FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section

[mack]

Engine 231 Medals:

    EDWARD W. STIEHLER FF. ENG. 231 JAN. 30, 1922 1923 KENNY

         

        On January. 30th, 1922 ? FF Steihler was hung by his ankles by his comrades ?pendulum style? from a cornice of a 3 story building at 251 Christopher Ave. to effect the rescue of 5 people who were not within reach of ladders, had no fire escape, and were ready to jump if not for his quick actions.

    EDWARD F. GROSS LT. ENG. 231 AUG. 22, 1924 1925 CRIMMINS

          On August 22nd, 1924 Lt. Edward F. Gross rescued a young girl at 2:43AM at 319 Osbourne Street. He carried the girl out via portable ladder without a hoseline in place.

    BENJAMIN LEVY CAPT. ENG. 231 1936 1937 STEPHENSON

         

          The Stephenson Medal was awarded to Captain Levy in 1936 for having maintained the best disciplined and most highly efficient company in the Department. Captain Levy would command E231 for an astonishing 27 years!

    EMANUEL FRIED LT. ENG. 231 DEC. 11, 1946 1947 FDR

          Awarded for his participation in the removal of a woman from the ruins of a fire and a building collapse at 489 W 184th Street at 11:59PM on December 11, 1946.

      EDWARD V. WETZEL LT. ENG. 231 NOV. 4, 1965 1966 STIEFEL

         

          On November 4th, 1965 Lt. Wetzel had a confirmed report of children trapped at 712 Stone Ave at 7:20PM. He crawled on his belly under the flames and past the fire to the rear bedroom where he found two children. Shielding them with his own body, he crawled once again past the fire and handed their limp bodies to his awaiting men. The children would survive the harrowing ordeal thanks to Lt. Wetzel?s quick instincts which were done without a mask and before a hoseline was in place.

    JOSEPH A. CONIGLIO CAPT. ENG. 231 MAY 14, 1989 1990 CONNELL

         

          On May 14th1989 ,E 231, under the command of Capt Coniglio, responded to a project fire at 251 Osbourne Street. The job would turn out to be a long stretch to the 5th floor as the Captain entered the apartment well before a hoseline was in place. He was informed that 3 people were trapped in the rearmost bedroom. He quickly made the last room where he physically pulled a woman back in who was on the edge ready to jump. As he awaited water, he would share his air with the three occupants thereby preventing them from further panic and sure certain death.


Ladder 120 Medals:

    JAMES J. MOONEY CAPT. LAD. 120    1917 STEPHENSON

          Captain James F. Mooney in was awarded the Stephenson Medal for having the best disciplined company in 1916.

    FRANCIS P. J. DONLON FF. LAD. 120 DEC. 21, 1929 1930 DEPARTMENT

          Four days before Christmas, Firemen Francis P. J. Donlon and Charles T. Leary, Jr. rescued a mother and her four children from 445 Watkins Street

    CHARLES T. LEARY, JR. FF. LAD. 120 DEC. 21, 1929 1930 DEPARTMENT

          FF Charles T. Leary rescued a mother and her four children from 445 Watkins Street

    AUGUSTUS KETTLER FF. LAD. 120 AUG. 7, 1929 1930 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          On August 7, 1929 Fireman Augustus Kettler received the Brooklyn Citizen Medal for rescuing a couple from a fire at 136 Thatford Avenue

    HENRY ROHRBACH LT. LAD. 120 AUG. 7, 1929 1930 DEPARTMENT

         

          On August 7, 1929, Lieutenant Henry Rohrbach received a Department Medal for rescuing a couple from a fire at 136 Thatford Avenue

    FRANK R. MAGAN FF. LAD. 120 MAR. 17, 1930 1931 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          St. Patrick's Day 1930, Fireman Frank H. Magan rescued a father and his two children from 277 Watkins Street.

    CHARLES H. SMITH FF. LAD. 120 NOV. 3, 1933 1934 TREVOR-WARREN

          On November 3, 1934 two members of Ladder 120 rescued two people at 361 Bristol Street. The Emily Trevor-Mary B. Warren Medal was awarded to Fireman Charles H. Smith.

    ROLAND G. CHURBUCK FF. LAD. 120 NOV. 3, 1933 1934 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

          Roland G. Churbuck rescued two people at 361 Bristol Street.

    VICTOR F. ROSSI FF. LAD. 120 OCT. 21, 1950 1951 JAMES GORDON BENNETT

         

          Fireman Victor F. Rossi on October 21, 1950 rescued two women from 162 Glenmore Avenue. Fireman Rossi earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal, the oldest medal awarded for bravery each year.

    VICTOR F. ROSSI FF. LAD. 120 OCT. 31, 1952 1953 HUGH BONNER

         

          On October 31, 1952 Fireman Rossi earned the Hugh Bonner Medal for capturing a culprit who was trying to steal the 44th Battalion?s car from in front of quarters

    VICTOR F. ROSSI FF. LAD. 120 OCT. 21, 1950 1954 HARRY M. ARCHER

         

          Fireman Victor F. Rossi on October 21, 1950 rescued two women from 162 Glenmore Avenue. Fireman Rossi earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal. It was also the best rescue in a three year period and he earned the Doctor Harry M. Archer Medal in 1954. This medal is given only to a James Gordon Bennett Medal winner once every three years.

    JOHN F. FINNEGAN LT. LAD. 120 JUN. 4, 1958 1959 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          Lieutenant John F. Finnegan rescued a little girl from her burning apartment at 99 Belmont Street on June 4, 1958

    CURT A. LANDGREBE LT. LAD. 120 DEC. 5, 1963 1964 DOUGHERTY

         

          Lieutenant Curt A. Landgrebe rescued an eight year old boy from his burning apartment at 29 Hinsdale Street on December 5, 1963.

    CURT A. LANDGREBE LT. LAD. 120 MAY 10, 1965 1966 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          On May 10, 1965, Lieutenant Curt A. Landgrebe rescued a woman from 426 Snediker Avenue.

    DANIEL J. TRACY FF. LAD. 120 MAR. 25, 1965 1966 THOMPSON

         

          Fireman Daniel J. Tracy earned three medals in three years. The first medal, the Commissioner Edward Thompson Medal was awarded on March 25, 1965 for rescuing five children from an apartment fire at 593 Howard Avenue.

    EUGENE P. TIMMONS LT. LAD. 120 NOV. 4, 1965 1966 KANE

         

          For his heroic work at 712 Stone Avenue on November 4, 1965, Lieutenant Eugene P. Timmons received the Vincent J. Kane Medal for rescuing a small boy from a burning apartment.

    DANIEL J. TRACY FF. LAD. 120 APR. 23, 1966 1967 BRUMMER

         

          FF Tracy rescued two people from 273 Amboy Street on April 23, 1966.

    DANIEL J. TRACY FF. LAD. 120 JUL. 21, 1967 1968 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          FF Tracy rescued a child from 1586 St. Marks Avenue on July 21, 1967 at extreme personal risk.

    JOHN J. CONNOLLY  FF. LAD. 120 JUN. 22, 1968 1969 EMERALD

         


          On June 22, 1968 Fireman John J. Connolly rescued a mother and her two children from 358 Hinsdale Street. The Emerald Society Medal was awarded Fireman Connolly for this rescue.

    RUDOLPH A. GRECO FF. LAD. 120 APR. 3, 1970 1971 MC ELLIGOTT

         

          On April 3, 1970 FF Rudy Greco rescued an elderly man from the 3rd floor at 1961 Bergen Street. For his actions he was awarded John J. McElligott Medal

    THOMAS J. CHERRY FF. LAD. 120 SEP. 22, 1972 1973 BROOKMAN

         

          Fireman Thomas J. Cherry rescued a child from a burning window sill at 705 Saratoga Avenue on September 22, 1972. He swung pendulum fashion across an eight foot gap between the adjoining fire escape and window to rescue the child.

    LOUIS MONTELEONE FF. LAD. 120 JAN. 15, 1978 1979 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          Fireman Louis Monteleone for rescuing three unconscious people from a burning apartment at 298 Sumpter Street on January 15, 1978.

