and Ninth protect the
great territory within the city line at its easterly boundary, not covered by the other districts ; and the Tenth lies between the city line and
Gowanus Bay. To particularize regarding the First District, which will now be described, with its District Engineer and its constituent companies, this
district takes in all of South Brooklyn below the line of Harrison and Butler Streets, the northerly boundary; the Gowanus Canal describing the
easterly limits, while Gowanus Bay and the waters of New York Bay surround it elsewhere. It is a very important water-front that is entrusted to the
companies of this district, the great Atlantic and Erie Basins occupying a large part of the shore line; and an extensive residential district lies
within.


DISTRICT ENGINEER DOYLE, HIS WAR AND FIRE SERVICE


District Engineer James DOYLE, in command of the First District, was born in Brooklyn on March 14, 1842, and received his education at the parochial and public schools. In Oct., 1862, he enlisted in Company G. 9th Reg't, N. Y. Vols., (Hawkins Zouaves,) which took part in all the principal engagements in the early days of the struggle between the North and the South, and whose ranks were so depleted by killed and wounded as to necessitate its consolidation later in the conflict with the 3d Regiment. New York Vols. At the battle of Pleasant Hill, N. C., in 1864, Private DOYLE was severely wounded in the left shoulder. While lying in the Lincoln General Hospital in Washington he was promoted to the rank of corporal. Having recovered from his wound he rejoined his regiment just as they were setting out for the second attack upon Fort Fisher. After this engagement. Corporal DOYLE was advanced to the rank of sergeant for meritorious conduct on the field. In June, 1865, he was honorably discharged from the army, and returned to his home in Brooklyn.

He joined Hope Hose Company No. 9, then located in Van Brunt Street, near Carroll. which later was furnished with a steam fire-engine, and had its
name changed to Hope Engine Company No. 8. The present Chief Engineer of the Department was made Foreman of the new company, and Mr. DOYLE continued to do duty under him until the new Fire Department came into existence. Mr. DOYLE was one of the first Foremen appointed, and he was put in command of Engine Company No. 2. He continued in command of the company up to 1877 when the first "Three-headed" Commission was appointed, and he with other members of the force was discharged. When the Commission of 1879 came into power, Mr. DOYLE was reinstated and placed in command of his old company. In 1884, when Commissioner Richard H. POILLON created two new districts. Foreman DOYLE became a candidate for District Engineer of one of them, and on July 1, 1885, Commissioner POILLON promoted him to that office and assigned him to the First District, which then comprised that portion of the city extending from Union Street south to the city line, and from
Prospect Park to the East River. In this District were located Engine Companies Nos. 1, 2, 20 and 28, and Hook and Ladders Nos. 1 and 9. The
action of Commissioner POILLON in making this promotion met with favor from the residents of the district, in which Mr. DOYLE had long been a popular resident. In Fire Department and Grand Army circles he is held in the highest regard. As a soldier he proved himself worthy of promotion, and as a fireman he has been advanced on his merits. As a District Engineer, in the early morning hours of June 28. 1886, at a fire in the three-story brick building. No. 464 Fifth Avenue, he assisted in saving the lives of Elizabeth HAWES and her three children, who lived on the top floor, and had been overcome by the smoke and badly burned.


DISTRICT ENGINEER JAMES DOYLE

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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


FDNY 1898


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533 HICKS STREET FIREHOUSE MODEL

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533 HICKS STREET FIREHOUSE BUILT 1913

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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


533 HICKS STREET FORMER FIREHOUSE - PRIVATE HOUSING


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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203

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BROOKLYN'S FIRST MOTORIZED APPARATUS

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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 HISTORY

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1936: The Cat-Saving Fire Dog Hero of Brooklyn’ s Engine Company No. 203


Posted: 28th October 2017 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Mascots, FDNY Horses/Mascots

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In 1936, Nip, the veteran fire dog of Brooklyn’s Engine Company No. 203, won four medals of honor for heroism from the following agencies:
  • New York Women’s League for Animals
  • Dog’s World International
  • American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
  • New York Anti-Vivisection Society

During his years of service with the engine company, Nip had demonstrated many acts of bravery and heroism. He rode with the company to every fire, and was always the first to leap off the fire engine and run into the burning buildings to scout for victims. Whenever he found a human in need of help, the brave fire dog would bark until the firemen responded.

