Last edited:
FDNY and bordering suburbs
- Thread starter chicago2008
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2022
- Messages
- 437
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,
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?
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?
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2022
- Messages
- 437
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
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2010
- Messages
- 1,285
Hey Cap, Magrius was a German made ladder.
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,987
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.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2022
- Messages
- 437
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
Capt, Bob Rainey FDNY E-26 retired
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.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2022
- Messages
- 81
Going back to the interchange question was this steady or same unit for same unit regularly? And was this a published list of who switched with who?
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2023
- Messages
- 319
same unit who switched .ex 111 switch with 159 whenever criteria to switch was met
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,987
When I was in 108 we were involved in the interchange program from it's start in 1968 to the end in 1975.....we started with 128 then we were switched to 115 then we were switched to136 then ended up with 106 ....(which by then was in our own BN the 35 after 106s original BN*36 was disbanded ).....most all of our Company did not care for the interchange.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2022
- Messages
- 81
On the 3rd night at 1800 would the bells just go off for a relocate in both quarters?
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,987
^^^ No Bell Signal for interchange......some Units had to both meet halfway & some busy Units could not leave Qtrs until the slow Unit arrived.....in the very early days of interchange when Wooden Aerials were still In Service if the slow Unit had a Wooden Aerial Rigs would have to be switched so the Metal Aerial remained in the busy area.....also the heavier manpower had to remain in the busy area like if the busy Unit had 7 FFs & the slow Unit had 5 FFs then 2 FFs from the busy Unit would remain back & work in the slow Unit all tour in the busy area.....there were a whole lot of other specifics also it was just not every 3rd night....some very busy Units went every other night & there was also a workload interchange at Midnight for the rest of the Tour triggered by 20 Runs by midnight or a certain amount of actual Fire Duty by midnight also if you had 6 hours of Fire Duty that triggered an interchange the next night Tour.
Last edited:
We are very fortunate to have with us on this site, many retired FDNY members who were a part of those very heavy fire activity years.
A time in which those of us who were around then, remember 4 or 5 serious working fires going on within a few miles of each other.
A time that was so busy that sometimes there wasn't any companies available to respond to a car fire or a very large outside rubbish fire.
A time when the FDNY Dispatchers were so busy with answering calls for fire activity, they had to put a priority on the type of calls the FDNY members were available to respond to.
A time when the city put into place Tactical Control Units which were extra fire companies manned during the evening peak time for fires (like 6 pm - 2 am)
A time when the FDNY would be involved in the interchange program, the adaptive response system, second sections of companies in very busy areas with maybe two fully manned ladder trucks in a firehouse - where only one once was just because there were so many fires.
A time when street corner pull boxes were replaced with what was called an ERS box (Emergency Reporting System) in which the caller would push a button to talk to a dispatcher. But it also lead to what was called "ERS No Contact", requiring a single engine response anyway.
As a buff during that time, I got to see for myself just how unbelievable it really was to be a firefighter or a fire dispatcher during those days.
There has been books written about it and documentaries made about it.
People lost their apartments, there were numerous injures and deaths due to these fires, including FDNY members.
There was arson for profit or for some, just those who set fires and then sometimes harass the arriving firefighter, including throwing rocks, bricks and bottles at them.
Fire hydrants were running and sometimes they were vandalized and unable to use.
For our newer or younger members of this site, there is a thread titled; "My Younger Buff Years" in which many members who were around during that time tell some stories of what it was like.
They might have been a firefighter, a dispatcher, or a buff.
But if you have not seen it or read some of the stories, seen some of the videos or photos, "it is certainly worth checking into.
These firefighters who were on the job then, some of us have referred to them as "The GREATEST GENERATION of FIREFIGHTERS".
Because, it is most likely there will NEVER again be such a time in the history of the entire fire service.
People say that the FDNY saved New York.
They really did.
See; "My Younger Buff Years", starting with page 1
www.nycfire.net/forums/threads/my-younger-buff-years.3017/
A time in which those of us who were around then, remember 4 or 5 serious working fires going on within a few miles of each other.
A time that was so busy that sometimes there wasn't any companies available to respond to a car fire or a very large outside rubbish fire.
A time when the FDNY Dispatchers were so busy with answering calls for fire activity, they had to put a priority on the type of calls the FDNY members were available to respond to.
A time when the city put into place Tactical Control Units which were extra fire companies manned during the evening peak time for fires (like 6 pm - 2 am)
A time when the FDNY would be involved in the interchange program, the adaptive response system, second sections of companies in very busy areas with maybe two fully manned ladder trucks in a firehouse - where only one once was just because there were so many fires.
A time when street corner pull boxes were replaced with what was called an ERS box (Emergency Reporting System) in which the caller would push a button to talk to a dispatcher. But it also lead to what was called "ERS No Contact", requiring a single engine response anyway.
As a buff during that time, I got to see for myself just how unbelievable it really was to be a firefighter or a fire dispatcher during those days.
There has been books written about it and documentaries made about it.
People lost their apartments, there were numerous injures and deaths due to these fires, including FDNY members.
There was arson for profit or for some, just those who set fires and then sometimes harass the arriving firefighter, including throwing rocks, bricks and bottles at them.
Fire hydrants were running and sometimes they were vandalized and unable to use.
For our newer or younger members of this site, there is a thread titled; "My Younger Buff Years" in which many members who were around during that time tell some stories of what it was like.
They might have been a firefighter, a dispatcher, or a buff.
But if you have not seen it or read some of the stories, seen some of the videos or photos, "it is certainly worth checking into.
These firefighters who were on the job then, some of us have referred to them as "The GREATEST GENERATION of FIREFIGHTERS".
Because, it is most likely there will NEVER again be such a time in the history of the entire fire service.
People say that the FDNY saved New York.
They really did.
See; "My Younger Buff Years", starting with page 1
www.nycfire.net/forums/threads/my-younger-buff-years.3017/
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2023
- Messages
- 935
Not just the Bridges, PATH trains in Manhattan, along with JFK and LGA calls as well.
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2023
- Messages
- 935
I'm going off of the 1949 Holland Tunnel fire, FDNY and JCFD both responded. A FDNY Chief from Battalion 3 lost his life. But I don't have a clearer answer for this question.