FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section
- Thread starter mack
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2013
- Messages
- 914
mack said:fdhistorian said:mack said:Engine 203 - 1912 Mack high pressure hose wagon:
High pressure engine companies were established in Manhattan and Brooklyn to use the new high pressure water pumping systems. The plan was to take lines off high pressure hydrants without the use of steamers. High pressure companies initially were viewed as successful holding greater alarms at lower alarm assignments and eliminating the requirement of multiple section engine companies. The limitations, however, were that high pressure companies without steamers could not respond outside their limited high pressure pumping system response area and relocations into high pressure areas was also limited. High pressure engine companies were phased out but the high pressure pumping systems remained in operation in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn into the 1970s.
Which other companies were the original high pressure engine companies in the early 1900's?
Of the original twenty, here are some of them.
Engines 20, 20-2, 27, 27-2, 30-2, 30-3, 72, 72-2, and 203 and possibly Engine 32?
Could not find a list of Brooklyn high-pressure engine companies but they probably would be located within the downtown Brooklyn area and Coney Island covered by the high pressure systems.
Printed in FIRE ENGINEERING:
"The Brooklyn High-Pressure System" 06/10/1908
"The high-pressure water system for the protection of the borough of Brooklyn, New York, from fire comprises approximately 5 miles of 20-in. pipe, 6 miles of 16-in. pipe, 10 miles of 12-in. pipe and 1 1/2 miles of 8-in. pipe?a total mileage of pipe of more than 22 miles. To control these pipe lines properly, there are 68 20-in., 94 16-in., 140 12-in. and 705 8-in. gate-valves. There are 681 hydrants and 24 fireboat-connections. Service-mains are cross-connected in such a manner that, in the event of a break, repairs may be made without affecting any hydrants, except those located in the block in which the break occurs and without appreciably affecting the supply or pressure on the remainder. The territory covered by this system extends along the East river waterfront from the Erie basin to the Navy yard, including the downtown business section? a total area of approximately 1,360 acres, with mains extending approximately 3 miles and over a width of from a few hundred feet up to I mile at the widest point. The section is bounded by the East river, Navy yard, Nassau, Prince, Johnston, and St. Edward?s streets; Flatbush avenue, Dean, Clinton, Harrison, Henry, Third, Columbia, Dwight, Walcott and Richard streets and the Erie basin. The pumping machinery is adapted for salt or fresh water."
https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-43/issue-24/features/the-brooklyn-high-pressure-system.html
High Pressure water supply systems were built in the early 1900s for Lower Manhattan (2 pumping stations), Downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island to provide more powerful water systems to combat major fires NYC was experiencing. Other cities also built high pressure systems following the major fire which destroyed downtown Baltimore in 1904. These cities included: Milwaukee; Detroit; Toronto; San Francisco; Oakland; Buffalo; Philadelphia; Seattle; Providence; Atlantic City; Cincinatti; Cleveland; Fitchburg; Ft Worth; Jacksonville; Lawrence; Newark; Rochester; and Toledo.
https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-69/issue-1/features/water-supply-for-high-pressure-fire-systems.html
https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-54/issue-9/features/high-pressure-water-systems.html
FDNY Museum - High Pressure System
http://www.nycfiremuseum.org/files/PRESS/2018-04%20Housewatch(1).pdf
Although the concept seemed promising for NYC, the lack of flexibility creating high pressure engine companies with specialized tenders limited expansion and the concept of high pressure companies was eliminated. The high pressure water systems, however, which were built remained in operation for many years. The Coney Island high pressure system remained operational into the 1970s.
So far, 12 of the 20 high pressure engine companies have been identified. Engines 6, 20, 20-2, 27, 27-2, 30-2, 30-3, 32 (maybe)?, 33, 33-2, 72-2, and 203.
Maybe one of the apparatus experts can suggest some others. (G-Man?)
FDNY high pressure companies were identified as engine companies.
Some of the other cities with high pressure systems had specifically identified high pressure companies.
Oakland had 6 high pressure hose wagons until the early 1980's
San Francisco had 9 high pressure companies until the 1960s and still has 4 hose tenders
Jacksonville had 2 high pressure companies until 1951
Chicago had 8 high pressure units until the 1960's
Baltimore had 5 hose companies downtown until 1971. Their high pressure pumping station is still in reserve.
Detroit had 4 high pressure companies from the 1920's to the 1940's
Atlantic City had a deluge tower company from 1929 to 1939
Newark had 3 high pressure companies identified as engines until the1930's
Buffalo had 2 high pressure companies into the 1960's
Cleveland had 2 high pressure companies until 1952
Philadelphia had 5 pipeline companies until the 1950's
Seattle had 2 high pressure companies until the 1950's and 4 monitor wagons until the 1960's
Milwaukee had 2 high pressure companies, the last went out of service in 1981
Toronto had 2 high pressure companies until 1979. One has been saved for display.
