JT’s bladder ruptured due to undetected kidney stones. WSR: Speaking of fix-ups, I understand Engine 74’s trusty canine companion JT the Dalmatian – star of his own WSR profile and Instagram page – recently had a serious medical emergency. We’ll move our rig and team over to Ladder 25 on 77th Street during the renovations – keeping the same staffing but temporarily operating from a different house. Lt.K: This summer we’ll hopefully get new windows as well as a new floor and other improvements. WSR: In 2018, then-Councilmember Helen Rosenthal helped secure Participatory Budgeting funds to replace Engine 74’s leaky, creaky windows. Before motorized engines, a pulley system lowered hay to the company’s horses. The floor where the rig gets parked is the original floor. Our staircases are circular because horses couldn’t climb those. Lt.K: Did you see the hook and pulley at the top out front? They kept hay in the attic and would lower it down for the horses. So much of the original 1888 detail remains. WSR: Engine 74’s house is itself pretty special. Some individual apartments on Central Park West are monsters square-footage wise, they’re bigger than my two-story house! Our hoses come in 50-foot lengths and we’ve got to know what we’ll need. We’ve got multiple-dwelling brownstones, single-family brownstones, NYCHA developments, commercial properties, pre-war co-ops, high rises. WSR: The Upper West Side offers quite the variety of architecture to understand. Those specifics show up on the run ticket – unusual stairwells or hose hook-ups, that kind of thing. And two, we get very familiar with each structure and record its unique features in CIDS – Critical Information Dispatch System. One, we assess the building for safety hazards and write up any violations that must be addressed. One of our core duties, beyond runs, is conducting regular, surprise inspections of the buildings in our area. WSR: And I see a little cheat sheet on there about the building as well. So, everyone knows their role before arrival. The ticket also shows what other units are responding, and which one has primary versus secondary responsibility. It gives us what you might expect – location, cross-streets, whether it’s fire or medical and a few details like “gas odor, 12th floor” or “man hit by car.” WSR: It looks like a restaurant order ticket, spooling out like at Starbucks. Lt.K: The firefighter assigned to “house watch” receives the dispatch information and calls it out to us as we get our gear and load out. WSR: How much do you know about a situation prior to showing up? And, even if a fire alarm goes off by mistake, we need to be there to ensure it gets properly reset before we leave. Lt.K: I’d estimate 3500 of those 5500 runs require us to provide some kind of assistance. Lt.K: Total? About 5500 runs a year, which averages out to 15 a day. A halligan bar and an ax are a firefighter’s “keys” to open doors. Or, if you’ve got a senior who’s fallen in their apartment, a door might need to be busted open. If you’re doing CPR chest compressions for two solid minutes, you want to have another set of hands ready to take over. Lt.K: We can sometimes get there sooner, and many medical situations benefit from more available labor. WSR: Why double-up on medical calls with EMS ambulances? Our rig always has four firefighters and one officer on board. Our primary area is 74th Street to 91st Street, Central Park to the Hudson River, but we go wherever we’re needed. We pair up on runs with Ladder 25 at 205 W. A truck company’s job is to find the fire, search for victims and vent the building so all the smoke can get out. As a single engine company, we go on medical runs and extinguish fires. Lt.K: FDNY has engine companies and truck/ladder companies. WSR: What’s Engine 74’s responsibility and territory? The following conversation has been edited and condensed. Kirby and John Keaveny, a third-generation firefighter who’s served most of his 19 FDNY years at Engine 74, agreed to give WSR a mini tour and answer questions. But how much do we know about FDNY’s daily modus operandi? Upper West Siders see New York’s Bravest racing to rescues - and, yes, wave upon their safe return. James Kirby, a second-generation firefighter with 24 years on the job, nine at the landmarked firehouse built in 1888 at 120 W. “You tell me another occupation that gets waved at every day,” says Lt. But what radiates from every anecdote, every description of nozzles and standpipes? A level of job satisfaction most of us screen-jockeys can scarcely imagine. Get the firefighters of Engine 74 talking about their work, and you’ll hear a bit about the dangers and the odd hours. James Kirby and Firefighter John Keaveny with Engine 74’s rig.
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