New York City Fire Department (F.D.N.Y.), New York, N.Y.
Date1979
MediumChromogenic print on Kodak Ektacolor 74 RC-N paper
DimensionsImage: 10 9/16 × 13 1/2 inches (26.8 × 34.3 cm)
Sheet: 10 15/16 × 13 15/16 inches (27.8 × 35.4 cm)
Matted: 16 × 20 inches (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Portfolio/Series"Groups in America" portfolio
Credit LineGift of The Estrin Family.
Object number2011.19.1.2
Copyright© Neal Slavin.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextNew York City Fire Department (F.D.N.Y.)
11,448 fireman
811 civilians
Fire Commissioner and Chief of Department: John T. O’ Hagan
First Deputy Fire Commissioner: Stephen J. Murphy
The organization is locally based within the New York City area.
The main purpose of F.D.N.Y. is the suppression of fire and the saving and maintaining of human life.
To become a member of the New York City Fire Department, one must pass the civil-service test, and then go through a training program with the fire department.
The organization is financially sustained by New York City.
F.D.N.Y. became an official fire company of the city of New York in 1865. Until that time there were several volunteer fire companies. Because of their fierce pride and competitiveness, street brawls often occurred in front of a fire. As fighting the fire was more important than fighting each other, New York decided to maintain its own official fire department. As the city’s needs have grown F.D.N.Y. has computerized dispatching to handle the estimated 400,000 alarms each year. The Super Pumper is the only existent engine of its type in the world. It can draft water from any source, including rivers. If the nozzle of this engine were pointed straight up at a building, its spray would reach the sixty-fourth floor.
The department is considered to be among the most colorful in the world because of all of the “fire buffs” involved in the organization. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was such a “fire buff” and would respond to fires with the department in the middle of the night.
From When Two or More Are Gathered Together (1976) by Neal Slavin.
