FIRE! FIRE! – Hudson, New York (Part 2)

Continuing with our 2011 late summer/early fall road trip to New York State and Pennsylvania…

Welcome to part 2 of our visit to the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Museum of Firefighting…  

We didn’t capture any specific information on this great looking piece of firefighting apparatus…a very old ladder truck.  I especially like the ‘FD’ imprinted in the radiator grill!

This is a 1937 American LaFrance Type 475 Invader Pumper.  This unit was originally delivered to Citizens Hose Company #5 in Catskill New York.  This 12-cylinder unit could pump 750 gallons of water per minute and it was in active service until 1966.  The enclosed 3-man cab was very unusual for American LaFrance fire apparatus… 

Note the ‘man behind the wheel’ of this great looking 1939 pumper.  This 6 cylinder triple combination pumper was built by the Sanford Fire Apparatus Company for delivery to the Canaan Protective Fire Company.  This truck was later given to the Berkshire School for Boys.  When the school’s insurance company said that the school could no longer fight its own fires, the school donated this unit to the FASNY museum.

This ‘hunky’ piece of firefighting apparatus is a 1 ½ ton 1942 General/Chevrolet Military Special.  Built by GM’s General Fire Truck Division, this unit was never used in the war and it was sold as surplus to the Lomontville New York Fire Department.  That department used it as a ‘brush rig’ for almost 40 years.  This truck is equipped with the original ‘blackout lights’ that were used by army convoys so they could follow each other at night while remaining undetected from the air.

This is a 1947 Ward LaFrance Lighting & Rescue Truck with a Waukeshaw 6-cylinder engine.  Only 3 of these units were ever built.  It served the fire department in New Hyde Park on Long Island as well as the Somers New York Fire Department.  This 74 year old unit was still fully functional when it was donated to the Museum of Firefighting.

This is an overview of a large portion of the lower gallery of the FASNY Museum of Firefighting.  The number of firefighting units on display is almost overwhelming.  The upper level of the museum holds most of the pre-motorized apparatus with the ‘newer’ equipment being shown on this level.

The museum also has a display of equipment, parts and pieces commemorating the events of 9/11/01.  The door shown above was removed from a building on Liberty Street in lower Manhattan post 9/11.  It bears the markings made by the secure and recovery workers searching for survivors…

Laurie and I felt that this was definitely the most poignant item on display in the 9/11 section of the museum.  It’s a fragment of one of the airliners that was flown into one of the World Trade Center Towers…

As I mentioned in Part 1 of my blog about the Firefighting Museum, this is a very interesting attraction to visit and the cost is minimal.  It’s only $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for children (free at 4 years of age or less).  The Firefighting Museum is open from 10 AM to 5 PM except on major holidays.  The FASNY Museum of Firefighting is located at 117 Harry Howard Avenue in Hudson New York.  Phone: 877-347-3687.  Website: www.fasnymuseum.com.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for another visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave