Engine Company 46 The Bronx

Organized January 1, 1874 as Chem. 4

Reorganized as Engine 46 on July 11, 1881

1936 Mack 1,000 Gallon pumper. MPO John McClean

Photo Donated by Fr. Wm A. Walsh

Front row left to right

N. Bello, J. McLean, E. Hession, Wm. Walsh, Lt. Metz,Wm. Will, S. Urban, T. Pagano, N. Winarsky, S. Mendel.

Second row left to right

C. Taubner, A. Rapperport, J. Dwyer, S. Forest, B. Kiernan, J. Rinck, J. Markowitz, T. Malone, H. Dunne, R. Bruckner


Subject: Re: eeng co 46 Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 00:34:40 +0000 From: Don Van Holt Organization: Command Technoloiges To: joe42932 @cs.com References: 1 joseph rinck wrote: Hi Don, I can't believe I am looking at a photo of the rig I used to ride the back step of!! I was appointed to 46 on July 1,1946, and retired on a disability in April of 1958. I'm not sure, but that almost looks like MPO John McClean working on it. At that time, 46 was on E176St. between Washington and Park Ave., and Hook and Ladder 27 was right next door.The kitchen was a seperate small building to the rear of the fire house, and the floor of the apperatus floor was made of white brick and you could see indentations in it from the horses hooves up near the front door where the watch desk was.I notice that the Fire Dept. has shoulder patches, and was wondering if I could buy one or two.Looking at that picture sure brought back a lot of memoreis!! Joe Rinck


Subject: I'm Back!! Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 14:45:40 -0400 From: joseph rinck To: donfdny@i-2000.com Hi Don, Sorry I didn't thank you for a;ll that information about the job, I guess was just excited to see the old rig after all these years. I certainly appreciate all you have done. Yes Don, I'm still in New York, I live in Hyde Park. I did live in Wappingers Falls for over 30 years, but as usually happens, the house and grounds just kept getting bigger each year, so we moved to a smaller place. Whrenever I think back to my days in Eng. 46, I feel like something out of the stone age. Those were the days when hydralic ladder trucks, fog nozzles, Scott airpaks and 2 way radio were just being introduced.When I was hurt in 1956, we had 2 Scotpaks--one for the guy on the nozzle and one for the officer.Every Sasturday, we used to clean the fire house and wash the windows. The apperatus floor was actually scrubbed! We,had a large milk can that was filled with water and put on the kitchen stove.We put in a couple of bars of Kirkmans soap and a little lye. When it was boiling, it was spread on the floor and we scrubbed using large stiff push brooms. It was then rinsed using a garden hose. For the rest of the day, water was trickling between the bricks. The windows were washed also, using a pail of water with some kerosene in it. We sread this on the window, then dried them using newspapers. Something else I'll bet they don't do today---after every run we had to wash the wheels with Murphy's oil soap, and if it was raining, the rig had to be dried off. Each length of hose was numbered, and there was a brass tag in the office for each length. After use, the wet hose was hung in the tower, and replaced with dry hose.By looking at the brass tags, the officer could tell which hose were on the rig, and which were in the tower. It always seemed funny to me that you guys in Truck companies were always the big ones, while the guys in an engine company were usually smaller. we had to change all that hose after a worker, and you big guys wiped off your ax!!! Well Don, as usual, once I get started talking about the job, I never know when to shut up. Take care Joe
Subject: Thanks again Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 14:49:16 -0400 From: joseph rinck To: "donfdny@i-2000.com" Hi Don, I can't thank you enough for the Fire Dept. Homepage, I am having a ball looking at all those photos, and things about the old days. I often think of the old ledgers and journals that were in the hose tower of 46. I think they went back to the first day the station opened, there were piles of them. They were facinating reading, with articles about a new horse, or one of the horses being shod, and items about the captain and his family who used to live in quarters. I'm soory I never took a couple, I'm sure they all wound up in a dump some place.They would be collectors items today---hell, they were collectors items then!! Onc again Don thank you so much . Thanks to you, I have heard from several retired guys, and one just on the job since 1993. Joe

Ask Joe : Joe Rinck
joe42932 @cs.com

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