FDNY and bordering suburbs

[mack]

And let's not forget what the initial rear mounts were called....L27-2 I believe got the first one...my dear friends, Matty (27-2) and Sammy Preston (E79) invited me down to 27s quarters to see the new... "mini trucks", named as such at the advent of the time of those gorgeous mini skirts.
Boy, has this thread gone off the rails.. But I guess that's what makes this forum so interesting.

 

[Captain784]

And let's not forget what the initial rear mounts were called....L27-2 I believe got the first one...my dear friends, Matty (27-2) and Sammy Preston (E79) invited me down to 27s quarters to see the new... "mini trucks", named as such at the advent of the time of those gorgeous mini skirts.
Boy, has this thread gone off the rails.. But I guess that's what makes this forum so interesting.

Also remember the FDNY, T.C.U.s =Tactical Control Units. Unit in the busy areas of FDNY that were in service only during the "prime busy hours"
3:00 pM tp 1:00 AM. Some of these TCU Units were among the 1st rear mount Ladder Co. units in the FDNY. One of these units was a former "High Ladder" 144 ft. rear mount, retrofitted with a rear mounted 100 fto aerial. The Ladder Co. T.C.U.S were 7--- and the Engine Co. were 5- T.S.U.s. All were very busy FDNY Units. See Old WNYF Article. Capt. Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 Retired,

 

[3511]

Yes, the TCUs were add on units designed to address a specific situation, like the Bronx, Brooklyn, Lower East Side, and Harlem being torched...but those rigs were not called “the mini trucks”. Those 2 ALF ladders were an experiment in the mid 60s to see if the Magirus apparatus used in Europe could work in Gotham.

I guess the experiment worked.

At the time it was considered a temporary fix to just the busy areas, but in the long run tiller aerials would remain necessary to navigate the streets of NYC. How did that assumption turn out?

 

[Captain784]

Brothers the T.C.U. = Tactical Control Units were fully staffed regular size FDNY units.. in service for specific hours only and in the areas of NYC with the heaviest fire duty load. I worked on the Lower East Side in Ladder 11 and Tower Ladder 18 in the 1970 & 1980s. and to my knowledge in spite of the very heavy fire duty in that area No T.C.U. operated on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In the 1960 and maybe the very early 1970s Squad 5 was in service, out of the firehouse East Broadway on the Lower East Side. Two of the T.C.U. Ladder Companies had unusual rear mount aerial aerial, my understanding is the were former High Ladder 144 fto Magiras (Spelling?) English Made aerial and they had been retrofitted with rear mount 100 fto aerials for eventual use by the T.C.U. ladder Companies. At one time the T.C.U. Ladder Companies Road with the Officer and 7 firefighters. Two of the Firefighters were designated the "Above the Fire Team" It was believed that such 7 man manning allowed them to perform Ladder Company operation on BOTH the fire floor and the Floor above. In FDNY normally the 1st due Ladder Company operated on the fire floor and the 2nd Ladder Company Operated on the Floor Above the fire floor, both units also supply a roof firefighter and a Outside Vent Firefighter = Rear of the building firefighter. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 retired

 

[CFDMarshal]

Brothers the T.C.U. = Tactical Control Units were fully staffed regular size FDNY units.. in service for specific hours only and in the areas of NYC with the heaviest fire duty load. I worked on the Lower East Side in Ladder 11 and Tower Ladder 18 in the 1970 & 1980s. and to my knowledge in spite of the very heavy fire duty in that area No T.C.U. operated on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In the 1960 and maybe the very early 1970s Squad 5 was in service, out of the firehouse East Broadway on the Lower East Side. Two of the T.C.U. Ladder Companies had unusual rear mount aerial aerial, my understanding is the were former High Ladder 144 fto Magiras (Spelling?) English Made aerial and they had been retrofitted with rear mount 100 fto aerials for eventual use by the T.C.U. ladder Companies. At one time the T.C.U. Ladder Companies Road with the Officer and 7 firefighters. Two of the Firefighters were designated the "Above the Fire Team" It was believed that such 7 man manning allowed them to perform Ladder Company operation on BOTH the fire floor and the Floor above. In FDNY normally the 1st due Ladder Company operated on the fire floor and the 2nd Ladder Company Operated on the Floor Above the fire floor, both units also supply a roof firefighter and a Outside Vent Firefighter = Rear of the building firefighter. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 retired

Hey Cap, Magrius was a German made ladder.

 

[68jk09]

There were three TCU Ladder Companies.....712 in the BX operating out of LAD*31.....731 in BKLYN operating out of LAD*102 & 732 in BKLYN operating out of ENG*277.........712 & 731 started out with the Mack Magirus RMs that had been retro fitted with a Grove Aerial ......732 had the 1969 ALF RM.........the TCU ENGs had Mack Pumpers.....there was also a TCU Manpower Pool specifically to provide FFs detailed to the TCUs during the non normal TCU operating hours........731 & 732 bracketed us (108) when we were on Siegel St. they did provide more Unit availability in our area but did not actually cut down much on our Running as we stayed just over 6,000 during the period the were in existence.

 

[mack]

 

[mack]

 

[mack]

 

[Captain784]

Your right the Magrius was/is made in Germany. Thank you for catching ,my error. Part of, my wrong Conclusion was that the L.F.B. = London Fire Brigade had or has Magirus aerial ladders on some of what L.F.B. call "Turntable Ladders". The last time I was in London was about 10 years ago and I had the honor of visiting one of L.F.B. stations, near the famous Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I know since I was there, changes may well have been made. Former FDNY Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano and I were firemen together in lower Manhattan. I saw him sadly at a W.T.C. related funeral and he told me he had just come back from London. He was asked by the L.F.B. to come over and examine what had to be done after the tragic high rise dwelling fire that killed so ,many people., in London. One of the things the L.F.B did was to buy 2 very tall aerial devices of 200 ft. maximum height, for operation in tall buildings most specially exterior flammable "Clad" high rise multiple dwellings. I THINK the photo below is of one of the new High Aerial Appliance/Turntable ladders/Snorkel; Look on line there is a great video of the new device.
Capt, Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 retired

 

[Dexter01]

Your right the Magrius was/is made in Germany. Thank you for catching ,my error. Part of, my wrong Conclusion was that the L.F.B. = London Fire Brigade had or has Magirus aerial ladders on some of what L.F.B. call "Turntable Ladders". The last time I was in London was about 10 years ago and I had the honor of visiting one of L.F.B. stations, near the famous Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I know since I was there, changes may well have been made. Former FDNY Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano and I were firemen together in lower Manhattan. I saw him sadly at a W.T.C. related funeral and he told me he had just come back from London. He was asked by the L.F.B. to come over and examine what had to be done after the tragic high rise dwelling fire that killed so ,many people., in London. One of the things the L.F.B did was to buy 2 very tall aerial devices of 200 ft. maximum height, for operation in tall buildings most specially exterior flammable "Clad" high rise multiple dwellings. I THINK the photo below is of one of the new High Aerial Appliance/Turntable ladders/Snorkel; Look on line there is a great video of the new device.
Capt, Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 retired View attachment 25859

That is an old ladder that LFB had, from the 90's. They recently updated the aerial fleet across the brigade. They now have 11 32m/100ft turntable ladders and 3 64m/210ft ladders. Below is one of the 64m ones. The 32m's are the same make, just on a smaller chassis.