Vintage video of FDNY 1971

[firebuffkevin]

Check out some of the classic apparatus.....Rescue 1s Mack, several Mack Cs, a Mack CF, AlF tillers, and a Ford BChief station wagon.  Check out the NYPD suburban cruising by.

What ever happened to the bells. I loved the bells.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzN9dpSkK3k&feature=player_embedded

 

[guitarman314]

And don't forget Ladder 35's Mack/Maxim tiller

 

[raybrag]

Really good video, thanks for posting.  It was really interesting to see the 1947 Mack L/Approved rescue in this clip.  At the time, it was a spare . . . Res2cue ran with it for almost 2 years after their ALF rig was wrecked, and it was finally disposed of in 1971 (if I'm correct).  Think ANY of today's rigs (HME, Pierce, E-1, Ferrara) will still be making runs after 24 years on the job?

 

[Battalion4]

what kind of cars where the chiefs driving back then? Looked like a ford station wagon??

 

[firebuffkevin]

what kind of cars where the chiefs driving back then? Looked like a ford station wagon??

Ford station wagon

 

[mack]

Thanks kfd274. Great video.  Is that Rescue 1's 1948 Mack rig?  They received a new rig in the late 1950s but the headlights and grill look like this is their old 1948 apparatus.  If so, they are using a 23 year old spare.  Even if it is their 1959 Mack, it would be 12 years old in this 1971 video.  I guess it shows equipment lasted longer back then. 

 

[firebuffkevin]

Thanks kfd274. Great video.  Is that Rescue 1's 1948 Mack rig?  They received a new rig in the late 1950s but the headlights and grill look like this is their old 1948 apparatus.  If so, they are using a 23 year old spare.  Even if it is their 1959 Mack, it would be 12 years old in this 1971 video.  I guess it shows equipment lasted longer back then. 

I believe that the Rescue is a Mack L model, therefore the 1948.  Mack made the L from about 1920 to 1956.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/f_a/r1_12.shtml

A 1959 rig  would be the Mack B model.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/f_a/r1_12.shtml

 

[raybrag]

It's definitely the 1948 Mack LF/Approved, FDNY #75S2315 (different numbering system then) . . . there was  only one of them, assigned to R1 from May 3,1948 to Dec 5, 1959.  It then served as R5 until Jun 1, 1962 when R5 was disbanded and it became a spare.  Although never officially assigned, it served as R2 from 1962 until 1967, and then continued as a spare until Nov 16, 1971. I used to see it a lot running around downtown Brooklyn when I was going to college there on Butler St and later Remsen St. To my way of thinking, it was the handsomest rescue rig ever built, followed closely by the 1939 Ward LaFrance rig which it replaced at R1.  Approved was an apparatus manufacturer located in Rockville Center, NY in Nassau County.  They built a lot of rescue rigs while they were in business, including a twin to the FDNY 1948 Mack which served the Baltimore FD for many years.  Strangely enough, these Macks were not the biggest rigs Approved built.  That honor belongs to the 1952 (I think) GMC/Approved twins which served in Rockville Center (gee. . . I wonder why) and a department in Pennsylvania whose name escapes me.  Source for the assignments of the rig in FDNY is John Calderone's FDNY Rescue Apparatus (FAJ Publications, 1999).  One other thing . . . in my previous post, I said the Mack L served as R2 after their ALF rig was wrecked, and that was wrong.  What they wrecked in 1962 was their 1954 International/Diehl rig. R2's ALF rig didn't come along until 1983.

 

[mack]

Thanks again kfd274 .  Video showed the plywood covers for open cabs and guys riding on the back step.  Some things stay the same, though.  Nice to see everyone helping with the hose,

 

[mack]

Raybrag - Thank you for the great information.  Would you know anything about Rescue 5's old rig - when they were located on Brighton Ave with E 155/L 78?  I remember sitting in it as a kid when I visited their firehouse.

 

[raybrag]

I'm not sure which rig you're speaking about, so here goes (again, all info from John Calderone's FDNY Rescue Apparatus):

Rescue 5 was organized May 16, 1948 at 4 Brighton Ave (with L78; I think that's a typo in John's book; should be 14 Brighton Ave), using an open-bed 1941 Ward LaFrance hose wagon [FDNY #290] outfitted with rescue equipment by the shops.  During 1957, the members of R5 constructed a closed, rescue-style body on this rig.  It remained in service with R5 until Dec 2, 1959, when it became a spare.  R5 was then assigned the former R1 (1948 Mack LF/Approved), and ran with that rig until Jun 1, 1962, when R5 was disbanded.

After more than 20 years with no rescue company on SI, R5 was reestablished on Aug 20, 1984, at 1850 Clove Rd (with E160), using a shops-refurbished 1976 Mack R/Hammerly, FDNY #MR7601 (note the new numbering system). This rig had formerly run as R2 (from Jul 76 'til Feb 83, when it became a spare).  They ran with this rig until early 1987, when they were assigned their first NEW truck . . . MR8502 . . . a 1985 Mack MR which was not delivered to FDNY until 1987.  This rig was reassigned to the spare pool on Apr 18, 1997, when R5 was assigned SR9605, the 1996 HME/Saulsbury rig which was damaged on 9/11, but (I believe) is still in service as a spare.  Then later they got their current E1/Saulsbury rig (don't know the exact date or FDNY #, it was after John's book was published ).

Hope this answers your question.

 

[mack]

Thanks raybrag.  Appreciate all your information.

 

[mack]

Raybrag - With your info, I found a picture of the original Rescue 5 apparatus.  I guess this is the rig L 78 used to respond in as R 5.

http://www.nyfd.com/rescue/rescue_5/rescue_5_tank.jpg

Also, the TV repair store, Johnny Lucci's, Rescue 5 is parked in front of in this 50 or 60 year old picture, is still in business.  He must be good.

 

[efd274]

mack - great picture - great rig - apparatus from that era had character -

 

[raybrag]

Yes, Mack, that's it . . . after the R5 members built the rescue box on it.  There are before & after photos of it in John's book.  Unfortunately, it's out of print, but there's a copy on eBay for $34.95 plus shipping (Item #330340127093).  That's about what I paid for it 10 years ago.

 

[mack]

efd274 - I came across this collection of old FDNY pictures.  Other departments, mostly NYC.  A lot of pictures show FDNY equipment of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  Don't know if it was already posted here.

http://www.weegee.org/fire_1-10.html

 

[efd274]

Thanks Mack - this was posted previously but still good to look at - there are some old pictures of Main St Flushing that I particularly can relate to as it was pretty similar to what I remember as a youngster growing up in that area in the early 50's

 

[bklyndisp54]

What ever happened to the bells. I loved the bells.

Me, too.  I used to buff at E241 in Brooklyn.  They, and L109. rolled on every "1100" box, from 1101 to 1199.

Now the "12 noon time signal" which, on the bells, was supposed to be a "2" was always...for some unknown reason... rapped out slowly as 1-1. 

You would often see chairs and sometimes tables being turned over...and some people even hitting the pole, at noontime almost every day.  I don't think you can see eager turnouts like that anymore.

This was all before the strike, of course,  Things changed thereafter.  Bigtime.