I’m sure the fireman rewarded him with extra food or treats every time he saved someone, but Nip was never rewarded with medals for saving a human mother or child. He was awarded the medals for saving a cat. (And he didn’t even like cats.)

On November 10, 1936, a fire broke out in the basement of a four-story brick apartment building at 308 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights. It quickly spread to the upper floors through a dumb-waiter shaft.

Ten people were in the building when Adela Gomez, 17, ran into the hallway on the second floor and screamed after smelling smoke. John Bermudez, 16, was with his mother, his 18-year-old sister Anna, his 12-year-old brother Joseph, and his sister-in-law and her baby in their top-floor apartment when they heard the commotion.

As the family started to descend the stairs, John noticed a cat running in the opposite direction toward the top floor. (Some reports say the cat was named Carlotta and belonged to John; other reports say the cat was named Fluffy and belonged to Mrs. Andrea Gomez on the second floor). John was determined to run after the cat and save it.

John’s mother protested, but the “invincible” teenager darted upstairs as his family made their way safely to the street.

When the firemen of Engine Company No. 203 arrived on the scene, they found John unconscious on the stairway between the third and fourth floors. They took him to the street, where a rescue squad tried to revive him for nearly an hour without success (I’m not sure why they didn’t transport him to a hospital).

Soon after the firemen brought John out of the building, Nip emerged from the building a little bit singed with the cat in his jaws. The cat had lost a few of its nine lives, but somehow it was revived.

The rescue at 308 Hicks Street wasn’t the first time the company’s fire dog had saved a cat. Only a few months before, he had put his disdain for felines aside to do his duty and rescue a litter of five kittens from a burning store at Hicks and Union Streets.

Nip’s Life as a Fire Dog

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Taken in as a stray one winter night in 1929, Nip served 10 years with Engine Company No. 203. During that time, he received numerous injuries from broken glass and falling debris, burns from scalding water, and bruises from falling off the fire engine. He also had some wonderful times, especially during the summer months when he got to live with one of the firemen in his home on Long Island.

Nip could recognize all the bells and signals, and he knew exactly which signal meant his company was responding to a call (he never made a mistake). On the fire scenes, Nip would superintend the firefighters and alert them if he knew something was wrong. If the hoses ever splashed his way, Nip would nestle under a fireman’s coat.


Nip Answers His Last Call

Although Nip was a 16-year-old senior citizen in 1939, he probably had a few more good years left as an active fire dog when his life was abruptly ended on November 9, 1939. While playing out in front of the firehouse, Nip was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

People in the street called out for help, and a group of children followed the fire dog into the firehouse and told Lt. Matthew F. Rogers that it had been hit by a car that kept going. Instead of waiting for help to come, Nip dragged himself back inside and tried to jump up on the fire engine seat. Missing the seat, he landed on the running board, where he curled up and died.

In commemoration of Nip’s many acts of bravery and heroism, the members of Engine Company No. 203 hired a taxidermist to mount their treasured fire dog mascot. They kept him in a place of honor at the firehouse until the company disbanded in 1974.


A Brief History of the Brooklyn Fire Department and Engine Company No. 203

The earliest recorded history of the Brooklyn Fire Department goes back to 1772, when, on April 7 of that year, a meeting was held to choose six firemen in accordance with an act passed in 1768 “for the more effectual extinguishment of fires near the ferry in the township of Breuckelen, in Kings County.”

The men chosen were Joseph Sharpe, John Crawley, Matthew Cleaves, Joseph Pryor, John Middagh, and William Boerum.

In 1785, there was a meeting of villagers at the house and inn of the widow Margaret Moser on Fulton Street. There, a volunteer fire department was formed, consisting of seven freeholders, who voted to purchase a fire engine manufactured in New York City by Jacob Roome. It would be one of the first fire engines, if not the very first, made in the United States (up to this time, they were all imported from England).

The first fire company established at this time was Washington Company No. 1, which was housed on Front Street, near Fulton Street.

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In 1797, a second engine was purchased, which was designated as Neptune No. 2. This company was formally organized under Chief John Doughty in 1817, when the department was enlarged following the act incorporating the Village of Brooklyn in 1816. Neptune No. 2, aka the Little Roosters, made its home in a former stable on Hicks Street, near Atlantic Avenue.

