Structure Fire - Hyde Park Fire District - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Home - January 23, 1982 - Classics from my archives

[Guest Photounit]

OK, here's some additional photos from my archive......

These are probably photo's of the most famous subject matter that I'll ever do and they are scans from color negatives......As far as I know, these are the only photo's in existence that were taken while the fire was still burning...... At least that what I have been told by the National Park Service....The fire occurred just after midnight on January 23rd,1982 at the Hyde Park , N.Y. home of the late President Franklin Roosevelt . Prior to this fire, numerous area fire companies including the Hyde Park Fire Department who cover the FDR historical site, were operating in the below zero temperatures at a large structure fire in the Staatsburg Fire District in the town of Hyde Park. The initial dispatch was for a "routine" automatic fire alarm which Hyde Park had answered numerous times at the home in the past and all were malfunctions.... This time though..... Things were going to be different..... The first units on the scene arrived to find heavy fire from the roof of the home of the thirty-second President of the United States and a national historic treasure. The first due equipment to the scene were Hyde Parks reserve engine and a ladder truck from the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in the Town of Poughkeepsie. By the time the incident was over, 10 area departments were called to the scene and significant fire, smoke, and water damage had occurred to the structure. The fires cause was attributed to an electrical malfunction on the third floor of the home where renovations were in progress at the time of the fire. Through the efforts of all the firefighters who responded to the scene, as well as the efforts of the National Park Service personnel, I don't believe anything irreplaceable was lost in the fire and the building was eventually repaired to it's original stature.... These photo's were on display in the Library of Congress for three months as part of a display the National Park Service had done showing the fire, the damage done, and the repairs that were made to the building. They were also featured in several magazines including Firehouse and also a book about the history of FDR.

Firefighters who were initially dispatched for an AFA, arrive to find flames through the roof of the FDR home.

Hyde Parks reserve engine operates at the front of the building. Hyde Park and other local departments were assisting the Staatsburg FD at another structure fire at the time this fire broke out which initially left firefighters with limited resources to fight the fire.

A ladder truck from the Hudson River Psychiatric Center operates at the front of the building.

Anything that could be easily carried out of the home from the upper floors was removed to a safe storage area by volunteers and park rangers.

What could not be removed from the building was grouped together and tarped for protection from water damage. Through these efforts, the damage to the buildings contents was greatly reduced.

[Guest Photounit]

City of Poughkeepsie operated with their ariel ladder in the rear of the building.

An interior shot showing the handlines that were stretched to the 3rd floor to battle the fire.

Hyde Parks reserve engine and Hudson River Psychiatric Centers ladder operate at the front of the building....

The fire detection system was reportedly out of service on the 3rd floor while the renovations were in progress. This gave the fire a significant head start before it was detected.

The buildings construction made for a challenging fire fight.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Photounit

[DOC22 1]

Bill, those are some impressive photos, with a truly interesting story behind them!!!

Thanks for sharing!!

[Danger 160]

Great shots. I wasn't aware HRPC had a fire department.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Great shots!! I remember visiting FDR's home in the spring of '82 ( I was in fifth grade), and still being able smell smoke in the ground floor of the building. With the other fire, were the first due units operating wiht limited manpower in addition to the reserve apparatus?

[TR54 239]

Very interesting incident story. Good history. Photos are super !

The days of Scott - 2 air tanks and orange fireball gloves - 1982

Thanks for the information (narritive) on this working fire.

TR54

[JetPhoto 626]

Thanks for the history lesson Bill! Good shots for being a young lad back then

[PVFD233 68]

....10 area departments were called to the scene....

Do you by any chance have the run down of the apparatus and departments?

[tdc202 0]

Awesome shots Bill . Ithink I was 14 when that happened..............

