FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies

[manhattan]

Complete agreement.  One question, Chief.  It's getting late on Saturday night and the bulbs are dimming.  What is "RM" (...drove the RM over a few chainlink fences..")?

Thanks.

RM=rear mount apparatus

Thank you.  Like I said, it's getting late.

 

[mack]

while we were removing the window & child guard & tying me up FF Dick W. longtime 123 Chauf had become aware of the situation & drove the RM over a few chainlink fences & raised the aerial to the 9th Fl & got to the victim first.....he recd a Dept Medal for his actions on Medal Day 1988......Continued RIP Jack.

1988 Medal Day - Dick W, John Toomey, Capt Ray Downey recipients:

   

   

1987 Medal Day - recipients include Lt Kilduff and Lt JK:

   

   

 

[mack]

''If you were ever in trouble he was the man you wanted to come in for you,'' said Firefighter John Moran, a member of the ladder company. ''Nothing would stop Big Jack.''

John Moran was another great firefighter who I was fortunate to have worked with at St. John's East. Both Jack and John started as proby's in E-234 and eventually went across the floor to L-123. John Moran was murdered in the line of duty on 9/11/01. At the time he was a B.C. in the Rescue Battalion and had just completed his tour. He grabbed his gear and responded with D.C. Downey.

BC John Moran:

   

   

   

"Firefighter With Law Degree

John Moran was a Fire Department battalion chief and his cousin Joseph Crowley was a congressman. But when they united their voices that last Saturday afternoon, at the block party in the Rockaways -- well, "The Star of the County Down" never sounded sweeter. At 42, Chief Moran was a kayaking, tin- whistle-playing firefighter with a law degree. But he never put himself before others. When his wife, Kim, was working out of town, he fed, bathed and smothered with love their two children -- Ryan, 7, and Dylan, 4 -- all the while ensuring that Peggy Moran, his mother who lived above him, never went wanting. "When I saw his car outside, back home from work, that was a comfort to me," his mother said. People may never forget the taunt that Michael Moran, John's younger brother and fellow firefighter, delivered to Osama bin Laden during a nationally televised concert in October, a taunt so profane and yet so eloquent, full of Irish anger and grief. But Kim Moran will remember the late afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 9, the day after the block party and two days before the disaster that swallowed him. Trudging up from the beach came her beaming husband, pulling his sons on that wheeled contraption he had built for his kayak. His wife grabbed a camera and caught it: John Moran in his glory." -  Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 25, 2001.

 

[fdny1075k]

Show from 1991 hosted by John Walsh called "Firehouse". John Moran is featured in the episode following Rescue 1 while he was at the rescue. The episode also features Paddy Brown (L3) and Pat O'Keefe (R1), both LODD 9/11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsJFCqiJs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mac-i88LpXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_WJD0KFhrM

R.I.P. Chief.

 

[68jk09]

BC John Moran was also injured inside the Fathers Day Fire hardware store bldg when it exploded/collapsed .........several others pictured in the Medal Day pages above are no longer w/us both 9-11 & otherwise.....CONTINUED RIP TO ALL.

 

[FDNYSTATENISLAND]

Show from 1991 hosted by John Walsh called "Firehouse". John Moran is featured in the episode following Rescue 1 while he was at the rescue. The episode also features Paddy Brown (L3) and Pat O'Keefe (R1), both LODD 9/11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsJFCqiJs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mac-i88LpXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_WJD0KFhrM

R.I.P. Chief.

Great series that I continue to re-watch on Youtube often... that and "The Bravest" following Rescue 2 and 4 pre 9/11 - around 2000-2001.

