FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies

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mack

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Found 1965 WNYF article covering planning for Superpumper system.  Article covers concept, projected capabilities, apparatus, firehouse selection, response pattern and selection of Superpumper personnel.








 

mack

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Engine 164/Ladder 84/Brush Fire Patrol 164/Brush Fire Unit 1/Brush Fire Unit 84/Brush Fire Unit 164/Brush Fire Unit 504  - firehouse 1560 Drumgoole Rd W (originally Carlton Ave) Huguenot, Staten Island

    Engine 164 organized 1560 Drumgoole Rd W  w/Ladder 84                        1937

    Ladder 84 organized 1560 Drumgoole Rd W  w/Engine 164                        1937

    Brush Fire Patrol 1 organized 1560 Drumgoole Rd W at Engine 164  1955-1956 and 1963-unknown
   
    Brush Fire Unit 1 organized 1560 Drungoole Rd W at Engine 164          1970-1980
    Brush Fire Unit 1 became Brush Fire Unit 84                                              1980
    Brush Fire Unit 84 became Brush Fire Unit 164                                          1981
    Brush Fire Unit 164 became Brush Fire Unit 504                                        1982
    Brush Fire Unit 504 disbanded                                                                1991
    Brush Fire Unit 1 reorganized 1560 Drumgoole Rd W at Engine 164            1997

Note - Originally response area covered by Engine 164/Ladder 84 were protected by volunteer Huguenot Engine 1 located at 939 Huguenot Avenue 1895-1937.  Company had large response area and assisted original FDNY SI companies.  939 Huguenot Avenue firehouse is still standing and was remodeled into an insurance office building after an all-hands fire early 1980s:



Firehouse 1560 Drumgoole Rd W:






Engine 164/Ladder 84 members - companies organized 1937:




Engine 164 - brush fire Everton Ave and Rosedale Ave (off Woodrow Rd) Huguenot SI:

Muddy tires were typical of SI rigs.  Looks like Brush Unit visible behind engine.

Same box today - brush replaced by apartments and townhouses:

Everton Ave and Rosedale Ave - Huguenot SI















FDNY Engine 164

Ladder 84 1970 Seagrave rearmount:


Ladder 84 1982 Mack 75ft tower ladder:




Note:  Ladder 84's response area is very large.  5 mile runs south into Tottenville and 3 or 4 miles north into Annandale and beyond as the 2nd due truck.  Estimate they cover approx. 30-plus square miles on initial alarm assignments.

Engine 164 and Ladder 84 at 3 car accident:
FDNY Engine 164 & Ladder 84 at a 3 car MVA

Engine 164/Ladder 84 firehouse location of brush fire season staging area 1960s:

Firehouse was hub of heavy brush fire activity 1960-1980


Manhattan and Brooklyn engine companies staged at Engine 164 for brush fire response:


Note:  Companies were staged at beginning of day tours at Engine 164/Ladder 84 during spring and fall brush season; Field Comm Unit would receive alarm location from Richmond dispatcher and assign 2 or 3 engines to respond; staging area would empty rapidly, often with several brush fires being fought simultaneously


Brush Fire Patrol 1 approx 1967 - vehicles loaned from US Army and modified by Shops - staffed by officer and 2 FF (driver and nozzleman):






Note:  Original Brush Fire Patrol apparatus were spare Ward LaFrance CD units.  FDNY purchased specified brush fire units in 1980s.

Brush Fire Unit 1:
1997 International BFU 1:


BFU 1 in front of 1560 Drumgoole Rd W firehouse:


Huguenot neighborhood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot,_Staten_Island


 

mack

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Memory Master - great point, Engine 164 and Engine 151 both lost boxes when Engine 168 was organized.  The truck companies did not.  Ladder 84 still has same response area.  The companies on the West side of SI are still all single engine companies (Engine 158, Engine 154, Engine 168).

I remember visiting Engine 164/Ladder 84 firehouse (before Engine 167/Ladder 87 were organized in Annadale) and the housewatch area was surrounded with boxes the engine and truck responded to - Tottenville almost to Great Kills to the area the SI Mall was built.

