FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies

[mack]

Mack Thanks as always for your diligent history posts...in regard to this photo from reply 1800 above i remember my Father telling me about when certain Pumpers responded to the Island they had to unbolt the front bumper to fit on the elevator....    https://postimg.cc/image/hfphe20eh/

The Ahrens Fox pumpers modified with a folding rear step to fit in the Queensboro Bridge elevator in 1941 were:  E 23, E 65, E 74, E 21 and E 260.

   

    Ahrens Fox apparatus:  http://www.nyfd.com/calderoneA/foxes2.html

    Note:  These pumpers were about 27 ft long, about 6 ft longer than most FDNY pumpers, which was why the folding rear step was needed for the elevator.


An elevator was built in the "Elevator Storehouse" in 1919 next to the bridge.  It housed an elevator that transported cars and people from the Queensboro Bridge down to the present-day Tramway Plaza. There were traffic lights on the bridge to enable turns into Elevator Storehouse.  In addition, the Elevator Storehouse contained storage space and a reception ward for the island's Metropolitan Hospital. The building's main lobby was on its top floor, was nicknamed the "upside-down building" and was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not for its peculiar design. With the opening of the Welfare Island Bridge, the Elevator Storehouse closed in 1955 and was demolished in 1970.

   

   

   

    Note:  a circular ramp to the top of the 130 ft Elevator Storehouse was planned but never constructed.


A trolley transported passengers from Manhattan and Queens to a stop at the Elevator Storehouse.  They could then descend to Welfare Island. 

   

    http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/qborobr.html

    Note:  the Welfare Island trolley was the last operating trolley in NYC and NY state:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTGwnvyIw1I


Roosevelt Island Bridge - opened 1955 - between Astoria Queens and Welfare Island (now Roosevelt Island):

    https://newtownpentacle.com/tag/roosevelt-island-bridge/

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


Engine 260 - 1st due Roosevelt Island:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CDJvEEdH6I

 

[mack]

Engine 260 - 1st due engine - Roosevelt Island

   


Ladder 116 - 1st due ladder - Roosevelt Island:

   


Engine 261 was closed in 2003:

    https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170627/long-island-city/reopen-fdny-engine-company-261-dutch-kills

    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/06/23/long-island-city-firehouse/

 

[mack]

Engine 228  Location 436 39th Street  Sunset Park, Brooklyn  Division 8, Battalion 40 

    Engine 28 BFD organized 945 4th Avenue                                1890
    Engine 28 BFD new firehouse 436 39th Street                          1891
    Engine 28 BFD became Engine 28 FDNY                                    1898
    Engine 28 became Engine 128                                                1899
    Engine 128 became Engine 228                                              1913
    Engine 228 moved to 4210 12th Avenue at Engine 282            1994
    Engine 228 returned 436 39th Street                                      1995
    Engine 228 moved to 4210 12th Avenue at Engine 282            1995      
    Engine 228 returned 436 39th Street                                      1996

    Battalion 40 organized 436 39th Street at Engine 128              1906
    Battalion 40 moved 5011 7th Avenue at Engine 278                  1917

    Purple K Unit 228 organized 436 39th Street at Engine 228        1995


Engine 28, Brooklyn Fire Department:

   

   


436 39th Street Firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   

   


    Note:  Engine 228's firehouse received Landmarks Preservation Commission status on July 19, 2013.  The Romanesque Revival style firehouse was designed by William Moran for the Brooklyn Fire Dept.