All of these cities are on an ocean or a Great Lake.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2013
- Messages
- 914
mack said:
If the move is within the same calendar year, or if it is less than 12 months duration, I call it temporary. There are many of those. But Rescue 1 at E23 for one day will make a great trivia question some day.
"FIRE IN THE SKY" - 1958 ALL HANDS - 10/01/1958 - ENGINE 23 FIRE
- FROM FIRE ENGINEERING
New York fire fighters solve the problems of a fire in a steep roof 400 feet above the street
ON JULY 22ND, units of the New York Fire Department responded to a telephone alarm for a fire in the Hampshire House, 150 Central Park South, Manhattan, a modern 38-story, fireproof hotel. Except for a special call for a rescue company, at no time did the worker exceed an "all hands? job. The fire is noteworthy, however, because it was fought approximately 400 feet above the street and because of the handicaps overcome.
The swank residential hotel?s steeply pitched roof is four stories high and angled at each end, roughly resembling a pyramid. The roof consists of 5-inch reinforced concrete covered with tar paper. Copper sheathing is attached to 4 by 4-inch scantlings bolted to the concrete and running vertically from the base to the peak of the roof. At each corner, semi-circular wooden forms run vertically from the base to the peak of the roof beneath the copper sheathing.
The day before the fire, roofers were using electric soldering irons and liquefied petroleum torches to re-solder copper sheets on the north side of the roof. They were working from a two-story scaffold built up from the top set-back of the building. On reporting for work on the 22nd, workmen found smoke pouring from the seams of the copper sheathing along the north and south corners of the east side of the roof. Building personnel telephoned in an alarm. The first companies to arrive found the attic heavily charged. Discoloration of the copper sheathing and the source of the smoke indicated that the fire had traveled up the northeast ridge and was rapidly moving down the southeast one.
After a preliminary examination disclosed the extent of the fire and its path of travel, a two-pronged attack was decided upon?one from the outside via the scaffold, and the other from tire inside through the concrete. At this time, however, there was no means available to scale the steep roof. Engine Company 23 stretched two 1 1/2-inch lines from the standpipe riser, using 2? by 1 1/2-inch reducers, to the base of the north side of the roof. Although the building is equipped with fire pumps, it was decided as a safety measure to use the pumper, thus insuring full control of operating pressures. The pumper was operated at 275 psi. The 1 1/2-inch lines were used for better control and safety, operating in the cramped space at the base of the roof.
The bottom of the semi-circular wooden form previously described was opened up and the stream directed upward within it. This was effective as far as the stream reached, but the form could not be opened up beyond 7 feet. Falling embers increased the hazard to the men operating at this position. Roofers? ladders used Further advance from the outside was delayed pending the arrival of borrowed sectional roofer?s ladders which arrived several hours later. The sections were bolted together and held against the steep roof by driving nails through the copper sheathing into the 4 by 4?s and wiring the ladders to the nails. Firemen operated effectively from these ladders using a small hatchet, ladder belts and roof ropes. As the copper sheathing was removed, extreme care was taken to properly lash it and safely lower it. These operations were hindered by intermittent showers.
The interior attack was aimed primarily at venting the attic and reaching the fire through the concrete, but it was first necessary to move doors, furniture and other articles stored in this space. Conditions were so bad at the start that masks had to be used. Firemen started a hole through the concrete with hand tools, but progress was too slow and Rescue 1 was special-called. Using an electrically operated jackhammer loaned to the department for trial by the Homelite Division of Textron, Inc., holes were made about two feet above floor level. As soon as the holes were large enough, a line was used to extinguish the fire within reach, and fans were used to ventilate the area. Masks could be dispensed with except occasionally when the smoke backed down. Platforms were built inside the peak, from which holes were drilled at the upper levels.
Except for an isolated spot or two, the fire was extinguished by 6 p.m. The first due companies took up about 11 p.m., but a watch line was maintained until 11 a.m. the following day. A minor communications problem was met during operations. Direct radio contact with the street could not be maintained by portable radios in the shielded attic area. This was solved by using the 36th-floor terrace as a relay station.
The Mask Service Unit replaced 24 all service canisters depleted during operations. Hooked and small extension ladders were brought to the upper floors in elevators after removing the escape hatches from the car ceilings. In spite of the trying conditions, a well-organized relief program limited medical leaves to one.