[Guest Photounit]

Thanks guys....... I thought these would be popular as they are actually a part of the nations history......I can remember the night that this happened....... I worked second shift at the time and had gone to my fire station after leaving work as we had an alarm..... While waiting for our equipment to return from the call, the county dispatched Hyde Park for an AFA at the FDR home...... Nothing unusual about that..... Hyde Park had all their equipment with the exception of their reserve rig pictured in the photos, committed at a fire in Staatsburg. (Anderson School?) and the temperature was a balmy 4 degrees below zero..... I can still remember the first report of a working fire...... I think everyone was in shock....... I said to my com padres at the fire station that I was going to take a ride up (20-plus miles) and asked if anyone wanted to go with me.....They all laughed at me..... So, I left on my own...... I had the last laugh though........ About 15 minutes later my department was dispatched to the scene and when they arrived, I waived hello as all those who laughed at me 30 minutes prior climbed off the apparatus...... Two things happened after this fire, I took my photography more serious and so did most everybody else.....

As far as who was at the scene, I'm not sure of all the departments that were there with the exception of Hyde Park, Roosevelt, Arlington,Fairview, City of Poughkeepsie, and New Hackensack.....If anyone knows of any additional details or corrections to what I have posted PLEASE feel free to add your info........

I just purchased a new slide scanner which I have wanted to do for years and I am going to try to replace these images with ones of much higher quality once I get it set up.... And I'll post all the images I have on my web site........ I also have some other neat stuff that I think people will enjoy and I'll post that in the future..... Thanks again to all and I'm glad you liked them....Bill

Edited November 16, 2007 by Photounit

[x129K 1,393]

Tell me more about the HRPC Ladder Company please......... full time fire brigade I assume?

[64FFMJK 21]

Arlington was also at this fire with equipment from Craft Corners. There is a thank you leter from President Reagan in the croft corners fire station from this fire. Hyde parks ladder was stuck in ice at Staatsburgs fire at Anderson School and had to be left there for a couple days until it thawed enough to get it out from what I have been told by the senior members of Staatsburg. Staatsburg responded to the scene after they finished at anderson school also if I understood them corectly.

[Guest Photounit]

Thanks 64FFMJK ....... x129K - I think that HRPC had a fully staffed FD....... They had an Engine and Ladder (Shown in the photo's) and operated much the same as Castle Point FD does today..... As far as I know, they weren't really a brigade but a fully staffed/trained FD.........

[Guest]

Thats cool, Great picts and history lession

[JTF429 37]

:angry: I just had a discussion about this in my FF1 class during the salvage and overhaul unit. We talked about this fire and the two students from Hyde Park wrote a term paper on it. A little more on the history some of these pictures are hanging up at the fire academy in Montour and was a on the job feature in firehouse. ( I guess I should break out my copy and have Billy autograph it). I have been encourageing Billy to publish his own book of photo's. The older buff's like me remember the late 80's and early 90's when fire photo books were in. Billy you need to do it. This man has a remarkable collection and the best is yet to come.

[Guest Photounit]

Thanks JTF49....This fire was surely S&O at it's finest..... I think every tarp in DC was there.....Maybe someday I'll do a book.....It's not that hard to do anymore if you have material. I have some COOL STUFF in the works.....

"The older buff's like me" - If I didn't know you, I'd think you were an old fart.....

[NHFD202 1]

I, too, am one of the old farts, and remember the fire. New Hamburg was called for salvage work, and responded with our Utility 1, a Saulsbury rescue truck.

[hawkbase 21]

Awesome phots...thanks for the history lesson.

[Guest Photounit]

Tell me more about the HRPC Ladder Company please......... full time fire brigade I assume?

I had an interesting phone conversation with someone the other day that was at this incident and he had some great stories about it that I wasn't aware of..... I'm afraid to share them as I don't want to incriminate anybody I did get a clarification on the HRPC FD though........ Turns out I was for the most part wrong about it being a fully staffed FD......... Sounds as if HRPC had a "Public Safety Department" which basically consisted of personnel that provided security at the facility and when a fire call came in, these individuals would go to the fire station and get the apparatus and respond to the call....... Their primary duties were security and the fire part was secondary....... It appears as if it was more of a Fire Brigade and not a fully staffed FD as I had thought..... Bill

