My younger Buff years

[Bulldog]

The shot with the "flying standpipe" is pretty cool.  I've seen that done with a regular aerial ladder, a stretch from the ladder into an upper floor, but never something like that.

I've also seen them take the nozzle off the monitor in the bucket and attach hose to the monitor.  That really saves hose for a stretch to the fourth or fifth floor!

 

[Bigandy]

Genius!

 

[guitarman314]

  Buffing can be very dangerous just like being a reporter embedded in a combat zone can be dangerous. I have witnessed and even had a few close calls while buffing during "War Years". I remember a routine top floor vacant on a winter's Saturday afternoon on Grand Concourse between 144 & 149th Sts. I had just finished knocking out the kinks on the two stretched lines, standing next to the 1st due the engine talking with the MPO when there was an explosion from the front basement entrance of the fire building. The blast was caused by burning embers falling on gasoline that had been poured on the steps that go under the front stoop leading to the basement. What saved me from burns was that I had on a U.S. Navy surplus peacoat and had just turned my back to the building facing the pump panel. Another time in the Summer of '73 I had a bunch of buffs in my new 1973 red Plymouth Gran Fury wagon and we were at Southern Blvd. & 180th heading to a job at Marmion & 179th St. A gang fight was going on and we found ourselves right in the middle of it. The guys closed their windows and as we moved to get out of there I heard a bang on my roof. Somebody had fired a shot and it scraped some paint off of my car. : :-X  Talk about the "Wild West" ??? :

 

[Lifeguard238]

The shot with the "flying standpipe" is pretty cool.  I've seen that done with a regular aerial ladder, a stretch from the ladder into an upper floor, but never something like that.

I've also seen them take the nozzle off the monitor in the bucket and attach hose to the monitor.  That really saves hose for a stretch to the fourth or fifth floor!

To me that would sound more practical, but sometimes you gotta make it work.

 

[chiefblackcloud]

'Bxboro", a good friend and a Great Guy. Yes, he was there. The story is Great. Thank you. That Walton Ave area was really "Hot" in those days. Back then, we were very seldom disappointed even though the "Official War Years" had pretty much ended. Even though the Red Caps were doing an Excellent job in putting a huge dent in the fires of the busy War Years, the FDNY members of those busy companies were still catching it.
  For the buffs then (1980s), instead of catching 6-7 jobs south of the Cross Bronx, it was now 3-4 jobs that probadly extended north to the Fordham Rd area. It was just a matter of increasing the buff area a little more to the West and North for the busy activity. Of course sometimes it was a job in Harlem or Washington Heights. Those busy companies were sharing the workload too. That was just a matter of crossing one of the smaller bridges.
  I don't know if Rescue 3 still has it (maybe Squad 41 too), but they had a decal on the rig. It said basically that they had the "BEST of Both World's-Bronx and Harlem". Although many Bronx and Harlem Companies also fought fires in both areas due to their location. For  many of us buffs then, including "Bxboro" and myself, we also claimed to have the "Best of Both Worlds". Right Mr Bxboro !!

Best of both worlds is Squad 41. It is because as a Squad they operate as both an Engine or a Truck .

 

[nfd2004]

I've also seen them take the nozzle off the monitor in the bucket and attach hose to the monitor.  That really saves hose for a stretch to the fourth or fifth floor!

  One of the problems with operating the line attached to the bucket though is that once the line is in operation, that ladder or bucket can't be moved if necessary, without first shutting down the line, and disconnecting it. I've actually never seen that done in FDNY. Although I'm sure it has been done at one time or another. I know it's NOT recommended now though for the reason I've stated. Just another point I learned from buffing these guys.
  And I certainly have to agree with G-man about buffing. I can relate to being in the middle of a street fight surrounded by a few NOT so happy campers. One Fourth of July while buffing Brooklyn (Browsville Area), my buddy and I saw a guy hit a motorcyclist and the motorcycle was under the car. The motorcyclist was injuried and the car driver tried to back off and take off. I was about to block him in using my car. Before I could do that, he fled on foot. When the NYPD got there, they found a "small cannon" under the seat of the car. I'm sure he would have used that on us if he had to. I guess you could say, "it was our lucky day". It taught me a good lesson.