The editors gratefully acknowledge the , cooperation of Fire Commissioner Edward F. Cavanagh, Jr., Battalion Chief Alfred H. Eckert of the 9th Battalion, and Captain Woodrow H. Holdsworth, Engine Company 23, for the information upon which this article is based
- FROM FIRE ENGINEERING
New York fire fighters solve the problems of a fire in a steep roof 400 feet above the street
ON JULY 22ND, units of the New York Fire Department responded to a telephone alarm for a fire in the Hampshire House, 150 Central Park South, Manhattan, a modern 38-story, fireproof hotel. Except for a special call for a rescue company, at no time did the worker exceed an "all hands? job. The fire is noteworthy, however, because it was fought approximately 400 feet above the street and because of the handicaps overcome.
The swank residential hotel?s steeply pitched roof is four stories high and angled at each end, roughly resembling a pyramid. The roof consists of 5-inch reinforced concrete covered with tar paper. Copper sheathing is attached to 4 by 4-inch scantlings bolted to the concrete and running vertically from the base to the peak of the roof. At each corner, semi-circular wooden forms run vertically from the base to the peak of the roof beneath the copper sheathing.
The day before the fire, roofers were using electric soldering irons and liquefied petroleum torches to re-solder copper sheets on the north side of the roof. They were working from a two-story scaffold built up from the top set-back of the building. On reporting for work on the 22nd, workmen found smoke pouring from the seams of the copper sheathing along the north and south corners of the east side of the roof. Building personnel telephoned in an alarm. The first companies to arrive found the attic heavily charged. Discoloration of the copper sheathing and the source of the smoke indicated that the fire had traveled up the northeast ridge and was rapidly moving down the southeast one.
After a preliminary examination disclosed the extent of the fire and its path of travel, a two-pronged attack was decided upon?one from the outside via the scaffold, and the other from tire inside through the concrete. At this time, however, there was no means available to scale the steep roof. Engine Company 23 stretched two 1 1/2-inch lines from the standpipe riser, using 2? by 1 1/2-inch reducers, to the base of the north side of the roof. Although the building is equipped with fire pumps, it was decided as a safety measure to use the pumper, thus insuring full control of operating pressures. The pumper was operated at 275 psi. The 1 1/2-inch lines were used for better control and safety, operating in the cramped space at the base of the roof.
The bottom of the semi-circular wooden form previously described was opened up and the stream directed upward within it. This was effective as far as the stream reached, but the form could not be opened up beyond 7 feet. Falling embers increased the hazard to the men operating at this position. Roofers? ladders used Further advance from the outside was delayed pending the arrival of borrowed sectional roofer?s ladders which arrived several hours later. The sections were bolted together and held against the steep roof by driving nails through the copper sheathing into the 4 by 4?s and wiring the ladders to the nails. Firemen operated effectively from these ladders using a small hatchet, ladder belts and roof ropes. As the copper sheathing was removed, extreme care was taken to properly lash it and safely lower it. These operations were hindered by intermittent showers.
The interior attack was aimed primarily at venting the attic and reaching the fire through the concrete, but it was first necessary to move doors, furniture and other articles stored in this space. Conditions were so bad at the start that masks had to be used. Firemen started a hole through the concrete with hand tools, but progress was too slow and Rescue 1 was special-called. Using an electrically operated jackhammer loaned to the department for trial by the Homelite Division of Textron, Inc., holes were made about two feet above floor level. As soon as the holes were large enough, a line was used to extinguish the fire within reach, and fans were used to ventilate the area. Masks could be dispensed with except occasionally when the smoke backed down. Platforms were built inside the peak, from which holes were drilled at the upper levels.
Except for an isolated spot or two, the fire was extinguished by 6 p.m. The first due companies took up about 11 p.m., but a watch line was maintained until 11 a.m. the following day. A minor communications problem was met during operations. Direct radio contact with the street could not be maintained by portable radios in the shielded attic area. This was solved by using the 36th-floor terrace as a relay station.
The Mask Service Unit replaced 24 all service canisters depleted during operations. Hooked and small extension ladders were brought to the upper floors in elevators after removing the escape hatches from the car ceilings. In spite of the trying conditions, a well-organized relief program limited medical leaves to one.
The editors gratefully acknowledge the , cooperation of Fire Commissioner Edward F. Cavanagh, Jr., Battalion Chief Alfred H. Eckert of the 9th Battalion, and Captain Woodrow H. Holdsworth, Engine Company 23, for the information upon which this article is based
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2012
- Messages
- 9,383
Extremely interesting time lapse video over the years from 1850-present of skyline development on 59 Street & the Park...boy did E-23 area change! Thanks for sharing
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,230
^^^^^In regard to the text in mack's reply # 343 above ....^^^^^ In the in the second to last paragraph note the reference to ...."Hooked and small extension ladders were brought to the upper floors in elevators after removing the escape hatches from the car ceilings"..... Well this used to be a practice done with a Scaling Ladder in the projects (if need be) until "elevator surfing" became a practice so in the '70s the escape hatches were sealed eliminating that Life Saving possibility of bringing a scaling Ladder butt first out the hatch to an upper project floor .....in R*2 we had the Shops make a 2 section Scaling Ladder (connected with a sleeve & a hardened steel pin) this was carried until the Scaling Ladders were removed from FDNY service in 1996 ....(several theories on why the removal occurred ) .
68jk09 said:
FIREHOUSE
"End Of An Era"
Paul Hashagen explains how modern technology necessitated the invention and eventual demise of scaling ladders.
June 1, 1997
On July 11, 1996, a message was sent to all the New York City firehouses that would bring to a close a chapter in firefighting history. FDNY Department Order Number 73 stated:
"2.3 Scaling Ladders
The Department has evaluated the necessity for maintaining Scaling Ladders as a part of our inventory of firefighting tools and equipment. Based on that evaluation we have determined that scaling ladders will no longer be used by this Department."
Fireman John Binns of FDNY Ladder Company 3 uses a scaling ladder to make a rescue after a fire broke out at the St. George Flats apartment house on the night of April 7, 1884.
The origins of scaling ladders in the FDNY can be traced to a snowy night and a building that burned on Park Row, near City Hall. Flames swept through the World Building on Jan. 31, 1882, and despite many spectacular rescues, the lives of 12 people were lost. Many of those who died could not be reached by the wooden extension ladders carried on fire apparatus. (The FDNY would not purchase aerial ladders until 1886. The apparatus was distrusted since one of the city's most beloved chiefs, William Nash, was killed during an aerial demonstration in 1875.)
As a direct result of this blaze, the department began to reassess its tactics and equipment. Fire Commissioner Henry Purroy made the following resolution, which was adopted:
Whereas: there have recently been constructed in this city a great number of large flats and business houses, reaching in many cases to a height exceeding one hundred feet; and whereas the extreme height to which it is possible to stretch and manage extension ladders have been probably reached, and does not exceed seventy feet, thus making futile the best efforts of this Department toward rescuing the occupants of the upper stories of the buildings above mentioned whenever such occupants are cut off from escape from below; therefore be it. Resolved, That the Chief of Department be and is hereby instructed (keeping in view the increased height of the buildings mentioned) to report to this Board in writing his views in regard to what improvement in the appliances and complements of the Department what changes in regard to the erection and construction of fire-escapes, and what regulation as to the construction and maintenance of fire-proof shutters are necessary, together with any suggestions in regard to the better protection of life and property he may deem advisable.
Chief of Department Eli Bates worked diligently on the problem and brought in Foreman Chris Hoell of the St. Louis Fire Department, who had recently patented a new type of ladder known as the Hoell Life Saving Appliance. The ladder was approximately eight feet long and had one center beam with rungs that extended outward from the middle and an L-shaped hook at the top.
Hoell demonstrated his ladder and the New Yorkers were impressed. Bates went immediately to the fire commissioner and among the things the chief requested was that each hook and ladder truck be equipped with scaling ladders and that the firemen in those companies should be trained in their use.
The ladders were purchased and placed first on key companies, and then eventually on all ladder trucks. Hoell stayed on to teach their use in the department's School of Instruction as the ladders made their way out into the field. The new equipment was in place. The firemen were trained, and eager to put their new skills too work. It would be just a matter of time before their expertise would be called upon.
First Scaling Ladder Rescue
The St. George Flats, an apartment house located at 223 and 225 East 17th St., was advertised by its owners as being "absolutely fire proof." The handsome structure, actually made up of two buildings, was seven stories in the front and eight in the rear. The building's front was blue stone, with Nova Scotia stone trimmings and terra cotta ornamental panels. Polished marble columns flanked the front entrance. A passenger elevator ran up the center of the building, and two dumbwaiters served each side of the structure in the rear. It was an appropriate home for many prominent and well-to-do families.
At about 11 P.M. on April 7, 1884, the elevator boy, Louis Castigan, took a gentleman to view a vacant third-floor suite. When they returned to the elevator, the boy noticed smoke in the elevator shaft, and whisked the man down to the first floor. As the gentleman stepped out, Castigan remarked, "The house must be on fire." The boy then descended with the elevator to the cellar to warn the building engineer and to locate the source of the smoke.
Castigan found the engineer, Frederick Kimmelberg, attempting to extinguish a growing fire in the cellar. He sent the boy to notify the fire department. Castigan ran to the street fire alarm box at 2nd Avenue and 17th Street and pulled the handle transmitting the alarm.
Returning to his elevator, he noticed many people were fleeing the smoke from the floors above. Conditions were deteriorating rapidly in the elevator shaft but the boy set off in his elevator for the seventh floor to warn Mrs. Lockwood and the other two people he thought were still in their top-floor apartment. Castigan made his way through both suites but could find no one. He tried to return to his elevator but was driven back by the intense heat and smoke pumping up through the shaft.
