My younger Buff years

We have had two Sutphen Tower Ladders in my volunteer department. Both were straight trucks, no pump. The 1990 had the overhanging bucket, not too difficult to drive, overhang needed to be watched on tight radius turns. The 2011 tower ladder has a supported platform , very similar to the Seagrave/Mack/Baker tower ladders. Major difference is waterway design and sidemounted nozzles. Sutphen also has a three stick control for movement unlike the Seagrave joystick. They are not quads, just considered tower ladders. 
 
One of the times I remember seeing Ladder 14, that ALF/LTI operating was at a Second or Third Alarm on 126 St in Harlem. It was a Fourth of July during the years of total chaos. As the sunset, the fires started. The city would man numerous 500 series Pumpers. Between the rockets, gun fire, fireworks, it reminded me of being in the middle of a War Zone right in the streets of America. The people partying in the streets, the blasting music, was something that no one in the outside World could imagine.

I saw the operator of that ALF monster Tower Ladder get that rig through 126 St like a thread through a needle. I remember thinking to myself, "what school did these guys learn to drive these rigs from". A narrow street to begin with, then put it between a few double parked cars. With plenty of booze flowing around in the street. Civilians enjoying the show of another vacant building on fire for the night, and these FDNY members about to go to work on this fire on 126 St. Probably not their first for the night and at about 10:00 pm, I'm sure it wasn't their last.

I had never seen a truck of this size be operated so efficiently in my life. The members got those out riggers deployed in no time and up went that bucket. I never thought this monster was designed to fight fires in most of the neighborhoods of New York City. But if it wasn't, these guys sure showed me a thing or two that night. I never thought they'd get it in there. But they sure proved me wrong that night. "Go thing I'm not a gambling man".

These guys were good. What else can I say ? They were just good at what they did no matter what they operated with.
 
The 1959/1960 Mack Maxim tillers were workhorses. Those rigs could take a beating and they were easy to place in operation. Quick tormentors (swing out, lock in place and lower) with an equally quick aerial. The only drawback was a short trailer (85 ft ladder) hence the tillerman got bounced around a lot.
 
By 1972 the FDNY War Years were in full swing. It was also the year that the book "Report from Engine Co 82" was published, that told the story about the arson problem in New York City, particularly that of the South Bronx.

  I had been familiar with a part of Brooklyn where I had been invited to ride a few times with Rescue 2 on Carlton Ave at the time. They shared quarters with Engine Co 210. I had also started to follow the Harlem Companies as those streets were numbered and easy to get around. I was living in Bridgeport (CT) at the time and working as a letter carrier. As I remember, my days off were Tuesday and Wednesday, and I would be down to the Bronx or Harlem just about every week. It was only about a 60 mile ride for me to go, all I-95 straight down.

  All it took was a map, a scanner, and a camera. It was a sure thing to see those FDNY War Years firefighters put their skills to work at what they do best. To this day, its hard to compare them to any other fire department. These guys were in a class all by themselves. So I would get in my car and drive down to watch these guys work. A pretty simple thing to do. I even had a girlfriend, who I eventually married, but understood my hobby. Tuesday/Wednesday I go to NY and the weekend I go with her.

  But during that time a national event would change my plans. One year after the book about the fires in the South Bronx is written, a national energy crisis occurs. No longer was it possible to drive up to a gas station and fill up. Gasoline was rationed on odd/even days based on the license plate of your car. Cars would be lined up around the block just to by a 10 gallon limit of gasoline. Sometimes it would take two hours of waiting in line. Sometimes after all that wait there would be no gas left. Signs saying "No Gas" was not uncommon. People would run out of gas and push their cars in the gas lines.

  I had no choice but to curtail those trips. It just couldn't be done. Gasoline was only used for necessary travel. During the height of the FDNY War Years, it became impossible to continue buffing the FDNY. I would listen at home on the scanner and hear those jobs come in. The radio traffic was non stop. I would just pick one boro and leave it on that and citywide.

  For some of us, we remember what it was like. If you weren't around for this, it will tell you better than I can. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OCqF1afNlM
 
Some 1974 gas stories....an offduty FF was waiting in line on Crossbay Blvd when a passerby collapsed on the sidewalk nearby....he got out of his car & did CPR until help arrived....the line kept moving around his car ......the gas station attendant had seen what had happened & afterwards told the FF to pull to the front of the line....other drivers not knowing what happened jumped out of their car & challenged the FF & the attendant...luckily PD was still nearby & intervened.........in another situation a gas line on Greenpoint Av was running IFO a FH....a CPT was coming to work & pulled alongside the line & asked a driver to let him squeeze through the line into the alley alongside the FH....that driver complied but the one behind him did not realize that the CPT was going into the driveway not cutting the gas line & he ran up & punched the CPT in the face through his open window......lots of explosive situations at gas stations back then also theft of gas from vehicles was common....one trick used rather than siphoning was to place a large pan or basin under a cars gas tank then punch a hole in the bottom of the tank ...leave it then come back later & if no one had noticed it they would take the full basin & leave ......rather than hassle w/the gas lines it was easier to use public transportation during that period plus back then FFs could ride free in NYC......there was a similar but shorter duration gas shortage in NYC right after Hurricane Sandy.
 
During the first gas shortage, my wife at the time was expecting our first child.  I had a 52 roundtrip daily commute between Fairfield and Stamford.  Getting gas was a huge problem.  Our local gas station knew my wife was pregnant and we needed gas, so he would call her at home whenever he got a delivery.  She would drive over and fill-up while the station was officially closed.
 
Many drivers carried extra gas cans in the trunks of their cars or stored gas in their garage or basement.  There could be 20 gallons of gas in the trunk of a rear-ended car. More in vans or trucks.  Containers were often unsafe. 
 
There was a car Fire on Atlantic Av that i believe Dick Hamilton mentioned in 20,000 Alarms where some guys had gasoline in the car & it went on Fire killing them....one still had an open Zippo lighter clutched in his hand.
 
That's still my favorite book. He probably would've been a cool guy to meet. I'm surprised that nobody has any pictures of him in action or at the firehouse...
 
When I was in school, my father had a spare chief's car assigned to him over the summers in the mid and late 1960s.  He was a company officer, LT or Captain, and led a small detail for riot response - setting up operational command posts for staged companies to respond into civil disturbance sectors by team (BC/2 engines/1 truck/NYPD).  But going back to the chief's car - I had this toy to sit in at night and listen to FDNY as the War Years exploded.  I would sneak out and sit in the car.  The key was left FD-style, under the driver's seat.  I turned on the ignition and then switched the radio to either Brooklyn or Manhattan frequency.  Maybe the Bronx or Queens, but usually I stayed in Brooklyn.  That is where my father might also be working and I knew the companies, boxes and locations better than other areas.  It was non-stop action.  You could not wright a script for what happened every night.  3 or 4 jobs at the same time.  Shootings.  Muggings.  FFs chasing thugs.  Fire companies being shot at.  Every once in a while I would catch my father's company, sometimes him, responding, giving progress reports.  "10-20 then the 10-18 or 10-92" or "10-30s" - all night long.  You usually used a "10-30" for a working fire or went to "2nd alarm" instead of a "10-75".  Vacant building after vacant building - fire after fire.  Same box numbers over and over and over.  "Have the fire marshal respond".  ADVs and burned out cars -  everywhere.  "10-18s" for the countless trash fires.  Everyone was so matter-of-fact on the radio.  "Ladder XXX, are you available for a working fire?"  "Do we have any chief in Brooklyn available for a structure fire?"  "Engine XXX can you leave your truck fire and respond to a reported vacant building fully involved?"  "Phone alarm box XXXX reported address XXXX"  "Engine XXX to Brooklyn - we are close by and available for the 2nd alarm on Livonia"  "DRB Box XXXX"  "Have NYPD respond - we have fight in progress"  If you ever heard an aide or a company officer excited, something extraordinary was happening, real extraordinary.  Dispatchers ruled the chaos.  They told chiefs to stand-by and tried to pick out the most urgent messages and situations.  Like a general looking at a battlefield.  And this was non-stop, until about 2 or 3 in the morning - every night, every night!  If you did not hear something on the air, you checked the radio to see if it was still on.  And then maybe, you switched to Manhattan or the Bronx or Queens - which were just as busy.  SI was on Bronx frequency and added to the chaos.  Everyone was busy - everywhere - Bed Sty, Williamsburg, Jamaica, Coney Island.  But the S Bronx, Bushwick, Brownsville, ENY, Harlem, Alphabet City were crazy.
 
I can agree with that. 132 operated in what is now Prospect Heights, although back then (late 60's /early 70's) we were Bed-Stuy. While that neighborhood was getting increasingly busy, our relocations, especially to 120, were soaring. The men rolled with the activity, going from one run to the next and one job to another. Sometimes you'd go out sometime after 6 PM and not return to quarters for several hours.
I also agree that the dispatchers deserve a lot of credit for maintaing order during the chaos. It was not unusual to hear "....are there any available ladder companies in the one five division?...." Couldn't imagine that nowadays, but back then it was almost commonplace.
 
Thanks for the stories, 68jk09, mack, and 1261Truckie. Great stuff as always. Its really hard to imagine a world like that ever even existed. What a difference 50 years makes...
 
