Bronx "The War Years"

[VistaFD126 0]

I was talking to my father an ex Lieutenant of 94 Engine outta Hunts Point in the South Bronx and he was telling me some good stories during the war years does any one have any good stories they were involved with or heard of please share then with us thanks

[RWC130 594]

A&E did an awesome video called FDNY "Brothers In Battle"

It talked about the "War Years" Bronx is Burning.

[Guest]

I'm guessing that I am a little older than you because I remember those "war years" like they were yesterday. I listened to the Bronx mainly on the scanner all the time. There were always fires. Thats when 82 engine did 8,000 runs a year! They implimented Tactical Control Units (TCU) I think between 15:00 and 24:00 to add manpower and equipment during the heavy hours. Many of the companies in the South Bronx were 2 sections. They even had a few BC's that were double sections.

I also knew a couple of Dispatchers then and visited the Bronx CO on many occaisons. That was always a show. Just to hint at how long ago (early to mid 70's) they still used the telegraph to transmit bell signals to the fire houses. it was many years before the CAD system. They used a very creative "status board" to keep track of units commited, in quarters, relocated or 10-8. The place looked and sounded like chaos but they got the job done. Those dispatchers were quite a team.

There is much more if I take the time to remember.

Thanks for making me think about it.

[210 91]

We used to go down there too in the 70's. Had alot of fun. Those guys earned their salaries.

On NYCFIRE.NET there is an audio clip of very busy day during those years. In the clip you can hear a truck company calling for engines.

It reminds me of that post somebody made a few weeks ago about how a monkey can squirt water. I'll bet if you talk to the guys assigned to the truck that day they would have a different opinion.

Edited August 26, 2006 by 210

[Guest]

i forgot who the book was written by but "report form engine co. 82" is a great book about that time period. i highly recomend reading it.

[Ladder44 73]

"Report From Enigine CO. 82" is written By Dennis Smith

[HFD23 37]

i forgot who the book was written by but "report form engine co. 82" is a great book about that time period.  i highly recomend reading it.

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DENNIS SMITH

[JBE 328]

I've read the stories, and I work with a few people who worked through those years. Second sections of 88(went on to become 72 Engine),41,50 Engine. Second sections of 17 Truck, 27 Truck(went on to become 58 Truck). I don't remember if there were any TCU Engines, but there was at least one TCU Truck 712(later became Ladder 59) that ran out of 82 Engine with 85 Engine, 31 Truck and two sections of the 27 BN. BN 14-2 went on to become the 26 BN. I think the 27-2 became either the 55 or the 56 BN.

It wasn't uncommon to ask if there were any companies available in certain neighborhoods, or below a certain street. It was also pretty common to hear a 3rd going on this block, a 2nd a few blocks away and a 5th a little further away.

Interchanges were also pretty common. Slower companies going up into the Bronx while the Bronx companies went to Queens or the Rockaways.

A few favorites that come to mind from the tapes I've heard. 2 Truck coming first due to a job near Trinity Avenue up in the Bronx. Police Escorts for SI companies to get up to the Bronx. 51 Truck going into a job as a tower ladder down into the 150's or something like that. I honestly don't know how we could do it if we had the same type of activity today.

PS, the status board with the chips is still there and we still use it when the computer crashes. I use it whenever we have a job to keep track of who worked and who relocated. It's still a pretty important part of the operation.

Edited August 26, 2006 by JBE

[dadbo46 50]

We used to go sit outside of 82 Engine and load up with food from the bodega across the street. Was quite a show when the house got a box. 2 engines, 2 trucks and 1 or 2 battalions.

I was fortunate to be invited to the Bronx CO on several ocassions. If I went on a Friday or Saturday night, greetings were brief. It was usually "pick up a pad and write down the box."

The best thing that happened to The Bronx was when Jimmy Carter showed up on Charlotte Ave. and pledged to bring $$ into the urban redevlopment of the Bronx. While I differed in almost every political decision that Carter ever made, he kept his promise and the worst was over.

[JBE 328]

That sounds about right with the pad and paper. Nowadays it would be sit down, have a cup of coffee, enjoy the ballgame or movie, and let's talk $hit till things get interesting.

Hey, you in on the meal?? Go pet Lucy(our dog) and make sure all your valuables are hidden and your car is locked, we had a few break ins recently and two guys lost combined about $7,000 worth of stuff.

PS to all you buffs, I'm back to work next Monday (9-4) so the door is open in small groups of one or two. We're kinda cramped in the trailer.

[Guest]

i was born in 1981 in the fordham section of the bronx. so i pratically missed this peroid but i witnessed what was leftover.if you would get on the #4 train the one that runs on jerome ave once you hit the burnside ave stop all the way till it went underground at the 161st stop all you will see as far as your eyesight can take you from one horizon to another it was nothing but burntout buildings.walking on jerome ave as no fun either as you were still able to smell the residue and if you were to touch an part of the building with your finger you would swear they'd collapse on you.at night driving around this area what ever building wasnt completly burned there would only be on lone apartment with its lights on while all the other apartments were lost.i remember in the washington heights area was the same boraded up home after home looked like a warzone.i remember eng 95? i think they were at 181st in manhattan at the time get hit with 2 milotoves from the roof of an adjoining building and watching the roof of the engine catch fire.that was in like 1987 i was only six but this stuff still sticks in your head.

