Engine 47 was organized January 16, 1900, at 3035 Grays Ferry Avenue in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia. They moved to Engine 60’s station on January 12, 1968, while repairs were made to their station. On December 19, 1968 Engine 47 returned to their station upon completion of the repairs.
At approximately 3:00 pm on Monday, April 13, 1942, Hoseman William P. O’Brien of Engine 47, Platoon A, was accidentally shot in the chest while on duty. At that time a small detachment of the U.S. Army was guarding the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge. The soldiers were being quartered in the firehouse. A private was demonstrating guard duty to another soldier when his rifle accidentally fired striking Hoseman O’Brien. He was rushed to Graduate Hospital on the engine where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
A new station was built for Engine 47 at 3031 Grays Ferry Avenue. They moved in on March 24, 1975. Ladder 32 was placed into service the day the new station opened. Also on March 24, 1975, Deputy 1 moved from Engine 43’s station to Engine 47.
Ladder 32 was disbanded on July 1, 1988. Engine 47 was placed out of service “temporarily” on September 24, 1990, while a new station was built for Engine 60, Ladder 19, and the HazMat Task Force. On August 11, 1997 Engine 47 was re-organized at the Grays Ferry Avenue station and Engine 60, Ladder 19, and the HazMat Task Force moved to their new station at 24th and Ritner Streets.
Engine 47 was re-organized as a squad company on December 1, 2004. Medic 40 was placed in service at Squad 47 on November 19, 2001. A second, BLS medic unit, Medic 53B, was placed in service at Squad 47 on June 30, 2017.
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Why was Ladder 32 put in service at Engine 47’s station? One reason may have been that the National Board of Fire Underwriters last survey of the city’s fire protection done in the early 50s recommended that a ladder company be placed with Engine 47. The Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia was beyond a mile from existing ladder companies, and a new ladder would provide better coverage. Although some 20 years belated, this may have been one of the reasons. And one of the reasons for its demise in 1988, I think may have been it was in the bottom 5 in runs of ladder companies in the city.
Today, new modern hi-rise medical buildings line both sides of Civic Center Blvd. near the Univ. of PA. In 1972, the west side of Civic Center Blvd. was occupied by Philadelphia General Hospital(PGH). The face of the PGH complex lining the Blvd. were six, five story brick patient bldgs with 30 ft. covered walkways between them. On October 27th at 11:30pm came the transmission of Box 3515, 34th & Civic Center Blvd.(PGH) over my fire scanner. First-in Engine 47 gave the report of heavy fire in the rear. Hearing that, I immediately left my apt. in Center City, and by 6 minutes later 2 additional alarms had been transmitted. Deputy Chief 1, Frank Bowen, was responding, and as he was nearing the location he radioed with a trembling voice requesting the 4th alarm at 11:42pm. As I neared the hospital a couple of minutes later, I could see why his voice was trembling. It appeared that the rears of two hospital bldgs. at the south end were ablaze. Because of the semi-chaotic evacuation situation, I was able to make my way thru the bldg. gaps. There I saw that luckily, all the heavy fire was fully involving a 2 story storage bldg. about 50 ft. from the patient bldgs.. And Engine 47 had a deluge gun in service keeping the fire from extending. When the members of Engine 47 found out I was on the list for the next PFD recruit class, they got me their pump operator’s coat and helmet, and I stayed with them until the fire was placed under control. Nice guys!
Wayne Press – Thank you for sharing. My father is Frank Bowen. I googled his name today and was pleasantly surprised to find his name mentioned in a few places.
Note: This 5-alarm fire at the United Trading Stamp Co. at 773-85 Schuylkill Ave. was in Engine 47’s local area. However, on the date of the fire, Engine 47’s station was under repairs, and they were running from Engine 60 at 24th & Passyunk Ave. and didn’t respond until the 2nd alarm. So, Engine 24 was 1st -in. On 12/18/68 at 12:52am, Box 1889 at Schuylkill Ave. & Christian St. was transmitted for this fire located in the Schuylkill neighborhood at the foot of the South St. Bridge. Residents of Schuylkill knew this mainly 4 block row house area as “Devil’s Pocket” as it was sandwiched between the giant PECO power plant and the old Naval Home complex. Origin of the Devil’s name unknown; maybe it was a rough neighborhood. Because of its location, it was served by dead-end water mains with few hydrants. Even though Fire Boat 3 on the Schuylkill at Passyunk Ave. responded on the 1st alarm, water supply was a problem from the beginning of the fire. For some reason, Boat 3 had trouble supplying water from the nearby river, and at 1:55am, Fire Boat 1 from the Delaware at the Ben Franklin Bridge was dispatched. At 1:05am, additional alarms started to be requested. Most of the extra alarm engines were involved in laying out 3.5″ hose about 6 blocks to a 20″ main on Grays Ferry Ave.. Although the PFD was not able to keep the fire from spreading to all sections of the 1 & 2 story bldg, once they got sufficient water they were able to keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding neighborhood.