    ROBERT L. SCHERIFF FF. LAD. 120 OFF-DUTY DEC. 22, 1979 1980 AMERICAN LEGION

         

          On December 22, 1979 Fireman Robert L. Scheriff, off duty, rescued three people from a four car accident on the Interboro Parkway. In true Hollywood tradition the cars exploded in a fireball just as Scheriff pulled the last person from the wreck. He received the American Legion Fire Department Post No. 930 Mark M Wohlfeld Memorial Medal for this rescue.

    MICHAEL P. HARRINGTON FF. LAD. 120 JUL. 25, 1980 1981 CONRAN

         

          Firefighter Michael P. Harrington made a rope rescue from a seventh floor window at 375 Blake Avenue on July 25, 1980.

    KEVIN D. HEANEY FF. LAD. 120 SEP. 4, 1982 1983 JOHNSTON

         

          Firefighter Kevin D. Heaney rescued a resident and fellow firefighter from a burning fire apartment on September 4, 1982 at 1912 Bergen Street. He received the Albert S. Johnston Medal for his daring rescue.

    PAUL J. MC FADDEN FF. LAD. 120 JUN. 24, 1983 1984 KENNY

         

          Firefighter Paul J. McFadden rescued five people from 354 Chauncy Street on June 24, 1983.

    DENNIS FARRELL FF. LAD. 120 MAR. 18, 1988 1989 MARTIN

          Firefighter Dennis Farrell received the Chief Joseph R. Martin Medal for rescuing a three year old boy from his crib in the fire apartment on March 18, 1988.

    MICHAEL T. KELLY FF. LAD. 120 MAY 29, 1992 1993 THOMPSON

         

          Firefighter Michael T. Kelly with only nine months on the job rescued a nine year old boy from his burning apartment at 1965 Bergen Street on May 29, 1992. He received the Commissioner Edward Thompson Medal for this extraordinary rescue.

    MICHAEL P. CUMMINGS FF LAD. 120 JUL. 30, 2000 2001 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         

          On July 30, 2000 two members of Ladder 120 rescued a family of five from a thirteenth floor apartment at 315 Lavonia Avenue. Fireman Michael P. Cummings received the Brooklyn Citizen Medal. Trapped in the bedroom of the fire apartment FF Cummings gave up his mask to the barely conscious children until the fire was knocked down in the living room and kitchen.

    DENNIS GORDON LT. LAD 120 JUL. 30, 2000 2001 BONNER

         

          On July 30, 2000 two members of Ladder 120 rescued a family of five from a thirteenth floor apartment at 315 Lavonia Avenue. Lieutenant Dennis Gordon received the Hugh Bonner Medal. Trapped in the bedroom of the fire apartment Lt Gordon gave up his mask to the barely conscious children until the fire was knocked down in the living room and kitchen.

    LAWRENCE E. TOMPKINS LT. LAD. 120 MAY 5, 2005 2006 JOHNSON

         

          Lt. Lawrence E. Tompkins was awarded the Albert S. Johnston Medal for the successful rescue of a senior citizen who happened to also be an amputee from a fire on the second floor at 393 Powell Street.

    GLEN J. MERKITCH FF. LAD. 120 DEC. 11, 2006 2007 CRIMMONS

         

          FF Glen J. Merkitch rescued a civilian on the floor above at a 2nd floor job at 2132A Fulton Street/Rockaway Ave. He found Theodore Dinkins wedged between a bed and the wall and proceeded to drag him to the front of the building to the window where L120′s bucket was in position to carry the occupant to the street. For his actions, FF Merkitch was awarded the Thomas E. Crimmons Medal

    LARRY D. SCHNEDKENBURGER, FF. LAD. 120 MAR. 20, 2006 2007 PULASKI

         

          FF Larry D. Schneckenburger was awarded the Pulaski Association Medal in 2007 for his quick thinking actions in front of quarters on March 20th, 2006. FF Schneckenburger witnessed a gunfight at the same time children were being dismissed from the adjacent school and immediately put himself in harm?s way. He ushered many kids to safety while a total of 17 shots were fired and one teacher was struck twice in the leg

    JOHN P. DREW FF LAD. 120 DEC 7, 2005 2006 MARTIN

         

          FF John P. Drew was awarded the Chief Joseph B. Martin Medal in 2007 for his actions at a fire at 348 Chester Street on December 27th, 2005. As any FF from Watkins St can attest, a box at the "Marcus Garvey" buildings presents many unique challenges and variations. FF Drew rescued Mary Patterson (a relative of former heavyweight boxer Floyd Patterson) from the top floor

    PETER E. CARROLL FF LAD. 120 AUG. 5, 2011 2012 JOHNSON

         

          FF Peter E. Carroll made a daring rescue of a 40 year old woman on the floor above of a lightweight construction duplex apartment at 340 Marion Street on August 25, 2011. (which occurred as signal 10-70 was transmitted for water delivery problems).

    MICHAEL P. RICHARDSON FF LAD. 120  OCT. 7, 2012 2013 COLUMBIA SOCIETY

         

          FF Michael P. Richardson was awarded the 2013 Columbia Society Medal for operating above the fire in deteriorating conditions and rescuing a 55 year old man who was unconscious in his bed at Box 1636 which was transmitted for a heavy fire in the store of a 2 story brick adjacent to E 283 quarters on the night of October 7, 2012.

    CHRISTOPHER G. EYSSER CAPT. LAD. 120 JUL. 6, 2013 2014 JOHNSON

         

          Captain Christopher G. Eysser rescued  2 unconscious children in the rear bedroom at a 3 story LRFPMD at 373 Blake Ave on July 6, 2013.

    MICHAEL MEYER FF. LAD. 120 DEC. 14, 2016 2017 TREVOR/WARREN

         

          On December 14th 2016 FF Meyer had the most coveted position in the FDNY, Ladder 120- Irons. Ladder 120 responded to Box 77-1675 only a few blocks from quarters and the company effected the rescue of seven 10-45s from the top floor apartment of a project building. FF Meyer acted decisively under extreme stress and fire conditions.

    MICHAEL THOMPSON CAPT. LAD. 120 DEC. 14, 2016 2017 BROOKLYN CITIZENS

         
       
          Capt. Mike Thomson received the 2017 FDNY Brooklyn Citizens award for actions at Box 77-1675 at address 260 Stone Ave. Captain Thomson reacted decisively and showed steadfast leadership under extreme conditions. Captain Thomson acted selflessly and under the greatest traditions of Watkins Street and the FDNY.

    BRIAN CROSS FF. LAD. 120 DEC. 14, 2016 2017 HOLY NAME SOCIETY

         

          FF Brian Cross was pivotal in saving the lives of multiple people in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at Box 77-1675 at address 260 Stone Ave. Using his body as a shield he carried A young boy past the flames to the stairwell where he handed him off and turned back for others. In all seven victims, one of whom ultimately expired, were rescued at this fire.


Battalion 44 Medals:

    THOMAS YASVIN, JR. FF. BAT. 44 FEB. 6, 1949 1950 PRENTICE

         

          Firefighter Thomas Yasvin, Battalion 44 Aide, rescued a woman from a burning 4th floor tenement apartment upon arrival and carried her to safety.

    FRANK T. TUTTLEMONDO BAT. CHIEF BAT. 44 AUG. 13, 1980 1981 CRIMMINS - POSTHUMOUS

         

          Chief Frank Tuttlemondo sacrificed his own life to shelter firefighters from Engine 227 in collapsing building at Box 1672, 124 Osborn Street on August 13, 1980.


LODDs:

    FIREFIGHTER MORTIMER A. ROBERTS ENGINE 231 February 6, 1901

          FF Roberts was 34 and had a wife and 5 children.  FF Roberts' widow was awarded $10000 due to negligence of construction workers who left debris in street without warnings.  Engine 231 responded over dirt piles left in road and FF Roberts was thrown from apparatus. 

