Washington D.C. Fire Apparatus Photos

[Rich Schaffer]

alright cos you tell me.....wtf? fire investigator displaying the cause?

[Rich Schaffer]

now that is a full head of steam..............and it is another important picture! if you look close the coal wagon just dumped a load behind the steamer!

[Rich Schaffer]

Christ... the steamer makes as much smoke as the fire.

[Rich Schaffer]

Georgetown? Visitation? another excellent early image.

[Rich Schaffer]

neat! not sure which DC trucks though...

[Rich Schaffer]

damn! someone probably got in trouble here mike...

[Rich Schaffer]

is that the PF? anyone know the importance and location of that building? notice the makeshift standpipe! also, the guylines on the tower are interesting...never noticed them before- not to be confused with the ropes controlling the nozzle direction.

[Rich Schaffer]

regarding the images..... click on them to enlarge, then click again to open in a seperate screen that you should be able to enlarge more, otherwise you can always right click and save them, then enlarge using paint or any other photo viewing/editing program. They are all high resolution and you should be able to see them fine when enlarged.

[Observer]

I have seen water towers operate at fires several times and those guy lines in the picture rigged to the rear. They are usually tied to something in the direction of the stream to counter nozzle reaction.

[SqueekyWD13]

Thank god there's no sound with these pics. My squeeky little voice would give me away.

[Greenshield]

damn! someone probably got in trouble here mike...

I agree....Do you have the intersection and/or year? It looks like it may be 15th and S, or in that area. Behind the Scottish Rite Temple perhaps. I would like the year so I can look it up in the old journal. It would be interesting to see what entries were made.

[Rich Schaffer]

no idea and no further info unless Lt Kemp knows, its funny, I was thinking it was around 20th and Bellmont or columbia and wyoming..... but it could be anywhere. it would be nice to find the building. Embry will have to chime in.

[getto boss]

I agree....Do you have the intersection and/or year? It looks like it may be 15th and S, or in that area. Behind the Scottish Rite Temple perhaps. I would like the year so I can look it up in the old journal. It would be interesting to see what entries were made.



I would say that it looks like that area also. It might be the area around 19th & Mintwood or up in that neck of the woods!!
I blew up the pic to look at that what looks like a street sign under that lamp but couldn't read it. The rig is 9's Ahern Fox that they did the Ertl bank for!!

[DCFD1310]

27 Engine S-171
2006/2008 Seagrave Wagon
1250 GPM/500GWT:)

[DCFD1310]

E-27 S-171, River Terrace N.E.:D

[DCFD1310]

Deanwood Demons Patch on S-171, & the backstep.

[bunkroombandit]

So this was parked outside Engine 32. The "new/old patch" looks to be a travesty. Not sure if I'd rather have the patch with the big ol' "AND" or the retro-fitted "fire and ems" patch with the ems staff instead of the hydrant...thoughts?

[OrangeHelmet4]

Deanwood Demons Patch on S-171, & the backstep.


That is a very cool patch! Great pics!

[TCosgroveJones]

So this was parked outside Engine 32. The "new/old patch" looks to be a travesty. Not sure if I'd rather have the patch with the big ol' "AND" or the retro-fitted "fire and ems" patch with the ems staff instead of the hydrant...thoughts?


Or how about this Door Seal:confused:

Cosgr:Dve

[NorthSTAR]

Or how about this Door Seal:confused:

Cosgr:Dve

splain yourself

[TCosgroveJones]

splain yourself
There is really nothing to Splain:rolleyes:
this is the 1'st door seal that i know of in the Modern DCFD. I think we should go back to it.
Cosgr:Dve

[getto boss]

I'm with Cos on that one. Or these two would be nice too!!

[NorthSTAR]

There is really nothing to Splain:rolleyes:
this is the 1'st door seal that i know of in the Modern DCFD. I think we should go back to it.
Cosgr:Dve

Hmm, its just that ur pic looks like new paint..... much better than a 30ish year old photo should. I agree its very nice. This is the best version of it I could find.

[Antozilla]

OK, the old seal and I say the stars and bars paint. DCFD rigs are too plain. The guys who ride em are however, rather colorful.

[Lt17]

Boss,

The Eagle patch is my favorite, the one on the right is just some shit Teddy stole from FDNY.

[getto boss]

The Eagle patch is my favorite






Lou,
Mine too!!!:D And the other one I liked cause it didnt have EMS on it!! :rolleyes:

[TCosgroveJones]

Hmm, its just that ur pic looks like new paint..... much better than a 30ish year old photo should. I agree its very nice. This is the best version of it I could find.