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In 1855, the Brooklyn Common Council disbanded Neptune No. 2 for various discipline reasons. Nine years later, Neptune No. 2 reorganized at a new house on Hicks Street near Degraw street. That house proved to be too small, so the City of Brooklyn set out to find the men a new home.

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On April 29, 1864, the city purchased a three-story brownstone at 533 Hicks Street from William Buchanan and his wife, Mary, and David Lyall and his wife, Isabella, for $2000. The men embellished their new home with a figure of a rooster and the words “Neptune No. 2” carved in stone over the door.

When the Department of Fire of the City of Brooklyn was organized in 1869, plans were put in place for a full paid department of 13 engines and 6 ladder companies to replace the Eastern & Western District volunteers. On September 15, 1869, the newly organized Engine Company No. 3 moved into the firehouse previously occupied by the volunteers of Neptune No. 2 on Hicks Street.

The company covered one of the largest and most important districts in the city, and was bounded by Joralemon Street to the north, Third Avenue and 21st Street to the east, the Gowanus Bay to the south, and the East River to the west.

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In the 1890s, the firehouse of Engine Company No. 3 was regarded as “commodious” and one of the finest houses occupied by the fire department. The apparatus and horses were on the ground floor, sleeping apartments for the men were on the second floor, and the third floor was fitted as a gymnasium.

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Engine Company No. 3 had three of the largest horses in the department: Paddy was a handsome, iron gray horse used on the hose cart; Sam was a glossy black horse who pulled the engine; and Pete, a gray horse, was paired with Sam on the engine. Chief Thomas J. Nevins’ horse, Jim, described as a beautiful chestnut sorrel, also occupied a stall at this firehouse.

Engine Company No. 3 also had several pedigree fire dogs, “whose superior intelligence” earned them an honorable mention in the book, Our Firemen: The Official History of the Brooklyn Department (1892). Bob, a thorough-bred Gordon setter, was owned by Chief Nevins, and Frank and Nell, both English coach dogs, were the pets of two other firemen. Nell was noted for being a great jumper and hand-ball player. She could easily bring down a piece of sugar from the top of an eight-foot fence and catch a ball in her mouth as well as a child could catch one in his hands.

In 1898, Engine Company No. 3 became Engine Company No. 103 under the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). The company temporarily relocated to 274 Hicks Street in 1912 while their headquarters at 533 Hicks Street were renovated to accommodate the new motorized vehicles.

On January 1, 1913, the company was renamed once again. The men of Engine Company No. 203 moved into their new home on October 7, 1913. Shortly thereafter, they took possession of Brooklyn’s very first motorized vehicle, a high-powered hose wagon that could go 40 mph (orders were issued prohibiting the vehicle to go more than 25 mph).

In December 1974, Engine Company No. 203 was one of eight fire companies of the FDNY disbanded as a cost-cutting measure. On December 16, the 23 firemen and four officers assigned to 203 were reassigned and scattered among a number of different companies.

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As Capt. Angelo Insardi told a reporter from The New York Times, “We were old Brooklyn Engine Three, then One‐Oh‐Three, then Two‐Oh‐Three and now we’ll be Oh‐Oh‐Oh.”
 
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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 MEDAL


EDWARD F. NEALIS FF. ENG. 203 SEP. 8, 1902 1903 BROOKLYN CITIZENS


FF Nealis was awarded the Brooklyn Citizens Medal in 1903 for the rescue of Bartholomew Spinella from a fire at 323 Washington Avenue September 8, 1908.


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MEDAL DAY 1903


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LODD - CAPTAIN EDWARD F. NEALIS

Captain Nealis, Engine 226, made the Supreme Sacrifice May 17, 1919.


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RIP. NEVER FORGET.
 
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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 MEDAL


CHRISTOPHER H. MC GANN FF. ENG. 203 DEC. 18, 1918 1919 CRIMMINS


FF McGann was awarded the Crimmins Medal in 1919 for the heroic rescue of a brother firefighter at a fire at 301-303 Adams Street on December 18, 1918. Captain Joseph F. Fitzgerald made the Supreme Sacrifice as this firfe.


