Fire: Hell on Earth! The Bronx - 1979

WABC NY Channel-7 Reporter John Johnson follows Bronx Firemen from the 19th Battalion, Engine-75, Ladder-33 during the FDNY's "War Years".....From JBendick Collection, visit Nycfire.net.

[@bigbirdvinny]

Growing up in New York City....this reporter, John Johnson the BEST. He has a great voice, a pure professional and one of the people I trusted during the tough years of the 1970s and 1980s. Not many people know that during these years....there were 1,800 to 2,600 murders a year, depending on the year. That you John Johnson. Thank you for for posting this gem!

[@georgewaters8592]

Incredible. I never get tired of watching these videos. My father was a Lt in Engine 17, Pitt and Delancy St back in the 1970s when the lower east side was burning. As John Johnson correctly stated, my father's health has suffered greatly from his work in the FDNY and many of his friends have long died, but he'll be the first to say that being a NYC Fireman was the best job in the world.

[@jab7168]

Great house.

[@georgecoons6872]

All you need is 4 cigarettes pined together with thin toothpicks wrapped in pooper papper tucked away in closet clothes or anywere. You cant find the cause.

[@firstinlastout]

Thank you for your Father's service. 60 people. If 10 house only knew 46 years later what would happen.

[@firstinlastout]

​@@georgecoons6872after my 20 year tenure, I finally figured it out. I don't remember seeing many people grieving on fully involved residential structures. Now, retired, I look back and realize that truly,like the Bible says : The LOVE of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10) "God showed His love for us by sending Jesus to die for us." - (Romans 5:8) "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" . (Psalms 19:1) "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" . (Revelation 4:11) "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" .( Psalm 51:5) "your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)) " None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one". ( Romans 3:10-12) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" .( Romans 3:23) "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" .( Romans 6:23) "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) "Whoever believes in the Son, has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" .( John 3:36) "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." ( 1 John 4:10 ) "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. " (Romans 5:8) "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed" . (Isaiah 53:5) "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." ( John 1:12) "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " (John 14:6) "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. "(1 John 1:9) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. "(John 10:10) "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:12-13) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. " (2 Corinthians 5:17) ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Hurry up! Run to the ONLY one who can save you from what is coming upon the world, the one who created the world... JESUS the Christ. DO NOT BE LEFT BEHIND UNLESS YOU LIKE ZOMBIE MOVIES. I am NOT joking. 🔥🔥

[@SittingWithDogs]

I miss quality journalism like this

[@rachelmanor1344]

Back when even news anchors had a REVERENCE for reporting and the seriousness of what they were reporting on. Now it’s all blatant entertainment of disrespect and unnecessary comments by young immature anchors and/stories.

[@truth1128]

This is an excellent report. John Johnson was an icon in New York City. He has the best voice for news reports. He is sorely missed.

[@carmelasilvestri4634]

Yes indeed John Johnson eas incredible news/jounalist.

[@emt5330]

Do you mean his work as a journalist is sorely missed, because as far as I can tell, he's still living.

[@Whipslinger1]

John Johnson, Roger Grimsby, Bill Beutel and Rosanne Scamardella. That was that Channel 7 team everybody watched if you grew up in the Tri State. Fire is a devastating way to lose your home or your life.

[@kasteman1]

Gritty '70s NYC. Never lived there, before my time, but I'm incredibly fascinated by it. I'd love to go back in time and walk around those streets for a day. Without getting mugged. lol

[@johnshowers1048]

Go to midtown, Times square pretty safe copsfeet apart

[@watchxfiles]

I walked those streets back then. All the way to about 13 years old in 1982. I am a female. Got lots of cat calls but never migged. The streets were fun if you lived there as a child.

[@Whipslinger1]

You may have gotten mugged. Depending on who you were.

[@DTD110865]

​​@@watchxfiles I turned 17 in 1982. Times Square looked creepy to me, and I was as horny and sex-starved as any other teenage boy.

[@scavenger9579]

History repeats itself go walk around in LA san francsico, or Cleveland or Chicago.

