Fun at the firehouse

[nfd2004]

Anybody who has ever worked or volunteered at a firehouse usually has a few funny stories to tell. My days at the firehouse were Great. I enjoyed being there. Somebody always had a story to tell or a game to play.

  First of course came the Job. Make sure all the equipment was ready for use, any training was done, and of course the Runs were a Top Priority. When we went out that door, it was always time to "turn up the notch" and do whatever had to be done. I'm sure it is the same in all firehouses.

  But generally speaking, not a day went by that we didn't have a few laughs together. I'll try to share some of those laughs with you. Hopefully, you have a few stories to tell too.

  I was a new firefighter with maybe a year on the job. We had a 1961 open cab tiller ladder with two guys assigned to it. Only the driver and the tillerman. In the dept I worked we had to do All the jobs, whether it was ladder driver, tillerman or pump operator. We had a pumper with an officer and two firefighters, a Rescue w/2 FFs, and this Ladder w/2 FFs. It was an old three story brick firehouse.

  I was the Ladder Driver, and my buddy who we called J.T. was the tillerman that day. Myself and J.T. were pretty close. We had come on the job six months a part and had a lot of the same interest. Again, all open cabs. As I am backing the ladder into the firehouse, a civilian just happened to be watching us as she walked by. It was really a hot humid day. As my buddy was just about to put his tiller seat onto the apparatus floor, he was drowned with buckets of water from the guys waiting for him up on the third floor of that firehouse. It was a Direct Hit. My buddy J.T. was soaked. Water was dripping off the end of his nose and ear lobes. I loved it, and so did that lady watching us back that ladder truck in.

  Being pretty new, as I laughed, I never realized that I would be next, and I would now be under a Direct Hit. Sure enough, it was my turn. Another direct hit. It felt like I had just had a ton of water dumped on me. I guess the water was dripping from my nose and ear lobes too. That lady watching across the street got a Free Show of how grown men, who sometmes risked their lives together, would play like they were at summer camp.

  It was all part of firehouse life. I sometimes wish that I could do it all over again.

  In time, I hope to share a few more stories. And I hope that you might be able to share a few of those stories with us so we can all enjoy reading them. I have a feeling that there's plenty more out there.

 

 

[firebuffkevin]

Willy D,

You are a great story teller.  You should write all of them up, and go for a book!

KFD

 

[Bxboro]

Great story Willy D !!!! Try that today and you might get in trouble !!! Wet cell phone.....hurt feelings........having too much fun.........messed up my hair.....the list goes on and on and on !!!! Boy how the job has changed. Had a young guy not too long ago ask me "why are we washing the rig.....it's just gonna get dirty again "

 

[memory master]

Great story Willy D !!!! Try that today and you might get in trouble !!! Wet cell phone.....hurt feelings........having too much fun.........messed up my hair.....the list goes on and on and on !!!! Boy how the job has changed. Had a young guy not too long ago ask me "why are we washing the rig.....it's just gonna get dirty again "

Does that "young guy" wash the tires every time the rig backs into quarters?? He would really flip out on that.

 

[johnd248]

That explains a lot about why Willie D is as he is today.

 

[Bxboro]

We had a guy in the firehouse take a car horn and rig it up so it could be plugged into the plug on a receiving hitch for a pick-up truck. He waited for one of the brothers who usually backs into his parking spot. After hours he tie wrapped it up underneath the bed of the truck and plugged it in. Well everyone was at the housewatch the next morning to see the lucky brother pull out of the firehouse.....first stop light.....apply brake.....horn stays on......flips off the car behind him......... classic !!!!

 

[grumpy grizzly]

To Memory Master. I tried to photograph Broadview Illinois Gruman 102' rearmount. I was told if the rig responds you have to wash the tires upon return to quarters. What a load of BS. I guess a horse in 1904 picked up a nail in his shoe. City is a low run city, they have one house with 2E, 1T (yes still that Gruman) a rescue/squad and a bus. Go figure. That was in 1988

 

[patrickfd]

I remember my very first night working in the firehouse the guys took my bed and made it so when I got in it it would fall apart. The only problem was I didn't weight enough or move around in it for it to work. They were pissed about that and I got the laugh.

