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Its amazing you found those, I think you were meant to find them, and just maybe, had a little help from Heaven, if you know what I mean. I hope I'm not out of line, but It would explain alot.
I hope everyone is well. I just got back from Chicago today. We had a great time and one of the stops was old Patrol 5's house. I wanted to show the boys where their grandfather worked and where the rig used to be kept. The Chief on duty was very accommodating and took time to show us around. He showed me a wall of Patrol pictures. I told him I would send him some more. Here are the pics:
The doors and windows have been changed but the rest of the outside is circa 1925!
My sister and the boys under the Fire Insurance Patrol sign.
Stairs that my grandfather used to climb.
This is old cover room where they would wash, dry, patch and refold the canvas salvage covers.
Patrol wall of pictures. The large photo on the left is my truck.
My grandfather is in the bottom photo.
You can see where the poles to hang the salvage covers up were located.
The Chicago Fire Department took over the former Patrol quarters after they disbanded in 1959. They repair the firefighter breathing apparatus there today.
SCBA's or self contained breathing apparatus in for repair.
Thanks guys!! We really had a good time at the fire house!! One of the guys I talked to had been working there for 20 years. He even had a copy of my first book.
Bobby, I will definitely try to fill the wall. LOL
I almost forgot to mention I stopped by a friends house that has a lot of Patrol pics and picked up a few of my truck that I didn't have.
It is always so great to get updates especially the patrol building. Great shots.
Side note: I am reading one of Dennis Smiths books, and he refers in detail when NYC had a patrol. In fact I knew 3 guys that worked there. Same as Chicago.
They disbanded after 9-11, to the best of my knowledge.
Thanks Jim. I believe I have some of his books too.
The New York Fire Patrol disbanded on 10-15-06. They lost Patrolman Keith Roma on 9-11. He was trying to help evacuate the buildings when they came down on him. They don't list him as a firefighter line of duty death although I think they should.
I am doing well! I hope all is well with you and your family. Been real busy lately. My sister was visiting from Chicago so we were always doing something. I haven't driven the truck in over 2 weeks. I went to the warehouse today and threw on the battery charger. I'm going to drive her tomorrow, weather permitting.
One thing that happened during my Chicago trip that I failed to mention was that I was able to view the station log books from the 1933-34 World's Fair Fire Department that my grandfather was a part of. About 6 months ago someone walked into the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago's Saturday open house and turned in these log books. I was amazed to learn that they still existed and were now in the possession of the museum. Now I would know what life on the Fair Fire Department was like. I knew the complete history of the fair, where and what days he worked, the calls he ran, the fires he attended to. The log book had his hand written entries in it. I was able to scan both books and they contained over 600 pages. It was hours and hours of scanning. My wife and sister helped. Once we got the routine down were were doing 2 scans a minute!! One thing we looked for was to see where he was when my Aunt was born in 1933. He happened to be off duty and didn't miss a day of work. In those days they worked 24 hours on followed by 24 hours off. Most fire departments now work 24 hours on & 48 off followed by an extra shift off every 3 weeks which equals a 48 hour work week. I'm still going through the log books and finding cool stuff. In the back of on book, I found his address and telephone #!!! Here are a couple of pages from the books:
