My Younger Buff Years was started TEN Years Ago in April, 2009. I was hoping to tell a story about a young guy who chased the FDNY during their Busiest Years in History. We know them now as The FDNY War Years.
As the stories went along, more guys joined in. They told of their experiences as members of the FDNY. Others during that time as buffs that saw for themselves how entire neighborhoods throughout many parts of New York City had been destroyed by fires. Sometimes there were no companies to respond because everybody else was fighting a fire somewhere in the city.
People died. Firefighters died. Sometimes guys that were right in the center of it tell me that the city wanted that to happen so new more modern buildings would replace old tenements. We look around some of the once most scared areas and we see newer, more expensive buildings going up. Maybe they were right. At one time you couldn't give the property away.
Landlords burned their buildings to collect insurance money and get out of a deal that they didn't want anymore.
Tenants burned their own apartments so that they could move into a much nicer, newer place.
Juveniles set fires to buildings as a form of neighborhood entertainment.
There have been books written about it. There has been movies, documentaries, and videos posted that told about it. There's been photos and web sites that show it.
On this site only, there are several threads that contain stories of the FDNY War Years mostly in the History Section. Some of them are:
"The Peoples Firehouse" - 10/24/2017
"7-13-77 Blackout" - 7/13/2013
"The Waldbaums Fire" - 8/2/2016
"Squad Companies" - 3/8/2008
"Oh Those Busy Fourth of July's" - 7/4/2009
"Most Memorable" - 9/4/2016
"The War Years" - 4/22/2015
"War Years Tactics" - 2/26/2012
"Remembrance" - 9/2/2018
There are others as well.
I would like to recognize the members of this site that were directly a part of it that I know of.
First of course the members of the FDNY, retired now:
Chief Bob M., "*******"
B/C Chief Jack K., "68JK09"
Captain John B., "jbendick"
Lt (?) John G., "turk132"
Lt (?) Jim C., "147"
There are many more FDNY War Years members who view this site too.
FDNY Dispatchers who did an AMAZING Job trying to find companies to send to the fires going on all over the city:
Warren F., "Voice of Brooklyn"
Ken F., "atlas"
Frank R., "fd347"
FDNY Communications Division maintaining the Fire Alarm system;
Jack O'R., "JOR176"
Auxiliary War Years Firefighters and FDNY Buffs:
Jim B., "1261 Truckie"
Doug M., "AuxWarYearsCapt"
John D., "johnd248"
Steve D., "svd385"
NYC guys who buffed during the FDNY War Years:
Frank D., "fdce54"
Mike D., "mikeindabronx"
Tom E., "guitarman314"
Joe W., "STAjo"
Bill J., "Parkave32"
Joe M., "mack"
maybe - Frank M., "manhattan"
The above individuals all had a part in the FDNY War Years during their everyday lives. Many have contributed to tell their story. They represent some of my BEST friends and it all started with this thread called "My Younger Buff Years".
Although they have never actually been recognized for the work they've done, the 1980s and 1990s continued to be very busy years for the FDNY, NYPD, and EMS. As an observing buff, parts of New York City continued to burn. It just moved to different areas.
ERS boxes replaced many pull boxes.
Bunker gear replaced Turnout Gear.
F.A.S.T. Ladder Co's replaced F.A.T. (Firefighter Assist Team) Engine Co's.
In March, 1990 a tragic fire in New York City occurred at a place called "Happy Land" in the Bronx. An arson fire killing 87 people.
Today we have retired members of the FDNY who were a part of those busy 1980s and 1990s who frequent this site. As a buff during that time, I saw the amount and kind of work those guys did.
Buildings continued to burn. Many of which had their windows now bricked up with cement cinder blocks.
The fires would get more of a start before somebody sees it.
More heat and heavy smoke throughout the building on arrival.
A full sized sledge hammer would be need to vent each window block by block as members were moving in.
Much more difficult to escape once inside.
Besides the FDNY War Years members already mentioned, guys who were a part of those busy two decades of fires (80s/90s) were:
Garrett L., "69METS"
Dan P., "JohnnyGage"
Dan K., "8060Rock"
Jay W., "hosewagon"
The same goes for the NYC-EMS, later to merge with the FDNY. Members here were:
Charlie T., "memorymaster"
Tom B., "tbendick"
I know there's so many more names that I should add to this list. So many more who were a part of it. We all appreciate your work and what you've done here for us.