 

[nfd2004]

I remember my very first night working in the firehouse the guys took my bed and made it so when I got in it it would fall apart. The only problem was I didn't weight enough or move around in it for it to work. They were pissed about that and I got the laugh.

  Pat, (my retired Connecticut Brother), that sure would work if I was the new Probie and they did that to me. In fact, I'd probadly go crashing through the floor too.

  Heres another one. Although it was pretty funny at first, but sometimes the jokes have a way of back firing.

  We would always write the winning lottery numbers on the black board. I think this one was a BIGGIE, like Power Ball or something. It was like a few million dollars. Anyway, one of our Brothers left his ticket on the kitchen table and walked away to I guess use the bathroom. While he did that, one of the Brothers wrote "THOSE Numbers" on the board, and then put his ticket back. After a short time, he asked if the numbers came out yet. We said "yes, they are on the board". As he read each number carefully, you could see the look on his face change. He started screaming, "I won, I won, I'm outta here". He's jumping around, dancing, high fiven, etc.

  Next thing we know, he goes to the phone and calls his wife at work. He says to his wife, "tell your boss to stuff it, you're all done working". "We won the lottery". "No more work". "Get up and just walk out". By now things are starting to get alittle serious. We can't let his wife quite her job. We try to calm him down but he is just so keyed up. Finally, we start to get through to him, and we call his wife to tell her what happened. It was all in fun. She didn't seem to happy either.

  Those Lottery numbers sure did look good to him written on the blackboard. We got to see what it looks like when somebody becomes an over night millionaire. Except, he never really won anything.

  What a huge let down. This guy was completely convinced that he was the newest multi millionaire. I think we ended up taking care of his meal for the next couple of shifts. The poor guy is still working at the firehouse. And that happened almost twenty years ago. We tried to tell him that he actually won the lottery when he got the job. But somehow, it just wasn't the same. It was sure a lot of fun. At least for "us" it was. I guess he still buys those tickets, but still hasn't won yet.

 

 

[vbcapt]

Many years ago, we had a ride-along from the Vancouver FD. He got a little too comfortable too quick and ripped one heck of an air biscuit in the Engine on the way back from a run. When it was bed time, he found his entire made up bed,nightstand and belongings gone. He finally found everything (including a lit lamp) on the roof. His bed had a nice layer of evening dew on it.

 

[svd385]

When I first joined the Fire Department after moving to New Jersey there were several things that would be done to an unsuspecting proby.  Fortunately for me, coming from a variety background of both a Volly House in DA BRONX as well as being part of the Auxiliaries I had a heads up to pranks.  I also spent a few years in the local rescue squad in town before joining the Fire Department.  After a few attempts and failures they sort of gave up on trying to get me. (guess I was some kind of spoil sport.)  One of the things that would be done to unsuspecting new members, after the had finished proby school would be something that would seem innocent.  Even prior to the State bringing their mandatory training and county academies to do the training, we had our own instructors who would hold classes using the IFSTA 1001 series of classes as early as the mid to late 70's to the 90's when the s5ate mandated their training.  Well one of the things that we would get the unsuspecting proby with was asking the to help out on the evenings that rig maintenance wouild be done.  We would set said member in full turnout gear, protective eye goggles, a heavy duty scrub brush, a mechanics creeper and a garden hose and convince the proby that it was his / her turn to was the chassis and undercarriage of the rig.
Needless to say some of them took it instride while others lets just say the didn't have a well developed sense of humor.

