  Lansingfire Member Username: Lansingfire Post Number: 49 Registered: 07-2007 |
It's weird, at night I have troubles from 6 - 9 or 10. I think it gets overloaded. You just have to keep loading it over and over until it goes for a while. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 310 Registered: 09-2004 |
Ah!, maybe all the Angel's night activities. Well Happy Halloween everyone.  | ||
Detroit_signal Member Username: Detroit_signal Post Number: 46 Registered: 02-2007 |
Is anyone else having trouble listening to dispatches online? I thought my computer was takin' a poop on me! I did have problems last night. A lot of lost connections and freeze-ups. | ||
Detroit_signal Member Username: Detroit_signal Post Number: 47 Registered: 02-2007 |
Well guys I have been lurking on this thread for awhile and have enjoyed it soooo much! All of the stories and the pics are just great!! I have a few questions about the dispatch side of things that confuse me when I listen online: How is a box alarm assignment determined? Is it by address or district or building type???? What is a red line? Are units like e36-x or e2-x just temporary units?? Finally, I'm thinking that "disposition" means "In service", BUT "something, something, something" I think that's all. Thanks JOE | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4288 Registered: 10-2003 |
  Came across this one today... E10, L17? | ||
Lansingfire Member Username: Lansingfire Post Number: 50 Registered: 07-2007 |
I'm not sure how Det does it's Box alarms, but it's the closest 3E1L1S1C Back in the old days there used to be pull boxes and people pulled them and waited for the FD to get there. I'm not sure if the boxes are still in service. A red line is a booster lind or a large garden hose type attached to the Eng. Rather then pull the regular line. It's usually on a electric roll and just rolled up after a fire. Someone else can do X ray rigs. Disposition is what the call was. A way to keep track of what they go on. I'm not sure what the numbers mean, but they could be false alarm, food on the stove, out on arrival. It would be cool to have a list of what they are though. Picture is I believe old eng 40, L 17 | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4289 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks Lansingfire, I magnified the painted-over ghost letters above the door, it appears they may have been bronze numbers later stripped off. The first engine number looked like a 1 but I can see where it could be otherwise. I haven't pored over all the details of this great thread to know if you are in Lansing, but I grew up in nearby Perry. We had a volunteer fire department. Whenever the a fire occurred the town siren went off. Volunteers jumped in their cars from all over the township and sped off to the fire station to catch the truck or get directions to the fire, no CB or other affordable radios in those days. Someone nearby, probably a merchant that worked on the main street strip, was the driver and they usually got out the door in minutes and got set up on site while the others caught up. All things considered they did a pretty good job and I don't recall anything ever burning down to the ground while I was there. I wonder what you 'big city' pros think about volunteers. Opinions? | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 286 Registered: 08-2007 |
I believe Troy is the largest city in Michigan with a Volunteer Fire Department. http://www.ci.troy.mi.us/Fire/ http://www.ci.troy.mi.us/FAQ/F ire.asp The Villages of Franklin and Bingham Farms share a Volunteer Department. http://www.fbfd.com/ | ||
7051 Member Username: 7051 Post Number: 48 Registered: 02-2006 |
Unless you can get 15-18 on scene within 3-5 minutes for a house 1,600 square feet or less, and 18-25 for larger houses(1600-3000 sq. ft.), volunteers don't work. Mutual aid with 20 or 30 guys 15 minutes after an alarm is also worthless as fire doubles every 19 secs. In fact, as you can see most full-time f.d.'s in se Michigan are way understaffed with the exception of Detroit, Pontiac, Warren, Sterling Heights, Dearborn and possibly Southfield. A big reason for this is population density as more dense populations tend to live in larger, higher value buildings per acre, and thus higher property tax generation per acre. I have seen some suburban style cities outside of Michigan that have better staffed departments than ours, but their cities are spending a larger portion of their budgets on police and fire. You'll notice most suburban fd's have only 2 people on an engine and 1 person per police vehicle. Compare this to very dense cities who ride 2 cops per car and 4-6 people per engine or ladder truck. A fire department can have all the latest shiny trucks and tools(toys)(Troy comes to mind here), but people are the ones who actually do the work of a job that's very labor intensive and hardly changed in 125 years. By the way, the picture in the above housed e-40 and l-17 who now run out of a 1980'ish station on Ewald Circle near Oakman Blvd. | ||