Unable to descend the stairs, he was driven toward the front of the building. Castigan took refuge in the Lockwoods' library, closing the door behind him. He opened the window and poked his head out. The windows on either side of him were spewing clouds of dark, ugly smoke, and the room behind him was also quickly filling with the noxious fumes. The lad yelled for help and was assured by voices in the crowd below that firemen were on the way.
The first-due unit, Engine 5, was already on the scene. With no ladders, they were unable to reach those at the windows above, and concentrated on attempting to control the fire that had taken hold of the stairs. Chief Bresnan arrived at the same time as Ladder Company 3, and with a quick size-up, ordered the pompier ladders out. Firemen John Binns, Thomas Barrett and M.C. Graham, all of whom had been trained in the use of the scaling ladders, grabbed one each and dashed to the building.
Binns reached the fire building first and began his climb. Fastening his ladder to the second-floor window sill, he ascended to a seated position on the sill, then drew the ladder up behind him, and repeated the procedure again and again, scaling the front of the building. As Binns stood on the sixth floor sill, one floor below the stranded boy, other members of Ladder 3 lowered the large extension ladder to the sill next to Binns. Barrett and Graham were following the first man up the front of the structure as Binns stepped onto the top of the ladder and raised the scaling ladder to the seventh-floor window.
With conditions behind him becoming severe, Castigan was forced out onto the window sill. Straddling the sill, the boy guided the hook end of the ladder into the frame. Binns climbed up to the youth, and placed his arm across the lad's shoulders. He assured him he would be all right and briefly explained his plan to take him down the ladder. The fireman then slowly descended the ladder with the boy and transferred him onto the extension ladder. As they stepped to the ground, the crowd of spectators began to cheer. This was the first practical test of the new ladders, and it was a success.
As a result of this rescue, Binns was promoted to assistant foreman (lieutenant) and awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal, the FDNY's highest award.
Another Spectacular Rescue
On Oct. 25, 1916, a fire broke out on the third floor of 21 East Houston St. in lower Manhattan. The seven-story loft building was filled with workers on the upper floors. On the fifth and sixth floors, 15 girls were busy at sewing machines. On the top floor seven men were working in a steam laundry.
In the street a man was waiting for his fiancee to end her workday when he saw smoke coming from the third-floor window of the building. While he dashed for the local fire alarm box, the tenants of the building were becoming aware of the fire. The owners of the pants company led their employees down the stairs to the street, then realized that only seven of the 15 had made it out. They advised arriving fire companies of those still trapped inside as the red trucks screeched to a halt before the smoke-filled building.
In the rear of the building a woman, Miss Ida Goldberg, became visible through the thick smoke at a top-floor window. People on the roof of the shorter building next door called up to her, pleading with her to wait for the firemen. Miss Goldberg peeked out of the billowing clouds of thick, hot smoke and looked down at the shaft that was formed by the L shape of her building and the structure next door. She faced a sea of flames behind her and a drop of seven stories below her.
"I can hang on a minute or two more but that's all!" she coolly shouted back to them.
Firemen burst onto the roof of the adjoining roof and began to make some daring rescues. Using a small painter's ladder, firemen balanced themselves over the shaft and were able to remove two men, one who was clinging to a metal window shutter a few floors below Miss Goldberg. This ladder was too short to be of any usefulness in her rescue, so a scaling ladder was pulled up to the exposure roof by rope and brought to the shaft.
Above, Miss Goldberg took some small consolation seeing the men below her rescued but just 15 feet across the shaft from her, flames were blowing out the factory windows. The smoke and heat waves building behind her told her that the fire was approaching.
On the roof below, Fireman John Walsh of Ladder Company 8 approached the shaft and needed no orders. He knew the woman above him needed help, and she needed it now. Walsh stepped up onto the parapet wall with the scaling ladder in his hands. Fireman John Devine moved in behind him and grasped the back of Walsh's belt as the fireman leaned out across the shaft and drove the tip of the scaling ladder through the fifth-floor window. He pulled the ladder down to set it in the window frame.
With help from another fireman, the bottom of the scaling ladder was held steady as Walsh climbed onto the bottom rungs. Walsh looked over his shoulder and told the men to let go. The ladder and Walsh skidded across the face of the building, swinging like a pendulum through the clouds of smoke pumping from nearby windows.
As the ladder's motion slowed, Walsh began to climb. Devine then reached out and climbed onto the top of the fourth-floor window shutter and swung from shutter to shutter, across to a position that let him climb to the sill next to Walsh. Together they raised the ladder to the sixth-floor window and Walsh again climbed followed by Devine.
