Rekindles: September 2006
BAYONNE, NJ: Sept. 1, 1906 – A new paid fire department went into service at 8 o’clock in the morning. It comprised five engine companies and two hook-and-ladder companies. Due to a disagreement between the mayor and the council, no chief had been selected as operations began.
BROOKLYN, NY: Sept. 5, 1906 – An 8-year-old boy fishing for a lost ball slipped and fell into a storm sewer. His friends raced to a nearby fire department repair yard and asked for help. Three firemen raced to the scene with a 15-foot ladder. One fi reman entered the sewer, scooped the boy into his arms and carried him to the street. Th e fi remen took him to the repair yard, checked him for injuries, then hosed him off and sent him on his way.
PROSPECT HILL, PA: Sept. 10, 1906 – Several boys blew up their schoolhouse with dynamite in an attempt to escape the opening of school. Th e building was badly damaged, but temporary repairs would allow an on-time opening. Th e guilty lads were being sought.
MINEOLA, NY: Sept. 10, 1906 – A hastily constructed concrete-and-wood garage collapsed, trapping many men. The fire bellbrought firemen to the scene and a rescue effort was begun. Eight men were rescued from the rubble and rushed to the hospital. Two other men were removed and pronounced dead at the scene. The search for more possible victims continued into the night.
NEW YORK CITY: Sept. 13, 1906 – A cellar fire spread quickly throughout a fi ve-story commercial building in Harlem, trapping nearly a dozen people. Ten men and women were rescued by firemen on scaling ladders, including a dentist who was pulled from his fourth-floor window. Four women were plucked from a third-floor ostrich-feather factory. Four firemen were overcome while pushing lines into the chocking smoke pumping from the cellar.
OTTAWA, CANADA: Sept. 15, 1906 – The Gilmore Hotel on Bank Street was destroyed by a late-night fi re. Many guests jumped from upper-floor windows and were seriously injured. Firemen were faced with a tough fire with numerous people trapped. The battle went on through the night.
JERSEY CITY, NJ: Sept. 15, 1906 – Four people were seriously burned by flames that swept the top floor of a York Street tenement. The fire, started by an overturned lamp, trapped families as firemen raced to save them. Thick smoke and blistering heat compounded the rescue efforts.
BROOKLYN, NY: Sept. 17, 1906 – A threestory brick building on Pioneer Street was the site of a stubborn three-alarm blaze on the top floor. During the battle, a coupling blew off a fire hydrant, seriously injuring the pump operator of Engine 128. He was rushed to Long Island College Hospital.
GRANTHAM, ENGLAND: Sept. 20, 1906 – The crowded Scotch Express train from London plunged off the tracks and rolled down an embankment, bursting into flames. The fire brigade stretched lines to protect trapped passengers as the rescue effort commenced. Ten people were reported killed, but 16 injured were removed from the wreckage. The fire was battled for five hours.
BRAY, ENGLAND: Sept. 20, 1906 – A fire engine presented to the village in 1737 was pressed into service to battle a structure fire. Reports stated that the antique was “effectively used.â€
MILESTONE: Cortlandt Hook & Ladder Company 1, a unit of the Peekskill, NY, Fire Department, celebrates its 175th year of continuous service this month. The company was founded on Sept. 13, 1831.
PAUL HASHAGEN, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is a retired FDNY firefighter who was assigned to Rescue Company 1 in Manhattan. He is also an ex-chief of the Freeport, NY, Fire Department. Hashagen is the author of FDNY 1865-2000: Millennium Book, a history of the New York City Fire Department, and other fire service history books.