 

[mack]

Engine 325/Ladder 163 firehouse  41-24 51st Street, Woodside, Queens

    Engine 325 organized 41-24 51st Street                            1941

    Ladder 163 organized 22-61 35th Street w/Engine 312        1928
    Ladder 163 moved 41-24 51st Street at Engine 325            1952


41-24 51st Street firehouse:

   

   

    Engine 325's firehouse built by the federal Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration and also called "WPA") was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency created during the Depression, employing millions of unemployed people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. Engine 274's firehouse was also a WPA project. - Wikipedia

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 325:

    1941 Mack:
   

   

   

   


Ladder 163:

    1955 FWD 75 ft tiller:
   

    Mack TL Willy D picture:
   

    1984 ALF 100 ft:
   

   

    Seagrave TL donated by Akron, OH:
    http://www.gozips.com/general/FDNY_9-11

   

   

   
 
   

   


Engine 325/Ladder 123:
 
   

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVWECJ57e6E

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

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

   

   

   


Ladder 163 2012 medals:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rookie-veteran-ladder-163-queens-set-honored-fdny-medal-day-article-1.1085607


Engine 325/Ladder 163 LODDs:

         


    Lt. James O'Donnell, Ladder 163, overcome by smoke, May 29, 1932

         


    FF Charles R. Will, Ladder 163, 31st Street and 21st Avenue, fell trying to stop subway jumper, March 18, 1939

   
    Captain William F. Russell, Engine 325, Queens box 55-7027, building collapse, October 26, 1962

    FF Richard Andrews, Engine 325, Queens box 55-7027, building collapse, October 26, 1962

    FF James M. Marino, Engine 325,Queens box 55-7027, building collapse, October 26, 1962

         

         

         


    FF John J. Downing, Ladder 163, Fathers Day Fire, building explosion/collapse, June 17, 2001

         

          http://stevespak.com/fathersday.html

          http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/darkest-dad-day-10-years-3-bravest-died-honored-article-1.129685


    FF Thomas Gambino, Jr, Ladder 163, World Trade Center, September 11, 2001

         


    FF Scott A. Larsen, Ladder 163, World Trade Center, September 11, 2001

         


    Never forget.



Pre-FDNY volunteer history:

Woodside Hook and Ladder 3 was organized in 1878.  It became a company in the Newtown Fire Department in 1889.  The Newtown Fire Department was a volunteer department with 8 companies and 314 members.  Queens became part of NYC in 1898 and FDNY expanded to cover Woodside in 1913.  Ladder 3 disbanded in 1913.

Woodside Ladder 3  former firehouse  58-11 39th Avenue :

   

   

   


    LODD - District Chief Obadiah B Smith of the Newtown Fire Department (also a member of Woodside Ladder 3) was struck and killed by a train, 9:30 AM, October 15, 1902.


Woodside:

    http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/lobel11neighborhoods/woodside/history-of-woodside/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMC8GYdSsnY

    http://forgotten-ny.com/2005/10/woodside-queens-part-2/

 

[memory master]

325 also had a 1960 Ward LaFrance "Firebrand" pumper and 163 had a 1955 FWD 75' wooden aerial during the 1960's.

 

[mack]

325 also had a 1960 Ward LaFrance "Firebrand" pumper and 163 had a 1955 FWD 75' wooden aerial during the 1960's.

FDNY 1960 Firebrand pumpers:




FDNY 1955 FWD ladders:

 

[mack]

Engine 325: Queens box 55-7027 October 26, 1962 - 6 members killed

Queens box 7027 was transmitted at 2133 for a fire at the Sefu Soap and Fat Co.,  at 44-15 56th Road in Maspeth. 4 alarms had been transmitted for the 2 story brick factory.  The fire was declared under control at 2242.  Approximately 20 members were overhauling underneath a loading shed when a wall and ceiling collapsed without warning.  The dead and injured firemen were buried in 6 feet of debris.  Firemen Richard Andrews, James Marino, Captain William Russell of Engine 325, Firemen Richard Gifford, George Zahn of Engine 238 and Fireman Francis Egan of Ladder 115, were killed. 


