On a building inspection of a four-story, below-grade parking garage at 1735 York Avenue in Upper Manhattan, the members of Ladder 43 found an unusual type of elevator designed to transport parking attendants to upper floors. Information suggests that this is a belt man lift. According to spokesman John Favro, Humphrey Manlift Company, Inc., this […]
Rescue Operations units engage in the shoring and stabilization of compromised structures on a fairly regular basis. Most often, this activity occurs on the ground floor or a below-grade story. Occasionally, units will operate on an upper floor of a “low-rise” structure. In support of operations at 261 Madison Avenue, units shored a compromised portion […]
On Sunday, May 31, 2015, beginning at 1043 hours, 9-1-1 calls began notifying UCT communications dispatchers of a catastrophic event (big bang) on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan, between East 38th and 39th Streets. The calls ranged from a building collapse, to a crane collapse, to an explosion. Dispatched on Box 0739 to the location […]
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway is a small section of expressway that connects the George Washington Bridge (GWB) to the Cross Bronx Expressway. The expressway has two inner roadways that deliver and expel traffic from the upper level of the GWB, while the two outer roadways do that for the lower level of the GWB. It also […]
On July 22, 2013, Manhattan Box 1584 was received via a verbal alarm at the quarters of Engine 80/Ladder 23. The fire building is on 139th Street, across the street and several buildings down from the firehouse. Engine 80 promptly transmitted a 10-75 for a fire on the top floor of a six-story multiple dwelling. […]
When Craig Fugate became Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2009, he pushed his organization to change their disaster response to “go big, go early, go fast and be smart.” Not surprising that with a firefighting background, this motto was adopted from best practices of fire departments. On December 13, 2013, […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. I was the second EMS Officer to arrive (after EMS Lieutenant Fred Desarno) at the incident at approximately 2040 hours. Lieutenant Desarno, acting as the initial Medical Branch Director, instructed me to proceed to the south excavation entrance […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. By prior arrangement, on the evening of March 19, 2013, I was at Fire Department Headquarters. The initial call for a construction worker trapped in the Second Avenue subway tunnel came in at approximately 2030 hours. While monitoring […]
On a building inspection of a four-story, below-grade parking garage at 1735 York Avenue in Upper Manhattan, the members of Ladder 43 found an unusual type of elevator designed to transport parking attendants to upper floors. Information suggests that this is a belt man lift. According to spokesman John Favro, Humphrey Manlift Company, Inc., this […]
Rescue Operations units engage in the shoring and stabilization of compromised structures on a fairly regular basis. Most often, this activity occurs on the ground floor or a below-grade story. Occasionally, units will operate on an upper floor of a “low-rise” structure. In support of operations at 261 Madison Avenue, units shored a compromised portion […]
On Sunday, May 31, 2015, beginning at 1043 hours, 9-1-1 calls began notifying UCT communications dispatchers of a catastrophic event (big bang) on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan, between East 38th and 39th Streets. The calls ranged from a building collapse, to a crane collapse, to an explosion. Dispatched on Box 0739 to the location […]
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway is a small section of expressway that connects the George Washington Bridge (GWB) to the Cross Bronx Expressway. The expressway has two inner roadways that deliver and expel traffic from the upper level of the GWB, while the two outer roadways do that for the lower level of the GWB. It also […]
On July 22, 2013, Manhattan Box 1584 was received via a verbal alarm at the quarters of Engine 80/Ladder 23. The fire building is on 139th Street, across the street and several buildings down from the firehouse. Engine 80 promptly transmitted a 10-75 for a fire on the top floor of a six-story multiple dwelling. […]
When Craig Fugate became Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2009, he pushed his organization to change their disaster response to “go big, go early, go fast and be smart.” Not surprising that with a firefighting background, this motto was adopted from best practices of fire departments. On December 13, 2013, […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. I was the second EMS Officer to arrive (after EMS Lieutenant Fred Desarno) at the incident at approximately 2040 hours. Lieutenant Desarno, acting as the initial Medical Branch Director, instructed me to proceed to the south excavation entrance […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. By prior arrangement, on the evening of March 19, 2013, I was at Fire Department Headquarters. The initial call for a construction worker trapped in the Second Avenue subway tunnel came in at approximately 2030 hours. While monitoring […]
