WAYNE’S  STUFF # 30

DO YOU REMEMBER:

THE EXPRESSION................"HE'S UPSTAIRS, STUDYING THE CRACK IN THE CEILING"

CENTRAL SENDING OUT

12 BLOWS AT 8 O'CLOCK........NO SCHOOL.........&

8 BLOWS AT 12 O'CLOCK.........TEST

WHAT WAS ANOTHER NAME FOR A  "FFD".....(FIRE FIGHTER DRIVER)

A

"TRACTOR DRIVER"

DO YOU KNOW:

I READ IN ARTICLES THAT IN THE 1950s THERE WERE PREDICTIONS THAT THE CITY WAS GOING TO TEAR DOWN HEADQUARTERS AS IT WAS TOO CLOSE TO THE CONVENTION CENTER.

50 YEARS LATER, IT'S STILL STANDING.

IN THE EARLY 50s AND BEFORE

WHAT DID THE FIREMEN HAUL FROM THEIR ENGINE HOUSE BASEMENT, ON A DAILY BASIS AND WHAT DID THEY DO WITH IT.

COME ON OLD TIMER YOU ARE OLDER THEN I AM, THIS WAS BEFORE I CAME ON THE JOB.

I KNOW YOU DID IT WHEN YOU WERE A YOUNG "WHIPPER SNAPPER"

THEY HAULED ASHES FROM THEIR COAL FURNACES AND THEN THEY WERE PICKED UP DAILY

ALSO SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT THEY USED THEM TO FILL IN THE RUTS IN THEIR DIRT PARKING LOTS.

THE RUTS WERE CAUSED BY THEIR CARS WHEN THE DIRT TURNED TO MUD.

THE FIREHOUSES CONVERTED TO GAS FURNACES IN THE MID 50s

WHAT THREE THINGS YOU  SHOULD DO IF YOU CATCH ON FIRE

STOP,

DROP

&

ROLL

IN ONE COMMUNITY, IN THE EARLY 1800s THE ACTUAL TITLE OF THEIR CHIEF WAS

"MASTER OF FIRE ENGINES"

ONE ENGINE HOUSE HAD THEIR FLOOR BUILT WITH A SLIGHT FORWARD SLOPE, SO THE HORSES COULD GET A FASTER GET OUT, PULLING THEIR STEAMER

DO YOU KNOW:

YOU CAN "BACK FILL AN ENGINE HOUSE".......................EXPLANATION:

ENGINE 35 HAD A INCOMING WATER MAIN BREAK  UNDER THEIR BASEMENT FLOOR.

THE WORKMEN BROKE OPEN THE CEMENT FLOOR TO LOCATE THE BREAK.

RATHER THEN PUT US OUT OF SERVICE AND DETAIL THE MEN ALL AROUND THEY:

CLOSED OFF THE INCOMING WATER MAIN

THEY TOOK A GARDEN SIZE HOSE , WITH APPROPRIATE FITTINGS, AND HOOKED ONE END TO THE NEAREST HYDRANT AND THE OTHER END TO OUR OUTSIDE WATER FAUCET.

THEN THEY OPENED THE HYDRANT AND THE OUTSIDE FAUCET

"BACK FILLING THE ENGINE HOUSE.

NATURALLY THE PRESSURE WASN'T GREAT BUT IT DID KEEP US IN SERVICE

WHAT THEY CALLED AN EARLY RADIO THAT FIREMEN USED,....."WALKIE TALKIE"

ONE COMMUNITY HAD ONE OF THEIR ENGINES REPOSSESSED FOR LACK OF PAYMENT,

THEY THEN REVERTED TO A HOSE COMPANY

IN THE EARLY TIMES, MANY FIRE DEPARTMENTS  HAD A THREE MAN FIRE WATCH ,

TWO MEN PATROLLING THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND ONE MAN IN THE ENGINE HOUSE  .

CIVILIANS EVENTUALLY TOOK OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD NIGHT WATCH FROM THE FIREMEN.

THE FIRST FIRE HELMETS WERE MADE OF A COMPOSITE  MATERIAL WHICH WAS BASICALLY CARDBOARD HEAVILY COATED WITH SHELLAC AND PAINT.

SOME COMPANIES, THAT HAD A TWO PLATOON SYSTEM CONSISTING OF 10 & 14 HOURS,

CHANGED EVERY MONTH AND SOME EVERY WEEK. DAY (10 HOURS) TO NIGHT (14 HOURS).

LONG MONDAY WAS WHEN THE DAY SHIFT WENT TO NIGHT, THEY THEN WORKED THE 24 HOURS. THE NIGHT SHIFT THEN GOT OFF . IT ALL BALANCED OUT IN THE LONG RUN.

SOME EARLY VOLUNTEERS STOPPED AT THEIR COMMUNITIES BORDERS AND WOULD WATCH AS A PLACE BURNED DOWN IN ANOTHER TOWN.