 

[johnd248]

Back in the day of the bell signals, I actually slept through a call while riding with E 248.  I never heard the guy on watch say "turn out", nor did I hear the other five guys in the bunk room get up, dressed, and either slide the pole or run down the stairs.  The first noise I heard was the engine starting and I realized they would not wait for me.  Unfortunately, I went back to sleep.  When the company returned and saw me asleep, they picked up my bed, with me in it, and let it slam back down on the floor.  I was then told, if I wanted to ride, I was expected to go on all of the runs.  You can bet that never happened again!

 

[guitarman314]

I got to see this a couple of times while buffing at E60/L17:    http://www.fdnygreenberets.com/e60l17_017.htm

 

[nfd2004]

Everybody had a nickname. "Smackers", "Bear", "Baaba", "Bubba", "Stu Beef", "Quick", "Trigger", "Tinker", "Dukie", "Felex"-as in the TV Show the Odd Couple because he was so neat. Those names stuck with them throughout their career. And of course there was always a story behind it on how they got those names.

  A new firefighter had a visit one day from his wife. A typical firehouse kitchen table discussion was going on. Of course to the outsider it sounded like a verbal war was going on. She said to her husband, "I guess nobody gets along here". Nothing could be more opposite. It was just another firehouse kitchen table discussion. 

  With all those crazy nicknames, and what some people would most likely consider "firehouse war words", when it came time to go out the door, those people recieved a service that was second to none. When it came time to perform, the knowledge, the skills, and the training just goes into "high gear". That's just the way it is for firefighters everywhere.

  From the buckets of water, the nicknames, and to all the other pranks, I'm very sure that what I have said here would pretty much be the same for Deano "Vbcapt" at his firehouse in Virginia Beach. Or "Macks" firehouse in Fairfax County, Va. Or in Tommy or John Bendicks firehouse here in Manhattan or the Bronx. Even across the Big Pond in London or Ireland.

  Here's another quick story that I remember hearing from my father when he was on the job in Bridgeport, Ct. There was one guy that was neat as a pin. Very clean who would even wash an apple with soap before he ate it. He would get very mad when he saw dirty dishes or anything that needed cleaning.

  My father had his own regular coffee cup that he would drink his coffee out of. When he was done, he would just rinse it out and put it away. Of course over the years, that cup developed its own permanent coffee stain.

  One day our "Clean Friend" gets sick for whatever reason. My father asked him if he wanted a drink of water. So guess what cup he offered him the water in. That dirty coffee mug stained with coffee. It sure didn't help. Once he saw that water in that dirty cup he didn't feel any better and these other guys actually got a few laughs out of it, at this poor guys expense.

  For anybody who hopes to be a part of firehouse life, it requires somebody to be somewhat "thick skinned". You need to be able to laugh at yourself, and a personility counts 100 %.

 

 

[SoHoTruckin20]

Bxboro  i had that same setup happen to me instead they put the horns under my bed so it sounded like a train was coming threw the bunk room.  they would also take an IV bag and put it in the ceiling tiles and have it drip every 30 secs onto my head

 

[mack]

One of my early memories visiting a firehouse with my father - Eng 246/E327/L169's old Sheepshead Bay fire house.  We were walking down the block near the firehouse and all three companies turned out for a run.  Bells, whistles and sirens, in those days.  My father's face lit up and we ran to a deli to buy two dozen eggs.  Back to quarters.  Doors left wide open then, black low quarter shoes kicked off around the drip pans on the apparatus floor.  An egg was carefully quickly inserted into every shoe.  Then the wait.  We watched from across the street as the old red tiller backed into quarters.  Then the ripple effect - 6 eggs breaking, howls, laughs, who-dun-its.  The old red Ahrens Fox pumper from E327 then returned and backed in.  Every truck member watched as the eggs broke in another 5 or 6 pairs of shoes.  Finally, E246 returned and did not pick up that 11 or 12 members were standing around, barefoot, waiting for them to back in.  Same deal.  Someone then ran into the kitchen and returned with a few dozen eggs and an egg fight followed.  A red chief's car pulled up while eggs were flying, watched for a minute or two, rolled up the windows and pulled away.  I can't eggactly remember much more but it seemed to be a pretty good yolk.

