Second sections

grumpy grizzly

grumpy grizzly

Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
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Going over Guitarman's apparatus I notice Ladder 17-2, 26-2,103-2, etc. Were these fully staffed rigs in the same house as the parent rig? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. And kudos on a wealth of information you made available :)
 
Yes, they were fully staffed with their own apparatus. Ladder 17-2 had a Segrave rearmount while L17 had '68 ALF tiller and later on a Mack Tower Ladder. Ladder 26-2 had a '53 ALF tiller (ex-L28) then got a Mack tower ladder while L26 had a '68 ALF tiller. L103-2 had a '56 ALF tiller (ex-L3 & L128), later on they got a Mack tower ladder followed by a Seagrave rearmount while L103 had a '68 ALF tiller then received a Seagrave rearmount.
 
I can remember coming home to Brooklyn after a weekend in Connecticut and hearing Brooklyn CO call Ladder 1032.  I scratched my head and wondered if they had completely renumbered all of the FDNY units.  They meant Ladder 103-2 but the hyphen did not transmit over the radio.  LOL
 
johnd248 said:
I can remember coming home to Brooklyn after a weekend in Connecticut and hearing Brooklyn CO call Ladder 1032.  I scratched my head and wondered if they had completely renumbered all of the FDNY units.  They meant Ladder 103-2 but the hyphen did not transmit over the radio.  LOL
Click to expand...

Back in the days, you could hear Brooklyn radio pick up engine assignments like:

233 2332 232 332 almost without stopping between digits, but that was OK, the companies knew what they were hearing
 
There were also second sections for Battalions (eg - 44th Battalion from 1965 until December 27th, 1969).  They rotated runs.
 
Runs and workers from 1970 show activity of some of the 2nd sections:



(click on image a 2nd time to be able to read)
 
Notice some units had high run rankings but not as high for workers and vice/versa. For instance E41-1 & 41-2 rolled a lot but didn't work as much as their neighbors. They were probably 2nd and 3rd due to boxes that E50, 60, 71, 73 & 83 were 1st due to.   
 
Squad 4 did 9,694 runs in 1970...........That comes out to just over 26 runs a 24........EVERY 24, give or take a few runs............That's crazy!!  My busiest 24 was 33 runs....24 on the day tour and 9 on the night tour, with a 1st due job thrown in on the night tour............I know I was tired!
 
In those times all runs were not properly recorded for one reason or another.....in the 1970 list i was in LAD*108 & it was busy ...a lot of running & a few good jobs a tour .....nobody worked 24 s then.......SQ*4 & Lad*120 did do over 10,000 runs in those days even though it may not have been properly recorded...some of 120 s (not to take away from a GREAT CO.) were at that time done by relocaters but the credit was given to the original Co. (120) at that time  recording system has long since changed giving credit to the actual unit who does the work regardless of from whose Qtrs....SQ*4 as well as all the other SQs...NEVER had a relocater ...so their Runs & Workers were all done by them themselves........my busiest running tour was in BN*9  in JAN. 1999 44 runs in a 24.....around 1997 i had a 24 as the CPT. of LAD*126 w/ 37 runs including a Second Alarm & an All Hands.....my last night as CPT in 126  prior to promo to BC  i had several runs as well as a 2&2 1st due ....a Second Alarm 1st due on the Second & a Third 1st due on the Second all on my last 6X9 tour there.  
 
In regard to reply # 1 above.....LAD*26-2 had a '53 ALF & LAD*26-1 was scheduled to get a TL..... the CPT of 26-1 the Legendary John O'Reagan did not want one at the last minute the day familiarization was due to start 26-2 was called to the Rock & got the TL.......as far as Sheffield Av. 103-2 did have the  '56  ALF & 103-1 got a TL then 103-2 got a RM.....when 103-2 was disbanded ....103-1 got their RM as they did not want the TL. 
 
68jk09 said:
In those times all runs were not properly recorded for one reason or another.....in the 1970 list i was in LAD*108 & it was busy ...a lot of running & a few good jobs a tour .....nobody worked 24 s then.......SQ*4 & Lad*120 did do over 10,000 runs in those days even though it may not have been properly recorded...some of 120 s (not to take away from a GREAT CO.) were at that time done by relocaters but the credit was given to the original Co. (120) at that time  recording system has long since changed giving credit to the actual unit who does the work regardless of from whose Qtrs....SQ*4 as well as all the other SQs...NEVER had a relocater ...so their Runs & Workers were all done by them themselves........my busiest running tour was in BN*9  in JAN. 1999 44 runs in a 24.....around 1997 i had a 24 as the CPT. of LAD*126 w/ 37 runs including a Second Alarm & an All Hands.....my last night as CPT in 126  prior to promo to BC  i had several runs as well as a 2&2 1st due ....a Second Alarm 1st due on the Second & a Third 1st due on the Second all on my last 6X9 tour there.  
Click to expand...

Chief,  I forgot that you guys didn't work 24's then..............Big Difference! ;)
 
The units surrounding the two section units all kept their first due boxes every day while the two section units had no first due boxes every other day. The section in the front for the 0900 to 0900 period went out first and handled all first due work. That would result in lower work numbers for units with two sections. Many officers did their paperwork at the completion of the tour and many responses were probably lost in the interim.
 
Chief: were the firehouses a bit crowded back then with the 2nd sections?
 
Chief,

Did 103-1 actually have a tower ladder assigned to them and did they respond with it? I thought 103-1 was an aerial all the time. I remember their ALF tiller and subsequent Seagrave rearmounts, but not a tower.
I know 103-2 was always an aerial company.

 
Can anyone post a pix for a second section truck house with companies in/in front of quarters?Really curious as to apparatus placement ???
 
As i stated in reply # 9 above 103-1 had a TL for awhile & then got rid of it because they did not want it... when 103-2 was disbanded 103-1  got 103-2 s RM .
 
Here is the data on the tower ladder of Ladder 103:

MT 7403, one of eleven 1974 Mack CF/Baker 75 foot tower ladders, was assigned to Ladder 103 on November 30, 1974. It remained there only until December 16, 1974. It was replaced by a 1974 Seagrave 100 foot rearmount (SL 7420) that had been Ladder 103-2 until that second section was disbanded on 12/16/74. MT 7403 was then reassigned to Ladder 155 on December 20, 1974.
 
Chief and HCO,
I'll second that...thanks for the info about 103's tower. You both filled in a blank.
 
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