Bunkster Member Username: Bunkster Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2006 |
There is a fire house in front of water works park. Who owns that and wht do they do there? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2171 Registered: 01-2005 |
During the southern California wildfires last week, the Las Vegas and Clark county fire departments sent a substantial number of rigs to the area. They weren't used on the wildfires themselves, but they substituted at vacant engine houses to handle the 'routine' need for fire equipment while the locals were at the wildfires. Thought that was pretty neat. I assume one local firefighter was assigned with the Nevada crews with a portable radio for communication and direction. | ||
Lansingfire Member Username: Lansingfire Post Number: 51 Registered: 07-2007 |
That old fire house is old LAD 14. I believe it to be a private residence. As is old e 48 which I thought was rumored to be for sale. That is great about LVFD. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 311 Registered: 09-2004 |
D_s, Hopefully you can make out the box numbers at the 18s joker stand. From the fire box days. A box alarm now is a reported structure fire.(Is that correct Ffdfd)  | ||
Lansingfire Member Username: Lansingfire Post Number: 52 Registered: 07-2007 |
The term box alarm comes from the old telegraph system. there use to be a "pull box" on a corner. Usually in a four block area. You'd run to the Box, pull it wait for the FD to show up and then take them to the fire. Each box was numbered and used to come in on a bell system. If Box 56 came in the bell would go ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, space ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, you'd have to look up were the box was and who was first due. This was in the days of alarm watch and someone was always by the bell. Each department is set up different. Here in lansing we send 4E 2T(one being RIT)2BC 1 Medic. In Detroit they send 3E 1T 1R 1BC and then call for an Extra Unit for RIT if it's a worker. I hope this helps. | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 228 Registered: 09-2006 |
quote: Career vs. volunteers is to firehouse.com forums as city vs. suburbs is to DetroitYES. Here is a photo from detroitfirefighters.net of the old E40 -- from about the same angle as Lowell's first pic -- when it was still active.  http://detroitfirefighters.net/classic_fire_houses.htm | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 312 Registered: 09-2004 |
I was probably imagining, but I saw a new Jeep Grand Cherokee commercial, and it looked like a Jeep turned the corner there at DFD Headquarters. It happened real fast so it could've been something else. did anyone else see it? | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 313 Registered: 09-2004 |
E40 "first pic -- when it was still active." Sad isn't it | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 229 Registered: 09-2006 |
I haven't seen that commercial, but there is a strong relationship between Chrysler and the DFD. Chrysler takes over our headquarters every year during the auto show and turns the apparatus floor into a swanky club. Gotta say, the company throws a mean party. | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 230 Registered: 09-2006 |
quote: Actually, the companies (Engine 40, Ladder 17, Squad 5) just relocated to a new firehouse at Dexter and Ewald Circle, so there is a happy ending. The architecture geeks on this forum might weep at the circa 1980 building they moved to, but all three companies are still active and very busy. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 314 Registered: 09-2004 |
That is happy ending, there's just something about an abandoned firehouse. | ||
Tony_box_42 Member Username: Tony_box_42 Post Number: 105 Registered: 12-2006 |
L.14's old quarters is the annex for Pewabic Pottery. | ||
Lansingfire Member Username: Lansingfire Post Number: 53 Registered: 07-2007 |
Does that mean people can go in it, or is it just for storage? | ||
Tony_box_42 Member Username: Tony_box_42 Post Number: 106 Registered: 12-2006 |
If someone is there I'm sure you could take a quick peek. Did a beautiful job of restoration. | ||
Tony_box_42 Member Username: Tony_box_42 Post Number: 108 Registered: 12-2006 |