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LODD - CAPTAIN JOSEPH S. FITZGERALD, ENGINE 207

RIP. NEVER FORGET




FIRE BUILDING - 301 ADAMS STREET

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MEDAL DAY 1919

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 MEDAL



MARTIN J. MC NAMARA FF. ENG. 203 AUG. 31, 1924 1925 PRENTICE


FF McNamara was awarded the Prentice Medal in 1925 for the rescue efforts to save three children reported trapped at a fire at 76 Van Brunt Street August 31, 1924. FF McNamara sustained severe burns searching the apartment.


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FIRE BUILDING - 76 VAN BRUNT STREET

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MEDAL DAY - 1925

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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 MEDAL


JOSEPH IKENSON FF. ENG. 203 JUN. 13, 1946 1947 DEPARTMENT

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MEDAL DAY - 1947

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


BATTALION 32 MEDAL


PATRICK HICKEY BAT. CHIEF BAT. 32 OCT. 2, 1939 1940 HUGH BONNER


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The Hugh Bonner Medal was awarded to Battalion Chief Patrick Hickey of the 32nd Battalion, for participating in the rescue of two fireman from a fire at 366-70 Hamilton Avenue on October 2, 1939. Members of Engine 279 were operating a hose line in the cellar of this building until their position became untenable. Battalion Chief Hickey was with the company at the time and ordered them to withdraw. When they reached the street, he learned that two of the men were missing. He ordered Fireman William C. Dunne of Engine 279 to accompany him back into the cellar to find the missing men. In the face of intense heat, smoke and gas they searched the cellar. Fortunately they found Fireman 3rd grade and Ununiformed Fireman Joseph E. Cordes, both of Engine 279, lying unconscious in about twelve inches of water. They succeeded in carrying the unconscious men up the stairway to the street and safety. Fireman William C. Dunne received the Brooklyn Citizens’ and a Department Medal for his part of the rescue.



MEDAL DAY - 1940



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mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 LODD


FIREFIGHTER JAMES W. McCUSKER ENGINE 203 NOVEMBER 4, 1906

Brooklyn Box 4-4-728 - 3rd St & Hoyt St.

Members of Engine 103 (E-203) were operating on the roof extension of the Pilgrim Steam Laundry Company when the wall of the main building collapsed onto them, burying them under burning debris. Fire was throughout the 4 story bldg. It went to 4 Alarms. Chief Croker arrived at the fire with the 3rd alarm companies & saw the danger the men were in on the roof. He was on his way to get the men off the roof when the back wall fell. Fireman James W McCusker, age 27, was killed instantly with every bone in his body broken. He was taken to his home where his wife & 4 children were waiting for him to come home from work. They had no idea of his death until the Fire Department Chaplain brought the news a short time before the body was delivered at the house. - from "The Last Alarm"


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RIP. NEVER FORGET.
 

mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 LODD



FIREFIGHTER WILLIAM F. STANTON ENGINE 203 OCTOBER 23, 1912


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RIP. NEVER FORGET.
 

mack

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


ENGINE 203 LODD



FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL J. BERKERY ENGINE 203 JUNE 14, 1946


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RIP. NEVER FORGET.
 

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


BATTALION 32 LODD



BATTALION CHIEF ANTHONY JIRECK BATTALION 32 JANUARY 27, 1945

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Brooklyn Box 44-3806

Battalion Chief Anthony Jireck died on January 27, 1945 from being overcome by smoke while fighting a fire in a four-story loft building at 19-31 Richards Street. The fire brought a four-alarm assignment before it was brought under control. The fire had started on the third floor and spread throughout the building. The contents contained newsprint and contained 4,500 tons of paper in 6,000 rolls. The fire started around 4:15 PM and was under control by 6:30. While the companies were engaged there, a fifth alarm fire broke out in the Williamsburg section. Chief Jireck was 68 years old and a member of the Fire Department for over 40 years. He lived at 201 Huntington Street.


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BC JIRECK FUNERAL

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PROBATIONARY FF JIRECK RESCUE - 1904

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


FIRE/EVENTS


1901 RUNAWAY HORSE

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1904 FOREMAN RETIRES

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1904 FIRE

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1932 TENEMENT FIRE

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ENGINE 203 (CONTINUED)


FIRE/EVENTS


1934 SCHOOL FIRE

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1951 UFA ELECTION


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1951 5TH ALARM CHURCH FIRE

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church on Hicks and Summit Streets in Red Hook - 5th alarm - 1st due

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1954 5TH ALARM WAREHOUSE FIRE

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