DO YOU REMEMBER

WHAT BOOK GUIDED YOU AT OUR UNION MEETING

"ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER"

DO YOU REMEMBER

IN THE "OLD DAYS" WHEN YOU SAID "INNER CITY" YOU MEANT

INSIDE GRAND BLVD OR A CLOSE PROXIMITY

DO YOU KNOW:

THERE ARE PLENTY OF STORIES OF THE RELUCTANCE OF THE FIREMEN ON USING THE EARLIER MASKS.

THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE HISTORIC TRADITION OF "EATING SMOKE"

QUOTE FROM AN OLD FIRE DEPARTMENT ARTICLE...

"REAL FIREMEN DID NOT USE A MASK"

I CAN RECALL SOME OLD TIMERS IN THE 60s THAT I NEVER SAW WITH A MASK ON.

I REMEMBER SOME WOULD RATHER CRAWL IN A HOUSE FIRE ( WHERE THE AIR WAS A LITTLE BIT BETTER) THEN WEAR A MASK AND BE ABLE TO STAND UP .

PLASTICS CHANGED   THIS FOREVER

IN MANY COMMUNITIES THE ONLY FIRE EQUIPMENT ISSUED WAS A FIRE HELMET,

THE FIREMEN HAD TO BUY EVERYTHING ELSE

IN THE MID 1800s, MOST FIRE WERE STARTED FROM KEROSENE OIL LAMPS.

MANY COMMUNITIES HAD A RULE, THAT ONLY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT COULD DRAW WATER FROM THEIR CISTERNS.

PUNISHMENT FOR DISOBEDIENCE $25.00 OR 10 DAYS IN JAIL

ON SOME OLD COMPANY ROSTERS THE DESIGNATIONS WERE:

LADDER COMPANY

FOREMAN

TILLERMAN.......NOTE: TILLERMAN WAS AN ACTUAL TITLE

DRIVER

LADDERMAN

HOSE COMPANY

FOREMAN

DRIVER

PIPEMAN

CHEMICAL ENGINE

DRIVER

ENGINEER

COMBINATION (CHEMICAL & HOSE)

DRIVER

PIPEMAN

DO YOU REMEMBER

WHAT WAS ANOTHER TERM YOU USED FOR GETTING TRANSFERRED TO AN OUT SKIRTS COMPANY

"BOON DOCKS"

DO YOU KNOW:

IN SOME COMMUNITIES, THAT WAS SPREAD OVER A WIDE AREA, WITH BAD OR NO ROADS TO MANY AREAS  THEY HAD TO LOAD THEIR FIRE APPARATUS ON A TRAIN TO GET AS CLOSE TO THE FIRE AS POSSIBLE.

IN DUBLIN IRELAND, IN THE YEAR 1305, THERE WAS AN ORDNANCE THAT IF YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR A FIRE YOU WOULD BE ARRESTED AND EITHER THROWN INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRE OR PAY A FINE OF 100 SHILLINGS

ALSO IN DUBLIN, MOST PARISHES HAD THEIR OWN FIRE ENGINES

THERE ARE MANY STORIES OF THE FIREMEN COMING BACK FROM A FIRE USING  THE CHEMICAL ENGINE AND THEIR UNIFORMS WERE FULL OF HOLES, FROM THE SULFURIC ACID

IN DETROIT, BACK IN THE 50s, THERE WERE 12 BATTALIONS.

SOME OLD TIME BOSSES HID  PENNIES UNDER THE FENDERS OF THEIR RIG TO SEE IF THE DRIVER WASHED UNDER THERE.

ALSO THEY PUT THEM ON WINDOW  AND DOOR LEDGES AND ON LOCKER TOPS TO TEST IF THE MEN DUSTED THERE

DO YOU REMEMBER:

AN OLD ENGINE HOUSE MEAL OF

"RING BALONEY"

IF YOU REMEMBER THAT, DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU CALLED "RING BALONEY"

"HORSE C--K"

.............OR.................

"DONKEY D--K"

DO YOU KNOW

WHEN DID THE THRILL SHOW START AT THE

FIREMEN'S FIELD  DAY.

I ONLY READ ONE REFERENCE TO THIS, AND IT STATED IT STARTED IN 1963

DO YOU REMEMBER

THE KNOTS YOU LEARNED WAY BACK THEN.

I IMAGINE THEY HAVE CHANGED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS WITH NEW ROPES AND METAL FASTENERS.

I THINK WE LEARNED

BOWLINE

BOWLINE AND A BIGHT

CLOVE HITCH

HALF HITCH

SQUARE KNOT

BECKET BEND

AGAIN , I'M NOT SURE.

I DO KNOW THEY FOUND OUT, FROM MY CLASS, WHO WAS GOING TO BE  SENT TO THE

"OFU" AND THEY HAD TO TEACH  THEM TO TIE THEIR

SHOES.