[Doc 11]

I had an interesting phone conversation with someone the other day that was at this incident and he had some great stories about it that I wasn't aware of..... I'm afraid to share them as I don't want to incriminate anybody I did get a clarification on the HRPC FD though........ Turns out I was for the most part wrong about it being a fully staffed FD......... Sounds as if HRPC had a "Public Safety Department" which basically consisted of personnel that provided security at the facility and when a fire call came in, these individuals would go to the fire station and get the apparatus and respond to the call....... Their primary duties were security and the fire part was secondary....... It appears as if it was more of a Fire Brigade and not a fully staffed FD as I had thought..... Bill

Me and a buddy stopped by the HRPC some time in fall of 1992 because we had heard that they had some old fire equipment. We managed to find someone who worked there and he let us in the old fire station. I recall seeing the open cab ALF 600 or 700 series aerial and a Mack, I seem to think it was an enclosed cab "B", pumper. There might also have been a GMC or Chevy SUV - like an S-10, but it might not have been used by the brigade. Both rigs were in incredible shape but collecting dust - half the lights in the garage didn't work at the time. We both had cameras with us and got pictures of the trucks. I'll have to see if the pictures survived three moves.

I always wondered where the aerial went.

Thanks for the pictures Billy. Seriously, you should put together a book. You have an AMAZING collection and your photography is excellent.

[Guest Photounit]

Thanks everbody..... Doc, thanks for sharing that info........ I always thought that both the pumper and aerial were ALF's...... Guess I was wrong...... I would suspect that the apparatus was sold at an auction being that it would be "state surplus" but I have been asking around and thus far, nobody knows...... If you find your negatives I can digitize them for you and you can post them as I'm sure their would be a lot of interest in seeing them................ I know I would like to see them....

[bil14ga 1]

Me and a buddy stopped by the HRPC some time in fall of 1992 because we had heard that they had some old fire equipment. We managed to find someone who worked there and he let us in the old fire station. I recall seeing the open cab ALF 600 or 700 series aerial and a Mack, I seem to think it was an enclosed cab "B", pumper. There might also have been a GMC or Chevy SUV - like an S-10, but it might not have been used by the brigade. Both rigs were in incredible shape but collecting dust - half the lights in the garage didn't work at the time. We both had cameras with us and got pictures of the trucks. I'll have to see if the pictures survived three moves.

I always wondered where the aerial went.

Thanks for the pictures Billy. Seriously, you should put together a book. You have an AMAZING collection and your photography is excellent.

When HRPC closed down its fire house, all of the apparatus and hose was given to the Fairview Fire District. The apparatus was kept in the back of the firehouse and was eventually auctioned off to the highest bidder. The highest bidder happens to be in Pleasant Valley which is where the apparatus still sits to this day. I am told that the ladder is still in fair condition, although I have also been told it sits outside. The two pieces of apparatus were sold together. The buyer was more of a Mack fan but took the LaFrance when he won the bid. The old cab over ford which was nicknamed "Yellow Bird" sat behind Nichol's for a while. I do not know it it is still there.

Hope this helps

Chris

[Grumpy 1]

When HRPC closed down its fire house, all of the apparatus and hose was given to the Fairview Fire District. The apparatus was kept in the back of the firehouse and was eventually auctioned off to the highest bidder. The highest bidder happens to be in Pleasant Valley which is where the apparatus still sits to this day. I am told that the ladder is still in fair condition, although I have also been told it sits outside. The two pieces of apparatus were sold together. The buyer was more of a Mack fan but took the LaFrance when he won the bid. The old cab over ford which was nicknamed "Yellow Bird" sat behind Nichol's for a while. I do not know it it is still there.

Hope this helps

Chris

Is that Pleasant Valley location the Christmas tree farm with large truck collection? Sad looking old rigs from many places!

[10-Buff-4 0]

Wa-Wa-Wee-WA! Stumbled onto this thread! Looking good! That job was WORKIN! Is that an ALF tiller in the background? Awesome!

-Joe DA BUFF