  Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2804 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
Mtm -  "On November 9, 1963, at 10:40 PM while responding to a false alarm turned in from box 7277, E Hildale & Moneart Avenues, [Engine 56]collided with a passenger auto at E Hildale & Conley Avenues, overturning the apparatus. Firefighter Albert J. Booth was killed and another fireman, Theodore Andre, seriously injured. A 15 year-old boy was apprehended and convicted for turning in the alarm as a prank." | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 117 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
sad | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 118 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 216.68.225.2 |
A Chicago firebrat: http://www.gottawritenetwork.c om/karenkruse.html | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1378 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
Mikem's black and white photo of the November 1963 "false alarm" fatal accident brought back sad memories. Back then, the City Fire Dept. had liability insurance coverage with Travelers Insurance Company, one of our major clients. Litigation was brought by the passenger(s) in the private vehicle, although I don't recall they were killed in the accident. I know that the fatalities were the poor chaps responding to the (false) alarm on the fire engine. Even back then, the number of false alarms may have exceeded the real thing. I have not seen current statistics, but I wonder even today how many of the Detroit runs are really "false alarms". | ||
Psip Member Username: Psip Post Number: 1154 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 68.60.45.70 |
Well I guess I will add my 2 cents worth, Here are some pix of the Central Alarm facility from 1964  Central Alarm  The front Door  Overview  Dispatchers  Alarm Wall  Closer view  Modern Tech Punch Tape  Fire House Alarm  Closeup  Location Card  Radio Comm | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 83 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 68.43.29.171 |
BIG THANKS!! Mikem!! Amazing that I remember it clearly at the time because I was only 3.5yrs. But then, I also remember Kennedy being shot and, particularly, Jack Ruby getting hit (during our Sunday dinner). I remember running in to Andre, who had been severely brain injured, several times with Dad and Dad saying "there but for the grace of god..." Interestingly, Dad lives on Moenart though much further south. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 119 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
psip, Thanks for the pictures of Central Alarm. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1554 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 216.203.223.115 |
These are photos from a fire that happened at Western HS, probably in the 1930s, from WSU/Virtual Motor City.     | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2812 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
Western HS burned February 25, 1935. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2929 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 66.167.211.42 |
Ladder 12 on West Lafayette checking in..., south of Corktown just west of 10th, from two days ago...  | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 120 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 216.68.225.2 |
Thanks Lowell, it looks like the active stations are being maintained. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 121 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
  | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1561 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.19.23.87 |
These photos are from a fire at a David Stott flour mill, probably in the late 1940s.    all photos WSU/VMC | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 122 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Nice pictures. Do you know if there were any injuries in that wall collapse? | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 123 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
 | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1562 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.19.23.87 |
I haven't been able to find anything on the fire so far, only the photos. Any requests on maps of specific firehouses? (There are so many, there is really no way to go through them all, and research other stuff at the same time.) | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 124 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Well...what about Engine 18. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 125 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Firefighters called back. http://www.websitetoolbox.com/ tool/post/jlrandall/vpost?id=1 361835 | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2006 Posted From: 68.43.216.55 |
FYI, the photo posted by Lowell a few posts up is Engine 8's quarters. We have not had a Ladder 12 in a couple decades-plus. http://detroitfirefighters.net /ladder_companies.htm It's the only firehouse in the city with the living quarters and kitchen upstairs. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 127 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 216.68.225.2 |
Thanks for the update. Is Engine 8 pretty busy? | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 2 Registered: 09-2006 Posted From: 68.43.216.55 |
Engine 8 falls on the slow side when it comes to fire service. It's part of the first battalion -- the downtown battalion -- and there just aren't the fires downtown that there are in other parts of the city. That's not to say Engine 8 doesn't get its share of fires -- for most cities it would be coinsidered rockin' and rollin'. But here, not so much. However, fire service has picked up for all houses since we closed five companies in July 2005, and added five to seven daily closures in 2006. Same fireload -- fewer rigs/people to fight them. (Message edited by ffdfd on September 09, 2006) (Message edited by ffdfd on September 09, 2006) | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 619 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Ffdfd: Stay safe out therem watch your brothers' backs, and welcome to the forum and our little (ok, not so little) thread! With fewer guys (4 per house) that raises the risk for everyone involved. I hope that the callbacks are great in numbers so that you guys will be safer out there. I also hope that Detroit gets off its butt and maintains the rigs and equipment. When my dad was active that was his biggest beef. No working hydrants, rigs that needed repair, etc. make your job much more difficult. Godspeed with your guardian angel on your helmet  | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 128 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