I will try to answer some of your questions. Drifterlee : Cheryl Anderson has written a book on the personnel of the D.F.D. It is discussed in earlier postings. "DETROIT FIREFIGHTERS 1865-2005". Anderson Publishing 9758 Silverside,South Lyon,Mi.48178. I will be at the Fund office in a few days. I will check with Richard Lancaster. He along with Cheryl did extensive research and recovery of D.F.D.files. Msamslex : You were riding in a Gerstenslager Squad. The cab and chassis were commercial( G.M.C., Ford or Dodge ) the box custom made for Detroit. The Firefighter was not only comforting you,he was keeping you from injury.Patients suffered more injuries from bouncing around in the back of those rigs than the original problem. Detroit Signal: Lots to answer.Sure you don't want to enroll in my Dispatchers class ? If you go back to the early posts of this site good photos of Central Telegraph Office. As others have explained, the dispatch is based on the Gamewell Telegraph Alarm System. A still alarm is less than a First Alarm. It's name come from the fact that the Gong and Register circuit in the Engine House remained quiet or "Still". If a Company arrived to find a working fire they wold call for the BOX.A Box Alarm is all companies assigned to the Box used for dispatch at the location. If someone pulled Box 42 at St.Antoine and Monroe the assignment would be the standard 3 engines,1 truck, 1 squad and battalion chief. If they pulled the the box inside St Marys, Box preliminary 3 on 42 the assignment would be upgraded to 4 engines, 2 trucks, 2 squads a battalion chief and the senior chief. The Gamewell system has been replaced with a computer aided dispatch and 800 mgh. radio system.It still remains the basis for fire dispatch. Red Line has been explained. The red line uses tank water. Ffdfd is the recognized expert here. I believe rigs carry 500 gallons of water. X rigs are rigs out of first line service and kept at the shop as spares . An example is E. 55's ALF. is in the shop for repairs. They are running with E.38's old E One which is an X rig since E.38 has a new Pierce.E.55 is in service with an X rig. On Angels Night the X designation was used for the extra companies in service temporarily. Disposition Codes are determinations on the run made by an officer. 000= undetermined 090= not a fire 021= suspicious Dispositions must be entered before the run can be cleared and the last company can go in service. E.40,L.17, Sq.5 moved to the "Grand Hotel" on Dexter and Ewald Circle March of 1980. From Clarence Woodard D.F.D. Historian. The old quarters was used as a Church for a time and then abandoned. I think that covers every thing . | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2189 Registered: 01-2005 |
Tony, you probably know this, but the police call boxes that used to be throughout the city also had a telegraph mechanism hooked up to the appropriate precinct station. Worked exactly the same way as a fire alarm box. Years back, all beat officers and patrol cars had to make an hourly "pull" back to their precinct. You opened the call box door with your key and simply pulled a lever, which had two positions. The two positions were "wagon" and "regular". If the lever indicator was on "wagon", the punches on the paper in the station were preceded by one punch. Box 56 would appear as x xxxxx xxxxxx. "Regular" eliminated the initial punch. It was supposed to be if a beat officer had an emergency and wanted a patrol wagon (probably horse-drawn!), he'd make the wagon pull. Was kind of overkill because, what the hell, there was a telephone right there anyway and an operator in the station at the other end. Boxes had to be hand cranked regularly by the PLC who maintained them to keep the spring wound on the mechanism. When they started removing all the call boxes c. 1985 or so, they stacked them up in the PLC warehouse next to the DFD training facility on Warren and Lawton. Lot of coppers grabbed a box off for home decor. | ||
Tony_box_42 Member Username: Tony_box_42 Post Number: 109 Registered: 12-2006 |
Thanks,Ray. I all ways thought Police Boxes were telephone only.Before radio and phones D.F.D.comunicated by telegraph keys inside fire boxes. Used a key to open the box. As you pointe out ,the spring had to be hand wound to a taught position each time a box was pulled. If a chief needed help at a fire he would open the box tap a code on the key wait for a reply. The most unusual was the old High Pressure system. Chiefs would connect phone hand sets to the high pressure hydrants and talk to the pumping station at the foot of the river. Did you ever know Joe Castili at P.L.D.? Self taught genius. Same goes for D.F.D. boxes. BOX 42 is my door bell. People are afraid to use it thinking it's still operational. | ||
Detroit_signal Member Username: Detroit_signal Post Number: 48 Registered: 02-2007 |
Tony, Thanks for some insight on that side of things! Are there really dispatch classes?? do you have to be a fireman to be a dispatcher? Thanks-Joe | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 307 Registered: 08-2007 |
just ran across a posting on craig's list for a 1949 gmc 350 Pumper. http://detroit.craigslist.org/ car/465590397.html thought one of you guys might be interested. price negotiable | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 232 Registered: 09-2006 |
Good info as usual Tony. quote: I didn't know this. Actually, I never thought about why sub-box alarms are called stills. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2192 Registered: 01-2005 |
Because it >still< could be a fire? |
