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Long Beach Fire Department
Page 2
More new and old photos of Long Island's busiest Fire Department.
The original West End firehouse, at Alabama St and Beech St. with a rig rolling out the door! This rare colorized photo is circa 1922 and was provided by the Long Beach Historical Society. Thanks to Dr. Lowell Taubman for finding it. Roll your mouse over it to see how it looks today. The Tudor style building in the new photo is the old station. It is also shown below on this page if the rollover doesn't work for you.
This vintage article was provided courtesy of Mike Kerr.
The rig shown above is believed to be originally stationed at Alabama St .
Photo provided by Mike Kerr
The original Hook and Ladder truck.
A real photo of it is seen on page 1 of the Fire Department photos.
Courtesy of Mike Kerr
Another vintage paper from the Mayor Reynolds era.
Courtesy of Mike Kerr
This page was last updated on: September 26, 2015
This great photo was found by Lowell Taubman of the Historical Society. The prominent tower you see was the lookout / bell tower for the Alabama St. Firehouse. The bay doors can be seen in the open position (red triangle placed just below the doors) , so the rig might be out on a call ! This photo believed to be prior to 1932 and looks east down Beech St. The photographer would have been standing at about Vermont St. This building still stands today at the NW corner of Alabama and Beech, though the tower has been significantly cut down. Notice some of the buildings on the South side have not yet been constructed and the trolley tracks are still down !!.
A little trivia about the photo of the Alabama Firehouse shown below provided by Bob Sagona:
The building just this side of the firehouse housed a restaurant named King's Lunch. operated by Mr. Leo King, dad of Leo and Bob King who lived on Ohio Avenue. I understand that young Leo is no longer with us, but his brother, Bob lives in Florida.
The Peck Building directly across the street from the firehouse was not then yet built. You can notice a private home about where that building stands today.Among the stores in that building was Lee's Pharmacy, (890 W. Beech St.), which moved iinto a new building just east, on the southeast corner of Alabama St. and Beech St., about 1950. On the corner of Wyoming Avenue (west end of the Peck building) stood Stam's Bakery. Notice the wooden light pole at the foreground right of the photo. That was before the double street lights were installed all along W. Beech Street, from the city line, Nevada St, east on Beech St., north on New York Avenue, and then east on West and East Park Ave all the way to Long Beach Blvd. They went in about 1932 and remained until the late fifties, I believe.
Alabama Firehouse as it looks today. Notice the cut down tower.
The late Kevin Toth, doing what he loved to do, getting right into the heat of the battle. Kevin was respected and loved by everyone. He was a great fireman, officer and friend until cancer took him from us. He'll always be missed.
Photo submitted by Larry Hirsch
LB fire apparatus behind City Hall, Believed to be in the 30's. I cropped this from a larger photo. The rigs were barely visible until we blew this up.
courtesy of Lowell Taubman / LB Historical Society
Believed to be the first crew of the new Tower Ladder (2372).
Left to Right: Frankie Hopkins, Joe Vais, Richie Wentz, Vinnie McManus, Richie Corbett, "Jumbo" Joe Sardo, Joe Sardo Jr., Billy "Lumpy" Donnelly, Larry Hirsch, Jimmy Hennessey, Bob Scauri, Kevin Toth and Romano Lovrich.
Photo courtesy of Larry Hirsch
The Indiana Avenue firehouse. This probably shortly after it's opening in the late 1920's. The old wolfhead gargoyles on the top of the building supposedly were removed when the building was torn down in the 1980's and are in the possession of the Long Beach Historical Society.
Photo courtesy of the LB Historical Society
Tower Ladder 2372, placed in service February 1987.
Photo courtesy of Larry Hirsch
Capt. Romano Lovrich, last Captain of the
Old Aero Chief 90 Snorkel.
Photo courtesy of Larry Hirsch
All of these vintage papers, sent in by Mike Kerr, are reproductions of the originals, reprinted for the 1972 Annual LBFD dinner. The originals were found during an attic renovation by Nelson Hemsley and presented to Ely Altarac.
This is the old fire house in the rear of City Hall. It shows the Uniformed Force's Quarters as a one story building at the far left. It was on Chester St directly behind Police Headquarters. The original First Aid Car (Car 19) and Engine 3 rolled out of this building. (I believe it was called Car 19 because it had a PD radio and was referred to by the PD as Car 19).
The two bay quarters, separated from the Uniformed Quarters by an alley, held the aerial ladder chauffeured by a Uniformed Member and in the later years, the Volunteer Apparatus: Hose 1, Rescue and the Floodlight Truck. The second floor above the apparatus floor, held a meeting room.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Taubman and the LB Historical Society
Documentation provided by Howie Hemsley
1985, Signal 10 at 38 W. Park Ave.
Former Captain Stiglitz, aka Stiggi, of 233 when this fire occurred, provided this narrative about the fire at 38 W. Park: The white ambulance in the picture is the Ambulance we got from Nassau County and assigned to the Rescue company. It was known as 2321. I believe Ralph Isaacs was it's first OIC. The truck behind it is 233 which was a 1966 Mack Standard shift. I was the Captain then. It is the closest I came to getting seriously injured, when without any warning or sounds, a portion of the first floor came down on me. I was lucky, as I was able to step sideways and part of it actually slid off of me and landed next to me. The only loss was my radio which was knocked from my grip. Jeff Davis was with me and could not believe that I was okay. He was off to my side and was not near me when it happened. He was working along side me with his crew. It was funny that no one believed us when we reported the interior collapse, because no one heard anything fall, but when the Chief came and looked, he was dumfounded.
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Long Beach Fire Department
Page 2
LONG BEACH, NEW YORK
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