 |
|
 |
|
|
wearethtt Training
&
|
Wayne's Stuff # 16
When I was a very small boy and it was getting dark outside and my mother
Dorothy, and my sister Edith would sit huddled together on the davenport starring at the lighted dial of the Zenith consol radio listening to the Mummers, or the Shadow (Lamont Cranston) etc. the phone would ring and my mother would wait. If it stopped after the 2nd ring, she would call Engine 7 (old E-7). After my mother, and sister, it was my turn to talk to Dad, and all was well.
About the boots. After many years of socks
wadded-up on the front of my foot ( no matter what
kind ), I finally stopped wearing them. I would however, carry a pair inside breast pocket of my fire-coat. Did'nt bother me sans socks in winter....When I made capt. I purchased a "stovepipe" cap from Metropolitan Uniform downtown. I still have it. FDNY wears them...it's a smart looking jaunty cap...I thought to wear it until some chief told me otherwise. No one ever did. not even on the 3rd. floor....Do I ever remember when the LIME GREEN rigs rolled out of the apparatus dept. I was more steamed than I care to remember. I actually felt as though I were personally wounded. Seeyaatthebigone A guy called " Stinky " He use to sell perfume and he would always squirt the outside phone with some smelly perfume and when you made a phone call you had to hold it arms length away because it stunk
-
Remember when you played cards for dishes at
some quarters. If you won the first hand (and you
always did as a detail) you started the dishes, then the losers of the last two hands would finish. Trouble was, by the time that card game was over, you had the dishes done.
Wayne, the gun was a shotgun on E32 to shoot a rope over
to gar wood's. They would then hook the rope to
the 11/2 and pull it over to the island. There was a bridge that you were not supposed to use
They tried using the gun the night Gar Wood's went to a second alarm but it
didn't get the rope over to the other side. Back in the 80's, I found the shotgun in E32's supply room . I later turned it into the shop. Thanks for the memories. Like a ray of sunshine in a stormy world you came into our computers every morning. That special calling that we were all a part of was such a life adventure that only Firefighters can appreciate those events to their fullest. For me you opened that creaky dusty door to the memory room of my heart. Names, procedure and haunting images from the past were all skillfully popping up on my computer every morning. Yes......you did make me smile every day. It was a good way to get these old bones ready to face another 24hrs on earth. As those memories fade into oblivion like the smoke of the many fires we fought, I like to think I was part of a special band of human beings. People who were brave and giving. People who were willing to face danger and laugh when they returned to the engine house. People who were full of fun, practical jokes and a degree of intelligence not displayed in many professions. It was like living two lives. One life was that 24hr shift that was spent with a family dressed in blue . The other life was with our regular family. The second life had us working in many crafts and businesses. Roofers, carpenters, insurance salesmen ,school teachers, the list is endless. I thank the lord that I was able to be a part of the Detroit Fire Department.
JOHN
DOE was an operator, like most Chief Drivers are. He drove Chief
Seven. I was in the manpower pool, we called engine 1 (boat tender) the night before we worked and got our detail for the next day I once got seven details in a row to engine company # _ _ had cot watch every time you were treated like shit . Ok. M-I-C---K-E-Y---MMMOOOUUUSSSEEE. Scott steel
air-tank---37lbs. Higby-notch---
.
I found the code card that was in all of the alarm
boxes,thought you would like a copy.
SIGNALS 22 Get 22 Pull Box 2nd
Alarm Trailer number must follow 66 or 77 to indicate number
4 '' 4
'' Rescue Co.
MANPOWER POOL I was confirmed
as a firefighter on 9-20-66. As was city policy at that time, I was
transferred to Boat Tender 1 . Boat Tender 1, the manpower pool as it
was
That was
FEO JOHN DOE in 1964 the infraction was not paying just and lawful
debts.
Navy 1 & 1/2 " Rockwood with long, and short adapters....Uniroyal,standpipe bundle, & newsbag filled with the "jewels"...We could only take the "mags" if we tore-off the covers.
