My younger Buff years

[memory master]

For those not familiar with FDNY "bell" signals of yore.......66-2515-99-33-6100 translates into Bronx box 2515 (where you are going) 99 Queens, 3-3 (Third alarm Assignment) 6100 box (whose going.) Broken down a bit more it's the whole 3rd alarm assignment for Queens box 6100 to respond to Bronx box 2515. I tried to make it easy ???

 

[lucky]

If my memory is correct, I thought that only the assigned engine companies responded to boro calls.

 

[JOR176]

If my memory is correct, I thought that only the assigned engine companies responded to boro calls.

Lucky, you are correct as I remember

 

[811]

Borough Call definition 1946.
This was when there was no duplication in Box Numbers in Brooklyn and Queens, and both used Borough Preliminary 77.
Borough Preliminary 99 for Queens was established later.

 

[811]

Simultaneous Call was when units assigned on a box were assigned to a fire at a distant box in the same Borough.

It was the same principle as a Borough Call; in fact a Borough Call is a Simultaneous Call between boroughs., and note in both cases only land Engine Companies were to respond.  This document was also effective 9/1/1946.

At this time the preliminary signal 99 was used to specify a Simultaneous Call and not as a Borough Preliminary.

(Don't try to get too deep into the paragraph starting "Example:" unless you want to be totally confused. It applies to the actions of relocated companies on subsequent alarms; and does not really affect the definition of the Simultaneous Call)

 

[memory master]

I stand corrected. (Lucky I can stand at all, but that's a different topic.)

 

[1261Truckie]

auxlteng225,
When "tapping in" after a run, if you were in Brooklyn, you didn't have to use the prefix 5 or 7, just the three 4's and your company number. In Manhatten, for example, you had to use the prefix to designate who was tapping in otherwise too much confusion.

When we would pass the Brooklyn CO, one of our lieutenants would hit the airhorn twice and the the dispatchers would give three clicks on the radio.

The good old days...organized chaos...gotta love it

 

[nfd2004]

After reading many of the above post, all I can say is that "you guys sure know your stuff". I'm just glad that the stories are able to be told here. Otherwise some of this would certainly have been lost.

  In talking with one of the other members here, we were discussing when Staten Island was the first place to go to "the Voice Alarm". The bells were used during some late AM hours, I think from 9 am until 12 noon daily. That was so that the members would still be able to operate with them, if the need would arise, as a back up system.

  One of the very first things I can remember about my first introduction to the FDNY is when I was dropped off by a city cab on Carlton Ave in Brooklyn, just a half a block up from that firehouse. As I looked down the street, I could see that American Flag hanging out in front of the firehouse from the second floor window and the red single bay apparatus bay door. It was the quarters of Engine 210 and Rescue 2. I was about to be introduced into the Major Leagues of the Fire Department.

  When I walked up to the solid wooden entrance door, I could hear the bells ringing inside. When they invited me in, some guys were cleaning off the tools from the night before. The bells were ringing and everybody just kept on doing what they were doing. I really had no idea what was going on. Then I saw everybody just kind of stop what they were doing. Somebody yelled; "Engine, Rescue, Get Out". A couple of guys then told me to climb up in the back of the rig (Rescue). I couldn't believe that I was about to ride with these guys. They put me up towards the front and Lt Hamilton (RIP) who I hadn't met yet and the driver got in. When he started up the rig I could hear the Brooklyn C.O. talking on the radio. This was all new to me, but I was about to begin my journey into what would become known as the FDNY War Years, during the busiest years, of the busiest fire department in the World.

  To this day, some 45 years or so later, my very first memory of my very first introduction as a buff into the FDNY, was seeing that flag hanging outside the second floor window, with those bright red doors on that firehouse and hearing those bells ringing as I walked up to the entrance.

 

[mack]

Bill  - FDNY firehouse doors used to be black or dark green.  The changed some time in the late 50s or early 60s.  You could then find FDNY firehouses by the American flag and the red doors.

More bells:

- When alarm was received via bells, entry in journal was "RTA" - received telegraph alarm
- Signals on bells were tapped out twice
- Everyone counted bells, everyone
- Everyone usually knew alarms companies responded to.  Most guys were hustling towards rigs or pole before housewatch announced "engine or truck goes"
- Dispatcher usually notified responding companies by phone, too, before Voice Alarm arrived

 

[auxlteng225]

Mack, to follow up on your last. There were two bells in quarters a large one and a small one.  Alarms coming in first on big/loud bell and then repeated on the small bell as a back up. The journal entry was:  Received alarm by telegraph signal ----. If company responded to the alarm then suffix was "company responded'. The time of receipt went in the first column.  Ref to the dispatcher tipping you off that you were going: that was for the first due companies and it was three (3) rings on the department phone.  The use of abbreviations in the journal  came later on. Ref to bay doors: when I left in 1968 Engine 225 still had the two piece sliding doors painted dark green.  An interesting side light on those doors was that if you took the outside positions on the back step you were supposed to grab the inside handle as the MPO made a slight hesitation and yank for all you were worth. Hopefully the doors would close all the way and keep the heat in during the winter.  Wonder what they say about doing that in this day and age ? Ah yes, those was the good old days.

