My younger Buff years

[nfd2004]

I don't know if it has been mentioned here earlier or not, BUT, there are some GREAT PHOTOS and STORIES TOLD by some of the guys who have been there during those FDNY War Years on Facebook, a group called: "The War Years Engine 82 - 85 and Ladder 31 Untold Stories".

I think you need to sign up first in order to view them or to comment.

 

[nfd2004]

The documentary titled "Decade of Fire" will have it's public broadcast on PBS/Independent Lens beginning on Monday evening November 4th at 10 pm and will run various days and times throughout that month.

As I understand it, people who grew up in the South Bronx neighborhoods tell what it was like. They also suggest that the city encouraged the South Bronx to burn down in order to get rid of the much older rundown buildings throughout the area and did little to stop the arson.

I also talked to some people regarding that, who were right in the middle of it at the time, and some believe that it seems to have perhaps played some part in high incident of arson fires in the area.

One area in which several city blocks had been totally destroyed by fires was an area just south of the Cross Bronx Expressway bordered by Third Ave to the east and Washington Ave to the west, now occupied as "The Bathgate Industrial Park".

Also during this time, firehouses were closing down and firefighters were getting laid off.

Recently, one of the members of this site and I were discussing the fact that "before" any such Bathgate Industrial Park plan was considered, NEW gas and Electric Lines were being installed under ground on Third Ave at that location. Why would that be done to an area with nothing left but a few burned out shells ?

The Charlotte St area was another destroyed area. But after the fires it became home to Ranch Style homes with yards and picket fences.

Simpson St where every building was burned out except for the Fort Apache Police Pct (41) is now home to new townhouse units. About two years ago, one unit was for sale. I checked and the asking price was $324,000 (?).

"Decade of Fire" talks about that. Was the burning of the South Bronx and so many other places throughout the city a plan to rebuild and increase property values ?

Here is a couple of links that tell a little bit about the upcoming "Decade of Fire" showing.

www.pbs.org/independentlens/film/decade-of-fire/

www.decadeoffire.com

 

[68jk09]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-THE-VISITING-FIREMAN-1960-FOR-JAKES-VAMPS-BUFFS-EDITION/153661488686?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40719%26meid%3D93cfebfa66de4cc2ad60fbcefd36ad7d%26pid%3D100047%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D153652116744%26itm%3D153661488686%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100047.m2108

 

[nfd2004]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-THE-VISITING-FIREMAN-1960-FOR-JAKES-VAMPS-BUFFS-EDITION/153661488686?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40719%26meid%3D93cfebfa66de4cc2ad60fbcefd36ad7d%26pid%3D100047%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D153652116744%26itm%3D153661488686%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100047.m2108

The Visiting Fireman was a big part of My Younger Buff Years. I would look forward to getting it every year.

A few months before the next yearly edition would come out, I would receive an application to purchase the next issue to come out as well as get my name and address put in it along with any special interest I had. If I remember correctly I would list my interest as buffing large cities, particularly the FDNY and Providence, RI, as well as fire apparatus photos. The book contained names and addresses of fire buffs from all over the country and Canada (?) along with their interest too.

Once a year I would pick a few places and go on a vacation to these places. Sometimes I would contact a guy from those depts. and we would meet up. Sometimes he'd show me around the place and visit firehouses throughout the city, where the guys would pull out the rigs for that special rig shot.

A few of the cities I traveled to using that book were:

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa
Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio
Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, NY
Washington, DC and Fairfax County, Va
L.A City and L.A. County FDs

The other book I used was published by "fdhistorian", Iggy K., on this site. The book "American Fire Services" listed every firehouse and fire company in those cities along with their assigned radio frequencies to monitor the action. Of course we are talking before the days of the internet as we know it today.

There were no digital cameras and taking a rig shot involved buying film and then paying to get it developed. Then of course hoping that the special photo you took came out okay.

As a fire buff, it was just the right time to be around. I only wish that we had the cellphones of today to film some of the activity. 

 

[nfd2004]

The documentary titled "Decade of Fire" will have it's public broadcast on PBS/Independent Lens beginning on Monday evening November 4th at 10 pm and will run various days and times throughout that month.