 

[116ff60]

I have some funny memories of working for the small fire department I worked with until we merged with the City of Pittsburgh. My Captain wasnt one for pranks and for that reason he was the target alot. The Captain on C Platoon was always good for pranks! I was working overtime on C Platoon and worked my regular shift the next day. Our bunk and tv room were the same and we had the desks for the Captains and Engineers on the one side. We had a big ventilation unit on the ceiling that was loud as well. My Captain always shut it off when he was working. One day as I was doing my part of morning chores my Captain got up and stood up on the step ladder to shut it off! When he opened the hatch to shut it off he got showered with over 150 little rubber bouncy balls. Everytime I seen my Captain that day I couldnt help but laugh and we were finding little rubber balls for weeks. Many other pranks were short sheeting the beds and the classic was someone was taking a shower the prankster would dump a small cup of flour over the top when the water was shut off. That was always good when you wanted to piss someone off. I one day took my Wifes cell phone to work by mistake but knowing that one of her ring tones was a cats meow took advantage of it. When we were in bed that night I took the phone and kept on playing the sound of the cat. I really had the guys going as they all thought that there was a cat in the bunkroom! Playing along I helped look for the Cat with no luck finding it! Well we never found a cat and stoped after about an hour and didnt tell anyone that it was me making the sounds on a Cell Phone. Very funny to watch the guys going out of their minds thinking that we have a cat in he room.

 

[memory master]

My dad's firehouse dated back to the 1800's and was surrounded by run down tenements. The probie's were also told of the huge rats that would be running amok. Of course, the probie hit the bunk and during the night one of the senior guys would place a moderate piece of fur in the new kid's boot. A box would hit and the kid swung out of the rack, put his foot in the boot and almost went through the ceiling screaming. Other times, they would wait for a very windy day and tell the probie to take a 4x8 sheet of plywood over to the truck company's house which was three blocks away. This poor soul would be blown all over the Manhattan streets and when he got to the truck's quarters naturally they told him they didn't need it anymore and to take it back. Never ending imaginations!

 

[grumpy grizzly]

And still all you guys/houses made the runs. I guess this is how you managed to survive the chaos engulfing you. 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[nfd2004]

The furry rats, the eggs, ours was shaving cream. Empty a can into a guys boots and watch the fun begin.

  We also did the fire dispatching for many years before going to central dispatch by civilians, caller ID, and "911". There was an seven digit number to call to report a fire or emergency. Part of our duties as a firefighter then was also dispatching. So on a rotating basis we would all get our turn. You worked that room by yourself and if the rigs went out, you were on your own. Kind of scary when I think about it now.

  If a new guy was on dispatch what we would do is call from a phone upstairs in the firehouse. We would say we see a building fire at 24 Chestnut St. Number 24 Chestnut St was actually the address of the firehouse. But if the new guy didn't catch that, he would start ringing the house bells and put over the vocal alarm in the firehouse, "Building fire 24 Chestnut St, hqs respond". After that another guy would call reporting the same thing. And of course Nobody going down to the apparatus floor getting on the rigs. For some it would be sheer panic. A building fire, getting calls, and where are these guys. Of course he didn't know that everybody was upstairs laughing at him during his moment of terror.

  I know because I was one of those guys who thought maybe I didn't hit the right button, or I did something wrong. Nobody gets on the rig and I started yelling to the guys upstairs, "hey there's a fire at 24 Chestnut St". When they finally come down the stairs carrying their coffee cups in their hands, they asked me if I was calling them. Then they tell me that part of my Probie Training is to learn the address of the firehouse and they were actually the ones that called it in.

  Many Probies actually learned the address of the firehouse, "the hard way". I was one of them.