[@edwu8253]

one of the best video's on youtube, God bless the FDNY

[@25mfd]

back then the owners of those slum buildings were constantly pulling "insurance jobs", burning the buildings down... wild times

[@bohemoth1]

I remember when I was an Auxiliary Fire Captain in the New York City Fire Department assigned to the Community Relations Bureau. I used to ride with Satellite One that was quartered on Canal Street in lower Manhattan New York City. The Satellite Officer would respond to every Second Alarm Fire in the City. In the back of his Station wagon there was the Manifold. I even remember responding with Satellite One to Far Rockaway to a third alarm fire in a Queen Anne home. Yep those were the war years of the New York City Fire Department.

[@deneenjeffries2768]

John Johnson was the man back in the day...

[@luciusvorenus9445]

This is a great report by Mr. Johnson.

[@truckie117]

The Greatest Job on Earth!

[@280StJohnsPl]

+truckie117 Used to be Stay safe FDNY Ret

[@heavy7799]

truckie117 Second greatest job on earth...

[@garystadler5583]

I agree with you truckie117

[@kathyoberle9093]

These fire fighters are great

[@teresaeljinini7850]

Thank you for showing this.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Loved the black 1970s anchors.

[@b9e1m]

I'm glad that this was archived.

[@doubleupd69]

.....priceless, historical, great vid!!! I lived across the street from another house just as busy in those days, E71 (the war wagon) & L55, the Melrose section of the South Bx....OMG!!!!

[@emt5330]

Man, look at the old bread truck ambulance at the end. It's crazy how our job has evolved as well.

[@fireguye4]

outstanding!!! great video bro. thanks

[@fhtre2]

Holy shit, think about the number of calls. 39000, over 2 years... that averages to over 50 calls a day. That is fucking unbelievable.

[@chargerla]

Nice video. Good to see john johnson again. As a young kid living in new york and seeing my neighborhood burn down was pretty sad and disturbing. Everyone knew it was the landlords doing this but nothing was done about it. The poor will never have a fair shot at anything. The rich just burn it down and collect. Darth Sidious is right on.

[@larryrwendelljr4465]

Very informative video, Thank you for your sharing this.

[@MrPaulaponte]

To R1SmokeEater Take a bow!A wonderful video!

[@jmfia2391]

John Johnson. He's still living too!

[@assignmentdesk9897]

Hate to say it, I enjoying watching your video's and audio, reminds me of growing up as a young :buff" @ 246/169 back when almost any Box in CI was a second alarm..

[@bobettegiorgi9797]

I remember both of these news anchors. Living in CT, we have gotten ABC 7 for decades, way before "cable."

[@juliemitchell3794]

Mr. Johnson has such a soothing voice.

[@ntfd125]

Fireball gloves haven't seen those things in a while. My dad always told me about the amount of steam burns they would receive from wearing them.

[@bxboro4662]

Grew up in the south & west Bronx in the 80s & 90s...so many abandoned & vacant lots!

[@matthewnorman1303]

Looks like the reporter was on the front line with the firemen. He was in there while they were doing overhaul and tearing down ceilings. You think the insurance companies would allow that now?

[@emt5330]

Not a chance

[@kawiemer]

John Johnson was a great reporter. Had huge respect from both sides of every issue. It’s why the prisoners asked for him when they had the riot in the prison.

[@emt5330]

@@kawiemer which riot in which prison?

[@kawiemer]

Attica in the early 70’s

[@Wa3ypx]

The golden years of firefighting!

[@thisissparta789789]

Detroit is going through this. We can only hope that Detroit rebounds like New York did.

[@brandonshaw7619]

It wont

[@PronoProject]

"Hey kids, do you know who started this fire?" lol.

[@susanlally7340]

phenomenal

[@marcoscastro1398]

This makes me cry,I was born here in 1970,my father did everything he could to get us a place to live, in 1974 we left to new heaven con.

[@DTD110865]

I was born in 1965, and my parents were so convinced that the city was on the verge of collapse, they moved to Long Island the next year. We still had relatives in the city through the bad old days.