As I understand it, people who grew up in the South Bronx neighborhoods tell what it was like. They also suggest that the city encouraged the South Bronx to burn down in order to get rid of the much older rundown buildings throughout the area and did little to stop the arson.

I also talked to some people regarding that, who were right in the middle of it at the time, and some believe that it seems to have perhaps played some part in high incident of arson fires in the area.

One area in which several city blocks had been totally destroyed by fires was an area just south of the Cross Bronx Expressway bordered by Third Ave to the east and Washington Ave to the west, now occupied as "The Bathgate Industrial Park".

Also during this time, firehouses were closing down and firefighters were getting laid off.

Recently, one of the members of this site and I were discussing the fact that "before" any such Bathgate Industrial Park plan was considered, NEW gas and Electric Lines were being installed under ground on Third Ave at that location. Why would that be done to an area with nothing left but a few burned out shells ? 

The Charlotte St area was another destroyed area. But after the fires it became home to Ranch Style homes with yards and picket fences.

Simpson St where every building was burned out except for the Fort Apache Police Pct (41) is now home to new townhouse units. About two years ago, one unit was for sale. I checked and the asking price was $324,000 (?).

"Decade of Fire" talks about that. Was the burning of the South Bronx and so many other places throughout the city a plan to rebuild and increase property values ?

Here is a couple of links that tell a little bit about the upcoming "Decade of Fire" showing.

www.pbs.org/independentlens/film/decade-of-fire/

www.decadeoffire.com

Just a reminder that "Decade of Fire" is scheduled to be showing this Monday night, November 4th, on PBS.

 

[raybrag]

Just a reminder that "Decade of Fire" is scheduled to be showing this Monday night, November 4th, on PBS.

Maybe where you are, Willy.  Not in my part of Virginia.  :'(

 

[68jk09]

What channel is PBS on SPECTRUM / TIME WARNER in NYC ?

 

[nfd2004]

Just a reminder that "Decade of Fire" is scheduled to be showing this Monday night, November 4th, on PBS.

Maybe where you are, Willy.  Not in my part of Virginia.  :'(

"raybrag" did some checking and what he found was that it will be on the PBS website.

Then when checking, I also found that Decade of Fire will be televised on my local PBS channel WEDNESDAY, Nov 6th, NOT as I had reported earlier.

So I guess the best thing for anybody is to check as Ray pointed out, on the PBS web site. It helped me and I appreciate that Ray.

 

[fdce54]

What channel is PBS on SPECTRUM / TIME WARNER in NYC ?

Chief, PBS is usually channel 13 in New York City.

 

[68jk09]

What channel is PBS on SPECTRUM / TIME WARNER in NYC ?

Chief, PBS is usually channel 13 in New York City.

Yes but the show is not on it for Spectrum ....the guide shows something else.

 

[811]

JK  People are writing different dates, maybe because they are in different localities.
I just checked my Spectrum Guide on the air for Queens, and the show is sched for Monday 11/4 at 10PM on PBS Channel 13.

It is listed the same in the Channel 13 November Guide Book that I receive as a member. Sometimes the 13 Guide book also shows when a program will be repeated.  The November Guide does not show this show scheduled for repeat..

 

[68jk09]

811 ..  as usual you are right on the money...i now see it as you said here in NYC on Spectrum / TWC Monday 11-4-19 at 2200 hrs ...it initially comes up as "Independent Lens" on Ch 13 ..i have it entered to record in my DVR  THANKS. 

 

[nfd2004]

Thank you to all those who helped us in finding out what channel and day/time, Decade of Fire is on television.

Those of us who remember the days when large areas of the Bronx (as well as other areas of NYC) looked as if it was "bombed out", can remember those images of blocks and blocks that were destroyed. Not from any bomb, but from the fires.

We remember the days when there were no more FDNY companies left to respond to another reported building fire.

I remember seeing car fires just left to burn themselves out because there just wasn't any company available to respond to it.

These days many of those FDNY War Years Firefighters are a part of this web site. I hope that this documentary called "Decade of Fire", might highlight the kind of work those firefighters did. Of course behind the scene were those FDNY War Years Fire Dispatchers, who also did an amazing job.