Hi Wayne, We
all remember being "sub/human...a substitute firefighter as it
were...Oldtimers would remind us on occassion that our "sheet" had not
reached the
How about
Rockwood nozzle It was brass and you could use a straight stream or fog
also you could put and attachment on the end to fight oil
fires. I was watching
a WW1 Movie the other day and there smoke masks looked just the one's we
used when we came on the job.
NOTE FROM WAYNE THIS IS
WHAT THEY SENT BACK
In Windsor they call a new
firefighter a "Red Ass". They even address the trial person like We call our new
firefighters "cadets" or "boots"
(not often). Mostly cadets. Thank you for your recent email to
the London Fire Brigade regarding the .
You will find that new qualified fighters We call our new firefighters "recruits". To answer your question about
new fire fighters we
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR FIRST WORK
CLOTHES BEFORE PERMANENT Wayne, Engine 32 carried
a "navy" shot-line gun. It was, or about to behind residential
garages, and at one place, a small bridge for Hi Wayne, How about
"military time" in 1967? Also, the next year we
Wayne the Engine that
carried a shot gun ( Not a rifle ) on the rig was
Eng 32 I ran there from 64/67 We had a house that was on an Island in our district. There was a bridge to the Island but wasn't strong enough to hold the Engine. So we would fire the shot gun that had a line on the projectile across the stream and then tie a rope on the line then we would tie the line (fire) to the rope and the Chief would stretch the line to the fire. This is the same system that the US Navy uses when refueling at sea If we have any OLD NAVY MEN, THEY WILL KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.. Wayne In the 3 1/2 years that I ran there we never used the shot gun. Also Eng.32 was the only Eng that carried 3 Hard suctions because our district was by the Detroit river and there was a chance that we would have to draft at a fire. My entire time as a FEO 19 years out of 25 1/2 years on the job I never drafted at a Fire, I guess I was lucky...............1-6
When I started at
E-32 in 1964 the kitchen was upstairs, this was
changed in 66 or 67 not sure what year.??
GOOD JOB ON THESE E MAILS, THEY BRING BACK OLD
MEMORIES. THAT ONE ABOUT THE OLD GAS PUMP REMINDED ME OF THE HAND OPERATED GAS PUMPS I THINK ENG 38 HAD THE LAST ONE. I REMEMBER WE ALWAYS WENT THERE WHEN I WAS ON DUTY AS A TRIAL MAN. WHEN I GOT CONFIRMED WE WENT THERE AND I REFUSED TO FILL THE RIG AS THAT WAS THE FEO'S JOB. AFTER THAT WE ALWAYS WENT TO ENG 41 OR ENG 26 AS THEY BOTH HAD AN ELECTRIC PUMP. I RAN AT ENG 45 AT THE TIME. About the real name of red death. I can t remember my own name half the time so this might not be even close ,I think it was tri sodiom phosphate made by salvo co. and I think they were located on russel just down the street from the repair shop ???: houses that had walls between companies - I believe E -13 and L -11 had one.
They were
located on Milwaukee.
Wayne, Ladder 29
and Engine 32 were the companies that carried a
shot gun. They used it to shoot aline across the Gray Haven canal and then they could stretch a line across it.
The crazy 8's was
the way they recorded the afternoon and midnight shift differential. Everyone that worked the 24hour shift got 8 hours for the afternoon and 8 hours for the midnight shift. I asked the fire fighter who put the Mickey Mouse decal on all the engine house clocks why he was doing that, and he told me that when he walked into an engine house he would know if he had been there before. You got me smiling. _
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN There was no relief at multiple alarms. The first alarm companies stayed to the end, or were relived by the other unit. DO YOU REMEMBER SOME OF THE STORIES OF FIREMEN'S FIELD TICKET SELLERS One that I remember was in the 7th. Battalion. JOHN DOE was the regular ticket salesman at E-# _ _ Every night the Captain would ask JOHN how many tickets he sold that day? JOHN would reply I, sold 3 or I, sold 2. At the end of the ticket season JOHN would turn in his ticket money $42. The Captain thought he was selling two or three books a day not 2 or 3 tickets a day.