         
   
    FIREFIGHTER HENRY J. KAISER ENGINE 231 April 6, 1912

         

          Four firemen from Engine 131 (now Engine 231) were working on a second floor fire escape when they were hit by a backdraft. The four fell in a heap on the ground and three of the four sprang up and went back to work. The fourth was Fireman Henry J. Kaiser of Engine 131, who lay white and inert. He failed to respond when first aid was given. He was placed in an ambulance unconscious and taken to the Bradford Street Hospital where he died three days later. He was only thirty years old, a member of the Department for two years and was married with two small children. The fire was in a four-story factory at Livonia and William Avenues and was one of the fieriest to visit the Brownsville section of Brooklyn for many years. The fire ate the core out of the brick factory and was valued at $60,000.

    FIREFIGHTER FREDERICK V. ERB ENGINE 231 July 23, 1934

         

          Answering a false alarm at 8:30 in the morning, Fireman Frederick Erb, was killed when the car of Battalion Chief Herbert Downward collided with a taxicab on East New York Avenue and Rockaway Parkway. Erb, who was thirty-nine years old and lived at 104-19 107th Street, Richmond Hill, Queens, struck his head against a curbstone when he was pitched from behind the steering wheel. His skull was fractured. He was attached to Engine 231 and was detailed to drive the Chief.

    BATTALION CHIEF EUGENE G. DOWD BATTALION 44 January 27, 1955

         

          On May 4, 1949 Battalion Chief Eugene G. Dowd operated at a fire on Pitkin and Saratoga Avenues [on May 4, 1949]. He wrote in his own Fire Report that he was not feeling well after the fire. He went on Medical Leave and later returned to light duty until his retirement on a three-quarters disability pension on March 1, 1954. Chief Dowd died on January 27, 1955 of a heart attack. On February 9, 1956 the Board of Trustees of the Fire Department Pension Fund determined his death to have been in the line of duty. Chief Dowd joined the Department on November 1, 1928 and was assigned to Engine 224. He served in Engine 227 as a Fireman and in Engines 240 and 231 as a Lieutenant. He was appointed Captain on August 23, 1943 and assigned to Engine 214 where he served until June 17, 1948. He was promoted to Battalion Chief on June 16, 1948 and assigned to the 44th Battalion. Chief Dowd was fifty-four years old at the time of his death

    FIREFIGHTER ROBERT A. MEILL LADDER 120  July 1, 1961

         

          FF Meill, a 3rd grade FF died on July 1st, 1961 when, as he was operating, the roof collapsed during a 4 alarm fire at 196 Junius Street. FF Meill was survived by his wife, Eleanor.

    BATTALION CHIEF FRANK T. TUTTLEMONDO BATTALION 44 August 13, 1980

         

          BC Tuttlemondo died while operating at 124 Osbourne Street during a fire in a 3 story vacant which he correctly assumed had squatters inside at 4:30AM. The Chief heroically would use his own body to shield a fellow FF during a collapse which would in fact save the members? life. He was survived by his wife Jenny and 2 kids, Thomas and Katherine.


Brownsville:

   

    http://forgotten-ny.com/2005/06/brownsville-and-east-new-york-brooklyn/

    http://www.oldnycphotos.com/brownsville.html

    http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/31/brownsville-brooklyn/#1



   

   



    Note - respects to Engine 231/Ladder 120/Battalion 44 excellent website - http://watkinsst.com/ - visit for additional information

 

[mack]

Brownsville 2nd alarm - 1988:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE9_Mv4e63g&list=PLrciE2qoF8oYM7N8oqcHhGvWJIXMQfcgT&index=130

 

[fdhistorian]

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?

 

[nfd2004]

I try to follow this "Firehouse - 2nd section", as well as the original "FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies". A tremendous amount of history here.

I must say, that Brooklyn Watkins St, Eng 231, Lad 120, Batt 44, has quite a record. I know they've ALWAYS been one of the busiest Firehouses in NYC, ever since I first started my interest in the FDNY about "FIVE DECADES Ago".

But after reading of so many medal winners, the guys that have worked there, or currently work there, certainly have an OUTSTANDING HISTORY and something to be very proud of.

Every firehouse in NYC has had their medal winners and quite honestly, I think there's a lot of us on the outside that would have loved to been a part of any one. There's so many guys out there that really enjoy being a part of the action.
But for whatever reason, things worked out in a different way. 

 

[mack]

Willy D picture of TL 120:

   

 

[nfd2004]

Willy D picture of TL 120:

   

Click on the photo and look close. Notice the horns of a bull at the top of the windshield. Set up to give the appearance of a "charging bull".

I thought that was GREAT.

P.S., - "Weren't those mack tower ladders GREAT too". And this one sure proved itself.

 

[mack]

Engine 231/Ladder 120/Battalion 44 107 Watkins Street:

 

[mack]

Engine 231/Ladder 120/Battalion 44 107 Watkins Street:

 

[68jk09]

^^^^^^        https://watkinsst.com

 

[mack]

1949 Divisions and Battalions:

   


1965 Divisions and Battalions:

   


1971 Divisions and Battalions:

   

 

[68jk09]

The 1949 QNS DVs*13 & 14 reverted back years later & contain the same BNs today.

 

[mack]

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, 30-2, 72, 72-2, and 203 and possibly Engine 32?

Add Engines 6, 30-3, 33, 33-2

 

[fdhistorian]

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, 30-2, 72, 72-2, and 203 and possibly Engine 32?

Add Engines 6, 30-3, 33, 33-2

Were there any high pressure engine companies in the Downtown Brooklyn (E203) and Coney Island system areas?

 

[mack]

Engine 303/Ladder 126  firehouse  104-12 Princeton Street  S. Jamaica, Queens Division 13, Battalion 50  "Princeton Street Tigers"

    Hose 3 organized 146-39 105th Avenue former volunteer firehouse                                      1907
    Hose 3 became Engine 303                                                                                              1922
    Engine 303 new firehouse 104-12 Princeton Street w/Ladder 126                                        1931
    Engine 303 moved 111-36 Merrick Boulevard at Engine 275                                                2006
    Engine 303 returned 104-12 Princeton Street w/Ladder 126                                                2007

    Ladder 76 organized 97-22 Cresskill Place                                                                          1907
    Ladder 76 became Ladder 126                                                                                          1913
    Ladder 126 new firehouse 104-12 Princeton Street w/Engine 303                                        1931
    Ladder 126 relocated to 91-45 121st Street w/Squad 270                                                  2006
    Ladder 126 returned to 104-12 Princeton Street w/Engine 303                                            2007

    Division 13 located at 104-12 Princeton Street at Engine 303                        1931 and 1937-1953


Pre FDNY:

    Jamaica was protected by Jamaica Fire Department volunteer companies from 1860-1907.

         

    Resolute Hose Company 5 was organized 1891-1907.  It was located at 146-39 105th Avenue when it was replaced by FDNY Hose in 1907, which later became Engine 303.

    Jamaica Ladder 3 operated 1849-1907.  It was replaced by FDNY Ladder 76, later re-numbered Ladder 126, at its firehouse at 97-22 Cresskill Place in 1907.  Ladder 76 organized with a 1905 American LaFrance chemical combination ladder truck, straight frame, with a 50 ft ladder.

    Hose 3 and Ladder 76 were companies in the newly organized FDNY Battalion 51. The battalion had 4 hose companies and 1 truck company.  The new FDNY companies had 2 officers and 6 firemen assigned.


Ladder 76 (Ladder 126) 97-22 Cresskill Place firehouse:

   

   


104-12 Princeton Street firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 303:

   

   

   

   


Ladder 126:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 303/Ladder 126:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwJ8RVkEy0k

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_rrgxzHOzE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kFA-FTM7ko

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ka_JHD_oOE


FDNY Medals:

    STEVEN J. SHEIL FF. LAD. 126 1986 BRUMMER

    THOMAS G. MC AREE FF. LAD. 126 FEB. 17, 1988 1989 LANE

    RICHARD V. TRAMPAS FF. LAD. 126 JAN. 12, 1990 1991 PULASKI

    KEVIN J. MC CULLAGH FF. LAD. 126 SEP. 19, 1991 1992 HISPANIC

         

    RICHARD V. TRAMPAS FF. LAD. 126 JAN. 14, 1992 1993 HOLY NAME

       

    THOMAS REILLY FF. LAD. 126 NOV. 24, 1995 1996 HONOR LEGION

         

    JOHN A. SIGNORILE FF. LAD. 126 JAN. 22, 1995 1996 PULASKI

         

    GERARD L. WALSH FF. LAD. 126 DEC. 9, 1995 1996 THIRD ALARM

         

    STEVEN J. GLADDING FF. LAD. 126 JAN. 14, 1996 1997 DOLNEY

         

    DENNIS SOLLIN FF. LAD. 126 FEB. 13, 1996 1997 KENNY

         


LODDs:

    LIEUTENANT ALBERT E. DONOVAN ENGINE 303 January 21, 1924

          Lt. Albert E. Donovan died while operating at a 3-alarm fire.

