Visit to My Local Firehouse, Eng 76 L 22 on West 100th Street in Manhattan

Again, My Visit to Local Firehouse in Manhattan

FDNY: Visit to Our Local Heroes on West 100th Street- Engine 76 Ladder 22 -Plus E76Thawing Unit - 11th Battalion

ENGINE 76 

ORGANIZED 105 W. 102nd St. (Apr. 15, 1904)
PRESENT QUARTERS 145 W. 100th St. (Dec. 3, 1960)
Engine 76 photo archive

LADDER 22

ORGANIZED 766 Amsterdam Ave. (Apr. 21, 1891)
PRESENT QUARTERS 145 W. 100th St. (Dec. 3, 1960)
Ladder 22 photo archive

And Just Above here, historic shot of L 22 Chemical Wagon..

Had the pleasure today to drop by the local Firehouse..

Great bunch of guys. Dammit, I should have gotten some names and maybe some stories ( can't find any stories on the internet-- well, I will have to go back as soon as the coming Polar Vortex passes. I hope get some names and stories then...)

I don't want to pester them or take up too much of their time of course...I see them out on the street all the time of course, as well as their Engine 76 Thawing Unit...they cover "Harlem to the Hudson" -- quite a chunk of this Island...

Thanks once again for being so hospitable, guys! And for risking life and limb to keep this City safe!

Above: Pictures of the FF's who died on Sept. 11

There are links above to some of the historical photos but first here is a brief video Eng 76 pulling out:

http://www.rescue911.de/vid21809.search.htm

And here is Interview with Mike, the Probie ( brief)

I am always interested in what inspires people to be firefighters

MY VIDEO; VISIT WITH FDNY 'MIKE THE PROBIE'

I guess most of you know by now that they call rookie Firefighters in NYC "Probies" as they are on probation for a year and a half after the Academy.

I ran into this really friendly young man  (Mike) totally by accident...I had moved up to the Upper West Side from my old Kips Bay neighborhood and thought I would drop by the local Firehouse, Eng 76 L 22, and see if I could take some photos.

As always, I wanted to get a little information from any Fireman I met and maybe a little background story. Dropping in on people unannounced of course is not always the best way to interview people, -- but here was this one:

https://youtu.be/q2RTeyP1VZ0

So Mike is now on his way to becoming a full fledged fireman and joining the 150 year tradition of the FDNY

Have to note if you didn't know that "Probies" are supposed to "know their place" and do all sorts of chores and errands including washes the dishes after meals - being as I note here " at the sink all the time." They also get a lot of ribbing from the established Firefighters, which is hopefully always within the limits of fair play and good humor  ( alas, there have been times when it has not been so, but to me that is an inherent drawback of this kind of Rite of Passage.

Above: Probies at the Academy

And oh, yeah, have to note that Firefighters relieve the stress and tension of life at the Firehouse by playing practical jokes on each other ( including their officers) all the time.

Probably necessary and OK again as long as it stays within bounds...