There were countless dummy boxes for the large tracks of undeveloped land with projected roads.  During the depression era of the 1930s, the federal government's "CCC", Civilian Conservation Corps,  built miles of sidewalks through the South Shore of SI and there were no roads - just sidewalks.  But the sidewalk trails gave kids access deep into wooded areas to start brush fires which were hard to get to.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18?25 as part of Roosevelt's New Deal. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men, to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States while at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation program in every state and territory. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000; in nine years 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a small wage of $30 a month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families).

The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs.  Principal benefits of an individual's enrollment in the CCC included improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability. Of their pay of $30 a month, $25 went to their parents. Implicitly, the CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and the nation's natural resources; and the continued need for a carefully planned, comprehensive national program for the protection and development of natural resources.

During the time of the CCC, volunteers planted nearly 3 billion trees to help reforest America, constructed more than 800 parks nationwide and upgraded most state parks, updated forest fire fighting methods, and built a network of service buildings and public roadways in remote areas.  per Wikipedia

CCC built state-of-the-art SI Zoo and miles of sidewalks on SI during the 1930s:
( http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1586.html )

FDR's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps
 
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Mack: Incredibly interesting info about 164/84 !! I can't tell you how surprised to see those old pics of the rigs! Nice to see some info on the boys that are first due to me! Not too long ago, I was just sitting down honestly realizing how large 84's response area is: including Second due, they will be see at any incident @ any location on the entire south shore of the borough, from tottenville to Annadale/Eltingville. Can't forget they are also 2nd due @ Visy Paper - miles away on the West Shore Expwy. Living surrounded by woods over here in Huguenot, I can tell you from personal expirence these woods have kids trecking in them all the time, myself included! I have noticed these sidewalks you speak of and have even seen a hydrant or two right in the middle of the woods! These sidewalks just stop suddenly, don't lead anywhere, and are smack dab in the middle of these woods. Now I know when and why they were constructed! The woods behind Tottenville High School are always being infiltrated by students cutting class, they smoke there and then what's next: small brush fire. If it's deep enough, it can surely turn into a big one -like the 2nd alarm there back in November. Keep the old stats and info (and pics) comin! It makes a young one like me appreciate everything much more!
 

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Engine 287-2/Engine 292/Rescue 4/Search Light 4/Ladder 136  firehouse  64-18 Queens Blvd, Woodside, Queens

    Engine 287-2 organized 67-32 Queens Blvd former volunteer firehouse 1913
    Engine 287-2 moved to new firehouse 64-18 Queens Blvd                    1914
    Engine 287-2 became Engine 292                                                      1918

    Rescue 4 organized at 64-18 Queens Blvd at Engine 292                      1931
    Rescue 4 moved to 30-89 21st St at Engine 262                                  1996
    Rescue 4 returned to 64-18 Queens Blved at Engine 292                      1997

    Search Light 4 located at 64-18 Queens Blvd at Engine 292        1938-1966

    Ladder 136 located at 64-18 Queens Blvd at Engine 292            1996-1997


Woodside originally protected by volunteer fire companies: Woodside Hook and Ladder 3 and Friendship Hose 3.

Woodside Hook and Ladder 3 firehouse 58-11 39th Ave:

58-11 former volunteer firehouse today:


64-18 Queens Blvd firehouse:










30-89 21st St firehouse - Rescue 4 located at Engine 262 1996-1997:


Engine 292:




Rescue 4:

Rescue 4 1930s in front of 64-18 Queens Blvd:


Rescue 4 1939 Ward LaFrance:

Prior service at Rescue 1

Rescue 4 converted 1941 Ward LaFrance hose wagon in front of 64-18 Queens Blvd:

Rescue 4's 1939 Ward LaFrance rig was totaled in fatal crash with Ladder 136 July 31, 1954

Note:  FF Joseph P. Dugan  Ladder 136 and FF Samuel A Schiller E 324 were killed in accident - RIP:


Rescue 4 1954 International in front of 64-18 Queens Blvd:






Rescue 4 "Firehouse" series:
FIREHOUSE Rescue 4 FDNY (Part 1 of 4)

FIREHOUSE Rescue 4 FDNY (Part 2 of 4)

FIREHOUSE Rescue 4 FDNY (Part 3 of 4)

FIREHOUSE Rescue 4 FDNY (Part 4 of 4)