Engine 228 apparatus:

   

   

   

   


Engine 228 video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSESMkgxX94


Purple K 228:

   

   


Engine 228 members:

    1891

         

    1944

         

    2002

         

    2017

         


Engine 228 Medals:

    FF MICHAEL B DOREY  APR. 4, 1903  1904 BROOKLYN CITIZENS MEDAL

           

          FF DOREY 1907:

         


    LT JAMES SHERRY  OCT. 10, 1908  1909 BROOKLYN CITIZENS MEDAL

         

    FF EDWARD F. B MC CORMACK  MAY 4, 1909  1911 BROOKLYN CITIZENS MEDAL

         

    PROB FF JOHN J. B KUBINSKI  NOV. 25, 1958  1959 FDR MEDAL

         

    CAPT ROBERT J. B VERDONIK  JAN. 24, 1976 1977 BROOKLYN CITIZENS MEDAL


Engine 228 LODD:

    FF Joseph Kenavan, Box 5-1488-228, January 25, 1976  FF Kenavan was killed by a drunk driver while extinguishing a car fire.  Driver also injured other members of Engine 228.

   

    RIP.  Never forget.


Engine 228 (then Engine 128) 4th Alarm 1908 - first due:

   


Engine 228 1930:

   


Sunset Park, Brooklyn neighborhood:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Park,_Brooklyn


Industry City (aka - Bush Terminal)

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


Bush Army Terminal World War II:

    http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/milrr/batbtww2repat.html

    http://openbuildings.com/buildings/bush-terminal-profile-34038


Bush Terminal Explosion and Fire - December 3, 1956 - 10 fatalities:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdnyhome/sets/72157659609034583/

 

[mack]

"Brooklyn Pier Fire" or "Luckenbach Fire"  -  December 3, 1956  -  77-1499-66-44-36  -  Marginal & 35th Streets  - 1516 hrs - South Brooklyn - "Miracle on 35th Street"

Engine 228 was first due for a pier fire at the Bush Army Terminal in South Brooklyn.  While fighting a pier fire which was already a 5th alarm, a terrific explosion of stored explosives occurred resulting in 10 deaths and multiple injuries.  Amazingly, no firefighters were lost in the blast although the explosion happened - after the 5th alarm was transmitted - and while many firefighters were already operating.  Numerous additional fires, building collapses and medical emergencies were then received after the blast.  Rescue 2 provided life-saving first aid to many injured members.  Marine 1's website has an excellent WNYF summary of the pier fire and explosion "Miracle on 35th Street" (link below).

"Four minutes after the original alarm was transmitted, Act. Lieut. Al Kraemer, Eng. Co. 228, sent in the second. The third, fourth and fifth alarms were sent in at intervals of approximately seven minutes. Shortly after the fifth alarm was transmitted but before the fourth and fifth alarm assignments were in position ? heavy traffic in the area slowed down their response ? the blast occurred. Two Borough Calls were subsequently sent out."

"The first due unit, Eng. #228, had rolled onto the pier but were turned back by the heat and melting tar. Act?ing Lieutenant Al Kraemer sent the second alarm ? one of the few times an acting officer had given such an order. This unit was operating on the north-side of the pier, opposite #278's posi?tion when IT happened. The blast rolled them all up a ball of arms and legs. Dom Proscia received a painful back injury. Out in front of the pier, MPO Frank Porcella started praying. He thought sure that his company had been wiped out. Joe Beetle thought his best bet would be to go overboard if it blew again."

"Lieutenant Robert E. Lindgren (note - father of one of our site members and later Captain Eng. 248 and BC 38th Bn) of Ladder Co. 101, detailed to Eng. 202, was running back to his Company (that is, 202) with Donald Holton with orders to stretch in when the blast caught them 25 feet up from Marginal Street. Both were thrown to the ground. He lost his boots, helmet and wrist watch. He got up and continued running through the debris raining down to the pumper further up 35th Street. Since he couldn't fit under the new cars parked about, the pumper was his best bet. He found that sev?eral firemen and five civilians had the same idea. Art Leavitt, 202's MPO was looking toward the pier for a sig?nal from Lt. Lindgren as the ball of fire rose high in the air and then seemed to boil over toward him. His first shocked conviction was that all the firemen on the pier roof had been killed. As debris began crashing down, he ducked under the pumper. Several days later when a WNYF representa?tive interviewed him, Leavitt still found it hard-to believe that no fire?men had been killed. "It's a miracle," he said."

