- New York City Fire Department Squad Company 1
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FDNY Squad 1
Established 1955 Strength 25 Stations 788 Union St Brooklyn, NY 11215 Engines 1 New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Squad Company 1 is one of 7 Squads in the FDNY Special Operations Command (SOC). Other SOC units include Rescue, HazMat and Marine. Squad 1 responds to fires and other emergencies throughout New York City, operating primarily in Brooklyn. Squad 1 is located in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. They are a single company which operates a Seagrave Pumper, 1000 g.p.m. with a 500 gallon tank. There are currently four officers and twenty-five assigned to this company.[1]
History
Squad 1 was organized in Harlem at Engine 59 in 1955, moved to the Bronx at Ladder 58 in 1972, then to Engine 45 in 1975 and then disbanded in 1976. Squad 1 was re-established in 1977 in Brooklyn at 786 Union Street, the former quarters of Engine 269; which had been closed during the budget crisis. The local community had placed great pressure on the city to reopen the former house of Engine 269 and the city responded by reopening it and making it the new quarters for Squad 1.[2]
The door of the Squad 1 fire truck, now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
The new Squad 1 was assigned a fully equipped pumper with ladder company hand and power tools. Squad 1’s responses included the former “first due” boxes of Engine 269 and working fires within a designated area. In 1998 New York City recognized the need to have more specialized units that could handle hazardous material incidents as well as increased readiness for incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. Six more engines were then designated as Squad Companies. Engine Company 41 was already an enhanced engine company but was redesigned as a Squad Company.[3] Squad 1 responds as an engine in its first, second and third due assignments and as a Squad Company to working fires, high angle, collapse, confined space, subway emergencies and hazardous material emergencies in Brooklyn and throughout the city as needed. Squad 1 responds to approximately 1800 runs per year.[4]
September 11th Attacks
Squad 1 lost half of its squad at the World Trade Center in the September 11th attacks. The squad would be one of the most devastated FDNY units impacted by the collapse of the Twin Towers losing 11 members: Captain James M. Amato, Lt. Edward A. D'Atri, Lt. Michael Esposito, Lt. Michael N. Fodor, Brian Bilcher, Thomas M. Butler, Peter Carroll, Robert Cordice, David J. Fontana, Matthew David Garvey, and Stephen Gerard Siller. Squad 1 crossed Brooklyn Bridge to respond to the attacks and was last seen in the south tower. The door of their pumper engine was recovered and is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.[5]
References
- ^ Tony Tricarico, Tricks of the Trade: The Rescue/Pumper and the FDNY Squad Concept. Firehouse.Com , September 22, 2007
- ^ New York Fire Department (Source Date: September 2011)
- ^ New York Fire Department (Source Date: September 2011)
- ^ Tony Tricarico, Tricks of the Trade: The Rescue/Pumper and the FDNY Squad Concept. Firehouse.Com , September 22, 2007
- ^ The 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, through the eyes of a former NYC fire official. New Jersey Star-Ledger. September 11, 2011
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