Highest alarm?

[diablo_fire]

actually i have been reading this site from top to bottom and it is getting me to dig in deaper and deaper on the war years. And still am waiting to hear from FDNYRant.

 

[AuxWarYearsCapt]

Remember the 13th alarm fire in Jamaica Queens.....vicinity of 101 ave and brisbon street.........303-126 prob first due.......fire was a natural gas main leak.........once the rigs started to stall out in the street they knew there was a bigger problem than they thought.........a few companys rigs burned big time.........127 was one that got destroyed and I think another one was 298..........and there were others.................I was a kid at the time and remember goin to school that day when I saw it on the news.......JHS i think so it had to be in the late 60's

 

[68jk09]

ENG*303 & LAD*126 were 1st due they came from upwind ENG*298 & LAD*127 came from downwind & their 2 rigs stalled due to lack of o2 & were incinerated when the leak ignited.....i had posted a picture & info on FDNYrant in the "Iron Lung " forum.....you can make out the back of 1 of the rigs in the fire.

 

[bklyndisp54]

Years gone by they used boro calls after the 5th alarm transmitting higher alarms is fairly recent.

Unless things have changed I think that this hits the nail on the head.  My recollection is that the highest alarm you could transmit would be the 5th. 

There were no pre-programmed responses for "alarms" above that.  Additional units would be assigned via special-call or by the famous "borough calls" or "simultaneous" alarms.

In these cases the responding units would be told to respond in to the 5th Alarm in (whatever boro).

Has this changed?  Does FDNY now officially" recognize incidents as 6th, 7th alarms or greater?

That was impossible in the days of the bells, because the prelimnary signals 66, 77, and higher were borough designators.  The greatest alarm  you could rap out on that system was a 55.

 

[Atlas]

The highest alarm is still 'officially' the FIFTH, but the CAD (Computer Assist Dispatch) system will provide additional companies beyond the 5th alarm. What a dispatcher has to do is special call the number of units to be assigned, once released, go into the history & update manually what had just occurred in the incident history. Starfire will count it as a fifth alarm.  Each fire box is pre-planned for 90 enigine & 40 ladder co's locations. The danger of reaching beyond the 5th alarm preprogramed response is now it will use any company that should not have responded previously. Example - Lower Manhattan Eng 9 has SAT # 1 & Eng 207 has SAT # 6. So both of these units only normally have 1st, 2nd, & 3rd due First alarm level asssignments.  So lets say that there is a 7th alarm fire in Lower Manhattan. Eng # 9 went with SAT # 1 on the 2nd alarm. 20 Engine companies would be assigned for firefighting purposes, 4 each alarm level. Now the computer needs 8 more, Engine 207 could be picked as one of them. Unless things have changed in the CAD system, this is a problem that a dispatcher has to look out for. Eng 207 should be by passed & another engine needs to be assigned. Relocated companies into one of those 90 Engine location can also be picked to respond.

With the old fashion BORO CALL - years back, only Engine Co's responded. That same principle can still be done today. Let's say the fire is still in lower Manhattan, the dispatcher could use a Brooklyn or Queens box and direct the units that are to respond to respond directly to Manhattan. If Blkyn was used, pick a box near Grand Army Plaza, a box that Manhattan units would not respond to, but yet close enough to get there in a reasonable amount of time. Besides from yesterday to today Manhattan & Brooklyn lost the most amount of companies. So things are not the same as they use to be years ago.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

The fire next to Rescue was 10 alarms, happened around 1985. They moved into the new house on 4-29-89

January 23, 1985.    My father was in the area that night and buffed the job.  Afterwards, he walked down the block to the corner of 43rd and 11th to the diner that used to be there to grab a bowl of soup to warm up.    For YEARS after that, he would always say that it was the BEST bowl of chicken noodle soup he ever ate!  Don't think mom ever appreciated that comment!

 

[mikeindabronx]

The fire next to Rescue was 10 alarms, happened around 1985. They moved into the new house on 4-29-89

January 23, 1985.    My father was in the area that night and buffed the job.  Afterwards, he walked down the block to the corner of 43rd and 11th to the diner that used to be there to grab a bowl of soup to warm up.    For YEARS after that, he would always say that it was the BEST bowl of chicken noodle soup he ever ate!  Don't think mom ever appreciated that comment!

Marc.....I love it. http://fdnysbravest.com/fp38.htm

 

[nfd2004]

The fire next to Rescue was 10 alarms, happened around 1985. They moved into the new house on 4-29-89

January 23, 1985.    My father was in the area that night and buffed the job.  Afterwards, he walked down the block to the corner of 43rd and 11th to the diner that used to be there to grab a bowl of soup to warm up.    For YEARS after that, he would always say that it was the BEST bowl of chicken noodle soup he ever ate!  Don't think mom ever appreciated that comment!

Marc.....I love it. http://fdnysbravest.com/fp38.htm

  That's one a lot of us will remember. And the picture tells why. And right next to Rescue 1's quarters.

 

[memory master]

Are you saying that the Market diner is no longer at W43rd and 11th? The chili wasn't bad either. :'(

 

[*******]

Was a DAC and had the City Wide duty the night of the 43rd Street fire. John O'Rourke was Chief of Department. We had just finished our meal when the 2ND alarm came in for the box. Third followed a few minutes later which mandated my response. Fourth was transmitted as we were responding. A DC named Joe Hovsepian, 3rd Division had the fire.  Building ran block (43rd) to block (42ND street). Mill construction, all floors were fully involved. Building was gone, the exposures were the problem. I had Hovsepian take the 42ND street exposure, I took 43rd street and transmitted the 5Th. The fire went to 10 alarms. We didn't transmit a 6Th or 7Th I would ask for 5 additional engines, 3 trucks etc. Later the number of units were counted and the 10Th was derived at. Big save was the exposures, excepting Rescue 1's qtrs. Exposure 4A was called the Armory (if I remember right) and the fire was extending to 3 or 4 apartments on various floors. A DC, Matty Murtaugh, 5Th Division,  came in and I assigned him to the Armory and to special call whatever units he needed. Those units did a great job. The next day the tenants had a sheet hanging from the front of the building which said "Thank God For The FDNY." 14 truck had a spare tower ladder which we set up directly in front of the building for their heavy stream. I told the officer that when I tell him to haul out of there do so just leave the truck where it is. I figured we would lose it when the building came down, if it wasn't a spare I wouldn't have done this, probably.  Only a few minutes later we had 14 leave the rig. Building came down, really spectacular, took Rescue 1's qtrs but that was it. Even 14 trucks rig was O.K. Was then in a great spot for the guys to get back into the bucket and put a lot of water on the rubble. I personally had a great night. Had the meal, responded to the fire and was back in the Command Center 5 hours later. O'Rourke (RIP) had the fire. I remember Mayor Koch coming to the scene, he was a character, said to O'Rourke "do I have to worry about the city burning down.? O'Rourke said "no," and Koch left.

 

[mikeindabronx]

Thanks Chief.....Great 1st hand info.& story.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

Are you saying that the Market diner is no longer at W43rd and 11th? The chili wasn't bad either. :'(

I'm 99% sure it closed.  Was open though when I was assigned to 54 Engine (2001-2004).

 

[vbcapt]

Just read a story about the fire in Coney Island at Dreamland, the most grandest and expensive amusement park of the early 20th century (1911).

Acording to the book:

-15 acres of buildings were totally destroyed
- 1 billion dollar loss in today's dollars
- merchants had illegally tapped into the City's high pressure system
- horse drawn fire apparatus came from as far away as 8 miles
- the fire was a double 9 alarm fire (18 alarms ?)