         

    FIREFIGHTER ROBERT C. PETTIT ENGINE 303 December 15, 1944

         

         

          Major Robert C. Pettit was taken prisoner during World War II when Bataan was surrendered.  He was held as a POW for almost three years. He survived the Bataan Death March and was imprisoned at the dreaded Cabanatuan Prison Camp. As General MacArthur was landing on Luzon, Pettit and some 1,600 POW's were loaded aboard the Japanese ship Oryoko Maru on December 13, 1944. The ship was attacked and badly damaged on December 15 and sank within 500 ft of shore. Wounded in the air attack, Pettit swam back to shore and was placed aboard the Brazil Maru and taken to Taiwan. There he changed ships but died on January 9, 1945, at Takao, Formosa, when his new ship was attacked and sunk. After the war, his name was placed on the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery at Manila. Major Robert Pettit was awarded the Purple Heart and nominated for the Silver Star.

    FIREFIGHTER DENNIS McQUEENIE LADDER 126  July 29, 1960

          FF Dennis McQueenie, a 10-year FDNY veteran, died while operating at a single-alarm fire.

         

    RIP.  Never forget.


South Jamaica:

   

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Jamaica,_Queens

 

[mack]

Ladder 126 Runs & Workers 1964-2017:

Year  Ladder  Runs  EMS  Workers  OSW  AH/Multiple

1964    126    1960            517
1965    126    2416            854
1966    126    2490            850
1967    126    3050          1441
1968    126    3864          1787
1969    126    4132          2007
1970    126    4541          2234
1971    126    5316          2599
1972    126    5368          2500
1973    126    5463          2748
1974    126    5746          3037
1975    126    5580          2884       
1976    126    3086          2068       
1977    126    5651          2338          Most runs FDNY ladder companies
1978    126    5432          2324     
1979    126    2019    0    2318       
1980    126    4411    0    2093       
1981    126    3957    0    1925       
1982    126    3907    0    1929       
1983    126    3771    0    1806    305 
1984    126    3732    0    1960       
1985    126    3834    0    2066    304 
1986    126    4028    0    2190    354 
1987    126    4134    0    2087    287 
1988    126    4241    0    2137    283 
1989    126    4498    0    2317    277 
1990    126    4833    0    2657    261 
1991    126    5583    0    3030    319 
1992    126    5457    0    2922    276 
1993    126    4724    0    2805    320 
1994    126    4415    0    2573    279 
1995    126    4317    0    2633    378 
1996    126    4443  79    2980    530 
1997    126    4231  406  2803    444 
1998    126    4156  110  2554    369 
1999    126    3217  99    1970    303 
2000    126    2961  61    1756    271 
2001    126    2514    0    1536    251 
2002    126    2531    0    1581    242 
2003    126    2565    0    1702    267 
2004    126    2415    0    1969    297 
2005    126    2549    0    1769    273 
2006    126    2538    0    1926    301 
2007    126    2263    0    1421    297 
2008    126    2462    0    1630    283 
2009    126    2529    0    1779    292 
2010    126    2739    0    1739    262 
2011    126    2358    0    1751    291
2012    126    2382    0    1791    331
2013    126    2263          1695    248    102
2014    126    2484          1765    295      84
Year  Ladder  Runs  Med  Emerg  Fires  AH/Multiple
2015    126    2857          2274    583    111
2016    126    2670          2039    558    120
2017    126    2514          1931    496    112

 

[mack]

FF Robert C. Pettit Jr.  Ladder 126 FDNY  POW  MIA  LODD  World War II

   


   

   

   


"Bataan Commemorative Research Project" (https://bataanproject.com/index.html)

Major Robert Charles Pettit Jr.  HQ Detachment Provisional Tank Group  (Ladder 126 FDNY)

    Note: The HQ Detachment of the Provisional Tank Group was made up of ten enlisted men and an unknown number of officers.  The detachment's equipment consisted of two half -tracks.
Since the enlisted men came from 17th Ordnance, the 192nd Tank Battalion, and the 194th Tank Battalion, known enlisted members of the detachment are listed in their original units.