   

   

   


"The fire broke out from an unknown cause around 9 p.m. in the two-story brick, 73-by-50-foot building housing the Sefu Fat and Soap Co.
The four-alarm fire was brought under control at 10:50 p.m., and shortly thereafter the wall fell. A fifth alarm was sounded to bring emergency equipment to the scene.  Firemen were walking in and out of the first floor of the building from a loading platform outside. Then a voice cried out: "Look out, there goes ......"  The sentence was never finished.  The wall and ceiling tumbled down, burying the fireman under tons of bricks and other debris."

    - Charleston Daily Mail West Virginia 1962-10-27







50 years later:

    http://www.junipercivic.com/historyArticle.asp?nid=95

    http://www.qchron.com/editions/central/six-fdny-firefighters-honored-on-th-anniversary-of-maspeth-fire/article_7de46d4c-70b9-59f6-9942-18e2570d891a.html

    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10/12/queens-auto-shop-memorializing-tragic-fire-at-location/

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/new-memorial-6-bravest-killed-50-yrs-article-1.1182171

 

[mack]

325 also had a 1960 Ward LaFrance "Firebrand" pumper and 163 had a 1955 FWD 75' wooden aerial during the 1960's.

Ladder 163 1955 FWD 75 ft tiller:




Modified in 1960s for civil disturbance protection.

 

[68jk09]

On the 1955 FWDs the Tiller steering wheel had to be removed & the windshield & seat swung out of the way to allow the Aerial to raise...when these FWds were modified in the mid '60s the roof cover that was added over the Tiller seat was split down the middle to allow the 2 halves to be hinged to either side to allow the Aerial to raise .......all wooden Wooden Aerials had steering wheels that had to be removed & a seat that swung to one side....earlier ones had no windshield for the Tiller but later ones did have one that could be swung out of the way......the '55 FWDs like pictured above  assigned to 163 were the only wooden Aerials modified w/covering ......on the Metal Aerials the '53 AlF s & all later model Metal Aerials  up to the '63 Seagrave's had been modified w/plywood cover over the tractor section & one over the Tiller seat both fixed in position.....many Unit's added a chain link "curtain" or plexiglass sheeting on the sides of the Tiller seat.....the '68 & '69 ALF Tiller Rigs had a factory installed metal roof over the Officer & Chauf & the 2 jump seats.....their Tiller seat had a Shop installed fixed angle iron & plywood cover.....w/the start of the '74 Seagrave Tillers all seating had factory made roofs & doors over all seating .....the original '74s came w/a full sliding canopy but this did not hold up w/the heavy canopy sliding on 2 small tracks therefore the manufacturer modified them by installing a fixed roof & rear panel w/2 sliding doors & this is the design remaining today on the few Tiller Rig's FDNY has.  ......Just a further note on the plywood covering's .....the 1st one was actually designed by a Chauf in LAD*26 Jack F. who drove the legendary John O'Reagan RIP however since it had always been the policy to line the turntable w/the objective by the Chauf looking upwards there had never been covered Aerials in the FDNY but  when civil arrest became the norm in the early '60s  they made the 1st one in LAD*26..... the front part of the roof over the Chauf & Officer had a hinged panel that could be flipped back if necessary ....however soon after the Job realized the need for protective covering so they retrofitted Rig's in the Shops but omitted the hinged flap.....basic policy to spot the turntable then became that while you were approaching the bldg you would pick an object on the sidewalk like a portion of the stoop or a garbage can or sidewalk crack etc that was in line w/the objective and somewhat looking over your shoulder as you pulled up lining the turntable up w/the object at ground level......this has always been satisfactory so i guess all the years riding around in the rain were not necessary . 