When you got a new dress coat or summer or winter
pants; you had to report to
the Chief of Dept.Office in full dress uniform to have it inspected. Half the time they did not have a contract with that uniform company; so they would give you used and turned in uniforms from people that had retired. Old uniforms had to be turned in upon retirement.When I first came on the job;they did not have a uniform contract and so my pants came up to the calf of my legs; my coat would wrap around me twice. I went to have it inspected and the Chief said,"Where in the hell did you get that uniform."" I explained there was no contract and it was a used uniform. He had me turn around twice as he eyed me up and down and said, "It doesn't look that BAD!!!!!" I was embarrassed to be seen in public. I always showed up for work before daybreak. It was six months before they issued me a proper uniform.
Anything out of the ordinary was written in the
ledger with red ink. All companies
had to make out a monthly request for supplies. Everyone put down two shammies, ink pens, pencils, and water pressure reports. Buddy relief forms and rags. (rags were always like denim or hard surfaced material; would not soak up any oil spills, just smeared it around.) Always squeezes, mops, mop heads, brooms, pike pole and axe. Don't forget emery paper. and the day he worked for you and the day you were going to pay him back? It had to be sent to the Chief of Depts. Office and approved.
Most infractions of the rules were
handled by the Battalion Chief. Serious
infractions were sent to the 7th Battalion, on permanent detail. Most details were to Engine# - - where sulfur dioxide fumes caused them to be sick most of the day. ________________________________ ABOUT "THE JUNK HOUSE" Wayne, the street name is Heidelberg off Mt. Elliott and the artist's name is Tyree Guyton and he was a Detroit Firefighter for a very short time in the 70's Do you remember 4-10-22 ? That was the last day that the fire horses when on a run ,down woodward ave. , the horses names were Peter, Jim, Tom, Babe, and Rusty. Over the years Detroit had some 500 horses with the average work life of only 4 to 5 years.
Do
you remember when the guy from engine 31 had an
accident with the Wood
Van, he had to have a Cabinet Marker do an appraisal on the Van. I believe that is correct?
HELLO WAYNE; ENGINE
45 WAS THE LAST HOUSE IN DETROIT TO GET ELECTRIC
DOORS, YOU HAD TO
OPEN & CLOSE THEM BY HAND, I CHASED THE RIG DOWN ST. JEAN MANY TIMES SO WE COULD BEAT THE OTHER COMPANIES TO THE BOX. THE GOOD OLD CHEMOX SUICIDE MASK, THERE WAS A LITTLE BUTTON ON THE FACE PIECE THAT RELIVED THE PRESSURE IN THE FACE PIECE IF YOU HELD IT TO LONG YOU HAD NO AIR AND WOULD HAVE TO TRY AND GET IT RESTARTED BY SQUEEZING THE HOSE AND BLOWING INTO IT WHILE YOU RELEASED THE HOSES IT WORKED SOME TIMES??? OR THE BUTTON WOULD GET STUCK AND THEY WOULD CARRY YOU OUT, I SURE MISS THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Remember the Chlorine
Kits at Squad 4 & E31's quarters? Anyone who
ran at those quarters will. They were
3 wooden boxes small to large.A two man carry. Each was color coded. Yellow, green and red. They were equipped with tools, clamps, gaskets, etc. to stop leaks in everything from a Hundred pound cylinder to a railroad tank car. They were kept under the stairway in quarters. I spent 16 years at Squad 4 and I only remember putting them on the rig maybe four times. Central would request us to bring them on certain runs. One time we were sent on a run to the railroad tunnel to Canada. There was a derailment with a possible tank car leak. Because the kit for railroad cars was so heavy, we decided to walk in and if we smelled chlorine we would go back and get the kit. The cars were not leaking so we got lucky that night.