    Major Robert C. Pettit Jr. was born in 1912 in Queens, New York, to Robert C. Pettit Sr. & Elizabeth Pettit.  With his brother, he grew up at 41 Birch Street in Lynbrook, New York.  In 1930, he was working as a bank clerk and, at some point, took a job with Fire Department of New York as a firefighter with Engine 303 at 104-112 Princeton Street, Jamaica, Queens, New York. 
    Pettit also enlisted in the New York National Guard on July 2, 1932, and was a member of the Howitzer Company, 107th Infantry Battalion.  It is not known, but at some point in entered the regular Army and attended Officer Candidates School.  During the 1930s, Robert married Kathrine Kibler and became the father of twin sons.  He held the rank of captain when he went to the Philippine Islands. 
    In the Philippines, he served as Gen. James Weaver's S-1 or adjutant to the general.  It is known that he was promoted to the rank of major on December 22, 1941.  Being assigned to the Provisional Tank Group Headquarters, he was often out with the tank companies.
    The night of April 8, 1942, Robert heard from Gen. Weaver that Bataan was to be surrendered.  He and the other officers went to sleep that night knowing that the next day they would be Prisoners of War.
    The next day was uneventful and the soldiers remained in their bivouac.  On April 10th, the Japanese arrived and ordered the HQ personnel onto the road.  In a letter home, John told of how walking on the gravel trail was difficult.  Robert witnessed "Japanese Discipline."  If a prisoner fell, he was kicked in his stomach and hit in the head with a rifle butt.  If he still did not get up, the Japanese guard determined that the man was exhausted.
    When the trail the POWs were on reached the main road, the first thing the Japanese did was separated the officers from the enlisted men.  The Prisoners of War were then left in the sun for the rest of the day.  That night they were ordered north.  The march was difficult in the dark since they could not see where they were walking.  Whenever they slipped, they knew they had stepped on the remains of a dead soldier.
    Robert and the other POWs passed Filipinos who were even thinner than they were.  They made their way north against the flow of Japanese troops who were moving south.  At Limay on April 11th, they were put into a school yard and told that the officers would be driven to the POW camp.
    At 4:00 AM, the officers were put into trucks for an unknown destination.  They were taken to Balanga, disembarked, and ordered to put their field bags in front of them for inspection.  During the inspection, one officer was found to have an automatic gun in his bag.  As punishment the POWs were not fed.  They set in a paddy all day and were ordered to move near sunset.  They were made to march as punishment for the gun being in the bag.  They reached Orani on April 12th at three in the morning.
    The POWs were put in a pin and ordered to lay down.  In the morning, the POWs realized that they were lying in human waste.  At noon, they received their first food which was a meal of rice and salt.  Later that day, other POWs arrived.  This included one group made up of men from the Provisional Tank Group which had walked the entire distance. 
    At 6:30 in the morning the POWs continued the march. The POWs noticed that they were bring marched at a faster pace.  The guards appeared to the POWs to be nervous.  The guards also appeared to be nervous about the pace.  The POWs made their way Hormosa.  There, the road went from gravel to concrete which seemed to make the march easier on the POWs.  When the POWs were allowed to sit down on a break, those who attempted to lay down were jabbed with bayonets.
    The POWs continued the march.  For the first time in months, it began to rain.  To the POWs the rain felt great.  At 4:30 PM on April 13th, Robert arrived at San Fernando.  The POWs were once again put into a pin.  At 4:00 in the morning, the Japanese woke the POWs and marched them to the train station.  They were packed into small wooden boxcars and rode the train to Capas arriving there at 9:00 AM.  There, they disembarked from the cars. Those who had died fell to the floor as the living left the cars.  The POWs walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell.
    Camp O'Donnell was an unfinished Filipino Army Training Base.  There was one water spigot for the entire camp.  Men literally died for a drink.  The death rate among the POWs rose to 50 men a day.  The burial detail worked day and night to bury the dead.  While in the camp, Robert was sent out on a work detail.  It is not known what work the detail performed and when it ended.
    While Robert was out on the detail, a new camp was opened at Cabanatuan.  It is not known when he arrived at the camp, but he was assigned to Barracks 14, Group II.  What is known about his time in the camp is that he was admitted to the camp hospital on February 1, 1943, but no reason why he was admitted or date of discharge was given.  According to the dairy kept by 2nd Lt. Ralph Crandell, HQ Company, 194th Tank Battalion, Pettit was beaten up on the farm detail, at the camp, on August 12, 1943.  It appears he remained in the camp until October 12, 1944, when he was sent to Bilibid Prison.  The POWs were processed for transport to Japan or another occupied country.  He remained at Bilibid until December 1944. 
    On December 12, 1944, the POWs heard rumors that a detail was being sent out.  The POWs went through what was a farce of an inspection.  They were told cigarettes, soap, and salt would be issued.  The POWs were also told that they would also receive a meal to eat and one to take with them.  The Japanese stated they would leave by 7:00 in the morning, so the lights were left on all night.  At 4:00 A.M. the morning of December 13th, the POWs were awakened.
    By 8:00, the POWs were lined up and roll call was taken.  The names of the men selected for transport to Japan were called.  The prisoners were allowed to roam the compound until they were told to "fall-in."  The men were fed a meal and then marched to Pier 7 in Manila.  During the march down Luzon Boulevard, the POWs saw that the street cars had stopped running and many things were in disrepair.
  The Americans saw that the American bombers were doing a job on the Japanese transports.  There were at least forty wrecked ships in the bay.  When the POWs reached Pier 7, there were three ships docked.  One was a old run down ship, the other two were large and in good shape.  They soon discovered one of the two nicer ships was their ship. 
    It was at this time that the POWs were allowed to sit down.  Many of the POWs slept until 3:45 in the afternoon.  They were awakened about 5:00 PM and boarded the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan.    Robert was put into the ship's rear hold with 800 other POWs.  The sides of the hold had two tiers of bunks that went around its diameter.  The POWs near the hatch used anything they could find to fan the air to the POWs further away from it.  The ship left Manila on December 14th, at about 3:30 AM, as part of the MATA-37 a convoy bound for Takao, Formosa.  By the swells in the water, the POWs could tell that the ship was in open water.  The POWs received their first meal at about 3:30 that afternoon of fish and barley.  Meals on the ship consisted of a little rice, fish, and water.  Three fourths of a cup of water was shared by twenty POWs. 
    The prisoners had just eaten when they heard the sound of guns.  At first, they thought the gun crews were just drilling since they had not heard any planes.  It was only when the first bomb hit that they knew it was no drill.  The POWs heard the change in the planes' engines sound as they began their dive toward the ships in the convoy.  Explosions were taking place all around the POWs.  Bullets from the planes ricocheted in to the hold causing many casualties.  In all, the POWs would have to sweat out five air raids.  The one result of the raid was no evening meal.
    At four-thirty in the afternoon, the ship experienced its worse attack.  It was hit at least three times, by bombs, on its bridge and stern.  Most of the POWs were wounded by ricocheting bullets or shrapnel from explosions.  Bombs that exploded near the ship sent turrets of water over it.  Bullets from the fighters hit the metal hull plates at an angle that prevented most from penetrating the hull. 
    The pilots of the planes had no idea that the ship was carrying prisoners.  The ship bounced in the water from the explosions.  The POWs in the holds lived through seventeen attacks from American planes before sunset.  Overall, six bombs hit the ship.  One hit the stern of the ship killing many.  About a half hour later, the ship's stern started to really burn.  Somewhere on the ship, a fire had started but was put out after several hours.
    After the first raid, the ship was left alone by "playing possum" in the water.  The fighters went after the other ships in the convoy.  The moaning and muttering of men who were losing their minds kept the POWs up all night.  That night 25 POWs died in the hold.  POWs were reported as drinking urine and howling.  The ship reached Subic Bay at 2:30 in the morning.  The ship steamed in closer to the beach and its anchor was dropped.  The POWs were told, at 4:00 in the morning, that they would be disembarked after daybreak.  It was a suitable landing place.
    Sometime after midnight, the POWs heard noise on deck as women and children were unloaded.  During the night, the medics in the ship's hold were ordered out by a Japanese officer to tend to the Japanese wounded.  One of the medics recalled that the dead, dying and wounded were everywhere.
    It was December 15th.  The POWs sat in the hold for hours after daybreak when the sound of planes was heard.  When the U.S. Navy planes resumed their attack, the attacks came in waves.  The POWs would live through three more attacks.  During one attack, a bomb came through the side of the ship blowing a large hole in the aft hold and resulting in the deaths of many POWs.  The POWs noted that attack was heavier than the day before. 
    At 8:00 AM, a Japanese guard yelled to the POWs, "All go; Speedo!" He also shouted that the wounded would be the first to evacuated.  As the POWs were abandoning ship, the planes returned.
    In the hold the POWs crowded together.  Chips of rust fell on them from the ceiling.  After the raid, they took care of the wounded before the next attack started.  A Catholic priest, Fr. Duffy, began praying, "Father forgive them.  They know not what they do." 
    The POWs made their way onto the deck and went into the water.  As they swam to shore, the Japanese fired at them with machine guns.  They did this to prevent the POWs from escaping.  Planes from the U.S.S. Hornet flew low over the POWs.  The POWs waved frantically at the planes to prevent them from strafing them.  The pilots of the planes banked their planes and returned.  This time they were lower in the sky.  The pilots dipped their wings to show the POWs they knew the men in the water were Americans.
    Once on shore, the POWs were herded onto tennis courts at the Olongapo Naval Station at Subic Bay.  It was noted by the POWs when they reached shore that much of the ship's stern was blown away. 
    While the POWs were at Olongapo, a Japanese officer, Lt. Junsaburo Toshio, told the ranking American officer, Lt. Col. E. Carl Engelhart, that those too badly wounded to continue the trip would be returned to Bilibid.  Fifteen men were selected and loaded onto a truck.  They were taken into the mountains and never seen again.  What was learned is that these men were taken to a cemetery and shot.  They were buried at a cemetery nearby.  The remainder of the POWs remained on the tennis courts for five or six days.  During the time, they were given water but not fed.
    The POWs remained on the tennis court for nine days.  While the sat on the court, American planes attacked the area around them.  The men watched as the fighter bombers came in vertically releasing their bombs as they pulled out of their dives.  On several occasions, the planes dove at the POWs, dropped their bombs, and pulled out.  The bombs drifted away from the POWs and landed away from them and exploding on contact. 
    Since the POWs had no place to hide, they watched and enjoyed the show.  They believed that the pilots knew that the pilots knew that the men on the tennis courts were Americans, but the POWs had no way to prove it.  But, what they did know is that not one bomb exploded on the tennis courts.
    The evening of December 16th, the Japanese brought 50 kilo bags of rice for the POWs.  About half the rice had fallen out of the bags since the bags had holes in them.  Each POW was given three spoons of raw rice and a quarter spoon of salt.
    Near 8:00 A.M. on the morning of December 22nd, 22 trucks arrived at the tennis court.  Rumors flew on where they were going.  At about 4:00 P.M., a Formosan guard told the POWs in broken English, "No go to Cabanatuan. Go to Manila; maybe Bilibid." The guard knew as little as the POWs.
    The POWs were taken by truck to San Fernando, Pampanga, arriving there about four or five in the afternoon.  Once there, they were put in a movie theater.  Since it was dark.  The POWs looked at it as a dungeon.    During their time at San Fernando, Pampanga, the POWs lived through several air raids.  The reason for the air raids was the barrio was military headquarters for the area.  Most of the civilians had been moved out of the barrio.  Many of the Americans began to believe they had been taken there so that they would be killed by their own countrymen. 
    December 23rd, at about 10:00 PM, the Japanese interpreter came and spoke to the ranking American officer about moving the POWs.  The Japanese loaded the seriously ill POWs into a truck.  Those remaining behind believed they were taken to Bilibid.  The remaining POWs were moved to a trade school building in the barrio.
    After 10:00 AM on December 24th, the POWs were taken to the train station.  The POWs saw that the station had been hit by bombings and that the cars they were to board had bullet holes in them from strafing.  180 to 200 were packed into steel boxcars with four guards.  The doors of the boxcars were kept closed and the heat in the cars was terrible.  Ten to fifteen POWs rode on the roofs of the cars along the two guards.  The guards told the POWs it was okay to wave to the American planes.
    On December 25th, the POWs disembarked at San Fernando, La Union, at 2:00 AM and disembarked.  They walked two kilometers to a school yard on the southern outskirts of the barrio.  From December 25th until the 26th.  The POWs were held in a school house.  The morning of December 26th, the POWs were marched to a beach.  During this time the prisoners were allowed one handful of rice and a canteen of water.  The heat from the sun was so bad that men drank seawater.  Many of those men died.
    The remaining prisoners at San Fernando, La Union, where they boarded onto another "Hell Ship" the Enoura Maru.  On this ship, the POWs were held in three different holds.  The ship had been used to haul cattle.  The POWs were held in the same stalls that the cattle had been held in.  In the lower hold, the POWs were lined up in companies 108 men.  Each man had four feet of space.  Men who attempted to get fresh air by climbing the ladders were shot by the guards. 
    The daily routine for the POWs on the ship was to have six men climb out of the hold.  Once on deck, they would use ropes to pull up the dead and also pull up the human waste in buckets.  Afterwards, the men on deck would lower ten buckets containing rice, soup, and tea.
    During the night of December 30th, the POWs heard the sound of depth charges exploding in the water.  The ship arrived at Takao, Formosa, on December 31st and docked around 11:30 AM.  After arriving at Takao, Formosa, each POW received a six inch long, 3/4 inch wide piece hardtack to eat.  This was the first bread they had since receiving crackers in their Red Cross packages in 1942. During the time in the harbor, the POWs received little water.  From January 1st through the 5th, the POWs received one meal and day and very little water.  This resulted in the death rate among the POWs to rise.  On January 6th, the POWs began to receive two meals a day.
    The Enoura Maru also came under attack by American planes the morning of January 9th.  The POWs were receiving their first meal of the day, when the sound of ship's machineguns was heard.  The explosions of bombs falling closer and closer to the ship was also heard.  The waves created from the explosions rocked the ship. 
    One bomb that hit the ship exploded in the corner of the forward hold killing 285 prisoners.  The surviving POWs remained in in the hold for three days with the dead.  The stench from the dead filled the air.  The remains of 150 POWs were taken ashore and cremated.  The ashes were put into a large urn.  A few days later, the remaining bodies were taken ashore and buried in a common grave on Formosa.
    Major Robert C. Pettit died on January 9, 1945, at Takao, Formosa, during the attack on the ship by American planes.  It is not known if he was cremated or buried in the mass grave.  After the war, his name was placed on the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery at Manila.  It should be noted that Major Robert Pettit was awarded the Purple Heart and nominated for the Silver Star.

