The Other War Years

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Another Massive fire I remember from that Boston area. The fire in Lynn, Mass was huge. And like most places up that way, have seen massive cuts. Like Lynn, from 9, 4, and 1,,,,, to 6 and 3.
  Bridgeport like so many also lost companies. From 15 engines, 3 ladders, 3 City Service ladders (no aerial), 1 Rescue,,, to 9 engines, 4 ladders, 1 Rescue. Same story in New Haven, Hartford, and even the smaller cities.
  In other Mass depts, Springfield, and Worcester saw major cuts over the years. And they weren't the only ones.
  Providence never really lost any companies. They did close Engine 1 out of Headquarters, but in exchange opened up a Heavy Rescue Co which is called "Special Hazards 1". In addition, they went from Three Ambulances (called Rescues) to now Six.
  But I can tell you that everyone of these cities I mentioned above had their own set of War Years. All were very busy places and caught a huge amount of working fires in those days.
 
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During the 1970s or 80s, if I wasn't at work I spent most of my time buffing three different cities. FDNY of course, Bridgeport which was where I grew up and my family lived, or Providence, R.I.
 I quickly found out that the South End of Providence was the hot spot in the city. I found that out by listening to the scanner and riding around where it didn't take too much brain power to figure that out by the many burn outs throughout the area. Engine Co 10, Engine 11, and Ladder Co 5 located on Broad St and Congress Ave were in the middle of it. Broad St ran North and South from the center downtown area to the city line. To the North was Fire Headquarters with Engine 1, and 3, and Ladder 1. To the West was Engine 8 and Ladder 2. South was Engine 13, and East was Engine 9 and Ladder Co 8. Engine 13 also had Rescue 1 (ambulance), E8/L2 was the home of Car 22 (2nd Battalion), and E1/3/L1 had Car 21 (Deputy Chief of Providence, shift commander).
 It was these companies that I learned their locations and their response area first. I had once heard that in this area alone, there were 1,000 vacant buildings. I couldn't prove that, but it came from a reliable source. The guy worked for Fire Underwriters, now I think called I.S.O. (Insurances Services Office). But riding around it sure seemed that way.
 The area was loaded with wood frames. Most were large 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 story frames all packed closely together. Blocks and blocks of this. I started to hang out across from Eng 10/11/Lad 5. They would respond to fires, pull boxes, and medical calls as Providence FD ran the ambulance. They were in and out all the time. And like the FDNY of the War Years, they would get a few runs back to back before returning to the firehouse. And I always saw water being put on a fire. Maybe it was a car fire, or a large rubbish fire. One of these companies were working. If it was a Code Red(working fire), usually it was in that neighborhood. They always were a very aggressive interior dept. Lines go inside and trucks would open up. Some of the rigs had three guys, others had four. They were some of the BEST FIREFIGHTERS I had ever seen considering their manpower and the potential conditions they faced. If it wasn't for their quick interior attacks, the fires would quickly spread to those nearby buildings. I considered the Providence Fire Dept to be one of the Best  in the business. They fought some really tough fires, and need to be credited with saving entire neighborhoods. I've witnessed that myself.
 
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Thanks very much "mack" for posting that video and those pictures of Providence. And Thanks to "r1smokeater" for putting that video on his web site. I guess you could say "You guy's made my day". It tells the story.
  Since that video was first produced, a few changes have occurred. Of course the members now wear bunker gear, there are no more tillers, they have a new headquarters,(it is in the pictures that "mack" posted too), and Engine 1 was replaced by a Heavy Rescue Company called "Special Hazards 1". When that video was filmed, Engine 1 responded with a second piece which was the Special Hazards Unit. It was found that the majority of the time, it was the Special Hazards Unit that was actually used, rather than the Engine itself. So they decided to just run with that Heavy Rescue rather than both apparatus.
  The Providence Fire Dept also has an Air Supply Unit which is in the quarters of Engine 5. I think there was one firefighter assigned to that M-F Days, but I think now if it is needed Engine 5 responds with it (Eng 7 backup). There is also a Foam Pumper with Engine 13. Also a Marine Company (manned by land companies, usually Eng 9), and a few smaller boats with Eng 11 and 13.  The Providence Fire Dept also mans 6 Rescue Ambulances and has a Batt Chief in charge of those Rescue units (Car 10, M-F). Providence has 1 Deputy Chief (Division 1), and 2 Battalion Chiefs (Batt. 2 and 3), on each shift.
  Providence Fire has now gone on to digital dispatching. Sadly because I always considered Providence to have some of the Best Dispatching I've ever heard. I can no longer listen to one of my favorite depts which is about 50 miles away.
  The Providence Firefighters showed their dedication when they went approximately 5 or 6 years without a pay raise. When they finally did get that new contract, it was already 3 or 4 years overdue on the new one.
  Thanks again guy's for posting that.
 