Also, about the walls dividing fire companies
Ladder 21 & Engine 42. Ladder 21
was built in 1921. Engine 42 was located on Grand river between Beverly & Martindale. In 1927 Engine 42's existing quarters were built next to Ladder 21. They also have two separate basements. wayne in regard to your telegraph signals, here are a few you can add. 1-8 asst. chief in serv. 1-9 asst. chief out of serv. 10-10 all cos. in 10-4 silent watch, 11 school,12 no school, 13 flag half mast, 14 flag full mast, 8 test, 4-4-4-4-dept.radio out of service , 5-5-5-5- dept . radio in service . then on the gong and register, 15 straight stand by for radio message in one min., 20 straight blows turn off radio, 1-6 restrict use of dept phone, 1-7 normal use of dept. phone ________________________________
Remember
connecting a peice of black hose with a hole on
one side in the exact center.This was to blend both water faucets so that you could get the right temperature.
The other squirt was Engine
36, it didn't work very well.
Wayne, Do you remember all the engine
houses where the guys connected the hot and cold
faucets with a piece of garden hose to mix the water ?
Some poles were filled with sand, while
others had a square block of red cedar inside that ran the length of the pole.
Wayne, I
hated re-kindles (nests) cause...the thrill
was gone.
Eng 47 and
Lad 30 at Mt Elliott and Davison had to
have the extra Supports in the basement. They were make out of cement block
Hello
Wayne; L19 had a bunch of supports in
its basement,so did chief 7's
quarters. The ceilings were falling in both of these buildings the basement ceilings are the first levels floors
E-36 Helen & Miller was a squirt ,I
drove it for a couple years.
I
found the rig to be top heavy and
you had to be careful on the
turns............. If you ever came down to the 7th Batt,you may have run into our two most famous engine house characters. There was "The Fonz" from engine 37. This kid thought he was the "Fonz". He mimicked all the sayings and mannerisms of that TV personality. . The most famous kid was "Howard from engine 33 and sometimes engine 29. He always wore a suit. Probably from the Salvation Army. He had a high pitched voice and was susceptible to practical jokes. When his family moved to Kentucky the guys threw him a retirement party . . A good time was had by all. A few weeks later Howard came into the Engine house and said they moved back. He wondered if he could get a welcome home party.
Do you remember Betty, the old gal
who lived down the street from Eng.
5. At the YMCA
there was a Captain from Eng 41.
He was the strongest man in America
in
Hi Wayne, I always
stuck my finger thru the DFD/lightning
bolt matrix to stop the "siren"but always do it on the left-side pushing in and pulling down. The Exec. Chief and Dep. Exec. Chief drivers actually had "Chiefs # and Aid" on their shields. Do you remember when we had "Chief of Dept., and Deputy Chief "? Do you remember when Chiefs actually "went-in". Now they are not allowed to enter while the fire is in progress. Do you remember that one could go down on charges for breaking windows to ventilate?
When my grandfather
came on in 1921, nearly every
room contained at least one
spitoon. Not the shiny brass
jobs depicted in so many movies and photos. Oh no, these cussies were cast iron, covered in porcelein, and they were HEAVY. It was usually the youngest man's job to clean these disgusting things once a day. This feat was accomplished by holding the cussy over the toilet and scooping out the contents with a bowl brush. Fun eh!!!
In the early part of
the 20th century, many
firefighters were gleaned from
the ranks of merchant seamen who
plied the Great Lakes in summer and came on the D.F.D. in winter. Their language was, shall we say, colorful. On one occasion while this old deck hand was cleaning the cussy, he dropped the thing demolishing the toilet. He gave this explanation to the officer of the house: "Beg to pardon ya Cap't, but while I was cleaning out the spitter, the damn ting slipped from me mitts and broke the crapper all to hell". (NOTE: If you think cleaning the cussy was fun, cleaning the wall behind the cussy was just as bad.) WAYNE,WHEN I STARTED the spittoons were on the floor by the watch desk.And the wall next to the spittoon was dirty too,subs had to wash the spittoons & the walls around it.At old ladder 5 on erskine we had to keep our feet up while on watch so the rats wouldnt bite . Wayne I remember when this firefighter would say you can't sit in that chair its mine , and the young firefighter would say , why has it got your name on it? And the senior FF would say yes and turn the chair over and show him his name. Little did the young FF know that every chair had his name on them
Back in the late
1950's at Engine 22
Captain JOHN DOE
went on vacation,and while
he was gone
FF JOHN SMITH took all the spittoons and got rid them.