That would be because the pic you posted is one I posted awhile ago. It is a scan of the patch on the door of a B Model Mack ;)

Cosgr:Dve

[NorthSTAR]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

[TCosgroveJones]

Tr Co C
Cosgr:Dve

[SrFireOfficial]

I spotted a reincarnation of the old "eagle" patch on a red 4 door pick up at the two alarm fire yesterday in the 5500 block of 5th Street NW. Is there a plan to re-introduce that seal as the new patch. PS: The new patch had one of those EMS snake things where the hydrant was on left lobe of the Maltese Cross.

[SrFireOfficial]

As I previously posted above, I found this decal on a red four door DCFD pick up truck that had some obscure designator on it that I can't remember. I took the pic with my camera phone and cleaned it up a little here. Sorry for the quality and lack of information. If it helps "decode" what vehicle I am talking about, there was a fire hydrant decal on the rear passenger door with a pair of crossed lightning bolts through it. Somebody please enlighten me.

[Hornet's Nest]

These new vehicles are assigned to the Customer Service Unit, one for each geographical battalion. They currently have one Sgt. and 2 Private's assigned to them. They handle hydrant testing, installation of smoke detectors, major water leaks, etc. The CSU's are, or where partially funded by WASA, in response to the Adams Mill Road fire and all the water supply issues that came to light in the aftermath. Hope that helps.

[fd141]

Does anybody read the threads before posting? Check out Post # 522 and THEN # 536....

[Rich Schaffer]

the image Cos posted in 534 is one the the most important in DC apparatus history! Awesome! Embry told me that the Water Tower is responding down F Street in that picture, but I replied to him that it looks more like they are returning from a run as they are at a "trot". He quickly reminded me that the Water Tower was only allowed to respond at a "trot" (perhaps for safety reasons)! There is a 3 man crew on board and one of the men has a Truck 3 helmet on. pm me and I will send a higher resolution scan to anyone who wants one. It is an interesting image and taken rather "late" in the history of horses of DCFD.

[Rich Schaffer]

Firefighter passing under the somewhat "new" Arlington Memorial Bridge, despite it being referenced as the 14th St (aka "Long" bridge). Alot of people never knew that the Memorial Bridge is a drawspan!

[Rich Schaffer]

probably the same time frame as the previous image-

[Backstep]

Rich,
I believe the railroad bridge ("Long Bridge") has now been straight railed IE it no longer opens as a draw span. I believe the RR stopped manning the drawspan at least 10 years ago, if not earlier, due to the lack of navigation on the Potomac River. I imagine the Memorial Bridge is also inactive as a drawspan. I would love to learn your research technique, these photos are awesome.

Goldie

[E G McGuire]

It's been longer than ten years. The RR bridge and definitely the Southernmost (inbound) span of the vehicular 14th St Bridges are designed as draw bridges. However, the Metro bridge most certainly is not, and I'm not sure about the outbound or HOV spans. So any movement of the bridges ceased at least when Metro crossed the river if not before.

[Greenshield]

I love the Eagle patch on the CSU's. I would recommend that the snake on the pole be slightly morphed to a young lady twirling around the pole. If you get my drift.

[Rich Schaffer]

I love the Eagle patch on the CSU's. I would recommend that the snake on the pole be slightly morphed to a young lady twirling around the pole. If you get my drift.

WTF......
I just realized what you are talking about Greenshield. Is that a caduceus? Which represents (in many forms) "speed", as in "speed in healing", "speed in care", "speed in delivery" (yes, the US Post Office even used the caduceus for many years as well as it was carried by Mercury, the messenger of the Gods!), as well as the medical profession, etc.

I am impressed that someone used that on our patch, except for the simple problem that thousands of people do not know what a caduceus means or what it represents.......perhaps an EMS star or even crossed band-aids would have been more appropriate? Then again, does the public know what the initials EMS stands for? Mostly not.

But in all honesty, I like it and I am impressed....it adds a certain level of intellect to the patch, I guess.

As I have said in the past, EMS service is EMS service is a fire service is a rescue service is a EMS service is a fire service is a rescue service and by any other name it is still, and will always be, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. I wish we could forget some of the decisions of previous administrations and go back to the following:

1- Go back to the title and patch "DC Fire Department." We're still providing EMS and rescue, like every other department in the nation that has kept their original name through the years. In some of the writing and research (and interviews) I have done through the years it is very obvious that a certain chief/administration changed our name solely to appease the Mayor and public. And refused to use a title that any surrounding jurisdiction had, such as "FIRE & RESCUE" instead opting for "Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department". Yet there was never an increase in the quality of care and tx units until very recently.

2- re: comms....., get rid of the 5 syllable marble mouth term "communications" and go back to "headquarters" or just "DC" jeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssshhhhhh!

ALSO if you emailed me for the higher resolution jpegs I will need a home or department email to send it to!

ALSOALSO the youtube "we're no heroes" vids were removed, can anyone put some clips on there?

