Happy 4th Holiday-- Firemen, Of Course, are Working

While this will be a holiday for most of us, many people such as first responders will be working long shifts..

Above, Eng 76 and Ladder 22 on the far Upper West Side stop in the very late afternoon....they were there for a long time.

Who knows what was up? Saw firemen going in and out of a couple of different buildings. They are called out for so many different things....

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/zbFgiXd-wvs

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..

Here are photos from the local Firehouse... 

They cover the area "from Harlem to the Hudson"-- quite a chunk of land

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 VIDEOS; VISIT WITH FDNY 'MIKE THE PROBIE' and with FIREMAN ROCCO

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

This interview was several months ago...So Mike is now  well 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

Here is a look around the Firehouse and a brief meeting with Fireman Rocco there:

MY VIDEO; FOLLOW UP VISIT TO ENG 76 L 22 WHERE WE MET FIREMAN ROCCO

Went back to Eng76L22 on West 100th Street and this time met friendly fireman Rocco, who told me Mike was still there ( and still a Probie)

VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/RZ33ouHIhbE

Took some more shots of the station house

They have their Memorial Wall for Line of Duty Deaths too

Look inside cab of rig of Eng 76

Gear in waiting for next runs-- as noted, this is a very busy shop and they are on the move all the time

Out for the area "From Harlem to the Hudson"

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...