ditto! Ffdfd, which company are you on? | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 129 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
 | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 130 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Just wanted to thank everyone for the pictures, information, and stories we've gotten so far. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 620 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
dfd, that pic of 25s is a bit dated...Zorbas (the Coney Island next door) hasn't been there in a few years. I love the ladder trucks best, dad was a tillerman way back when. It was always exciting to watch him on the back of the truck in the bucket as he flew down the street. We lived right behind 25s when I was a baby and I think dad may have been there for a short time. Dad's brother was also a fireman but he died in 1963 (not fire related but he was active). It's a very touchy subject with dad so I don't dare ask at what house my uncle worked...it might have been 25. Great pics, 25s seems to be the most photographed on this thread! | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 131 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Yeah, we rode at that station a few times. Mostly on Squad 1. They had the old lime yellow American LaFrance ladder truck the first 2 times we rode with them. We're trying to go up for another visit (can't ride with them anymore)and take some more pictures. I'd like to get pictures of the interiors of the stations. The glazed brick and darkwoods. Wish they built them like that now! | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 622 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
My dad HATED it when DFD went to the lime green. He always said firetrucks are supposed to be RED, dammit. Glad they switched alot of them back!! | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2960 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.81.50.7 |
Thanks for the update / correction ffdfd on Engine 8, fka Ladder 12. Here is the blowup of the limestone designation and the source of my ID, a vestige of the days when they thought things would stay as the were forever. I guess nothing is 'written in stone' anymore.  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2961 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.81.50.7 |
Engine 39 reporting for duty sir...  This is on Taylor at the corner of Byron, just across from Kiefer Hospital. It appears that someone intended to secure it but lost out to its old enemy, fire. | ||
Scofield Member Username: Scofield Post Number: 30 Registered: 07-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
Anyone got any info on what caused that fire at Western High School? I lived in Detroit for 19 years and never even knew that! WOW! Scofield | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2814 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
The Stott Flour Mill fire was October 8, 1943. The mill, located at 2453 W Warren between Grand River and 17th Street (just a block away from the DFD school), was vacant at the time. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2815 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
Thanks for the info about Engine 8 occupying Ladder 12's old house. I see Ladder 12 was one of the few which was originally on its own - not sharing space with an engine company. The chart back on page one shows that Engine 8 moved from Sixth & Bagley to its present location in 1982, so Ladder 12 must have closed prior to that. | ||
Chub Member Username: Chub Post Number: 379 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 70.236.180.186 |
Engine 39 at Taylor and Byron was demoed by the city last Fall. I was very sad to see it go, but arson had destroyed it badly in the last two years. | ||
Al_t_publican Member Username: Al_t_publican Post Number: 99 Registered: 06-2004 Posted From: 72.207.99.250 |
Any active or retired, like me, DFD members on this site? Ladder 12 (or is it Engine?) quarter's on W. Lafayette is one of the few firehouses in Detroit, maybe the only one, with the kitchen on the second floor. Also, look behind the firehouse and you will find the stables for the horses that were pulled out of service in 1924(?). There are a few firehouses with the stables still at the rear of the building, if they haven't been razed in recent years. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 623 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.8 |
Al, my dad is retired but completely computer illiterate (so he doesn't post). A few others have retired dads, also. I think just ffdfd is active (from what I gathered reading the posts). Welcome to the thread!! I always thought it was neat when dad took us to houses with the stables (me being a horse person). I always loved visiting the houses and, more often than not, being asked to stay for lunch/dinner. What conversations!! I think I learned more colorful language (even though they tried not to say such things with we girls around), learned more about life, and got more than my share of lectures about the evils of boys from my dozen or so "dads". What good times those were!! | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 3 Registered: 09-2006 Posted From: 68.43.216.55 |
The old Engine 39 has a sister building -- Engine 34 on Livernois. It's the only firehouse with a fireplace (note the chimney on the left side of the building in the E39 photo). A very cool feature during the winter months. When the old E39 had it's two fires in summer '05 (or was it '04?), I remember hearing that Derrick Coleman owned it and was rehabbing it for some sort of community center. Don't know if that's true -- just the rumor at the time. E39 now operates out of 14th and Blaine -- the newest firehouse in the city (at least until E27/L8 move to the new public safety supercenter just off I75 in southwest). The new E39 opened in 1983 and is completely devoid of any character. Ugh! | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 132 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Does Engine 18 have a stable in the back? Welcome to the new posters! | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1576 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.2.148.18 |