[Rich Schaffer]

Rich,
I believe the railroad bridge ("Long Bridge") has now been straight railed IE it no longer opens as a draw span. I believe the RR stopped manning the drawspan at least 10 years ago, if not earlier, due to the lack of navigation on the Potomac River. I imagine the Memorial Bridge is also inactive as a drawspan. I would love to learn your research technique, these photos are awesome.

Goldie


I love this picture of the 14th Street Bridge in 1932 and the Hoover "Washington National Airport" before the WPA moved it.... This was a DC box !........The 14th Street (swing) Highway Bridge was finally removed from the site in 1967, and was moved to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division for bombing practice. The new 14th Street bridge (as we see it today) was completed by that date, (it is a lift span) but less than a decade later METRO was here as was the end of industrial Georgetown- that was about the last date for tall ship transit on the upper navigable Potomac!

[Rich Schaffer]

For everyone who never saw this medallion or didn't know it existed (it was only used a short while)- I freehanded an example of the FDDC stacked letters which appeared on some apparatus and appliances before WW2. Here we also see it on an old nozzle from 24 Engine and my feeble attempt at drawing it tonight. After 2 glasses of Shiraz. :p

Correct me if I am wrong Cos, but the shop had their own little foundry and cast most, if not all, of the fire department's appliances. (Lorton also had a foundry, and for many years cast the city's street lamps and fire/police pedistals,- after getting the sand mould from Gamewell- ).

Some talented individual came up with the FDDC medallion probably about 1920? It would be wonderful to see this appear on apparatus again.

[Rich Schaffer]

I'd like to have that stairway. Probably demolished with the METRO facade-omy.

[OrangeHelmet4]

wow that is a nice stairway. Look at that hahn, it looks great!

[TCosgroveJones]

To get this topic going again. I have found some more oldies. Credit the Photographer.
1st Engine Co 20 doing Community Service by having a Boy Scout Fire Drill
2nd 1926 Dodge Chief's Buggy
Cosgr:Dve

[TCosgroveJones]

I took pictures of these pictures at the Museum of Eng Co 3 the other day.
The 1st two Pictures are of Eng Co 25 circa 1920's
The Second set are of Lt E. Cooper (ret) of RS No 3 donating a Circa 1800's Helmet and Garrison Belt from Eng Co 1 that he has had for years.
Cosgr:Dve

[beer]

Two things:

1. Does anyone have photos of the apparatus that the City bought from the City of Richmond some years ago?

2. Does anyone have a complete historical list of all fire chiefs of the department, including those who were in the acting position for any period of time?

Thanks

[Fargo2722]

Engine 24.
For better quality and to see shots of E21 and E6 visit Flickr: http://tinyurl.com/DCFD-WPW

[TCosgroveJones]

From the Shorpy sight for your viewing pleasure
Cosgr:Dve
May 24, 1912. "R.P. Andrews fire, 628 D Street N.W." Washington Post headline: "Mysterious Fire in R.P. Andrews Warehouse Does $75,000 Damage." The item goes on to say that the cause was thought to have been "wires connected with the electric elevator." National Photo Company glass negative.

[TCosgroveJones]

Another from Shorpy
Cosgr:Dve
October 23, 1915. Washington, D.C. "Bedell fire, Seventh & D streets." Bedell Manufacturing made mattresses. Three years after a fire in 1912, R.P. Andrews Paper has vacated its D Street premises, but the block still seems unusually combustible. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

[TCosgroveJones]

One more for tonight
Cosgr:Dve

December 28, 1925. "G.J. Mueller Fire." A five-alarm fire at George J. Mueller Candy Co. in Chinatown at 336 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., in view of the Capitol. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

Private Joseph A. Mayhew, of No. 2 engine company, suffered severe cuts on his hand when he picked up a broken hose connection. He was treated at Emergency Hospital ( Anybody know what Private Mayhew retired as ?)

[Styles]

He retired as the Fire Chief.
As a side note there has been a member of the Mayhew family on the job since I believe 1888 until present day.

[TCosgroveJones]

He retired as the Fire Chief.
As a side note there has been a member of the Mayhew family on the job since I believe 1888 until present day.

Very Good. You win the Prize but I don't know what it is yet. :p
Thanks for your first Post.

Cosgr:Dve

[Hornet's Nest]

In regards to the R. P. Andrews fire, even then fires were determined as being ignited by an electrical cause...the more things change, blah, blah, blah.

[Judge Smales]

How about a change of pace from old to new - here are some shots of the new Rescue Squad 2

[StrikeTheBox]

Berwyn Heights 14 should have copyrighted their Specs. They could be making a pretty penny with all the departments now building to a version of their specs

[Ghetto FF]

How about a change of pace from old to new - here are some shots of the new Rescue Squad 2

Damn I hate those damn stripes on the back. They make the units look like one big target.

[Ghetto FF]

Berwyn Heights 14 should have copyrighted their Specs. They could be making a pretty penny with all the departments now building to a version of their specs



Aint that the truth.