The calm under pressure, cool, professional, clear communications under the most challenging conditions was reflected in the communications between the dispatchers and the companies.  Then there were the many activities in the CO (the telegraph system, answering calls, making notifications) going on 'behind the scenes' off radio.  The training and attitude of the dispatchers in linking the general public with the field units reflects a professionalism unmatched elsewhere.
 
fdhistorian said:
The calm under pressure, cool, professional, clear communications under the most challenging conditions was reflected in the communications between the dispatchers and the companies.  Then there were the many activities in the CO (the telegraph system, answering calls, making notifications) going on 'behind the scenes' off radio.  The training and attitude of the dispatchers in linking the general public with the field units reflects a professionalism unmatched elsewhere.
Click to expand...

  "And ALL done with NO COMPUTERS".

  I still remember that summer evening when I was invited into the Brooklyn C.O. (RIP) sometime in 1976/77. The supervising dispatcher asked me to hold on until things slow do a little, and we'll show you around. For two hours that never happened. They were just too busy and completely overwhelmed.

  And while this was going on, the units in the street were doing what they had to do, with "NO Time Outs".
 
Bells. Assigned to 50 engine 1/7/70. Companies dispatched by the bells then. Busy times the bells never seemed to stop. You would count them as they came in and wait. 50 responded mostly to 23's, 25's and 27's boxes. Our busy box 71 or so was 2323 (Cauldwell and 160). Bell would come in 23 then you would listen. If it was a 22 or 24 box etc. you ignored it. I remember the run chart and we 50/19 had every 274 box except 2743, the infamous Charlotte and 170. In that space someone had written WHEW. As I would count the 274's I was always amazed how often it stopped on 3, and how many times shortly after the 75 would come in. 2323 was so busy for a year or so that the dispatchers would call it "gasoline alley." If we were out on the air the dispatcher would come on and just say "50 start out for gasoline alley." I believe it was July of 71 that we had 17 all-hands or greater at 2323 for the month. The "War Years," the best of times the worst of times, the best was the members, and dispatchers, of the FDNY, the worst the junkies and fire bugs that burned down so many neighborhoods, the poor neighborhoods of a great city.
 
More on bells.  During my time at E 248, we responnded on 1000, 1500, 2300, 2400, 3700, 3800, and 3900 series of boxes.  At night, you would wake up, listen to the first number and then count the second number.  If it was anything other than 0,5,3,4,7,8, 09, you immediately were back at sleep.  There were selective circuits so you did not hear everything.  Only problem was when the dispatchers were busy, they would rap out the boxes manually and open the circuits so each firehouse heard everything.  Strange how your mind got trained for selective hearing.  I remember waking one morning, coming to the apparatus floor and looking at the chalkkboard.  It read something like 66-22-1347 and 66-33-1347.  I would ask the guy on watch when that happened and he would say a few hours ago  I would have no recollection of ever hearing those bells.  If the first number was 6, I just knew we were not going. Relocations of engines and trucks over the bells were amazing: 15-245-276 meant E 276 would relocate to E 245 but the 15 was 15 consecutive bells and then were rapped out very fast.
 
a little more on bells. Back in the fifties and before,  when you got back to the house you tapped in service using a telegraph key. No prefix for engine companies (444 225) and dispatcher came back 2 3. If truck or battalion prefix 7 for truck and prefix 4 for battalion. You only heard the units on your circuit tap in, no others.  At 225 we only heard ladder 107 engine 236 and battalion 39. Also, if a fire was reported to quarters you tapped out for it (5 1772 225) using your home box and dispatcher came back with the 2 3 signal.  If on arrival you need a full first alarm assignment you pulled the box. For multiple alarm requests the chiefs aid used the telegraph key in the street box to request them (2 2 - 1772)  This of course was all before radios were on the rigs. At TWO AND A QUARTER our first due boxes for a couple of 800, most 1700, all 1800. most 1900, some 2000 and later a few 3900.  Yes, when I left in the late sixties, things sure were getting noisy at the house watch desk. Also, as 248 said, you got programed as to when you were going and when not.
 
The  most interesting regarding the bells was when I was at 319 one day.......I went to the firehouse after school and E 319 was relocated to E 45 under the train on Tremont Ave....The Bronx fire radio was continuous all afternoon.....E 319 act E 45 responded to a 2nd due box that went to a boro call.....The day tour final got back to quarters around 2200 hrs via a messenger va. The night crew went back in the messenger van  to pick up the rig...The next afternoon they went  back to pick up the frozen hose.....When they got back the frozen hose was all over the rig, unable to be folded..........

The bells were like this....


66-2515- 99-33- 6100
 
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