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Bridgeport's War Years.....From our house in the Northend, high above sea level, we would see the flames in the sky. I think it's safe to say, sometimes my brother (georged4997) and I were out the door before the rigs. With Bridgeport's highway system it was pretty easy to get around using Route 25 and I-95. Espically at night and there wasn't the traffic like there is today. Sometimes we'd get there as the first due rigs got on the scene. Many times it was maybe one of Bridgeport's 2 1/2 or 3 story vacant frames, fully involved. With overhead wires, street poles going, and both exposures starting to go. Then the water would start to flow from a deck gun, and maybe a ladder pipe. In those days, this was just a routine fire for those Bridgeport Firemen. They just did this type of firefighting so much in those days.
 Night after night the city would be covered in smoke. Usually travelers along I-95 got a pretty good view of the fires and what was going on. Sometimes State Police from Troop G would have to be posted along the highway to keep the traffic flowing and assist drivers going through the heavy smoke as BFD started knocking down the flames. It wasn't only the buffs and Firefighters that knew Bridgeport was burning. It was the Trucker's and regular travelers that knew too. They'd see it all the time.
        Continued.......
 
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Bridgeport's War Years...... When I think of it today, I wonder how those guys ever did it. The hose and your gear never dried. Nobody ever had "Two Sets" of gear. Many times the hose was repacked still wet and dirty because there was nothing left to use. On a cold night, if the guys were lucky, maybe one of the buffs would go get these guys a hot coffee. Some of the busier companies would be out all night long putting water on one fire, then to the next. Sometimes they would get a "fully involved" building fire in the middle of the day. You didn't have to be a Fire Marshall to know these were Arson Jobs.
  For anybody who was on the job in Bridgeport from say 1975 to 1990, "they caught it". It wasn't a matter of "IF" you would get a fire, it was "how many". And if you didn't get a good job on one night, the next night, you made up for it.
 
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Has Bridgeport shut down any stations since 90 and are they threatening to cut anymore stations in Bridgeport.
 
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rdm258 said:
Has Bridgeport shut down any stations since 90 and are they threatening to cut anymore stations in Bridgeport.

Rob since 1990 Bridgeport has lost companies. Just to let you know, here are the companies that have been closed. I believe these have been closed since 1990. Engine 2, Engine 5, Engine 8, Engine 14, and Ladder 3. There were other companies closed prior to 1990 also. Bridgeport, a City of about 140,000 people, had 15 Engines, 3 Aerial Ladders, 3 City Service Ladders (ground Ladders only) and One Heavy Rescue. Today they have 9 Engines, and 4 Aerial Ladders (One is a Tower Ladder), and the Heavy Rescue.
  I believe the manning today is 5 per piece but will drop down to 4 if short. I just heard talk from a member of the Bridgeport Fire Dept that they want to drop down to three on a rig. But that's not official as I know it.
  During the War Years, they very seldom used mutual aid. Today, with much less fire duty it is used quite often. Usually from the Towns of Fairfield, Stratford and recently Milford was called in.
 