 

[lucky]

Three notes on the old days. The bells would only come in once on special calls where the company got the three rings phone tip. I was told that the units would receive a response two times , either twice on the bells or once via phone and the second via the bells. The second being that the tires were washed as the units backed through the doors until  the early seventies in some places. Heavens forbid that they had horse manure on them as old customs were hard to change in the fire service. The third was that the hose was washed and hang dried if it touched the street in many engine companies. Polyesters and constant use of the hose changed that in some of the busier companies.

 

[auxlteng225]

lucky,  you brought back some more memories of the 50/60 era. Hose: 2-1/2 inch, double jacketed with rubber liner and brass butts, weight 65 lbs per length dry. The water would react with the rubber liner and form a mild acid that was good for putting holes in your dungarees. At E225 we had wall racks, no tower. Yes, the MPO would get the bucket of soapy water and the big brush and go to it on the tires after every run. Noxon brass polish and waste readily available for polishing all the brass, the poles the most fun for a young fellow making himself useful around the house. I still treasure every moment I spent with Engine 225 starting in the early Forties through the late sixties.

 

[811]

Ref to bay doors: when I left in 1968 Engine 225 still had the two piece sliding doors painted dark green. 

Of course you're referring to 225's old house on Liberty Avenue.  Story goes that firehouse doors were painted red on Commissioner Cavanagh's orders [which is a story in itself] which would be before 1968.

However when 225 and 107 moved to the new house at Lincoln & Linden the apparatus door was painted green or blue by the builders (to match the architectural style); the door was not painted the standard red for a long time - maybe years - afterward.

 

[mack]

FDNY housewatch - bells era

 

[AuxWarYearsCapt]

AuxltE225.....I will throw one name you to see how good your memory is. ....

E 225  LIBERTY  BET. CLEVELAND AND ASHFORD....FIREMAN RICHARD BARNES

QUESTION....RICHIE WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF E 225 TO DO WHAT ?

 

[AuxWarYearsCapt]

Auxlte225.........The 2 piece sliding apparatus were changed sometime after you left in 1968 and  before 1970.  There was a regukar garage door with chains,  no electric... I must have opened and closed them 25 to 30 times every time I was there from 1970 to 1980.....It wasnt 225 at that time....lol

 

[memory master]

FDNY housewatch - bells era

Mack, do you happen to know at whose quarters this photo was taken. It is a Queens house and I'm guessing 273/129.

 

[811]

auxlteng225,
When "tapping in" after a run, if you were in Brooklyn, you didn't have to use the prefix 5 or 7, just the three 4's and your company number. In Manhatten, for example, you had to use the prefix to designate who was tapping in otherwise too much confusion.

When we would pass the Brooklyn CO, one of our lieutenants would hit the airhorn twice and the the dispatchers would give three clicks on the radio.

Another "short cut" used in the busy years was abbreviating the identity of the companies on the radio.  For example if there was a box in the 35 Battalion, the Brooklyn Dispatcher would alert the units by calling "16 and 8" rather than saying 2-1-6 and 1-0-8, similarly when a chief asked who his extra engine or truck was, the dispatcher's reply might be "you're getting 14 and 11" rather than 2-1-4 and 1-1-1.  I am sure the same abbreviations were used on the fire ground.

It saved a syllable here and there, and was also notable since the companies were being called by their original Brooklyn Fire Department identities.

 

[*******]

Interesting what so many of you have written. Thinking back, when I was coming on the job the "Rock" aka Welfare Island training academy was also where companies were special called to for rating. It was a penal institution under the then FC Cavanaugh. It even made the papers how fire companies and/or individual ff's were sent back to the Rock for retraining if they failed evolutions or written tests. The way a company was called was via the bells at 0900 each weekday 9x6 tour, signal 99-920 was the Rock response if I remember right. At 0900 things would stop and then 99-920- (engine or truck number would come in over the bells. You never knew if/when your company was to be called (later years it would be on the D.O. what battalions were up). If your company was called all hands would immediately get on the rig, wash it check the tools prior to responding. Two stories I have written before about the Rock.  When I came on 3/30/60 a probationary ff reported to a division. You worked straight day tours in companies in the division prior to going to training school. Crazy buts that's how it was. My second day on the job myself and another proby were assigned to 19 truck. At 0900 19 was called to the Rock. We responded and on arrival a Lt. was waiting for 19. He started to give out assignments for a bldg. fire into one of the training buildings. He told me and the other proby to put the scaling ladder to a 2nd floor window. We had to be told by another ff what a scaling ladder was. He pointed to it and we took it off the rig. We started to raise it, lost it and dropped it on the helmet of another ff. The Lt ran over to us and said "how long are you ass holes on the job that you can't handle a scaling ladder". I said "what time is it'? He said "what the hell difference does that make"? I said well we came on at 0900 yesterday so I guess its around 25 hours. He had us sit under a out of the way tree for the rest of the evolution. 15 years later I'm now Captain of 82 engine and back at the rock with my guys for evaluation. I was somewhat concerned as we never drilled, never had time for them, and as a company was rated "by the book" I figured there may be a pass/fail problem. But I was wrong and we passed 4 out of the 5 evolutions tested on. We finished up on a road off the East River. I lined my guys up and told them how proud I was of them, great job. With that a Circle Line boat is passing. I know that when the boat passes the rock the tourists are told that "on your right is the training academy for the FDNY." It was summer and many tourists were waving to the guys. I look over at them and one of my brain surgeons is on the sea wall railing mooning the tourists. Thought I would "hear" about it, but didn't. Memories.