    - https://bataanproject.com/PettitR.html

 

[mack]

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.   

 

[mack]

Engine 23  firehouse  215 W. 58th Street  Midtown Manhattan  Division 3, Battalion 9  ?The Lions Den"

    Engine 23 organized 153 W. 68th Street former volunteer firehouse            1865
    Engine 23 moved 235 W. 58th Street former volunteer firehouse                1866
    Engine 23 moved 153 W. 68th Street at Engine 40                                    1883
    Engine 23 new firehouse 235 W. 58th Street                                              1884
    Engine 23 new firehouse 215 W. 58th Street                                              1906
    Engine 23 moved 131/133 Amsterdam Avenue at Engine 40                        1998
    Engine 23 returned 215 W. 58th Street                                                      1998

    Division 3 located 235 W.58th Street at Engine 23            1897-1902, 1951-1956

    Field Communications Unit 1 located 235 W.58th Street at Engine 23  1961-1965

    Ladder 4 located 215 W. 58th Street at Engine 23                              1972-1974

    Hazardous Material Support MN located 235 W.58th Street at Engine 23        1998


Pre-FDNY Volunteer Fire Companies:

    - "Black Joke" Engine 33 235 W. 58th Street - operated 1807-1865 - Engine 23 firehouse 1866-1883

         

    - "Equitable" Engine 36 153 W. 68th Street - operated 1810-1855 - Engine 23 firehouse 1865


215 W. 58th Street:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 23:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 23:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z98_gFbzaZk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm4wqlIZaPk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1EMIgNWf3g

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9ok2GSoPdM



FDNY Engine Company Video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAQuHQZNfqY


Engine 23 Apparatus:

RECEIVED REG#  TYPE OF APPARATUS
1865                  Hodges, Hand Drawn
1865                  1865 Amoskeag hose tender 
1868                  1868 Amoskeag 2 Wheel hose tender with Seats 
1868        295    1868 Amoskeag 2nd size, Straight Frame    FD Repair shop 2 Wheel hose tender with Seats 
1884        46      1882 Fire Engine Manufacturing Co. 4 Wheel hose tender 
1884      359      1871 Amoskeag 2nd size, Crane neck 
1892        68      1886 Gleason & Bailey 4 Wheel hose tender 
1895      335      1895 LaFrance 3rd size, Nest tube 30" x 60" 
1895        43      1895 P. J. Barrett & Son 2nd size hose wagon 
1901        87      1901 Seagrave 1st size hose wagon 
1908      383      1892 Clapp & Jones 2nd size, new boiler rebuilt by ALFCO in 1906 
1914                  1914 Christie front wheel drive tractor placed under #383
1916      104      1916 Mack hose wagon
1924    4740      1924 American LaFrance 700 GPM
1927    6129      1927 American LaFrance 1000 GPM
1930      162      1929 FWD hose wagon
1933      252      1933 Seagrave hose wagon
1933    4004      1933 Ahrens Fox 1000 GPM
1938    3426      1938 Ahrens Fox 1000 GPM,Closed cab
1947    1149      1947 Mack 750 GPM
1958    1032      1937 Mack 1000 GPM
1959    1094      1954 Mack 1000 GPM
1964    1206      1963 Mack 1000 GPM, Booster, Closed cab
1972  MP7009    1970 Mack 1000 GPM, Diesel
1976  MP7228    1972 Mack 1000 GPM, Diesel
1976  MP7503    1975 Mack 1000 GPM, Diesel
1980  MP7977    1979 Mack 1000 GPM, Diesel
1985  MP8508    1985 Mack 1000 GPM, Diesel, Body by Ward, White & red
1997  SP9707    1997 Seagrave 1000 GPM


Engine 23 Medals:

    DAVID CONNOR CAPT. ENG. 23 1884 1885 STEPHENSON

       

    WILLIAM J. FITZGERALD CAPT. ENG. 23 1931 1932 STEPHENSON

    GEORGE T. GARLINGTON CAPT. ENG. 23 JAN. 2, 1948 1949 O'DWYER

    HARRY J. WEHR FF. ENG. 23 JAN.29, 1982 1983 COLUMBIA

          A pre-dawn 4 alarm blaze broke out on the upper floors of the under-construction Trump Tower building on 5th Avenue.  A sky crane operator was trapped 300 ft above the street by a heavy body of fire on the 27th and 28th floors. FF Joseph G. Pierotti and FF Harry J. Wehr, the nozzle team of Engine 23 pushed back the fire and cooled the hot metal work to allow two other firefighters to reach the trapped operator.   

