25 January 2011

THE WAR YEARS 1960-1990

PART ONE COVERS THE GREAT KNICKERBOCKER AND BLEECKER STREET FIRE OF 1977, THE FIRE HAPPENED JUST DAYS AFTER THE GREAT NEW YORK CITY BLACKOUT AND IN A LOT OF WAYS THIS FIRE WAS LOST IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BLACK OUT. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


THE WAR YEARS PART 1--BROOKLYN BOX 10 10 767 1977


The war years of the fire service, just what were those years. In some areas of the country those years have not stopped or they are starting all over again. Just like in Camden, NJ with one third of the cities firefighters laid off. In other areas of the country like LA, New York, St. Louis, Philly, they were the years between 1960 and the mid 1980's where department regularly fought fires that burned to such a magnitude the departments were over whelmed.

Cities like New York saw there firefighters battling major fire, two alarms or greater, on a daily basics, sometime the FDNY would have so many fires going that companies could not get any help. Cities like St Louis would not have the sheer number of fires that New York, Philly, and Los Angeles would have but they ran many more fires than normal.

What made the war years so bad, arson, greed, lack of equipment and manpower, all the things were seeing today? You have politicians that are more interested in getting their name and their picture on the news and in the newspaper instead of working to find a solution for what is ailing our country. It is plain and simple what is wrong and it is greed. Are we as a country, as firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, and fire buffs heading into another "War Years", yes I think so.

Recently I paid a visit to one of Clark County Fire Department's station and the members were leery about visitors, although the member I talked with would not come out and say it I got the feeling that he really did not want me around. It is sad to say but I actually felt like an intruder in the station.

Recently I posted a tread called 1976 FIRE STORM IN ST LOUIS about a fire in the downtown area in 1976 that had the potential to burn through the entire city. One member of the City of St Louis Fire Department made the comment that people did not realize just how close we came to loosing the city. Hell during those years the City of New York Firefighters were battling fires just as big and just as bad on a daily basics. So were the members from Philly, Los Angeles, and many other areas of the Country.

This thread is about the war years. The fires that were fought by the Greatest Generation of American Firefighters, these guys fought fires without the aid of today's bunker gear and half the times they did not wear pacs like we do today, they did not have the hoods, or the cameras, things like that. They faced fires with shear guts and indignity

Men like Lt Richard Hamilton (FDNY Rescue 2), Denise Smith, the men of Engine Co 82 and Ladder Co 31 of the South Bronx, the men of the Brooklyn Companies, the men in Los Angeles during the Watts Riots, all of these guys made our country safe from those that sought to tear it apart because they were not happy with their lives or because they were not happy with their landlords, or the landlords that wanted to tear the building down who would hire thugs to torch the place.

Each one of these fires were fires that touched people in many ways, some lost their homes, for some it was a way to rebel against the machine and the "Man", and for some these fire cost them a great deal. I remember reading in "Report From Engine Co 82" about guys the would hire kids to light off the buildings and then throw a match in and lock the door trapping the kids along with the residents of the buildings. In one of the forums that I am in I read where it was not unusual for the Companies to pull up to a building and residents would have their stuff out front knowing that the building would be getting torched that day, and that the members would know it too due to the sheer number of False Alarms called into that area on that day.

The first in this thread will the "Great Knickerbocker and Bleecker Street Fire of 1977"

JULY 18, 1977:

This fire was started by three juveniles who sheer goal was to get their pictures in the paper, and if my research is correct one of them was sentenced to 25 years in prison for this particular fire. It is also noteworthy that nobody was killed in this fire, which in itself is a miracle since this fire could have easily killed many.

I have read a few accounts of the fire and from all that I can gather 23 buildings were destroyed in the fire, 50 people including firefighters were injured in the fire, and 7 blocks of Bushwick were destroyed or severely damaged in the fire.

The following is a quote from City Noise-- Bushwick 77: Burning out the Heart of Bushwick
"It was like many other fires that occurred during the firestorm years of Bushwick, except for the old tank of Kerosene in the basement. When it exploded, a fireball exploded out of the building. It took about 3 to 5 hours for 55 units of firefighters from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn to put out the fire. The fire hydrants were no use to the firefighters because they were low on water."

There are many comments on the fire from those that were there as firefighters, below is one that appeared in City Noise Bushwick '77: The All Hands Fire Article first published on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

"TFSCharlie: 29th Mar 2009 - 01:39 GMT
When L-124 pulled up, the heat was intense; Chauffeur went back into rig to reposition it. Windows were melting & he burned his hands on the steering wheel. Buildings 50 to 90 feet away from original fire building spontaneously combusted & burst into flames due to the heat waves. I got OTJ in November 1977 & heard about this fire from many senior members since I was assigned to a company nearby."

"mike: 13th Jun 2009 - 22:50 GMT
I was involved in this fire I lived at 248 Bleecker St.It was the saddest day of my life.We lost everything,all I had left were the clothes on my back and many of my friends ended up losing there homes that day.It was over 100 degrees and no water in the hydrants that knitting mill was abandoned for years and once that went up it was all over.It was a rough time for everyone.It was the neighborhood that time forgot."


With this said it is time to get to the pictures:

CREDIT FOR ALL PICTURES GO TO THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHER, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WERE THERE ARE KNOW ABOUT THIS FIRE PLEASE CHIME IN AND IF I HAVE SOMETHING WRONG PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

I HAVE MORE PICTURES FROM THE FIRE AND THEY CAN BE FOUND AT MY PHOTO ALBUM PLEASE CHECK IT OUT.