 

[nfd2004]

Interesting what so many of you have written. Thinking back, when I was coming on the job the "Rock" aka Welfare Island training academy was also where companies were special called to for rating. It was a penal institution under the then FC Cavanaugh. It even made the papers how fire companies and/or individual ff's were sent back to the Rock for retraining if they failed evolutions or written tests. The way a company was called was via the bells at 0900 each weekday 9x6 tour, signal 99-920 was the Rock response if I remember right. At 0900 things would stop and then 99-920- (engine or truck number would come in over the bells. You never knew if/when your company was to be called (later years it would be on the D.O. what battalions were up). If your company was called all hands would immediately get on the rig, wash it check the tools prior to responding. Two stories I have written before about the Rock.  When I came on 3/30/60 a probationary ff reported to a division. You worked straight day tours in companies in the division prior to going to training school. Crazy buts that's how it was. My second day on the job myself and another proby were assigned to 19 truck. At 0900 19 was called to the Rock. We responded and on arrival a Lt. was waiting for 19. He started to give out assignments for a bldg. fire into one of the training buildings. He told me and the other proby to put the scaling ladder to a 2nd floor window. We had to be told by another ff what a scaling ladder was. He pointed to it and we took it off the rig. We started to raise it, lost it and dropped it on the helmet of another ff. The Lt ran over to us and said "how long are you ass holes on the job that you can't handle a scaling ladder". I said "what time is it'? He said "what the hell difference does that make"? I said well we came on at 0900 yesterday so I guess its around 25 hours. He had us sit under a out of the way tree for the rest of the evolution. 15 years later I'm now Captain of 82 engine and back at the rock with my guys for evaluation. I was somewhat concerned as we never drilled, never had time for them, and as a company was rated "by the book" I figured there may be a pass/fail problem. But I was wrong and we passed 4 out of the 5 evolutions tested on. We finished up on a road off the East River. I lined my guys up and told them how proud I was of them, great job. With that a Circle Line boat is passing. I know that when the boat passes the rock the tourists are told that "on your right is the training academy for the FDNY." It was summer and many tourists were waving to the guys. I look over at them and one of my brain surgeons is on the sea wall railing mooning the tourists. Thought I would "hear" about it, but didn't. Memories.

  Chief, "I loved the story". You got what it takes. Those were the kinds of stories that I remember many of the GREATEST FIREFIGHTERS ever in the history of the universe to tell or take part in. I owe you a couple of beers for that one.

  Honestly Chief, all kidding aside, you really do represent the Greatest Generation of Firefighters. And quite honestly, NO ASS KISSING about it. I am fortunate enough to know a handful of others who were also a part of your generation on the job then. They are GREAT GUYS. I always wanted to sit down with one or two of them, I buy the beers and they just talk. A few weeks ago, I did get to sit down with one of them. We did talk, for about four hours. In fact a little over that because when I came out there was a parking ticket on my car for overtime parking (4 hours). But instead of me buying, "he bought the drinks, AND chow for ME".

  I actually told him that although I was a career firefighter for about 30 years, "I could NOT relate to what he did for a job as a firefighter". It's the truth. I also personally know a few others that I feel the same about. As I see it, "you guys were the BEST". I don't think we will ever see a time again, ever in this country, where firefighters throw themselves in danger for others, so many times, as these firefighters did.

  Speaking as a buff now, I was just lucky enough to be there and see it for myself. Through this thread on this site, I hope that the time frame and events are never forgotten because unfortunately, on another thread we are seeing that many are being called back to their Creator.

  Let me end by saying that you are the BEST. The Greatest Generation of Firefighters proved that to me over those 15 or 20 years. And I think that much of what you did then, has been taught and learned by the firefighters of today, who like you, continue to risk their lives every day for citizens they don't even know.