    JOSEPH G. PIEROTTI FF. ENG. 23 JAN.29, 1982 1983 SCOTT

          A pre-dawn 4 alarm blaze broke out on the upper floors of the under-construction Trump Tower building on 5th Avenue.  A sky crane operator was trapped 300 ft above the street by a heavy body of fire on the 27th and 28th floors. FF Joseph G. Pierotti and FF Harry J. Wehr, the nozzle team of Engine 23 pushed back the fire and cooled the hot metal work to allow two other firefighters to reach the trapped operator.


Engine 23 Unit Citations:

          DATE                                  BOX #                    ADDRESS
Wednesday, October 23, 1963        44-786            1487 Broadway
Wednesday, September 7, 1966    55-817            S.S. Hanseatic, Pier 84
Saturday, March 15, 1980              75-871            401 West 51st Street
Thursday, November 5, 1981          22-907            Opposite 717 5th Avenue
Sunday, November 8, 1981            33-906            575 Madison Avenue
Friday, January 29, 1982                44-907              725 Fifth Avenue
Monday, March 12, 1990                  1041              2707 Broadway
Monday, November 25, 1991              935              645 Madison Avenue
Monday, May 11, 1998                      982              Broadway & West 66th Street
Tuesday, November 10, 1998        75-916              40 West 57th Street


Engine 23 LODDs:

    FIREFIGHTER JACOB STEIGER ENGINE 23 SEPTEMBER 8, 1872

          FF Jacob Steiger was injured September 6, 1872 at 622 W. 65th Street and North River.  A tank of Benzene exploded and sent a wave of flames that trapped several fireman. Most escaped with minor burns, but Fireman Steigler of Engine 23 was engulfed in flame. He ran to the pier and jumped into the water where he was rescued. He was badly burned and died in the hospital from his injuries 2 days later.

    FIREFIGHTER JAMES PLUNKET ENGINE 23 OCTOBER 24, 1873

          FF James Plunket was injured responding to an alarm when he was thrown form Engine 23 at 59th Street and 6th Avenue on September 24, 1873.  He died October 24, 1873.

    FIREFIGHTER PATRICK CLARK ENGINE 23 JANUARY 1, 1880

          Injured December 27, 1879, died January 1, 1880. Box # 534, 405-407 W. 50th Street

          Fireman Clark was driving the hose tender to a fire when the side harness broke, causing the horse to turn to the right and the tender to strike a column of the elevated railroad. The force threw Clark to the pavement. The tender wheel ran over Clark. He was transported to his house by ambulance, where he later died.

    CAPTAIN EDWIN H. TOBIN ENGINE 23 JANUARY 24, 1900

          Foreman Tobin died as a result of severe smoke inhalation sustained while operating at a 2-alarm bowling alley fire on January 10th. 

         

    FIREFIGHTER JOHN J. KING ENGINE 23 December 27, 1961

          FF John King was overcome by smoke.

         

    FIREFIGHTER JOHN MARSHALL ENGINE 23 September 11, 2001

          FF John Marshall was killed at the World Trade Center.

         

         

          http://www.nyjnews.com/911victims/view.php?id=42

    FIREFIGHTER ROBERT MCPADDEN ENGINE 23 September 11, 2001

          FF Robert McPadden was killed at the World Trade Center.

         

         

          https://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighter/robert-william-mcpadden/

    FIREFIGHTER JAMES PAPPAGEORGE ENGINE 23 September 11, 2001

          FF James Papageorge was killed at the World Trade Center.

         

         

          https://nypost.com/2001/12/15/rookie-firefighter-died-doing-what-he-loved/

    FIREFIGHTER HECTOR TIRADO JR ENGINE 23 September 11, 2001

          FF Hector Tirado was killed at the World Trade Center.

         

         

          http://www.legacy.com/sept11/story.aspx?personid=112301

    FIREFIGHTER MARK WHITFORD ENGINE 23 September 11, 2001

          FF Mark Whitford was killed at the World Trade Center.

         

         
   
          https://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighter/mark-p-whitford/

    RIP. Never forget.


Engine 23 Firehouse - Landmark Report:

   

    Summary

          Engine Company Number 23, built in 1905-06, was designed by Alexander H. Stevens in a straightforward Beaux-Arts style that served as a model for subsequent firehouse design. The symmetry of the three story facade, its materials -- Indiana limestone and red brick laid in Flemish bond with dark headers, and its consistently ample fenestration successfully combine to give it its official character. The repetition of architectural elements and their functions -- segmental door and window heads, corrpatible window head and entablature, the sil 1 course, keystones, bracket stone and key consoles -- combine to create a sophisticated and cohesive facade design. From this firehouse this engine company has continued to fulfill its mission of protecting the lives and property of the citizens of New York.

    Neighborhood History ~ Context

          Engine Company 23 (Plate 1) is the only edifice on this section of West 58th Street still housing a function directly related to its original purpose. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, contemporary handbooks indicate that private stables stood on many of the lots along the street's north side. There were commercial liveries as well: the Bennett Livery Stable was at 221 West 58th Street; there was a small livery on the northwest corner at Seventh Avenue; and on the southwest corner there was the Central Park Li very Stables. On Seventh Avenue just north of the small livery there was a Riding Academy. The presence of a firehouse on this block was appropriate and compatible: the steam engine, the hose and the fuel wagons, and the chief's buggy were all horse drawn; and as much as the residents nearby required stabling for the horses they hired and/or maintained for their own use, they relied upon the protective presence of the Fire Department (Plate 2). The warehouses west toward the Hudson River and the tenements to the south and northwest were equally or more susceptible to fire as the first class residential buildings and hotels along Fifth Avenue and Central Park South.

    History = Engine Company 23

          Engine Company 23 was organized on October 6, 1865, two months after New York City's paid, professional Fire Department was established.1 Each of the older volunteer companies was replaced by a resident professional company. Originally Engine Company 23 was Harry Howard Volunteer Company 36, a company established in 1810 as Equitable Company 36 in response to the demands of the fledgling fire insurance industry. Equitable 36 changed its name about 1858 when Howard, the popular Chief Engineer of the volunteer department, suffered a paralytic stroke in performance of duty.

          Engine Company 23 has been on West 58th Street more than 100 years. The current building at West 58th Street is its second home; the company moved from West 68th Street, between Broadway and Tenth Avenue (now Amsterdam), to a new firehouse at 233 West 58th Street (demolished 1939) in 1884.

          A glance through the Company 23 log books suggests the routine of firehouse life as well as the difficulties of the fireman's vocation. The daily routine of deliveries (oats, straw, bran, meal and salt; coal for the furnace, coal for the steamer), the maintenance of the apparatus (horses exercised, stalls flushed, harness repaired, wagon axles greased, and the steam kept up), the round of hydrant and building inspections (serving notices for blocked tenement fire escapes or non-compliant use of kerosene), may have been somewhat alleviated by the regimented goings and comings (watch reliefs, one hour meal times or a visit to the barber) or by the evening theater inspections (the Majestic and Carnegie Hall) -- ever since the disastrous fire at The Brooklyn Theatre in December 1876. The logs record the occasional, miscreant fireman (hounded by creditors or intoxicated and unfit for duty) as well as the responses to Departmental damage surveys -- collisions and hose cuttings perpetrated by the Metropolitan Street Railway. Certainly there were times -- July 4th for example -- when the company knew that it would be busy. But it was the sudden interruptions of this routine which more than balanced the tedious hours of preparation: the time the pole pin broke on the way to a fire and the horses separated from the apparatus (making Company 23 six minutes late at the site of the fire); or in December 1904 with the heroic rescue of Miss May Grant from an upper story of a burning building at 164 West 54th Street by Firemen Rau and Harney. There is no reason to believe that firehouse life became any less arduous after 1907 and the introduction of motorized apparatus (Plate 3).

          Entries in the company's log book are evidence that the 1884 firehouse was in poor condition by 1904: the wooden apparatus floor was rotted away and caving in; the horse stall drains leaked into the basement; a new furnace was needed; and there was plaster loss on the apparatus story and third story.4 A new firehouse was begun in 1905. Special Order (#78) from Fire Department Headquarters, dated June 30, 1906 notified the force that Engine Company 23 would be in its new quarters down the street "from and after 8 o'clock AM, July 2, 1906.