Father's Day fire - June 17, 2001- RIP - Never Forget:

http://www.stevespak.com/fathersday.html

http://www.fdnewyork.com/99557512.asp

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/events/2011/061811a.shtml


Engine 292/Rescue 4:
Engine 292 and Rescue 4

FDNY ENGINE 292 AND RESCUE 4

Engine 292 modified response:
FDNY - Engine 292 - Modified Response - 4/1/13
Woodside neighborhood:
http://forgotten-ny.com/2005/10/woodside-queens-part-1/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Woodside,_Queens













 

mack

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Engine 205/Ladder 118 firehouse - 74 Middagh St, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

    Engine 5 BFD organized 160 Pierrepont St in former firehouse of volunteer Pacific Engine 14  1869
    Engine 5 BFD became Engine 5 FDNY                                                                                1898
    Engine 5 became Engine 105                                                                                            1899
    Engine 105 became Engine 205                                                                                        1913
    Engine 205 moved to 274 Hicks St at Engine 224                                                                1925
    Engine 205 moved to new firehouse 74 Middagh St w/Ladder 118                                        1929

    Ladder 68 FDNY organized 365 Jay St in former BFD fire headquarters                                  1901
    Ladder 68 became Ladder 118                                                                                          1913
    Ladder 118 moved to new firehouse 74 Middagh St w/Engine 205                                        1929
    Ladder 118 moved to 172 Tillary St at Ladder 110                                                              1992
    Ladder 118 moved to 74 Middagh St at Engine 205                                                            1993

Note:  Volunteer Pacific Engine 14 organized 1946

Engine 5 BFD:
    "Perhaps the most centrally situated of the two score headquarters of the fire-companies, upon which the city depends for protection, is the house of Engine Company No. 5, in Pierrepont Street near Fulton. Many hundreds of times have the doors been thrown open and the engine dashed forth to answer alarms from all parts of the city. Engine No. 5 responds to first-alarms in the territory in and contiguous to Fulton Street, from Clark Street to Hudson Avenue, which includes much of the most valuable property in the city. In this region are the public buildings, including the City Hall, Court House, Municipal Building, Hall of Records, and the new Federal Building; the principal places of amusement in the Western District, including the Academy of Music, Grand Opera House, Park Theatre, Star Theatre, and the recently completed Columbia Theatre; all the chief hotels of the city; such important structures as the Brooklyn Library, the Long Island Historical Society's building, the Hamilton and Germania clubhouses, the great dry goods houses, the offices of the principal banks and trust companies, a number of large churches, the Polytechnic and Packer Institutes, and the great office buildings surrounding City Hall Square. Property worth many millions of dollars is guarded first of all by this engine company. On second alarms it is called to the great warehouses on the waterfront and to the greater part of the Western District; while in response to third alarms and special calls it may be summoned to the Eastern District, and even to Greenpoint and East New York. Ever since the fatal and disastrous fire in the Brooklyn Theatre, at Washington and Johnson Streets, on Dec. 5, 1876, when 278 lives were lost, special precautions have been taken to avoid a repetition of the disaster even upon a small scale, and firemen are detailed from Engine No. 5, to attend each matin?e and evening performance in the playhouses within its territory, to be in readiness to flood the stage and quench any incipient conflagration.