Fire conditions were now becoming so severe that Ida Goldberg was forced nearly out the window. She clung precariously to the smoldering ledge above them. Walsh called to her and explained what he was going to do. She helped seat the ladder as Walsh and Devine lowered it in, and leaned far out to avoid the terrible waves of heat as Walsh began his ascent.
A longer scaling ladder was being placed into position below the firemen who were now almost lost in the smoke. Miss Goldberg's clothes began to burn and flames began to burst over her head as Walsh approached the top of the ladder. She could wait no longer as another wave of heat forced her from the window. Sensing her plight, Walsh stopped and snapped his life belt hook onto the central rail of the ladder just as she tumbled from the window and into his arms. The fireman fought to hold her as Devine struggled to contain the ladder.
The window above them filled with fire as the men shielded the burned woman and brought her safely to the roof of the adjoining building. Eight months later, Walsh was presented the Bennett Medal and Devine received the Wertheim Medal for their scaling ladder exploits.
The Morgan Post Office on 9th Avenue was the scene of a five-alarm fire on the night of Dec. 15, 1967. The 10-story building covered an entire city block and nearly 60 companies would be needed to control the fire that raced through the chutes used to move mail bags from floor to floor. Above the command post three postal workers appeared at a sixth-floor window (with the high ceiling design of the building it was the equivalent of 10 stories).
Ladder Company 25 positioned itself on the sidewalk and even with it's 100 foot aerial fully extended it was realized it would not reach. Fireman Gene Dowling climbed up onto the aerial followed by Fireman Clyde Williams and together they made their way to the tip off the ladder. The first attempt to seat the scaling ladder was frustrated by the ornamental masonry surrounding the window. Operating on the tip of the ladder was further complicated by 30- mph winds that pulled at the men as they tried to hold the scaling ladder over their heads. Their second attempt at placing the scaling ladder's hook into a climbing position was successful.
Dowling crossed from the aerial ladder to the single-beamed ladder and ascended into the wind-whipped darkness above. At the top, Dowling helped one of the trapped workers onto the ladder and started down. Waiting at the tip of the aerial was Williams, who took charge of the first victim while Dowling started to climb again. For a second time, he returned to the top of the scaling ladder; this time, however, he faced the additional problem of dealing with a nearly hysterical victim. Dowling calmed the person as he retraced his route to the tip of the aerial.
Fireman Don Pizzuto had joined Williams and helped to hold both the scaling ladder and the victims steady in the frigid wind. Dowling returned with the third victim down and each of the firemen started down with a cold, frightened but now safe postal employee in his charge.
Seven months later, the trio of brave firemen joined the ranks of the Bravest on the steps of City Hall, where all were decorated for their bravery. Like Binns and Walsh before him, Dowling now wore the James Gordon Bennett Medal on his uniform.
From John Binns to Gene Dowling, the firefighters of New York City extended the reach of their aerial and ground ladders by using scaling ladders, skill and bravery to save those who surely otherwise would not be saved. Their trained and sure techniques were handed down from generation to generation. Modern technology made the scaling ladder a necessity in 1882 and it would be safety and modern technology that would be its demise. Thermopane windows and life belt hooks that could no longer be simply snapped around a gooseneck would make the pompeirs too difficult to operate. The Bureau of Training was also looking to reevaluate the number of classes devoted to scaling ladders in the Probationary Firefighters School (six classes). After weighing all the pros and cons, it was decided to remove scaling ladders from service.
For 114 years, firefighters in New York City brought dozens of people to safety over scaling ladders made of both wood and aluminum. The ladders are gone but not the memory of the brave souls who climbed them.
- Paul Hashagen, a Firehouse? contributing editor, is an FDNY firefighter assigned to Rescue Company 1 in Manhattan. He is also assistant chief of the Freeport, NY, Fire Department.
https://www.firehouse.com/home/news/10544909/end-of-an-era
FDNY scaling ladder use - posted by ******* on this site August 11, 2010:
I "used" the scaling ladder twice in my 37 years in the department. I came into the FDNY 3/30/60. I was assigned to the 6th Division. The training school was in session for a couple of weeks so they just assigned two of us probies each to ride with 6th Division companies. Unbelieveable but no training, no personal equipment, nothing. My officer was a Lt. name of Whitney. They had a wooden spare ladder. A kid came into qtrs and so help me asked if we could get a cat out of a tree. Whitney said O.K. it would give us a chance to use the spare. We got the cat down, and I never took another cat out of a tree for the next 37 years. Our second day on the job we (19) were called to the rock (Div. of Training) for evaluation. Myself and the other proby had regular gear on. When we arrived at the rock a Lt. came over and gave us orders for a simulated fire in one of the vacant buildings there (Roosevelt Island). He told me and the other proby to put a scaling ladder to a second floor window. I asked one of the guys what a scaling ladder is. He pointed to it and we took it off the truck. As we tried to raise it we dropped it onto the head (helmet) of a passing ff. The Lt. seeing this runs over to us and says "how long are you guys on the job?" I ask him "what time is it?" He says "what the hell does that mean?" I say "well we started yesterday at 0900 so I guess 25 hours." He has us sit under a tree and we watch the evolutions the rest of the period.