When the
Captain got back he
was hoppin mad.what FF SMITH
didnt know there were 6 more
in the attic.
When
Captain JOHN DOE went
on kelly change FF SMITH
AND FF JOHES got rid of the cuzzys
again.
When the
Captain got back this
time he was furious and
threatened transfers, but at
the time nobody saw who
did it.
Captain DOE then went
all over thr fifth battalion
and skronged up 6 more
cuzzys, FF SMITH
had to wait a long
time for the
Captain to go on
vacation again, but he
finally won out and
got rid all cuzzys
at Engine 22.
I think he
started the trend to remove
those filthy cuzzys.
HELLO WAYNE; WHEN I CAME ON THE JOB EVERYTHING WAS PUMPED OUT BY HAND, EXCEPT DURING THE BEGINNING OF HYDRANT SEASON. THEN EACH BATTALION WAS ALLOWED THE HYDRANT CAR. THERE WERE TWO OF THEM, DURING THE YEAR THEY WERE ASSIGNED TO FIRE PREVENTION AS INSPECTOR CARS THEY BOTH HAD AN ELECTRIC AIR COMPRESSOR IN THE TRUNK, YOU WOULD TRY AND HOOK UP WITH ANOTHER ENGINE HOUSE SO YOU WOULD HAVE TWO GUYS WORKING TOGETHER, AND YOU WOULD PUMP HYDRANTS FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN UNTIL THEY WERE DONE YOU ONLY GOT THE CAR FOR ONE DAY FOR YOUR ENGINE HOUSE SO YOU HAD TO HUSTLE, IF YOU GOT ANOTHER HOUSE TO GO ALONG WITH YOU, YOU HAD TWO DAYS. WE DIDN'T HAVE VERY MANY BAD HYDRANTS IN THOSE DAYS AS ENGINEERS WOULD PUMP THEM OUT IN THE SUMMER AS WELL AS THE WINTER LET ME REPHRASE THAT THE ENGINEERS WOULD HAVE THE YOUNGEST MAN PUMP OUT THE HYDRANT SUMMER & WINTER. I REMEMBER THOSE FUN DAYS AS I WAS ALWAYS THE YOUNGEST MAN.
Wayne,
c.h.u.d.
was a class 'B' movie that
lasted about two months at the
local theaters
and the
guys in the 7th (mostly L-13 /
E-33 ) created the term from
the movie that
was
'dumb & dumb-er' . They even
got the poster from one of the
theaters and had
it in
the engine house for a while.
In regards to the old stretchers we had 3 kinds of soft stretchers ,the solid one where you pulled out the poles & rolled the person . the one with the slat in the middle , and then you just pulled the slat out of the middle and each side was pulled out with the poles on either side, and the real soft one with the 8 canvas handles no poles ,which was used for the tight bending stair ways. The first jaws of life were actually a set of hydraulic tools used by bump shops for auto repair that the city got a deal on. Four Sevens was on Dix in the 7th
I was
reminded of the pole at
Engine 27 that went from the
third floor to the apparatus
floor. It went straight
down through the dormitory. You had to be careful as you went through the dormitory because if the pole swayed you could hit the sides of the hole. The pole had a lot of whip in it because of the length. We used to play a lot of raquet ball up on the third floor and used that pole a lot. I don't think any other house had a pole similar to E-27.