 

[mack]

On the 1955 FWDs the Tiller steering wheel had to be removed & the windshield & seat swung out of the way to allow the Aerial to raise...when these FWds were modified in the mid '60s the roof cover that was added over the Tiller seat was split down the middle to allow the 2 halves to be hinged to either side to allow the Aerial to raise .......all wooden Wooden Aerials had steering wheels that had to be removed & a seat that swung to one side....earlier ones had no windshield for the Tiller but later ones did have one that could be swung out of the way......the '55 FWDs like pictured above  assigned to 163 were the only wooden Aerials modified w/covering ......on the Metal Aerials the '53 AlF s & all later model Metal Aerials  up to the '63 Seagrave's had been modified w/plywood cover over the tractor section & one over the Tiller seat both fixed in position.....many Unit's added a chain link "curtain" or plexiglass sheeting on the sides of the Tiller seat.....the '68 & '69 ALF Tiller Rigs had a factory installed metal roof over the Officer & Chauf & the 2 jump seats.....their Tiller seat had a Shop installed fixed angle iron & plywood cover.....w/the start of the '74 Seagrave Tillers all seating had factory made roofs & doors over all seating .....the original '74s came w/a full sliding canopy but this did not hold up w/the heavy canopy sliding on 2 small tracks therefore the manufacturer modified them by installing a fixed roof & rear panel w/2 sliding doors & this is the design remaining today on the few Tiller Rig's FDNY has.  ......Just a further note on the plywood covering's .....the 1st one was actually designed by a Chauf in LAD*26 Jack F. who drove the legendary John O'Reagan RIP however since it had always been the policy to line the turntable w/the objective by the Chauf looking upwards there had never been covered Aerials in the FDNY but  when civil arrest became the norm in the early '60s  they made the 1st one in LAD*26..... the front part of the roof over the Chauf & Officer had a hinged panel that could be flipped back if necessary ....however soon after the Job realized the need for protective covering so they retrofitted Rig's in the Shops but omitted the hinged flap.....basic policy to spot the turntable then became that while you were approaching the bldg you would pick an object on the sidewalk like a portion of the stoop or a garbage can or sidewalk crack etc that was in line w/the objective and somewhat looking over your shoulder as you pulled up lining the turntable up w/the object at ground level......this has always been satisfactory so i guess all the years riding around in the rain were not necessary .

Ladder 163 before and after modifications described by the Chief:

   

   

 

[mack]

Engine 13/Engine 13-2  firehouses  Wooster Street/Mercer Street/Lafayette Street  SoHo, Manhattan  Engine 13 disbanded 1974

    Engine 13 organized 99 Wooster Street former volunteer firehouse            1865
    Engine 13 moved unknown location                                                          1881
    Engine 13 new firehouse 99 Wooster Street w/Engine 13-2                        1883
    Engine 13 (hose tender) moved Spring Street/Broadway                            1903
    Engine 13 (steamer) moved 130 West 3rd Street                                      1903
    Engine 13 moved 243 Lafayette Street at Engine 20                                  1903
    Engine 13 returned 99 Wooster Street                                                      1904
    Engine 13 moved 155 Mercer Street at Ladder 20                                      1948
    Engine 13 moved 253 Lafayette Street w/Ladder 12                                  1974
    Engine 13 disbanded                                                                                1974
                                   
    Engine 13-2 organized 99 Wooster Street at Engine 13                              1883
    Engine 13-2 disbanded                                                                            1892
    Engine 13-2 reorganized 99 Wooster Street at Engine 13                          1892
    Engine 13-2 moved 243 Lafayette Street at Engine 20                              1903
    Engine 13-2 returned 99 Wooster Street w/Engine 13                                1904
    Engine 13-2 disbanded                                                                            1908
    Engine 13-2 reorganized 99 Wooster Street at Engine 13                          1925
    Engine 13-2 disbanded                                                                            1939             

99 Wooster Street:

   

    Current:
   

   


153 Mercer Street:

   

   

   


253 Lafayette Street:   

   

   

   

    https://midcenturymundane.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/fdny-ladder-20-engine-13-soho-nyc/


Engine 13:

    1906 hose tender:
   

    1912 steamer and hose tenders:
   

    1931 ALF 700 GPM pumper:
   

   

   

   


Volunteer history:

    Engine 13 organized in former quarters of volunteer Oceanus Engine 11, built in 1854


SoHo: (name from South of Houston Street)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoHo,_Manhattan   

    http://www.artnyc.com/SoHoHistory.html

 

[mack]

Engine 243/Ladder 168/Battalion 42  firehouse  8653 18th Street, Bensonhurst/Bath Beach, Brooklyn

    Engine 43 BFD organized w/Ladder 15 BFD 8653 18th Street                              1896
    Engine 43 BFD became Engine 43 FDNY                                                            1898
    Engine 43 became Combined Engine Company 43                                              1898
    Combined Engine Company 43 became Combined Engine Company 143                1899
    Combined Engine Company 143 became Combined Engine Company 243              1913
    Combined Engine Company 243 became Engine 43                                              1929
    Engine 243 moved 1157 79th Street at Engine 284                                              1988
    Engine 243 returned 8653 18th Avenue                                                              1989

    Ladder 15 BFD organized w/Engine 43 BFD 8653 18th Street                              1896
    Ladder 15 BFD deactivated to form Ladder 15 FDNY                                            1998
    Ladder 15 deactivated to form Combined Engine Company 43 FDNY                    1898

    Ladder 168 organized 8653 18th Street at Engine 243                                        1929
    Ladder 168 moved 2428 86th Street at Engine 253                                              1988
    Ladder 168 returned 8653 18th Street                                                                1988

    Battalion 42 organized 8653 18th Street at Combined Engine 143                        1906
    Battalion 42 moved 1157 79th Street at Engine 284                                            1988
    Battalion 42 returned 8653 18th Avenue w/Engine 243                                      1988 

Engine 43 Brooklyn Fire Department organized February 1, 1896 - replaces New Utrecht Fire Department:

   

   


8653 18th Avenue firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 243:
   
   

   

   

   

    Engine 243 relocated Engine 151/Ladder 76 Tottenville, SI:
   

   

   

   

   

Ladder 168:

   

   

   

   


Battalion 42:

   


Engine 243/Ladder 168:

   

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8JuTPnd4jk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMMJf2_477w

    http://www.honoringheroes.com/2011/06/valor-firefighter-william-roesch-jr-ladder-company-168-fdny/



Engine 243/Battalion 42 LODDs:

    FF C. Stephen Auditore, Engine 243, Brooklyn box 3430, collision with asphalt truck responding, died from burns, October 18, 1943

         
         
         


    FF Harold Hastings, Battalion 42 aide, Brooklyn box 44-3300, Waldbaums Fire, roof collapse, August 2, 1978

         

         

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTzBg1YIZmI


    Never forget.


Bensonhurst and Bath Beach:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bensonhurst,_Brooklyn

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Beach,_Brooklyn

    http://forgotten-ny.com/2010/07/bath-beachs-cropsey-avenue/

    http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/12/86th-street-in-bensonhurst/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujz29iL_9EE

 

[johnd248]

Hi Joe: seems like it must be a tight fit getting the engine, truck, and battalion in that house.  Does not seem all that wide.

 

[mack]

Hi Joe: seems like it must be a tight fit getting the engine, truck, and battalion in that house.  Does not seem all that wide.

42 Bn has been there forever.

They also spend time on SI - closest battalion to VN Bridge.

 

[lucky]

While on the subject of narrow apparatus floors, I'll bring up E 235 and the 57 Batt. The chiefs car must hug a wall to which a piece of hose was attached to prevent scraping against the brick. E 252 was in the same category when the 17th Div. shared quarters with them.

 

[JOR176]

The tightest apparatus floor I ever saw was E214 & L111 when they were on Halsey St.

 

[mack]

Hi Joe: seems like it must be a tight fit getting the engine, truck, and battalion in that house.  Does not seem all that wide.

John - as you can see when Engine 243 is backing in - door and width of apparatus floor not wide. Firehouse was built by City of Brooklyn just before Brooklyn became part of NYC in 1898.