Twelve years later I am a Lt. in the same firehouse, 50 engine in with 19 truck. It was St. Patricks Day. Myself and 6 or 7 of the other guys were going to march in the parade. I was standing in front of qtrs with a few of the guys, in my Class "A"'s waiting to go to the city when a civilian pulls up in front of qtrs in his car and tells us there is a fire around the corner. I go down the corner (166th and Washington Ave.) and see a heavy column of smoke a block or so down around a corner. There is a pull box right there so I pull it. We (4 of us) run down and we have a 5 story occupied tenement with a heavy fire in a second floor apartment. We take a couple of people out of an adjoining apartment, the fire is now out into the public hall. As we go back down to the street there is a man and woman hanging out a third floor window. With that 19 pulls up and we take a 25' extension ladder off the rig, then the scaling ladder to reach the people. We get them out. We find out later that the apartment belonged to a brother of one of the guys who had just been promoted out of 19. The brother was blind and dies in the fire. The fire went to a second alarm.
A friend of mine, Gene Dowling of 25 truck made a scaling ladder rescue off the tip of the 100' aerial at a post office fire in Manhattan. He received the Bennett medal. That had to be one hairy rescue.
I "used" the scaling ladder twice in my 37 years in the department. I came into the FDNY 3/30/60. I was assigned to the 6th Division. The training school was in session for a couple of weeks so they just assigned two of us probies each to ride with 6th Division companies. Unbelieveable but no training, no personal equipment, nothing. My officer was a Lt. name of Whitney. They had a wooden spare ladder. A kid came into qtrs and so help me asked if we could get a cat out of a tree. Whitney said O.K. it would give us a chance to use the spare. We got the cat down, and I never took another cat out of a tree for the next 37 years. Our second day on the job we (19) were called to the rock (Div. of Training) for evaluation. Myself and the other proby had regular gear on. When we arrived at the rock a Lt. came over and gave us orders for a simulated fire in one of the vacant buildings there (Roosevelt Island). He told me and the other proby to put a scaling ladder to a second floor window. I asked one of the guys what a scaling ladder is. He pointed to it and we took it off the truck. As we tried to raise it we dropped it onto the head (helmet) of a passing ff. The Lt. seeing this runs over to us and says "how long are you guys on the job?" I ask him "what time is it?" He says "what the hell does that mean?" I say "well we started yesterday at 0900 so I guess 25 hours." He has us sit under a tree and we watch the evolutions the rest of the period.
Twelve years later I am a Lt. in the same firehouse, 50 engine in with 19 truck. It was St. Patricks Day. Myself and 6 or 7 of the other guys were going to march in the parade. I was standing in front of qtrs with a few of the guys, in my Class "A"'s waiting to go to the city when a civilian pulls up in front of qtrs in his car and tells us there is a fire around the corner. I go down the corner (166th and Washington Ave.) and see a heavy column of smoke a block or so down around a corner. There is a pull box right there so I pull it. We (4 of us) run down and we have a 5 story occupied tenement with a heavy fire in a second floor apartment. We take a couple of people out of an adjoining apartment, the fire is now out into the public hall. As we go back down to the street there is a man and woman hanging out a third floor window. With that 19 pulls up and we take a 25' extension ladder off the rig, then the scaling ladder to reach the people. We get them out. We find out later that the apartment belonged to a brother of one of the guys who had just been promoted out of 19. The brother was blind and dies in the fire. The fire went to a second alarm.
A friend of mine, Gene Dowling of 25 truck made a scaling ladder rescue off the tip of the 100' aerial at a post office fire in Manhattan. He received the Bennett medal. That had to be one hairy rescue.