    General Firehouse Design

          Only after 1853 and the publication of Marriott Field's City Architecture was a general effort made to differentiate architecturally the firehouse, with its associations of civic responsibility, from the conventional urban stable building type. Field advocated a more heroic architecture and appropriate symbolic ornament -- flambeaux, trumpets, hooks, ladders and hose. The city's Fire Department contracted with the firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Son to design firehouses from 1880 to 1895. Except for the last, a French Renaissance-inspired battalion headquarters (1895) near the center of municipal government (Engine Company 31, a designated New York City landmark) , the firm's straightforward use of materials -- brick, stone, iron and terra cotta -- and sparely integrated ornament affirmed that the LeBruns' sequence of variants upgraded the basic stable elevation with a sense of sober purpose consistent with the disciplined companies of professional firefighters who resided within them. When subsequently the Fire Department awarded individual firehouse commissions to prominent, individual plans, firehouse elevations assumed a more elaborate character. The Beaux-Arts facade of Flagg's Engine Company 33 (1898, a designated New York City landmark), is a good example. Although the department continued to commission individual architects, by 1904 a program of 'in-house' firehouse production was introduced by Alexander H. Stevens, departmental Superintendent of Buildings.7 Engine Company 23 is one of these and Stevens is credited with its design, a design which appears to inform subsequent firehouse designs well into the 1920s (Plate 4).

          In the context of the neighboring stable fronts Engine Company 23's facade demonstrates how far the firehouse had evolved within the urban stable type. A survey of the lot carried out in 1904 shows the lot to have been vacant though flanked by brick stables -- to the west a stable of two stories and to the east the recently completed Helen Miller Gould stable designed by York & Sawyer(1901-02). Stevens' three story facade is rendered in a utilitarian Beaux-Arts style, a synthesis of the LeBruns' earlier architectural sobriety and the recent, more elaborate commissions, particularly Horgan & Slattery's Engine Company 6 (1902-03) on Beekman Street. The symmetry, the choice of materials --brick dressed with ashlar limestone, and the generous scale of Engine Company 23's elevation suggest a public structure. The uniform height and breadth of the upper story fenestration indicate an official function not apparent on the elevations of the private and public stables along this section of West 58th Street.  Though devoid of Field's recommended ornamental allegory, Stevens' relatively spare facade denotes a sense of civic pride and duty.

    The Architect

          Very little is known of Alexander H. Stevens, his background or his architectural training, except that he was Superintendent of Buildings for the Fire Department in the early years of this century. Among his duties he was responsible for the renovation of existing firehouses.10 He may have assembled the program specifications for the commissions that the Department awarded architects outside the department and subsequently supervised the work through construction. The similarity of the four firehouses he is credited with designing -- Hook & Ladder Companies 28 and Engine Company 69 at 248-50 West 143rd Street (1903-04); Hook & Ladder Company 8, 10-14 North Moore Street (1904-05) ; Hook & Ladder 23 and Engine Company 80, 503 West 139th Street (1904-05); and Engine Company 23 -- is not surprising. All are three stories with limestone basements and limestone dressed brick above. Although there is a slight variation in the articulation of individual facades, the general composition of a broad central vertical bay, and the vocabulary of ornament are the same. Remarkable, however, is their similarity to the basic composition of Horgan & Slattery's Engine Company 6, when pared of its considerable and elaborate Beaux-Arts embellishment.

Description

          The home of Engine Company 23 is constructed of load bearing brick with iron cross-bridging. It is three stories on a full basement (Plate 5). The facade, Indiana limestone and red brick laid in Flemish bond with dark headers, is articulated as a single, vertical bay comprising the apparatus entrance and above it the windows of the second story officers' room and third story chief's office. Flanking these broad central elements are relatively narrow apertures: the personnel entrance on the left of the apparatus door and a window (now blocked) on the right; and on both the second and third stories a window on the left and toilet room window on the right. All of these have deep reveals. The bay containing a service entrance of the adjacent thirteen story apartment building at 221 West 58th Street is set back from the building line, creating a return (approximately five feet) of what had been the firehouse's western party wall.

          The first story is faced with ashlar limestone above a granite water table. The segmental-arched apparatus entrance is the central and dominant element. Its intrados and the lower portion of its extrados are protected by wrought-iron plates extending down to the granite spur stones. The window (now blind) embrasure to the right (Plate 6) has become a flat niche and contains a seated lion, sculpted in marble, supporting with his right paw a shield on which 1123" is displayed in low relief. The gold colored metal lanterns flank the apparatus door. Three bronze plaques have been affixed to the ashlar to the right of the apparatus entrance, two of them one above the other, between the entrance and the flat niche and the third to the right of the flat niche. The ashlar wall surface is capped by a limestone belt course on which "23 ENGINE 23" is affixed in raised, bronze numbers and letters. A large bronze plaque occupies the central position of the limestone frieze above this course.

          The large second story window's ashlar surround is keyed into the adjacent bond. Thick limestone mullions subdivide it into a wide central window and two narrow side windows, each with a transom above. The windows are one over one, double-hung sash; the transoms pivot horizontally. A large, limestone scroll keystone and two conventional brackets support the balcony above. The sides of these brackets are articulated with panels containing horizontal reeding. Both of the small flanking windows are one over one, double-hung sash.

          Like the window below, the large third story window's limestone surround is both keyed into the adjacent brick bond and subdivided by limestone mullions. Again the sash configuration is one over one, double-hung and the transom lights pivot horizontally. But unlike the window below, this window is defined by an earred architrave interrupted only by the large limestone key console. The balcony supports the projecting architrave blocks to which the ends of the long, wrought iron grille fronting the window are attached (Plate 7). The pattern within the grille is a foliated one; the central medallion frames an open work fleur-de-lis. A flagpole projects out from below this iron grille. This window is flanked by two smaller windows also; they have one-over-one, double-hung sash. The entablature is limestone. Except for its limestone coping and limestone end blocks the parapet is of brick. A pair of halogen lamps has been placed to the upper left and the upper right of the ground. story ashlar. A second pair of halogen lamps has been placed at the extreme ends of the frieze above and attached to each of these is a spotlight directed up toward the flagpole. The physical fabric of the firehouse facade has remained unchanged.

    Subsequent History

          Engine Company 23 has resided at 215 West 58th Street since 1906 and it is from this firehouse that 112-3" has sped to fight some of the most notable fires in New York City. Those in recent memory include: the steamship Normandie, 1940; the Empire State Building airplane crash, 1945; the Times Tower, 1960; Mayflower Hotel, 1960; the 23rd Street and Broadway loft building fire in which twelve firemen lost their lives, 1966; the Telephone Company at Third Avenue and 13th Street, 1975; the Trump Tower when under construction, 1980, -- Engine Co. 23's Firemen Wehr and Pierotti rescued the crane operator trapped high above the burning site and subsequently were decorated; 499 Park Avenue, 1983; and the MGM transformer vault fire at Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street, 1989.

    Report prepared by Charles Savage Research Department

    Edited by Marjorie Pearson, Director Research Department

    http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1563.pdf


Midtown Manhattan:

   

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown_Manhattan

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NULrNgCVbT8

 

[68jk09]

mack excellent as usual.....one point ...i think R*1 being at 23 in 1985 was only for a day or two after their FH (old ENG*2) was destroyed during a Multiple alarm Fire & collapse then R*1 went to ENG*34/LAD21 until the new FH was built on the original site .......PS i heard recently that R*1 might be getting a new FH near 34/21 ?

 

[fdhistorian]

mack excellent as usual.....one point ...i think R*1 being at 23 in 1985 was only for a day or two after their FH (old ENG*2) was destroyed during a Multiple alarm Fire & collapse then R*1 went to ENG*34/LAD21 until the new FH was built on the original site .......PS i heard recently that R*1 might be getting a new FH near 34/21 ?

Rescue 1 was at Engine 23 from January 23 to January 24, 1985 before going to E34/L21.

Could the new firehouse near E34/L21 be the Hudson Yards firehouse that is in discussion?