The "Fonz"
went through a faze where he
was the "Bionic Man". I was
detailed to E-37 and got
stuck on
afternoon watch. While sitting in the watch room reading I caught something moving outside the window. I went to look and witnessed the "Fonz" in his "Bionic Man" mode, moving in slow motion to emulate Lee Majors. The first time I ever met him he came up to me and told me he was going to kick my ass if I crossed him. He stood before me, all 5'5" of him, seemingly fearless till I took a fast step towards him and he bolted. Someone told me that the Fonz was the type of guy that would sit in a sniper position and have the crosshairs of a rifle trained on you. He really did have a creepy look in his eyes.
Remember when
the city decided they wanted
to form a volunteer division
. They ordered us to go out
and
recruit these volunteers. The 7th Battalion went out and did a great job of recruiting . Fonz and Howard went downtown telling them that they should be Chiefs because they had experience in the engine house that other volunteers didn"t have. The volunteer meeting featured a full brawl as the Fonz and Howard argued over who should be Chief of the volunteers. The Training Academy officer who was in charge of organizing these volunteers was pulling his hair out in frustration. ABOUT "STELLA" THAT HUNG AROUND DOWNTOWN AND SCREAMED. . Actually she was an immigrant from Greece her fiancee sent her here so that they both could have a new start. (she spoke no English when she arrived here) days turned into weeks weeks into months, no fiancee. As a result she had a nervous breakdown. The nurse's at Detroit General would give her old nurses uniforms and the first prct some of the pd would give her some money. She hung around Greek town with the hope that her fiancee would show up.
HELLO WAYNE;
I WAS READING THRU ONE OF
MY TRADE MAGAZINES, &
FOUND
SOMETHING INTERESTING. THE MAGAZINE IS FASTEST STREET CAR FEB.2004 ISSUE. ON THE LAST PAGE UNDER QUACKFACK. " THE REASON FIREHOUSES HAVE CIRCULAR STAIRWAYS IS FROM THE DAYS OF YORE WHEN THE ENGINES WERE PULLED BY HORSES. THE HORSES WERE STABLED ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND FIGURED OUT HOW TO WALK UP STRAIGHT STAIRCASES." THAT EXPLAINS WHY ALMOST EVERY OLD DETROIT FIRE HOUSE HAD A DOOR ON THE STAIRWAY AT THE GROUND FLOOR. THE HORSES COULD NOT FIGURE HOW TO OPEN THE DOOR TO TAKE A 1 TO 4.
Wayne,
used the
O'Dell ladder once, in
training at E-3;early
one Sunday morning so we
didn't get run over! It was a little difficult to set up; but once you knew how; it was not difficult at all.
HELLO
WAYNE; YES IF YOU
WERE FIRST ON THE
BOX IT WAS YOUR FIRE
AND YOU STAYED TO THE END. I THINK THEY STOPPED THAT AFTER TWO BIG FIRES ONE WAS MIDWEST PAPER WITCH BURNED FOR A WEEK, THE OTHER ONE WAS ON THE WEST SIDE AROUND ZUG ISLAND AND IT ALSO BURNED FOR A WEEK OR SO. THE FIRST TRUCK ON ALL MULTIPLES WAS THE REPORTING TRUCK SO THEY HAD TO GET ALL THE INFORMATION AFTER THE FIRE. C'mon Wayne, we could stay there 'till we dropped...IRON MAN...remember? I always considered it an insult to be relieved. Period. I know that sounds crazy, but fighting fires is crazy. ON EXPRESSIONS FROM A CHIEF I WROTE EXPRESSIONS WHEN I WAS A CHIEF, YOU WROTE EXPRESSIONS ON CAPTAINS COMING UP FOR CHIEF. Hi Wayne: Meant to answer your earlier letter relative to the extra alarms. Where we were still fighting a fire after our tour of duty was supposed to end at 9:00 A.M. We were relieved by the on coming unit who arrived by taxi, no fooling. Sometimes they didn't arrive until ten o'clock and we did not get paid any over time nor compensatory time off. A co |
