At the Jamaica Gas Fire described in reply # 4039 on the previous page.....ENG*303 & LAD*126 normally 1st Due ( FH a few blocks away) were on another Run initially....... ENG*298 & LAD*127 arrived downwind & the Rigs were therefore enveloped in the gas plume on ignition....the Fire went to Thirteen Alarms.
FDNY SCALING LADDER RESCUES
JAMUARY 5, 1961 - BROOKLYN BOX 688 - ENGINE 217
View attachment 12121
Recent New York scaling ladder operation
—Photo and report by Alex Donchin
MEMBERS OF FDNY Engine Company 217, stationed in Brooklyn, employed a scaling ladder in a rescue attempt on January 5, upon responding to Box 688 for a blaze in a tenement at 856 DeKalb Avenue shortly after 11:15 p.m. Fire on the third floor of the building sent heat and smoke up the interior stairways and heavily charged the upper floor. A 14-year-old girl, Ada Cordona, alone in a top-floor flat was trapped and forced to hang from a window, supporting herself on an ornamental ledge, to escape the heat and smoke. The officer in charge of Engine 217, first due, realized that the location was equidistant from the two responding truck companies and as a safety measure, ordered an immediate “pompier” ladder rescue operation.
View attachment 12122
Scaling ladder effort replaced by arrival of ladder company. Woman was rescued by aerial ladder.
This was my father Harry Prie. Thank you for sharing these pictures. He died in 1993 @ the age of 56. He loved being a fireman. He always spoke of the importance of the Pompier ladder. He always spoke of Al Donchin and his amazing photos.FDNY SCALING LADDER RESCUES
JAMUARY 5, 1961 - BROOKLYN BOX 688 - ENGINE 217
View attachment 12121
Recent New York scaling ladder operation
—Photo and report by Alex Donchin
MEMBERS OF FDNY Engine Company 217, stationed in Brooklyn, employed a scaling ladder in a rescue attempt on January 5, upon responding to Box 688 for a blaze in a tenement at 856 DeKalb Avenue shortly after 11:15 p.m. Fire on the third floor of the building sent heat and smoke up the interior stairways and heavily charged the upper floor. A 14-year-old girl, Ada Cordona, alone in a top-floor flat was trapped and forced to hang from a window, supporting herself on an ornamental ledge, to escape the heat and smoke. The officer in charge of Engine 217, first due, realized that the location was equidistant from the two responding truck companies and as a safety measure, ordered an immediate “pompier” ladder rescue operation.
View attachment 12122
Scaling ladder effort replaced by arrival of ladder company. Woman was rescued by aerial ladder.
Thank you! God Bless!Thank you, Teresa. God bless your father - FF Harry Prie, Engine 230, detailed Engine 217.
^^^^ In the above photo of 256 ( right across DeKalb Ave from the BKLYN Hosp E.R. ) to the right of the FH a Drugstore still exists & to the left on Fort Green Place (corner visible ) is BKLYN Tech HS ....256 was disbanded in 1974...around 1979 the old FH was sold to Spike Lee for $125,000.......he did a lot of renovating to it but a few years ago he was asking 4 Million for it.