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mack said:
Thanks nfd2004.  Those are great experiences you have shared about BFD.  Great experiences you had.  Here is a website with some current Bridgeport Fire Department information: http://www.thepostroad.com/bfd.html

  Thanks "mack" I appreciate that. I don't want people to think that Bridgeport was the only city to catch a huge amount of work in those years. Here in the northeast, just about every city over 100,000 people caught it. In Connecticut, Hartford and New Haven had similiar stories. But I can tell you that Bridgeport had a reputation. I was in Burlington, Vt a few years ago, and guys there had heard about how busy Bridgeport was. Maybe 20 years ago, I was at a Boston Firehouse and once I told them I was from Bridgeport, they told me how they had heard about Bridgeport's fire activity too.
 
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I did have a few friends from the area though. I remember a guy by the name of Tom Ernest (from Springfield), and two brothers, one Bobby P......(retired Batt Chief from Elizabeth), and his brother Walter P.....(retired police officer from Irvington). They were big time buffs at the time. We'd sometimes get together for a Providence Buff Trip. 
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  My buff buddies from N.J. had made a trip to Detroit in 1984 (I Think). They went there to buff the night before Halloween (Oct 30) for what was called "Devils Night". They asked me to go, but for some reason, I turned it down. That sure turned out to be a Big Mistake for me. That year, Detroit made the news on Every TV Channel. It was the Busiest Devil's Night on record. The Detroit Fire Dept battled 200 Working Building fires. When my buddies got back and I was talking to them, they described to me what it was like. They told me that every place they looked, there were building fires going on all over the city. They said they would ride down a street and there were fully involved buildings on the sides of them and in front of them. All going at the same time. The TV News confirmed that to be true. I looked up to these guys as, the "King Pin's of the buffs". Maybe I knew FDNY better than they did, but they knew every place else as a "Fire Buffs Encylopedia".
  I decided to go the following year, but it just wasn't the same. I caught 8 jobs. Nothing compared to the 200 the year before. They had placed civilian patrols out there with radios, the public works and police were out there with fire extinguishers, and any rubbish piles were picked up before Devil's Night. I would have to say that other than a full scale riot, Detroits Devil's Night of 1984 was probadly the busiest any city had for working fires in a single night.
 
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Detroit still averages 6-10 working fires a night. Devils Night 09 had 22 I think.
This doesnt include garage fires as only a still alarm is dispatched on those (1 Engine & 1 Truck).
 
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Hear Detroit is one of those Dept's that has been hard affected by budget cuts. Hiring freezes, trucks that have failed inspection, under staffed,etc... They still do a GREAT job!!!
 

mack

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Detroit, the Motor City, had a populaion of 1,700,000 in 1967, was home to the auto industry (GM,Ford, Crysler) and was trying to get the 1968 Olympics.  Instead, it got the Riots of 1967 - fires, looting, federal troops and two firefighters/1 cop/40 others killed:



Since then, Detroit  experienced great decline, became known as the Murder City and had a population drop to 900,000.  There are 33,000 estimated abandoned buildings.  Devil's Night (Halloween) became an arson celebration in the 1970s.  The peak was in the 1980s with 500 to 800 fires in the three days and nights before Halloween.

1967 Riots
Detroit Riot 1967/ Mr. Jacobs
Summer In Detroit
http://www.rjhaig.com/fire-talk-016.php

Detroit - Current
http://www.detroitfirefighters.net/
Detroit firefighters battle fires, failures
Three Nights In Detroit Promo
 
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"mack" once again you have come through with some great videos and a great web site on the City of Detroit. I'm very Thankful for that. I certainly do remember those terrible riots Detroit had. And the videos of Detroit today bring back visions of the FDNY War Years, when everything got burned out and nobody was left. I guess the conditions today in Detroit are the closest to what has been known as "The FDNY War Years" from years past.
  I had only made that one trip several years ago to Detroit. But a few months ago I met up with a Bridgeport (Ct) Firefighter who is on a busy company in Bpt. His name is Glenn Duda and has his own web site called www.allhandsworking.com (for those that check out his web site, the picture of that baby on the main page, "DID SURVIVE"). He was out in Detroit this past year and told me he never saw anything like it. In three days (?), I think he told me he caught like 21 working fires. He has posted some of his Detroit photos on his site. Kind of like the South Bronx, Harlem and Bushwick War Days, but now from Detroit.
  I have another friend who lives in Florida and tells me that he listens to Detroit all the time on line. Job after job.
  "mack" Thanks again for posting this Detroit info and videos. And for all your other posts on this and other stories. I know that "I sure do appreciate it".
 