[@bryanwilliams4343]

The ANIMAL HOUSE!

[@StukInBuf]

"SmokeEater"... that's a term often used by Irv Weinstein when he was reporting news on WKBW-TV, Channel 7, here in Buffalo long ago.

[@Katwoman4318]

John Johnson! Miss him reporting the news.

[@jerseydevil1995]

No it's not anymore. It's pretty vitalized now. I live near Yankee Stadium, and it's fine. However, if you go to Hunts Point, it is yes sadly still like this. Not burning buildings, 1970's bad, but like late 1990's drug addict/prostitution bad.

[@NPRMc]

NYC budgets sere stretched thin, this blight was a systematic problem. Pre war construction housing and factories had little to no fire safety or suppression systems, the technology was around but we didnt have tight laws requiring systems, detectors and so on - those came later. Also a lack of housing inspectors, the drugs, gangs and crime in the south bronx as well as incompetent city gov't contributed to this decay.

[@radiodj1520]

I Believe This Was A Video Clip Of WABC-TV's Channel 7 Eyewitness News' Special Report On Fire: Hell On Earth! In The Bronx In 1979.

[@firstinlastout]

The days without SBCA'S. LOL.

[@georgecoons6872]

Here in arizona we dont report how the fire started. In homes. Just the fire was quelled. That's all you and all public needs to know.

[@JB0071051982]

My hat is off to the men and women of the F.D. N.Y. that were on the job in this era. Reading Report From Engine Co #82 by Dennis Smith (Highly recommended if you are interested in this period. Smith was a Firefighter in Engine Company #82 in the South Bronx at the time the book was published in 1972) it really tells how dangerous and difficult it was for firefighters to do their job given how the city government was run at the time. Like E 75 and L 33, E 82 had many calls year in and out. A lot of the same issues highlighted here effected them as well.

[@johnshowers1048]

Love that book!!

[@emt5330]

Chief Slevin in this video is Chief Solwin in the book.

[@emt5330]

At the time the book came out, 82 and 31 answered on average a call every 45 minutes, every hour of every day.

[@Wa3ypx]

I'm a 3rd generation urban FF in the east. Got on the job in 81 at the tail end of the era. I have 3 to go till I must punch out for the last time and I'm going to miss it dearly. What about you?

[@sphinxrising1129]

Firemen, people who run into places the remainder of us run out of.

[@towerfmus]

The old days nyc is NOTHING like this anymore detroit is the new nyc

[@jayhooks1098]

Crazy you say that. Because I was just watching a doc on Detroit and it reminded me of when I grew up in the Bronx in the 80's...

[@r.pres.4121]

Joe Curry It is only the South Side that is very bad the rest of Chicago is prosperous and doing well.

[@googlegoogle-ye4mx]

*"John Johnson"*

[@MrWolfTickets]

Chargerla: I don't disagree about the lack of sufficient upward mobility options, but I'm learning that rent control was a problem because it keeps the market from working.

[@robertmanfredthurrigl9424]

'Market not working' for whom? The better and more upwardly mobile who can afford higher rents ? Rent control is a basic need for the many who are not born with lucky cards and grow up in poverty. To rise the rents so 'the market can work' or privatize it all is not ideal either . Wanna eradicate social housing so 'the market can work' ? The main problem is density and high birth rate and when combined with poverty and unemployment you get a deadly mix of strive , alienation and urban decay. A ticking time bomb. A program of sterilization is needed but the political will does not exist . Planet earth can not sustain its won numbers anymore . In China once upon a time you were allowed just one child and its population still exploded. People are like animals and multiply like rabbits and rodents . That is the real issue here not 'the markets not working' properly !

[@johngoglia6981]

Back then, with the plight of the city.. how many crunchies do firefighters step on

[@OwneyMadden430]

I had read that E-82 L-31 “La Casa Grande” was the busiest house in the South Bronx in the Late 1970’s . But who knows I’m sure all the Firehouses in the South Bronx in the late 1970’s were pretty much on par with each other.