"The waterfront area for blocks around the pier, after the blast re?minded many of a wartime bombing. Glass and debris cluttered the streets. Most of the windows in all buildings within three blocks of the pier were shattered. More than 250 civilians were injured and ten killed. It seemed that the firemen nearest the fire were in?side of the circle of destruction caused by flying debris. Heavy traffic in the area delayed the additional units?per?haps saving their lives. Both adjacent piers were shambles?doors on the pier to the north were blasted in and sev?eral small fires started. On the pier to the south where many spectators were injured, walls were blown in and roofs and skylights were lifted off. A pile of lumber blazed up and a-lighter caught fire and was set adrift. The freighter Greek Victory was tied up at the land end of the north side of the fire pier. Several small fires started aboard be?fore she was cut loose and maneuvered to safety. Her whistle blew con?tinuously adding to the general din of fire sirens and shouting spectators.

    Marine 1 website:  http://marine1fdny.com/miracle_35th_new.php  ("Miracle on 35th Street - Brooklyn Pier Fire")article from WNYF January 1957)

    Additional site:  http://theweeklynabe.com/2013/05/15/the-industry-city-brooklyn-fire-and-explosion-1956/

    FDNY site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fdnyhome/sets/72157659609034583/


   

 

[johnd248]

I was playing some after school basketball in the gym of PS 249 on Caton Avenue; this was probably three to four miles from the blast and one of the gym windows blew out and into the gym.  Interestingly, Artie Leavitt, the MPO of E 202, went on the be a Lieutenant at Engine 248 just the way Bob Lindgren became the Captain of Engine 248 before going on as Battalion Chief in the 38 Battalion.

Strange how I can remember so much from 1956.

 

[raybrag]

Like you, John, I can remember lots about 1956 (gee, Maureen Markey was cute).  Just don't ask me about yesterday. 

 

[mack]

Engine 228 is currently assigned to Division 8 (SI/Brooklyn), Battalion 40 (Brooklyn).  It was initially assigned to Brooklyn Fire Department's 10th District (Battalion) when a BFD unit.  It has also been assigned to the 48th Battalion.  It was previously assigned to Brooklyn's 12th Division and 10th Division.


1948 FDNY Organization Chart:

   


1956 FDNY Organization Chart:

   

 

[mack]

Engine 165/Ladder 85  Firehouse  Location 3067 Richmond Road  New Dorp, Staten Island  Division 8, Battalion 23  "White Lightening"

    Engine 165 organized new firehouse 3067 Richmond Road                          1960

    Ladder 85 organized new firehouse 3067 Richmond Road                            1960

    Thawing Unit 3 located at 3067 Richmond Road at Engine 165                1990-1996 

    HAZMAT Technician Unit SI organized 3067 Richmond Road at Engine 165    2004 


Firehouse 3067 Richmond Road:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 165/Ladder 85 firehouse design:

   

   


Engine 165:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

    Note: Engine 165 went into service with a 1946 Ward LaFrance pumper with a 200 gallon booster tank.  Engine 165 then received Engine 56's 1959 Mack pumper with a 375 gallon booster tank when that company was disbanded.   


Engine 165 HAZMAT Engine: 

    To supplement existing Hazmat Technician units (squads and rescues), four HAZMAT engines have been designated and trained. In addition to their normal responsibilities as engine companies, Engines 44 in Manhattan, 165 on Staten Island, 250 in Brooklyn and 274 in Queens are each trained to the Hazmat Technician II level. Units have Level A suits, absorbent material, drum and leak sealing kits, plugs and wedges, off-loading pump, grounding cables, over-pack drums, meters, non-sparking tools and other assorted hazmat equipment.

    Operating in Manhattan:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPlcJsxadD8

    HAZMAT Technician Unit:

         


Ladder 85:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

    Note: Ladder 85 went into service with a 1938 FWD 85 foot wooden aerial ladder with tiller and 1948 Ward LaFrance tractor. 