 

[raybrag]

My local PBS station changed their schedule yesterday . . . they've dropped an "Antiques Roadshow" rerun and are going to show "Decade of Fire" at 10PM Monday.  Maybe they lurk on this site. 8) :

 

[Disp51]

The below website should be streaming the film if you can't get over the air or with cable.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/decade-of-fire/

Monday at 10 PM

 

[nfd2004]

The below website should be streaming the film if you can't get over the air or with cable.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/decade-of-fire/

Monday at 10 PM

Reminder - Decade of Fire - tonight Monday, Nov 4th at 10 PM EST (check local listings)
Station - PBS
Program - Independent Lens

The film will also be streaming on the PBS website for a full month to watch.

 

[nfd2004]

The below website should be streaming the film if you can't get over the air or with cable.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/decade-of-fire/

Monday at 10 PM

Reminder - Decade of Fire - tonight Monday, Nov 4th at 10 PM EST (check local listings)
Station - PBS
Program - Independent Lens

The film will also be streaming on the PBS website for a full month to watch.

The long awaited program called; "Decade of Fire", had it's first TV showing last night.

Speaking as a buff who spent a lot of time there watching and following the events, "I thought it was very good".

I greatly appreciated how it told the story of events as the years went by. The beginning of the fires around 1968. Actual news articles and videos. The closing of fire companies. The spread of the arson to areas west of the Grand Concourse. The 1977 Blackout. Finally the addition of many fire marshals which had a dramatic effect on slowing the arson.

The program presented an entire history of the FDNY War Years that took place in the South Bronx. Of course the FDNY War Years didn't only effect the South Bronx. It affected many other areas throughout the city as well.

The South Bronx looks much different today than it did then. Perhaps the people who stayed to rebuild it are the one's who deserve much of the credit for their efforts.

A lot of research had apparently been done to tell this story. For those who lived it, it represented a historic decade within the City of New York, it's people, and it's firefighters.

For the younger people who weren't around then, this program brought them back in time. Showing them just how it was some 40 - 50 years ago. Only a few miles from societies most well known, "Rich and Famous", of Manhattan's upper west side. 

I hope that a DVD is produced of this program. So that we can preserve the history of this timeframe for others to see as well. 

 

[*******]

  The fire marshals didn't do shit to stop the burning down of these neighborhoods. I spent 6 years as a Lt. and Captain in the 6th Div. 1970 to 1976 never saw a fire marshal at any fire I had during this time period. The Red Cap program was a joke, it was," locking the barn door after the horses got out." Every fire on Charlotte Street the 10-41 (FM response) was transmitted, never saw one response. How hard would it have been, again, to watch for Gasoline G. carrying his gas cans in those empty streets at 3AM? Who gave the orders for no FM response? Who owned the land where the buildings once stood and the houses now go for 3 to $400,00 each? Again the question. The city allowed Charlotte and 170 to be burned out, completely. Would the city have allowed Park Avenue and 70th street to be burned out, ever?

 

[nfd2004]

  The fire marshals didn't do shit to stop the burning down of these neighborhoods. I spent 6 years as a Lt. and Captain in the 6th Div. 1970 to 1976 never saw a fire marshal at any fire I had during this time period. The Red Cap program was a joke, it was," locking the barn door after the horses got out." Every fire on Charlotte Street the 10-41 (FM response) was transmitted, never saw one response. How hard would it have been, again, to watch for Gasoline G. carrying his gas cans in those empty streets at 3AM? Who gave the orders for no FM response? Who owned the land where the buildings once stood and the houses now go for 3 to $400,00 each? Again the question. The city allowed Charlotte and 170 to be burned out, completely. Would the city have allowed Park Avenue and 70th street to be burned out, ever?

Thank you Chief (*******). Certainly "your opinion counts". You were caught up right in the middle of it all when it happened. (Lt 50/19, Capt 82/31).

About two years ago, a few of us from this site visited that neighborhood. We were on Simpson St where the entire block had been burned out except for the NYPDs 41st Pct back in those days.

The street now consist of two story townhouses. When we went there two years ago, one of those 2 bedroom townhouses was for sale. I checked on it and the asking price, $316,000. 

 

[lucky]

Bushwick was inundated with marshals after the '77 blackout and after the boro call on Knickerbocker Ave. Probably in August of 1977. Fires dropped off big time after that.