No. 5 is the only engine company housed on the Heights, and it traces its history back to the old Engine Company No. 14 of the Volunteer Department, established in Love Lane in 1846. Ten years later it removed to the present quarters. It was the crack company of the Volunteer Department and the sons of many of the best families on the Heights had been connected with it. Their house was expensively decorated and furnished, and they owned a fine engine. At present No. 5 is equipped with a fine Amoskeag engine, which has been in use for seven years. It is fitted with all facilities for the work of extinguishing fire. To draw the engine and tender four horses are stabled in the engine house. The names over their stalls are Tom, Jerry, Speed, and Dick. The same names are bestowed upon successive occupants of the stalls. One of the most knowing horses ever attached to the company was a strawberry roan, which was in service for nine years, an unusually long time, and was finally run over by an engine and killed. As Engine No.5 is the nearest to the City Hall it is the show company of the city, and visitors frequently have the horses and men called out to see how quickly they can start. The horses usually get exercise enough in going to the fires to which the engine is summoned, but sometimes the interval is so long that they have to be taken out for exercise. The members of No. 5 have taken part in many great fires. The most diastrous was that in the old Brooklyn Theatre. The scenes after the flames were under control and the bodies were being brought forth were such as to cause the stoutest firemen to draw back, but the members of No.5 stuck to their posts throughout the trying ordeal. Among the other large fires in which this company has taken an important part have been those in Weclisler and Abraham's dry goods house in lower Fulton Street ; in Ovington's art and crockery store; in the old Elm Place Congregational church, on the foundation of which the Grand Opera House was built; and in Smith, Gray, Co.'s clothing store. At the last named fire, No. 5 was one of the earliest to arrive and the men battled with the flames and smoke until nearly suffocated. On second and third alarms the company has been called to all the great fires in the city. Despite the perils incurred the company has never had a man killed on duty and only a few have been injured." 
From Our Firemen the Official History of the Brooklyn Fire Department

Engine 5 BFD at 160 Pierrepont St:


Engine 205 steamer:


Engine 205 located at Engine 224 firehouse at 274 Hicks St from 1925-1929:


Ladder 68 at 365 Jay Street:


Ladder 68 firehouse 1901-1929 at 365 Jay St:


74 Middagh St firehouse:









Engine 205:


Ladder 118:




Ladder 118 responding to World Trade Center:


Ladder 118 World Trade Center:


Engine 205 and Ladder 118 responding:
FDNY - Brooklyn Tiller Ladder 118 and Engine 205

Ladder 118 responding:
FDNY LADDER 118 ( tiller) RESPONDING

FDNY Tiller Ladder 118 Brooklyn Heights

Engine 205 returning to quarters:
FDNY Engine 205 returning into Quarters

Brooklyn Heights neighborhood:
http://www.thebha.org/about-the-neighborhood/history/

http://macaulay.cuny.edu/student-projects/2005/neighborhoods/16/history.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Heights

Brooklyn Bridge history:
Modern Marvels, S01E07 , The Brooklyn Bridge, fULL Length EPisode


 
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Mack, again great info on a great house - 205/118. I'm over there often and see 205/118 frequently responding - 118 recently got a brand new tiller, looks great. Speaking of it, although 118 truck has a normal/decently large response area, 205 engine has a rather small responce area especially first due. Half of Brooklyn Heights, the other half is first due to E 224. 205 also responds first due to DUMBO, but that's really it for them. If you were to look at their map in the firehouse you'd be surprised on how "robbed" they are of a first due area. 207 and 224 are super close. They get a lot of highway runs being practically next to the on ramp of the BQE under the Brooklyn Bridge. They run in second due with the Tillary Street Tigers, E 207/ L 110 (also brand new) and Bn. 31. 205/118 protects the very upscale and sorta "untouchable" tree lined, brownstone streets of Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn. Second due to the FDNY headquaters at Metrotech. As for fires, not many in the area, although 118 was the FAST truck to a job just the other day in Carroll Gardrens. Both companies have over 1,000 runs per year and house some great men. Thanks for the info and pics Mack. Keep me coming.
 
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FDNYSTATENISLAND said:
Mack, again great info on a great house - 205/118. I'm over there often and see 205/118 frequently responding - 118 recently got a brand new tiller, looks great. Speaking of it, although 118 truck has a normal/decently large response area, 205 engine has a rather small responce area especially first due. Half of Brooklyn Heights, the other half is first due to E 224. 205 also responds first due to DUMBO, but that's really it for them. If you were to look at their map in the firehouse you'd be surprised on how "robbed" they are of a first due area. 207 and 224 are super close. They get a lot of highway runs being practically next to the on ramp of the BQE under the Brooklyn Bridge. They run in second due with the Tillary Street Tigers, E 207/ L 110 (also brand new) and Bn. 31. 205/118 protects the very upscale and sorta "untouchable" tree lined, brownstone streets of Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn. Second due to the FDNY headquaters at Metrotech. As for fires, not many in the area, although 118 was the FAST truck to a job just the other day in Carroll Gardrens. Both companies have over 1,000 runs per year and house some great men. Thanks for the info and pics Mack. Keep me coming.