Scaling ladders are still used by some departments:
Paris 7/3/2017
"At 15:00, a violent fire ravaged an apartment in 80, in a building located on Rue Ampere in Noisy-le-Sec. Five occupants, including three children, were rescued by the rescue, using their hooks ladders. Fortunately, the children go well and their mother was only very lightly burned to the hands."
https://www.firefighternation.com/articles/2017/07/scaling-ladder-rescue-in-paris.html
Paris 7/3/2017
"At 15:00, a violent fire ravaged an apartment in 80, in a building located on Rue Ampere in Noisy-le-Sec. Five occupants, including three children, were rescued by the rescue, using their hooks ladders. Fortunately, the children go well and their mother was only very lightly burned to the hands."
https://www.firefighternation.com/articles/2017/07/scaling-ladder-rescue-in-paris.html
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,230
Good use of a Hook Ladder that FDNY still carries....that is not the Scaling Ladder we had (also referred to by some as a Pompier Ladder)....i believe the original name by the inventor (Hoejel sp)was a Hoejel sp Life Saving Device.mack said:Scaling ladders are still used by some departments:
Paris 7/3/2017
"At 15:00, a violent fire ravaged an apartment in 80, in a building located on Rue Ampere in Noisy-le-Sec. Five occupants, including three children, were rescued by the rescue, using their hooks ladders. Fortunately, the children go well and their mother was only very lightly burned to the hands."
https://www.firefighternation.com/articles/2017/07/scaling-ladder-rescue-in-paris.html
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,230
Found this with more info & correct spelling of the (actually not inventor but the fellow who brought it to the US) Christ Hojell...also in the third paragraph down it states Gene Dowling's well executed Rescue was the last in the FDNY by Scaling Ladder....there were a few more after that in the FDNY into the '80s....in the photo below that third paragraph is another mid '60s photo of FFs Gil Cox & Mal O'Niel sp of LAD*2.....i notice some comments as to modern day FDs still using the Scaling Ladder as a "confidence builder" in their Training Facilities .....IMO that may be why the FDNY had ours removed from service in 1996 ? .....if actually so then a damn disgrace.... https://hookandirons.com/blogs/hook-and-irons/14171873-a-brief-history-of-the-pompier-ladder
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,230
Scaling Ladders also have been used on piers to facilitate boat ops or for Divers into & out of the water....also on an extremely high steep roof cornice to allow FFs to get back up to an Aerial (sliding down onto the roof is easy but climbing back up not always).....i also thought that during the period of no FDNY personal Life Saving Rope when we had a whole LAD dedicated to standby as a Roof Team for a possible FF Rescue that if in addition to the LSR they had a Scaling Ladder & that this possibly could facilitate a FF/FFs Rescue from a top floor window back up to the roof.
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,230
^^^^^ In regard to mack's Reply # 348 above quoting Paul Hashagen's article....it states the 1st Scaling Ladder Rescue in the FDNY was in a bldg at 223 to 225 East 17 St called "The St George Flats"....my Paternal Grandmother lived at 219 East 17 St (exposure 2A) until 1951 i remember playing in the backyard of 219 as a kid & more than once miscreants at 223/225 throwing objects out the back window at me .....223 to 225 was also later the "Hotel 17" (which i think it is till this day) certainly kind of seedy back then not sure how it is today....a good friend & fellow FDNY BROTHER Jim Rogers RIP (FF SQ*5 & R*1...LT R*2 ...CPT R*1) who encouraged me to study & was a Mentor to me in my initial Promotion studying days had as a FF in R*1 gotten a Medal for a Rescue at a Fire in the "Hotel 17"....something to do with the shaft possibly a Roof Rope but i do not remember exactly ....not the last Job at the "Hotel17" or on 17 St for that matter.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2007
- Messages
- 3,470
Point of reference. On the Code 3 die cast of Truck 26's ALF there are 2 scaling ladders mounted close to the main aerial.
LT Christ Hoell, the fire lieutenant who developed the scaling ladder and procedures for use, tragically died in the line of duty at a St Louis fire.
He had been invited to NY to demonstrate his scaling ladder and FDNY favorably decided to immediately equip apparatus with the new device and implement training methods. He was offered a position with FDNY but refused to return to his St. Louis Fire Department. He was promoted to Captain of Truck 6 and then lost his life at a warehouse fire collapse in 1887.
http://www.fireserviceinfo.com/hoellmanual.html
He had been invited to NY to demonstrate his scaling ladder and FDNY favorably decided to immediately equip apparatus with the new device and implement training methods. He was offered a position with FDNY but refused to return to his St. Louis Fire Department. He was promoted to Captain of Truck 6 and then lost his life at a warehouse fire collapse in 1887.
http://www.fireserviceinfo.com/hoellmanual.html
Ladder 25 scaling ladder rescue - Morgan Annex Fire - Box 676 - December 15, 1967 - 2107 hrs - 31 degrees
40 engines/15 trucks/rescues/Superpumper - 11 alarms - 350 FFs/96 injured
Ladder 25 made scaling ladder rescue of 3 trapped workers. FF Dowling, FF Williams, FF Rizutto
See WNYF, 2nd issue, 1968
40 engines/15 trucks/rescues/Superpumper - 11 alarms - 350 FFs/96 injured
Ladder 25 made scaling ladder rescue of 3 trapped workers. FF Dowling, FF Williams, FF Rizutto
See WNYF, 2nd issue, 1968