 

[nfd2004]

With a little help from my friend "mikeindabronx", we would like to share with you another Great Video. This video has been "borrowed" from another site, BUT, we think you'll like it.
It is of the old neighborhood of the South Bronx in the 70s and 80s. Parts of this has been taken from the movie "Wolfen" which was filmed back then. So lets take a look at things the way they were. For some of us, its just a memory. For others, you will get to see how life was back then. And for the Brave Firefighters that fought the fires back then, "We Salute You". One look around will tell just what "The Greatest Generation of Firefighters" faced on a daily basis.
 Click on "South Bronx", then you tube, and watch. (And Thanks goes to Jerry (tpu30z), for posting that on the site).

   http://fdnyrant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history

 

[mack]

Don't know if these were posted before.  Newark FD:

1950s:
THE LIFE OF A NEWARK FIREMAN.... 1950'S

1960s:
Life of a NEWARK FIREMAN. 1960's

1970s:  
NEWARK FIRES 1970's

1980s:
NEWARK FIRE 1980'S

Newark FD stills:
NEWARK "OLD SCHOOL" FIREFIGHTING

Old Days:
THE LIFE OF A NEWARK FIREMAN

 

[nfd2004]

Thanks "mack" for those videos. Newark was another one of those cities that had it's own set of "War Years". I have a friend who's father went on the Newark Fire Dept in 1968. That was a very busy time. My buddies father had just entered the Newark Fire Academy to begin his 30 year career. He attended only a few days of training when all the New Probies had to be taken out of the Academy to go out into the streets, and go to work. Martin Luther King had been shot and killed in Memphis, and Newark was one of many cities that broke out in riots. Fires throughout the city for many days/nights. They went from one fire to another. This class of New Probies, including my friends father, became "Seasoned" Firefighters over night.
  After all was said and done, before the year was out, the Newark Fire Dept made all those "Probies" go back to "Probie School" and learn how to fight fires. Like their Brother's of the FDNY, these Newark Firefighters then went on to fight fires during the 1970s and 1980s. It was the busiest time that the Newark Fire Dept had ever faced. Those guys fought a lot of real tough jobs too. We need to remember what these guys did.
  I thank my friend Josh (AKA Bendy) for passing his father's story on to me. And like many, he has now followed his fathers footsteps as he works a busy Ladder Company in Bridgeport, Ct....... Thanks Josh.

 

[mack]

Thanks nfd.  Newark did a lot of work.  Didn't FDNY also have a least one or two probie classes pulled from the academy and placed into units during the war years? 

 

[nfd2004]

Thanks nfd.  Newark did a lot of work.  Didn't FDNY also have a least one or two probie classes pulled from the academy and placed into units during the war years? 

I'm not really too sure, but I would guess they did. Those War Years were just so busy, I'm sure it happened. It might have been during the strike by NYC Sanitation workers. I seem to remember fires all over the place then. Or maybe during the Blackout 1977. Although there were layoffs and company closings a year or two before that. I don't know if there was a Probie Class around that time.
And the FDNY took their hits too with those riots. I remember seeing Harlem on the news getting hammered. I remember it well. I was in a bar celebrating my reaching legal drinking age. The TV in that bar room came across with "breaking news". Martin Luther King was shot and killed. After that, it didn't take long for the riots to start. At that point, I really wanted to leave the bar and my buddies. I just wanted to go home to catch the action on the crystal (not programmable) scanner. I never told them that, but I guess they know that now.

 

[guitarman314]

  Probies have been sent to major incidents in the past. The U.S.S. Constellation fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard back in 1960 was one I instance remember reading about.

 

[anesti]

  Probies have been sent to major incidents in the past. The U.S.S. Constellation fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard back in 1960 was one I instance remember reading about.

read a story in a fdny book where there was a fire in a telephone company in wither midtown or inwood section of manhattan, i say inwood nfd2004 says midtown  ;D where there was a explosion that killed about a dozen or so people. In the story i forget the probies name, he states the were at the rock having lunch when they saw the bellvue disaster unit responding,as soon as the saw that a chief ordered them on a bus and reserve rigs to respond to the scene.

 

[fdce54]

Weren't the probies the "Fire Dept" during the brief strike in '73 or '74.

 

[mack]

Fdce you are right about the strike.  In November 1973, crews of probies (who could not strike or they would be fired) and fire officers (who could not perform firefighter duties) responded during the 5 hour strike. 