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Bridgeport's War Years. The articles above that "mack" posted regarding Detroit is really a Tough Act to Follow. But let me continue with more on the Bridgeport's War Years.
  Several years ago a monthly newsletter called "The Alarm Room News" was published by a Hartford Firefighter. It was a Great Newsletter and would list all the working fires from various cities. Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury etc. The publisher has since retired from the HFD. I saved all my issues and just randomly grabbed the January, 1984 issue. I hope he doesn't mind. I'd like to Quote from it. These were NOT "food on the stove" or "check smoke condition". "They were Working Fires" in Bridgeport for January, 1984.
1) 1/2-0343 hrs 609 Atlantic Ave. Attic fire E4,7,5, T3, Sqd
2) 1/2-0655 hrs 579 E. Washington, First floor E2,10,6 T5, Sqd
3) 1/2-1951 hrs 350 Grovers, Cellar-First floor, E4,7,3, T11, Sqd
4) 1/2-2147 hrs 880 Connecticut Ave Cellar E8,6,2 T6, Sqd
5) 1/5-1640 hrs 579 E.Washington, First floor, E2,10,6, T5, Sqd
6) 1/6-2135 hrs 237 Shelton, 2 1/2 Story Fully Involved, E10,2,5, T10, Sqd
                  CONTINUED
 
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Bridgeport War Years (cont)
7) 1/10-0326 hrs 1647 Fairfield, Second Floor, E3,7,4, T3, Sqd
8) 1/13-1714 hrs 43 Baldwin, Third Floor, E8,6,2, T6, Sqd
9) 1/14-0004 hrs 1001 Main, Cellar Fire E1,5,2, T5,3 Sqd
10) 1/15-1649 hrs 600 Lafayette, Third Floor, E1,3,5, T5, Sqd
11) 1/16-0630 hrs Bldg 16 Beardslet Terrace, Seventh Floor, E14,12, T10, Sqd
12) 1/17-1601 hrs Deacon & Sixth, First Floor - Attic, E6,8,2, T6, Sqd
13) 1/18-2218 hrs 1160 Park, Attic, E4,3,5, T3, Sqd
14) 1/18-2313 hrs 280 Sixth, Third Floor, E6,8,2, T6, Sqd
15) 1/19-1241 hrs 1428 North, Third Floor, E5,1,4, T5, Sqd
16) 1/19-2115 hrs 74 James, First Floor, E5,1,3, T5, Sqd
17) 1/20-0640 hrs 611 Odgen, First Floor, E10,2,6, T10, Sqd
18) 1/21-1915 hrs 510 East Main, First Floor, E2,1,10, T5, Sqd
19) 1/22-1032 hrs 1735 Stratford, Cellar-First Foor, E8,6,2, T6, Sqd
20) 1/22-1201 hrs 107 Madison, First Floor, E5,1,4, T5 Sqd
21) 1/27-1807 hrs 260 Anton, Second Floor, E12,16,14, T10, Sqd
22) 1/28-1823 hrs Hallett & Church, First Floor, E2,6, T6, Sqd
23) 1/30-1534 hrs 812 Beechwood, Cellar & First Floor, E1,5,3, T5,3, Sqd
24) 1/30-2224 hrs Hancock and Beechwood, First Floor, E3,4,7, T11, Sqd      (Cont)
 
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Bridgeport's War Years (cont)
  So ends it for the "Working Fires" in Bridgeport, January, 1984. In that same issue, Hartford and New Haven saw asimiliar amount of work. In addition, Waterbury saw 12 jobs, New London-6, Norwich-7, Meriden-5, New Britian-5, Wallingford-6, Bristol, West Hartford, and East Hartford 6 each.
  Again, the source was from "The Alarm Room Newsletter". Published by a retired Hartford Firefighter. Its been a long time since I last saw him. I hope he is enjoying his well earned retirement from those very busy Hartford Years.
 
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