Engine 165/Ladder 85 videos:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jE7Mwwi30U

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbt6GMT-Rc0

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


Engine 165/Ladder 85 fires:

    1960 - United Plane Crash - SI 2nd alarm - Engine 165/Ladder 85 First due:

          http://www.silive.com/specialreports/index.ssf/2011/03/1960_mid-air_crash_over_staten.html

          http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/on_this_date_in_1960_deadly_pl.html

          Note:  US Army Miller Field, site of one downed plane on SI, was still an active Army airfield.  Engine 165, first unit on scene, crashed through locked gate to gain access to plane and victims.  2nd alarm on arrival in SI. Other plane crashed in Brooklyn. 


    2017 First Due - Tysens Apartments:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_C73L1UVXo


Ladder 82 relocated to Engine 165/Ladder 85 during renovation of quarters:

   

   


Ladder 85 LODD:


    LT  Charles Margiotta, World Trade Center, September 11, 2001

       

         

         

         

          http://www.silive.com/september-11/index.ssf/2010/09/charles_margiotta_44_fdny_know.html

    RIP.  Never forget.


New Dorp neighborhood:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Dorp,_Staten_Island

    http://www.oldstatenisland.org/new-dorp.html

 

[guitarman314]

Former Engine 154 firehouse: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/5/3/15422104/staten-island-tompkinsville-home-tour-firehouse-conversion

 

[FDNYSTATENISLAND]

Thanks for the info about 165/85

 

[68jk09]

I guess this is the old Hannah St FH ?.....I remember taking a Sunday trip late '50s /early '60s on the SI Ferry w/my Father then walking around a little on SI & seeing i think this FH ?.......a story about old FH's that i have posted before but i will do again as i think it is classic is back in the '70s when the City closed ENG*256 (around the corner from BKLYN Tech HS & across the St from the Emergency Room entrance to BKLYN Hospital) & i was in R*2 a FF in the Company said "they are going to sell 256's Qtrs maybe we could pool our money  & buy it "......well everybody laughed & said "why buy one ..we are in one for free".... well Spike Lee went to the auction & bought it for $125 Thousand which would have been a drop in the bucket if we  R*2 & ENG*210 had all pooled our money...... fast forward to about 2 years ago Spike Lee sold it for Four Million...granted he made major improvements but if we bought it & did nothing it still would have been a great return....also don't get me started on the vacant Brown Stones selling for next to nothing on Carlton Ave & surrounding blocks back in the late '70s.....who knew.

 

[memory master]

Yes indeed Chief. That's Hannah Street.

 

[mack]

Engine 154 and Division 8 former firehouse - 60 Hannah St Tompkinsville, SI:

   

   



    - There is a piece of baseball history associated with this firehouse.  Bobby Thomson, the baseball player who hit the famous "Shot Heard Around the World" home run off Ralph Branca and the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the 1951 pennant, grew up on on Staten Island.  After the game, Bobby went to Engine 154 by ferry and then taxi to celebrate after he won the NL championship at the Polo Grounds.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrI7dVj90zs


    "After Thomson loped around the bases, and jangled atop the shoulders of teammates, and hyperventilated and felt nauseous, and waved to throngs chanting his name, and answered reporters? questions in a voice high as helium, and played down his uppercut to Perry Como on CBS television, and sang a Chesterfield jingle on the air, and ferried unaccompanied across New York Bay to Staten Island, and taxied to Engine 154 on Hannah Street, his older brother Jim, a firefighter, asked if he realized what he had done. Thomson at first found the question silly. But then, hours after his home run, he began to comprehend." - NY Times  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/sports/baseball/03homer.html


    The walk off home run, maybe the most famous in baseball, won the third game of a rare NL pennant playoffs (no playoff system back then). The Giants, were down 13 1/2 games in August and were trailing 4-1 in the 9th inning. It became the "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff."  After he hit the walk off home run, Thomson took the SI ferry to celebrate with his brother Jim, who was on duty watching the game on TV with Engine 154.  Apparently Bobby visited Engine 154 frequently and chose to celebrate his walk-off home run in the Hannah Street firehouse with his brother and FDNY members.  Jim Thomson's son, Jimmy, also became an FDNY member and was a captain. 