 

[mack]

Philadelphia 1971 (War Years):
Philadelphia Fire Dept. 1971
7 Alarm Fire in Philadelphia July 14, 1971

 

[rdm258]

Thanks Mack,
  Hey nfd, didn't realize that Newark took such a beating also. I have new out look on Newark FD. Thanks for posting your stories and I am sure your friend's father was a DAMN GOOD Firefighter. Would loved to have meet him and hear some of those old stories from a "Genration of Firefighter's" that can never be replaced and left a GREAT past for us newer guys to follow.
 PS -- I also was told from a Buddy that the Wilmington,DE Fire Dept during that time also took a severe beating. To the point that the Natl Guard was needed to guide the fire trucks into certain areas. When MLK was shot and some Police Shooting in the 80's the City burned, but being so small and no real bldg's of importance back then, never made the media. Only about 6 Square Miles and had 80,000 minorities and hard workers mixed in. 3sty brownstones, row homes, just like in Philly. They ONLY 8 Engines/3Ladders/1 Rescue then. NOW down to 6 Engines/2 Ladders/1 Rescue. Lots of talk about shutting DOWN Ladder 2. Guess what, Wilmington Police, hiring more,buying Chargers/SUV's all types of Special Ops Vehicle's(remember only 6 miles)no cuts. But POOR Wilmington Fire, taking the financial toll.
 They did LAY Firefighters OFF for the first time in History, just found out. At least 25 got the pink slips and were not placed in other City Positions. NO COPS. here some info
http://rescueus06.blogspot.com/2009/04/baker-implements-plans-to-layoff.html

 

[nfd2004]

Rob, Thanks for the kind words. Although my father was a firefighter in Bridgeport, Ct not Newark. It is actually my buddy's father that was on the job in Newark. But I did write a little story about my father on this site under "National" posts. Its called "Role Model" and is a true story.
  Yes, those Newark War Years Firefighters took some real beatings. And here, at least in the Northeast, they had plenty of company. Most firefighters in any sizeable city during that time (70s and 80s) went to work in the firehouse with more chance of catching work, than NOT catching work.
  Actually, Rob, both you and "Mack" have given me an idea of starting another thread about stories from the War Years of other cities. Mack posted those videos of Philly and Newark. I spent time buffing the FDNY, but also Providence, RI and Bridgeport, Ct. On another site (www.ctfire-ems.com ) I wrote about the Bridgeport's War Years.
  My Younger Buff Years went way over what I expected. I started just by writing a few stories to a handicapped person. Then I thought how about telling some stories to others. Then the other stories, videos and pictures started coming in and this has become almost an entire history lesson on the FDNY WAR YEARS. So lets start another post about buffing those other cities. There's a lot to tell there too. I'll try to keep this to my FDNY days.

 

[rdm258]

Sounds Great, GOOD IDEA.
Great Video of ALL of there Apparatus.
Wilmington Apparatus Through the Years

 

[Bigandy]

My dad told me a story about the Newark War Years yesterday. Living in Kearny I live in close proximity to Newark, and basically the only thing separating us is the Passaic River. During the Riots, they National Guard along with the police, shut down every possible way for Newark residents to get into Kearny and Harrison etc. This was done in an effort to keep the riot from spilling over into another district.

Being a fireman in Newark during the riots was the busiest week Newark fireman ever saw of activity. Experiencing over 200 fires in less than a week. My Dad's friend was on the job in Newark, and once the riots were over he said to himself "Screw this. I have a family, and I don't need to be getting shot at doing the job I love." I always thought that was a testament to the unrestful times of that time period. So the following month he packed his bags and was transferred to the Kearny Fire Department. A smaller department, but very busy in those years.  As was every other department that was either a large city or in close proximity to a large one.  Those years were hectic for just about every major city, not just FDNY.  FDNY was just a much larger magnification of the problems faced in the fire service.  However, being that busy, a lot of was learned on fire activity and the dangers of fires in every type of building. Noticing that there were multiple fires everyday in each area, especially for the FDNY.

If you think about it, w/o the War Years, even though it was a terrible time for poverty and economically, there would most likely be lesser understanding of what happens in a fire.  The technology advanced rapidly and the word of mouth increased greatly.  With the introduction of firefighting lore especially Report from Engine Company 82, Firehouse magazine, Fire Engineering etc. people began to associate with each other more and more.  

However these advances helped the fire service greatly, a lot of these things sometimes had negative effects.  Your skin and ears used to be temperature gauges, and now with hoods etc, fireman really don't know how hot it really is. That's just one.

The 'War Years' explored the best, and greatest generation of fireman, not just for their brawn and balls, but for their intelligence too. They took what they learned and ran with it, as evident as to the way we fight fires now.  And for that I don't think there is anything else you can say, but "Thank You" for doing a job not because you wanted the paycheck, but because they wanted to make a difference for the people in the present, and for the future generations. I'd buy them a pint any day of the week.