[hockeyguy]

I don't think anybody will disagree with that.

[getto boss]

I thought Squad 1 was getting the new Seagrave??

[smalls]

Berwyn heights spec? I would say FDNY, I mean they have been purchasing two door cab tandem axle rescue's for many many years! Besides how much different can a two door cab and tandem axle box be?

[4Delta]

how come no roto-ray like all the rest of the seagraves? yup, a carbon copy of berwyn heights. my understanding is rescue squad 1 is the same spec.

[DCFDRescue2]

how come no roto-ray like all the rest of the seagraves? yup, a carbon copy of berwyn heights. my understanding is rescue squad 1 is the same spec.

Because we don't want to be just like all of the rest.

[4Delta]

that's the answer i was lookin' for! she's a beut! well done RS2.

coop

[fd141]

Because we don't want to be just like all of the rest.

You forgot....... "Reason being,We just like being the Best!!!":D

[DCFDRescue2]

Besides how much different can a two door cab and tandem axle box be? ...............

[4Delta]

holy sh*t! lmfao!

coop

[getto boss]

R2, A couple of Mars lights would look different from everybody else!! ;)

[2020]

That's a great looking rescue.

I'm not a big fan of the low-profile LED bars up front, nor of the required Chevrons in the rear...but all things considered, I'd hit it!

[rescuedude]

That is defintely a good looking squad!! (Although I'm a truckman at heart!) I like the new door seals too!!! HEHEHE Question, how much longer is this one then the old one?? And obviously it looks like it stores more stuff, does that mean the support units are going to be gone????

[Axe16c]

Two things:

1. Does anyone have photos of the apparatus that the City bought from the City of Richmond some years ago?

Thanks

www.fdnytrucks.com go under other states and look for DC. He has a photo of the ex-richmond tiller as 14 Truck.

[Smith]

I can't believe the secret pictures got released of the new rescue....:confused:

[Hydro Engineer]

Any pic's of the new Batt. Chief's Buggy's?

[TCosgroveJones]

Chemical Compan No 2 Circa 1913
Cosgr:Dve

[TCosgroveJones]

Also Tr Co 16 getting ready to back in to Eng Co 19 and Tr Co 1 at the Iranian Hostage Homecoming Parade. Photo thanks to Jeff Wright
Cosgr:Dve

[Backstep]

Has this been posted yet? Circa 1913. Looks like it says Engine Co. No. 1?

http://www.shorpy.com/node/7165?size=_original

[TCosgroveJones]

Has this been posted yet? Circa 1913. Looks like it says Engine Co. No. 1?

http://www.shorpy.com/node/7165?size=_original

No
I don't think it is. I guess you didn't read the attached newspaper article:eek:
So here is part of it for you. It is a great picture. Now i hope Jim chimes in and tells us if it's a Seagrave or ALF combination chemicla hose wagon. my money is on Seagrave Looks like a Seagrave bell on it.

Cosgr:Dve
The sergeant ran as rapidly as he could to the police station, a few squares away and Jack rushed to the fire alarm box at K street and turned in an alarm, which brought to the scene Deputy Chiefs Carrington and Keliher, with Nos. 6, 14, 2, and 7 Engine companies, and Nos. 4 and 1 trucks. The reserves of several precincts came and maintained fire lines to keep back the crowds.

[Backstep]

double post

[Backstep]

No I didn't... :confused: but I just did read it and it's a good account of the activity. Upon looking closer maybe that is Engine Co. No. 2?

The date is apparently July 30, 1913.

[TCosgroveJones]

No I didn't... :confused: but I just did read it and it's a good account of the activity. Upon looking closer maybe that is Engine Co. No. 2?

The date is apparently July 30, 1913.

Just trying to help out.
Cosgr:Dve

[Backstep]

Just trying to help out.
Cosgr:Dve

Thanks :) Sometimes my absent mindedness gets the best of me... I didn't even see the accompanying article the first time. :rolleyes:

[MiltonWaddums]

Cos,


Could you check your records to see if there was an Acting DCFD Fire Chief by the name of Sidney Morey? It would have been around 1971 or so after Chief Groves retired. Also, what is the going rate for a good copy of the 100 Years of Glory books? I have a couple of them and might be willing to part with one.



Thanks,

Mr Green

[harney]

There was a (Deputy??) Chief by that name, although I don't know if he was ever the acting Fire Chief between Groves and Mattare.

[NorthSTAR]

100 Years of Glory easily rates at least $100 on ebay, sometimes more depending on condition. Every rookie should fight over who can pay more for one...

[MiltonWaddums]

Thanks for the information. Both my father and granfather were in the DCFD. I havew a few copies I'm thinking about letting go. The original paper cover is gone, but the books are in excellent condition.

I'll let you guys know if you're interested.