"The War Years "(Lower East Side) - Interview with Lt Gary Howard FDNY
"The War Years" in terms of Firefighting in NYC raged from the late 1960's all through the 1970's ( and from my memory, lingered on even longer in the Bronx)--
Marked by Firefighters put under incredible strain of up to 30,000 alarms a year ( most of them malicious false alarms where they were attacked by mostly kids throwing rocks and bottles at them often from rooftops)-- to say nothing of all the actual fires and health emergencies-- Engine 28 on the Lower East Side became the most decorate firehouse in the City finally...
Lt Gary Howard has his tale to tell here...a pretty remarkable one on how a very intelligent and resolute young fireman was battling for his life and those of his fellow firefighters while the City was actually cutting the number of Firefighters and Cops while fire and crime soared ( because of the Fiscal Crisis)..
I guess you have to have lived through those years to really understand them ( As I tell Gary here, I lived just several blocks West and some blocks North of where he was-- at Fourth Avenue and 13th Street-- and while there was a firehouse just next door, I was aware of it mostly because of the calls to OUR building-- we had, among other crosses to bear, a whacko fire-setter-- he had a grudge with the management of the building-- a man with a PhD. who actually was a big deal in the City University System!)
After one really awful fire in the compacter room on my floor,(thank God the building was fireproof construction), I said to the worn out firefighter who was no waiting for the elevator, " well, glad that's over,"-- and he shook his head wearily and said, " Yeah- HERE'-- meaning he knew what a night he still probably had ahead of him...
https://youtu.be/Eq55Z2ScdB0
Gary thinking of you brother. Hope all is well. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired
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