[@2ndarmoredhellonwheels106]

You should read report from engine Co 82 written by Dennis Smith who was a firefighter back in early 70s. Excellent book.

[@fdny3526]

Originally B-27 was quartered with E-82 and L-31

[@luciusvorenus9445]

Walbaum: worst day for the FDNY until 9/11/01.

[@DavidOrtiz-rc1vt]

How is that area now? Still a war zone?

[@mrs117firewife8]

How many of these guys are still alive? I don't think I've seen one guy in SCBA.

[@JB0071051982]

Just wanted to add for anyone interested in the history of this period from the viewpoint of the Police Department, read the book Fort Apache: The Bronx by Tom Walker. The NYPD had just as hard a time keeping peace in the Bronx, as the Fire Department did fighting fires and responding to other emergencies.

[@coldbenz4025]

AWESOME WORK GOOOOOOD LOL NOW

[@matthewbulger5876]

What Day In 1979 Was This Broadcast?

[@goofballcaleb13]

You know it’s old when they just say Hurst Tool not spreaders or cutters

[@sphinxrising1129]

My city had a rash of arson fires in the 70s & 80s, mostly for profit, as some owners saw it easier to have places torched than tear them down, cheaper that way.

[@juliemitchell3794]

I blame slum lords, mayors & city councilmen for this level of needless danger.

[@r.pres.4121]

All those abandoned old buildings should have been demolished and cleared out.

[@michellesanders9619]

As do most girl. Us blacks and his[anics destroyed what was a crime free middle class community. If you keep blaming others for your failures then you will always be of a criminal mindset.

[@davidpurpleartist8125]

Those old Mack's are better looking then now

[@tyrese3745]

Thank the Good Lord Mayors Koch and Dinkins changed the Bronx around. Although crime is still rampant, it's not as bad as it was in the 70s. Today, the living hell in the Bronx no longer exists. It's cleaner, greener, and, hard to believe, safer to live.

[@sitdowndogbreath]

Actually it was three things mayor Koch New York State Assembly lots of money to revamping Transit System a republican Rino Rudolph Giuliani along with Bloomberg brought New York back from the brink

[@justincase7937]

sao paulo, the jumper just about cleans everyone off the aerial plunging to their deaths. i know theyre desperate but damn, they took a bunch of others who were safe with them

[@notthatdonald1385]

1970's firefighting seems to crude by today's technology and training. I know I was a volly back then.

[@Alabama2534]

1979

[@AmySims-hm2er]

Better times

[@chuckruckus3648]

2021 Goner bring this back baby Arson is a sign or urban decay sayeth 1979. 2020 it’s Called Peaceful Protesting.

[@fdny3526]

Federal Model 28

[@Ihuffglue91]

Cleveland was a news reporter! Who know?

[@sitdowndogbreath]

This guy is afraid of the dog I don't think Cleveland was

[@caiuspostumiusturrinus1024]

Could you imagine being the friggin genius back then saying "Oh! Maybe we should use foam."

[@hartalkjunke5688]

0:00

[@DjBaDBoYAka47]

does year the landlord burn they building to claim the insurance

[@michellesanders9619]

Us blacks and you his[anics destroyed what was a crime free middle class community. If you keep blaming others for your failures then you will always be of a criminal mindset.

[@hartalkjunke5688]

0:12

[@kelvinshiang4791]

Was this the news that took place in real life or is it make believe? I born in 1997.

[@emt5330]

Kelvin Shiang it's all real

[@mariekatherine5238]

It's quite real. I lived through it.

[@Jen1112111]

Dumbass questions i swear

[@guitarmarcus2032]

Praise the lord jesus christ

[@juliemitchell3794]

All highrise buildings are dangerous & should not be built. EMTs & firefighters face just as much danger as police & decent civilians.

[@r.pres.4121]

That is the most stupid and irresponsible statement I have ever heard. Modern high rise buildings are safer and more fire resistant than the old brick and wood low rise buildings. You obviously don’t know what you are talking about.

[@hartalkjunke5688]

0:29