Incredible indeed. From the forward facing jump seat in the rear cab behind the chauffeur John and Officer Paul “Mad Dog” Calhoun I could barely see the turn of the century bldg. It was nearly engulfed with thick black smoke seeping, pumping and rolling up into the bright early morning clear blue sky. I bet it could be seen for miles around. John makes a nervous but calculated left turn onto St. Nicholas Ave which is the front of the the fire building and stops at the corner of West -162 Street and St. Nick. Perfect spot because the fire hydrant he would desperately need was located right off the corner and directly opposite the main main entrance of the building leading to the second floor. Mad-dog had already given an excited 10-75 (the radio signal for a working fire) to Manhattan’s dispatch and called for extra units to respond above the normal complement given on the ’75’ signal due to the severity of the fire and the size of this commercial building. We all immediately opened our doors and went to our positions, Mad dog yelling back for a ‘2-1/2’ line as he walked briskly to the door entry blocked by a heavy roll down steel security door. A 2-1/2 hose is the largest handl held hose we use in the FDNY and is needed for the volume of water it can give at fires of this magnitude. Willy pulled his hose folds off the rear off the rig I followed grabbing mine and Corky pulled only one more and ‘broke’ (disconnected it at the hose butt coupling) the line and hooked it up to an outlet at the right side of the pumper so John could supply us water.
At the roll down gate the inside team (Officer, Irons and can man) guys of L-34 were busy cutting the steel gate with a partner saw fitting with a metal cutting blade, sparks flying out from the contact of the blade to the metal like a sparkler on the 4th of July. Just as we finished flaking out our hose line and started donning our SCBA face pieces L-34 ‘s inside team lifted the rusty old gate which made a screeching sound so loud I instinctively put my head down and gloved hands over my ears. The interior door was unlocked puffing smoke all around its edges. As I lifted my head the ‘Truckies” opened the door and blocked it open with a wooden chock at the bottom so we could advance our hose line into the building when right at that moment a cloud of acrid thick almost oily looking smoke blew out at us with such a force it almost seemed like there was a pissed off dragon inside waiting for us. Unflinchingly Mad Dog moves forward into the doorway being engulfed by the smoke but through it I saw his hand grab Willy by the arm and pulled him with me right behind him into the belly of the beast saying “Allright men ‘Move in’…” The battle begins…