The 1921 Sanborn map for Ladder 12, 1625 W Lafayette. "2 shifts of 8 men each, 78 hp Seagrave 85' aerial truck with 4 36' __ ladders, 1 30 gal chem tank, and 4 babcocks."  The four story bldg on the corner of 10th, was the Detroit Electric Car Co (1907-39), later with Anderson Electric. | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 4 Registered: 09-2006 Posted From: 68.43.216.55 |
""Does Engine 18 have a stable in the back?"" Engine 18 was put out of service last year, but Ladder 10 still runs out of that house on Mt. Elliott. It's been a while since I was detailed there, but I'm 99.95 percent sure there is a stable. There are a few firehouses where the stable outbuildings remain -- Engines 31 (W. Grand Blvd.) and 32 (E. Jefferson) come to mind off the top of my head. The old stables are only used for storage, so I haven't really paid attention to their existence in my travels around the city. Only regulars at a house would have reason to go in a stable, and none of the houses I've run at have had one. I should start taking note on my details and maybe compile a list. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1582 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.19.22.135 |
Looks like my Engine 18 post disappeared. Engine 18, 3820 Mt Elliott, 1922 Sanborn. "Rescue Co. 3, 20 men - 2 shifts, 1 Packard Auto, full resuscitation equipment." "Engine Co. 18, 16 men - 2 shifts, 1 Ahrens-Fox Auto Pumper and Hose Wagon, Capy 700 gpm, 1000' 2 1/2" CRL hose, 1000' 2 1/2" CRL hose in Reserve."  | ||
Jcdfde5 Member Username: Jcdfde5 Post Number: 19 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.43.115.185 |
45 guys are still layed off including myself. I miss it and would do it for half the pay. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 624 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
JC, hope you all get back to work soon! Firebrat prayers are with all of you...check detroitfirefighters.net for callback info. They have some really good info. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 133 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
ffdfd, could you take some pictures of the firehouses in your travels? Especially of the interiors. They don't build'em like that anymore!  | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 134 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Jc, how were you on the job? | ||
Jcdfde5 Member Username: Jcdfde5 Post Number: 21 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.43.115.185 |
What do you mean? | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 95 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 134.67.6.11 |
Welcome new DFD posters! You and your counter-parts in the area ARE our heros! The old Engine 8 on Bagley was a great place to park for Tiger games and HQ was great for stuff at Cobo, etc. One interesting benefit of being part of the DFD family was easy/free parking. My Dad retired 25 years ago and, like Detroitteacher's Dad, mine doesn't do computers. I'm going to ask my siblings to show him this thread (and Detroit Polonia which is the area he grew up in.) If he has any comments, I'll add them for him. Again, like Detroitteacher, (another DFDbrat commonality!!) I pray that you folks get some decent equipment and more staffing though I think we can guess how likely that is to happen. Can't tell you how many close calls Dad had because of malfunctioning radios, etc. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 632 Registered: 06-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.8 |
I also parked freebie style at Engine houses and HQ!! We thought we were being sneaky Guess not! Dad also complained bitterly about equipment failure and close calls. Can't count the times we worried about him at huge fires because they couldn't get decent equipment (not to mention finding a fire hydrant that actually worked). One time they couldn't find a hydrant that worked so they rigged something together and sucked the water out of someone's pool to contain the fire (I think it was a garage). Not sure how far back this story goes, but interesting, nonetheless. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 135 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
Jcefde5, Sorry. I need to read what I write! I meant to ask, how long had you been on the job when you got laid off. | ||
Jcdfde5 Member Username: Jcdfde5 Post Number: 22 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.43.115.185 |
I Was a trial FF. We are screwed. 5 shifts away from badge. (Message edited by jcdfde5 on September 12, 2006) | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 136 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 66.161.214.251 |
...............sad I'm pullin for ya brother.  | ||
Jcdfde5 Member Username: Jcdfde5 Post Number: 23 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.43.115.185 |
Thanks | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1590 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 66.19.17.84 |
Here's a link to an old Engine 3, a 1928 Seagrave being restored, with some old photos too. http://www.seagraveowners.org/28%20Seag.html This is a photo of the boys on Engine 8, a 1919 Ahrens-Fox Model J pumper. The DFD kept some of these in service for 30 years.  Photo from the Ahrens-Fox Fire Buffs Assoc site, lots of photos hidden in the models/serial # pages, including DFD fire photos: http://www.affba.org/ | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2839 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/hi storic/districts/engine_18.pdf http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/hi storic/districts/engine_11.pdf | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 666 Registered: 12-2005 |
Can anyone thrill this new recruit?:
| ||
Admin Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 602 Registered: 09-2003 |
Continue to Firehouses 5 |