    - The firehouse was also home to Division 8 in 1939 and from 1941 to 1951 most likely because it was so close to the SI Ferry to Manhattan and the 69th Street Ferry to Brooklyn in the years before the VN Bridge was built.



    - The cost to build the firehouse in 1913 was $35,000.



    - Engine 154 would have been 1st due (maybe E 154, E 155, E 153, E 51 (Marine) L 78, L 77, BC 21, D 8 ) to the massive SI Ferry terminal fire (equivalent of 9 alarms plus 200 military FFs, 5 fireboats, USCG) which destroyed the entire terminal and killed 2 civilians and an FDNY member - FDNY Telegraph Bureau Lineman HAROLD F. CLANDENING Telegraph Bureau - who was working on an FDNY job at the terminal when the fast-moving fire broke out.  RIP.


         


          http://www.silive.com/specialreports/index.ssf/2011/03/deadly_fire_destroys_staten_is.html

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9oYXTbVEbU

          1946 SI Ferry fire: 
   
              - Box transmitted 1402 hours, June 25, 1946
              - The box was pulled at Richmond Terrace and Borough Place at 1402 hours on June 25, 1946. 
              - Addition alarms: 2nd alarm 1407 hours; 3rd alarm 1408 hours; 4th alarm 1417 hours; Borough Call 1428 hours
              - SI Ferry terminal was also the major train station/train yard for the Staten Island Rapid Transit surface train system
              - SI Communication office was located at City Hall in St George, which overlooked the ferry terminal.  SI dispatchers could visually see the fire.
              - Additional apparatus could not take the SI Ferry. Response from Manhattan was the Holland Tunnel through NJ (Jersey City and Bayonne) over Bayonne Bridge to SI, then Forest Avenue, Victory Blvd and Bay Street to the ferry terminal.
              - Fire burned for 3 days
              - 2 civilian deaths, 1 FDNY death, 15 FDNY injuries

 

[fdhistorian]

              - Additional apparatus could not take the SI Ferry. Response from Manhattan was the Holland Tunnel through NJ (Jersey City and Bayonne) over Bayonne Bridge to SI, then Forest Avenue, Victory Blvd and Bay Street to the ferry terminal.

Has the Holland Tunnel-NJ-Bayonne Bridge route or the SI Ferry ever been used by companies to respond to SI since the VN Bridge opened?
Does the BARB calculation consider this contingency?

 

[mack]

Engine 239  Firehouse  395 4th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn  Division 11, Battalion 48    "4th Avenue Express"   

    Engine 39 Brooklyn Fire Department organized 395 4th Avenue                    1895
    Engine 39 Brooklyn Fire Department became Engine 39 FDNY                      1898
    Engine 39 became Engine 139                                                                    1899
    Engine 139 became Engine 239                                                                  1913
    Engine 239 moved to Engine 220                                                                2006
    Engine 239 returned to 395 4th Avenue                                                      2008 (approx.)

    Division 10 located at 395 4th Avenue at Engine 239                    1930-1948 and 1951-1990

    Squad 1 located at 395 4th Avenue at Engine 239                                2003-2004


395 4th Avenue firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 139:

   


Engine 239:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 239:

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

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8M-vlhq6LU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgIubiCS66k


Engine 239 Medals:

    FF Jacob J. Ferber, February 26, 1921 - awarded 1922 James Gordon Bennett Medal

             

    FF Francis J. McLaughlin, January 29, 1968 - awarded 1969 Brooklyn Citizens Medal

       

    FF Robert W. Surrey, January 29, 1968 - awarded 1969 Trevor-Warren Medal

         

    FF Gregory J. Donnell, off-duty, October 4, 1985 - awarded 1986 De Franco Medal

         

    FF Kevin M. O'Rourke, Engine 239/Squad 1, November 22, 1987 - awarded 1988 Fire Marshals Medal

       

          Note:  FF O'Rourke LODD September 11, 2001, World Trade Center  RIP.  Never forget.