[X615 0]

any of you guys ever read "20,000 alarms" by richard hamilton who was a rescue 2 lt. & retired in the early 70's? great reading & includes a lot of the major jobs over the years and do any of you remember the special ch. 2 news did on rescue 3 in the early 80's? they showed a lot of war years footage.

[Guest]

20,000 Alarms was a great book. I believe Lt. Hamilton was one of the most decorated officers in his day.

4th of July's were always very busy. I can remember SI units relocating into the Bronx and not having a clue of where thay are going. Must have been a real event for them. SI was not at all busy back then.

I also remember a mid town BC giving a progress report on a South Bronx vacant and adding his sighting of another fully involved building two blocks down and no one on the scene yet.

[JBE 328]

The 4th of July hasn't been busy in a long time. I mean you may get a couple of multiples over the course of the night, and that's citywide. I think 97 was the last year it was really busy. I worked in Brooklyn and we had 8 all hands during the course of the day tour, and think there was a multiple that night and SI had two multiples. There were procedures like setting up the computer into two sections to handle three boroughs on one computer server, and two on the other, firebases set up at certain firehouses, they would have like 4 Engines, 2 or 3 Trucks and a couple of Battalions staged there as needed.

There's some reserve apparatus staffed in Manhattan for the Fireworks and a few other things, but not much else. It's gotten to the point where it's just another day at the office, although I will admit to trying to get the radio as much as I could when I worked the 4th.

Edited August 30, 2006 by JBE

[Guest]

A&E did an awesome video called FDNY "Brothers In Battle"

It talked about the "War Years" Bronx is Burning.

←

The video "Brothers in Battle" was produced by Brian Hickey, at that time a FF1 in Lad38, and his brother. It is an excellent video and shows alot of fire footage.

[biglew 3]

Having grown up in the Bronx in the '70's, I can only tell you it was awesome if you were a buff. I grew up in Co-op City, in the same building that the Bx. Supervising Dispatcher lived, so my intro to scanners came early on. Buffing came shortly thereafter, when the action moved up the Concourse to the confines of the 18, the 19, and the old 56 Batt. Having met Dennis Smith when he got to 61 truck was exciting for a teenager who had read ( and seen some of) the war stories of 82 engine.

Whether it was a row of taxpayers, or a vacant building, it was 10 -15 years I'll never forget.

After all those years, I still listen, but dont get down from Ct as much as I'd like to. I was at the 3rd alarm last Sunday when we lost two brothers, and it brought back memories. May they rest in peace.

Somehow though, even though the other boroughs had busy years, it always seemed the Bronx was busier. I'll never forget my high school final project in which myself and 2 classmates went down to the South Bronx and made a film on urban decay. The year was 1981, and we caught a job on Jennings Street right away, that '78 Mack from 85 engine feeding TL-58, feels like yesterday !!

I used to sit by 66 engine waiting for 96 to come up on interchange, and take the QBx-1 bus to Tremont Avenue (and walk to 72 from there) to see what new toy Stan had put on their rig. ( Yeah guys, I know, I could have taken the 40 bus across Tremont, but in those days there was no transfer, and money was tight when you were 14 !!

Hope I didn't bore you guys, but when I saw the BX posts, I had to chime in.

Lew

[JBE 328]

I learned a lot from that certain Supervising Dispatcher. He retired about a year and a half after I got on the job.

[Guest]

well my great uncle told me this story rencently. he said it was a late summer day sometime around 1975. my great aunt and my uncle were leaving harlem at around 110th street after visiting someone, he tells me that as soon they got out the door a fully involved apartment building 4 stories right down the block.a drive into washington heights at around 178th st another fully involved 4 story tenament at around 181 st 2 fully involed tenaments right next to each other at the entrance to the washington bride 2 car fires and on the right and left side of the bridge numerous fires seen on the horizon. a trek into unviersity ave in the bronx 2 private dwellings up in fire at around 178th at around fordham and jerome a massive rubbish fire a block up at forhdam and morris 2 od's a little furth down on jerome ave block after block everything is burned with no sign of life.also he told me about while operating a vending car outside few blocks away from yankee stadium it wasnt unsuall to see the compaines from that area 100's of times a day. also while working in brooklyn for abit he told me how he was working in a bakery i think in crown heights how the whole neighborhood burned down while he was making donuts barley making it out of the bakery befor the place went up. just sounds like an intresting time in nyc history i dont know if i want to say im sad or happy that i missed that time as i was born in 1981

[JBE 328]

Lew,

72 isn't anywhere near as pimped out as they used to be. The lights had lights. It was quite a sight.

[Guest]

I was talking to a retired firefighter, he told me about driving to work seeing colums of smoke in different areas of the borough. He would arrive at work and they would find out where their company was, and walk or take a bus to the call to relive them.

[FirNaTine 370]

You know what I admire the most about the War Years? How humble the guys seem to have been that made probably some of the most dramatic and daring Rescues in the history of the FDNY. When you talk to these same guys today, they're just as modest about their grabs as they were at that time. In fact, most of them would have been happier to have a cold one offered to them, than a ribbon and citation. Not like guys of today though. Today's breed of ffs. are looking for a Class 1 and Media coverage for bringing someone down a drop ladder.