Out of the Archives:
After devastating infernos in the early twentieth century, NYC’s High Pressure Fire Service revolutionized firefighting. To build it efficiently, the contractor stored an extraordinary amount of materials at this pipe yard on the Hudson River at 21st Street (now Chelsea Piers).
When fire swept through Coney Island in November 1903, firefighters were hindered by the lack of water at hydrants. The blaze wiped out fourteen blocks. Although water was available, according to the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity (DWSGE) the problem was the inability of the distribution system to deliver it at a sustained and concentrated pressure. Only three months later, fire destroyed Baltimore’s waterfront and business district, raising the discussion of big city fire protection to a national level. In direct response to these events, the DWSGE swiftly developed a plan to protect the city’s manufacturing, storehouse, and office building districts. The solution was a High Pressure Fire Service system with pumping stations, water distribution pipes, and hydrants dedicated exclusively for firefighting.
New York City Fire Department helped identify areas to protect, which included Coney Island and Brooklyn’s East River waterfront and downtown business district, and Manhattan from Chambers to 23rd Street. Stations were designed to use water from the municipal systems or drawn from nearby rivers, and connections along the waterfront allowed fire boats to use their diesel pumps to pressurize the system if the pump stations failed. A gridiron network of cast iron pipes distributed the water to special high pressure fire hydrants with connections for four hoses.
In 1953, with the full force of the Catskill and Delaware water supplies flowing throughout the City, the Brooklyn and Manhattan pump stations were decommissioned and some of the pipes were integrated into the municipal distribution system.
For more NYCDEP history, click: http://bit.ly/2tKkvDE.
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