In Reply to: Re: Thanksgiving posted by Will Suphan on Sunday, December 10th 2023:

Hi, Will; thanks for your compliment. Yes, Ladder 147, was the ladder company (along with Engine 281), which serviced our area (Westminter Road, and Avenue H). I remember seeing the NYFD personnel in action, two doors from my home, on a bitterly cold winter day, in January, 1963. A home, two doors to our north, on Westminster Road, experienced an electrical fire. There was a huge blaze, which spread to the roof. I heard a siren, and I saw a huge ladder truck (I'm positive it was from Ladder 147), drive that truck up the driveway. To this day, I admire how the driver did that, since there was a very small clearance from Westminster Road, into that driveway. The firefighters (there must have been several dozen of them), battled that blaze for hours. While this was taking place, a number of busybody neighbors from the area, congregated in our driveway on Avenue H, and were yelling at one of the firefighters on the roof, trying to tell him how to do his job. I couldn't believe the nerve of some people. In any event, the blaze was extinguished after a few hours. The home took months to rebuild. A few months later, I met one of the owners, who told me that he was had to live in the Oak Hotel (on Avenue H), while his home was being rebuilt. Essentially, he told me that place was a dump.

Reference ID: BK97147

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