    FF Neil P. Malone, June 27, 2007, awarded 2008 Thomas F. Dougherty Medal

         


Engine 239 LODDs:

    FF Alfred Bauman, October 22, 1986, severely burned advancing hose line in backdraft

           


    FF James Dawe, November 29. 1902, fell from 4th floor fire escape trying to enter fire building

                 

    FF Joseph McNamara, October 17, 1937, smoke inhalation

                 


    RIP.  Never forget.


395 4th Avenue firehouse renovation:

    http://www.beyhankarahan.com/engine-company-239

    https://www.fireglass.com/resources/design-ideas/case-studies/doc/TGP_FDNY_caseStudy.pdf


Park Slope:

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

   


Gowanus:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus,_Brooklyn

 

[mack]

Engine 317/Ladder 165/Battalion 54  Firehouse  117-11 196th Street, St. Albans, Queens  Division 13, Battalion 54  "Sleepless Knights"

    Engine 317 organized 117-11 196th Street w/Ladder 165          1929

    Ladder 165 organized 117-11 196th Street w/Engine 317          1929

    Battalion 54 organized 117-11 196th Street at Engine 317          1930


117-11 196th Street firehouse dedication October 18, 1929:

   


117-11 196th Street firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 317:

   

   

   

   

    ]


Ladder 165:

   

   

   

   


Engine 317/Ladder 165/Battalion 54:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rl1sbbRSao

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUT3FKPpa74


Ladder 165 FDNY Medal:

    Clarence W. Waldron, July 8, 1953, awarded  1954 Trevor-Warren Medal


Ladder 165 LODD:

    LT Robert E. Rummel, October 16, 1950

         

    RIP.  Never forget.


St Albans neighborhood (named after St. Albans, a city in Hertfordshire, England):

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St. Albans, Queens

   


St Albans Naval Hospital (3000 bed hospital complex built in 1942 for World War II injured Service members - turned over to VA in 1973):

   

   

    Note:  The Navy operated a fire station at the St. Albans Naval Hospital complex:

           

 

[mack]

1953 FDNY R&Ws:

   


Engine 317 and the 54th Battalion were busy.

 

[nfd2004]

Going back on this page to Reply # 1832, Engine 165/Ladder 85, I remember making the trip out to this Staten Island Firehouse from Ct for the sole purpose of getting a picture of Ladder 85s rig. As I remember it was the FIRST, Mack Tower Ladder to have a white over red color scheme, along with a white boom. Also one of the first Mack TLs to have tandem rear wheels.

This was also my first visit to the Boro of Staten Island. I had never been over the VZ Bridge before that. I think I got a picture of one the BFUs that day too.

Thanks to the guys that pulled that rig out for me and parked it for the best photo shoot. "You made my day". 

 

[lucky]

It was interesting to see ladder 165 receive one of the very few 110 foot aerials several years ago, considering that most of their district is one family homes.

 

[mack]

Going back on this page to Reply # 1832, Engine 165/Ladder 85, I remember making the trip out to this Staten Island Firehouse from Ct for the sole purpose of getting a picture of Ladder 85s rig. As I remember it was the FIRST, Mack Tower Ladder to have a white over red color scheme, along with a white boom. Also one of the first Mack TLs to have tandem rear wheels.

This was also my first visit to the Boro of Staten Island. I had never been over the VZ Bridge before that. I think I got a picture of one the BFUs that day too.

Thanks to the guys that pulled that rig out for me and parked it for the best photo shoot. "You made my day".

Bill - They called TL 85 "The Big Vanilla" when first received because of the new white of red color scheme.