Anyone Else Notice, BFD Lettering on da' Truck ? [God Bless Em' !]
 
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Lol STAjo. I found this picture of 205's response area... Try to look closely... Pinker shade is first due, green is second due and purple is third due.

 
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Great stuff as always, mack!

That picture Ladder 118 on their way to the Trade Center sends chills up your spine. 118 lost a Lieutenant and five Firefighters and 205 Engine lost a Lieutenant when the South Tower collapsed.
 
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Back in the late 6s, my two brothers and I all lived on Brooklyn Heights, in separate apartments, but all within E 205/L118's first due area.
 
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1 year 9-11 Anniversary article in the NY Daily News...... 
Anguish of Ladder Company 118

By MICHELE MCPHEE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF

The men of Ladder 118/Engine 205 stood in The Pit at Ground Zero under steel beams that once supported the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel - now a gravesite for their brothers.

Firefighter Richie Murray's eyes welled with tears of fury as the wind whipped up a sandstorm around them.

"This makes me angry," Murray said as he wiped grit from his face, much like he did a year ago when his company lost eight firefighters. "I'm thinking of bad things down here. If I had my way, I would never set foot on this place again."

At 8 a.m., firefighters from the "Fire Under the Bridge" company and family members of the lost gathered in front of the Brooklyn Heights firehouse to make the solemn trip.

As they marched 150 strong toward the subway near the Brooklyn Bridge, no one could help but look at the span and picture Ladder 118's rig racing over it toward the burning twin towers - an image captured by a photographer and immortalized on the front page of the Daily News last Oct. 5.

All six men aboard the truck were lost. Two other men from the firehouse also were killed.

Yesterday's pilgrimage to Ground Zero was felt most acutely by the firefighters from the house who survived that morning.

"I should have been killed, and to relive my steps from that day. ..." Firefighter Tim Julian said, his voice trailing off. "I don't want to remember it."

It was hard not to recall every ugly detail of that day, though, as the firefighters stood in a seven-story hole while the names of the dead were recited.

Hopes dimmed

It was there that firefighters digging through the rubble found Capt. Marty Egan - who had been working at FDNY headquarters on Sept. 11 - the morning after the attack.

"Marty was the first guy we recovered, and he was one of the best fire officers on the job," said Engine 205 firefighter, John Sorrentino. "When we found out he didn't make it, it dimmed our hopes that anyone else did."

It was in that hole they also found the bodies of Scott (the Dog) Davidson, Vernon (Mo) Cherry, Joey (Bells) Agnello, Pete (Big Head) Vega and Lt. Robert (Dizzy Dean) Regan.

The remains of the rig's driver, Leon (Express) Smith, and Engine 205's former officer, Lt. Robert Wallace, have never been recovered.

Smith's mother, Marilyn Smith, stood at the site yesterday, pleading with God to bring her son home. His family and firefighters held hands, formed a circle and prayed for his soul.

"It's Leon," Marilyn said, as the wind nearly knocked her to the ground. "I can feel him."

Later, the company returned to the firehouse where Gov. Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta were waiting to shake their hands.

The Rev. Michael Carrano, the pastor at Assumption Church around the corner from the firehouse, was among the men the politicians thanked. Last year, he had stared at the photograph of Ladder 118 on its last run and said, "Those guys were driving straight into the gates of Hell."

Yesterday, as the eight widows and 33 children who lost their heroes ate lunch together, Carrano had a different take on the anniversary.

"Now we are driving through the gates of hope," he said.

...

CONTINUED RIP TO ALL.

 
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Another LAD*118 LODD was FF Philip D'Adamo ..Chauf on 12-1-84 @  a Multiple in a school where 118 was 2nd Due......CONTINUED RIP.
 
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Mack nice tribute post Thank You...i know the Supreme Sacrifice photo posted (from WNYF ?) states 75-460 however i think it was a Second ...i was at the Fire w/R*2 & there were many Units operating including R*1 also....maybe it was a 75 w/many extra Units i am not sure...anybody have any records on it showing what it went to ?
 
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Was walking past this school: St. Ann's - site of the 12/1/84 fire where FF D'Adamo lost his life while fighting. Snapped a quick pic of the building, it's quite old.

 
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