FIRST DUE FIREHOUSE REPLICAS

About the Owner/Designer/Builder/Author

Andrew Benzie began collecting model emergency vehicles in the 1970s when his grandparents gave him his first Corgi and Dinky toy fire engines. He has an extensive collection and knowledge of Code 3 models, and has published three books on Conrad, Siku, and Tomica emergency vehicles. Andrew currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he runs a design and book publishing company, and plays bass and drums with several local bands.

First Due Firehouse Replicas

Release #26:

FDNY Engine 7/Ladder 1

“Duane Street Circus”

The twenty-sixth release of First Due Firehouse Replicas:

FDNY’s Engine 7/Ladder 1 “Duane Street Circus”

Code 3 produced replicas of New York City Fire Department’s Engine 7 and Tower Ladder 1 in August 2007. These companies are two of the oldest in the FDNY, and together they make up the Duane Street Circus in lower Manhattan—the twenty-sixth release from First Due Firehouse Replicas.

About the Firehouse

On September 8, 1865, Engine Company 7 (formerly Protector Engine 22 since 1840) was established as one of the first units of the newly-formed paid Metropolitan Fire Department in Manhattan. Their first apparatus included an 1866 Amoskeag 2nd size steamer and an 1865 Amoskeag hose tender.

Due to the ever-growing height of downtown buildings, between 1905-1908 (and again from 1925-1939), Engine 7 operated as a double engine company with each of the two sections having its own pumper and hose wagon. This necessitated construction of a new larger firehouse, and in 1904 three lots were purchased at 100 through 104 Duane Street.

Hook and Ladder No. 1 was established during British rule on July 10, 1772, four years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. After many of its volunteer members marched off to fight in the Revolution, it was reorganized in 1784 and given the name Mutual Hook & Ladder No. 1. This company never lost their organization until the creation of the paid system when Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was created on September 8, 1865.

The new company used the same location, the same truck and the same red cap fronts as before, and nine of its twelve members had served in the previous company. It was the only company that was continued with the same number and location, so it can be said Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 has had a continuous existence since June 16, 1784.

Engine 7 and Ladder 1 had been quartered near each other for decades (since the organization of the paid department in 1885) before they moved in together into their new three door Beaux-Arts firehouse at 100 Duane Street Manhattan on New Year’s Eve, 1905. The building was clad in boldly-rusticated Indiana limestone on the ground floor with alternating grey-brown brick and raised limestone bands on the upper floors. The 75-foot wide structure featured three bay doors—two for Engine Company 7 with its two steamers, hose tenders, horses, and 25 members, and the other for Hook & Ladder No. 1 with its ladder wagon, horses, and 17 members.

About the Replica

First Due Firehouse Replicas goes to great lengths to capture as much accuracy and detail as possible within each model we produce. Once the research is completed and a firehouse is chosen to replicate, the process involves taking photographs, creating an architectural building plan, assembling and editing the photos to digital 1:64 scale artwork, printing the artwork on glossy poster-quality paper and mounting the prints to foam-core board. Next the walls are cut out using a professional-quality mat cutter (to achieve 45° angle cuts for joins), and each model is then assembled by hand. Additional exterior details are added including air conditioning units, railings, exhaust vents, etc. Finally, remaining small details are hand-painted, the custom-built apparatus bay doors are installed and the raising of the flag completes each firehouse replica.

Fore more information about this product, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. If have any further questions, please Contact Us.

Code 3 produced replicas of both FDNY’s Engine 7 and Ladder 1 (not included with firehouse purchase) in August 2007.

Engine 7:

1. •Seagrave (series 4, #12839, 2007)

About the Apparatus

How to Order

You may Place an Order for any of our products online. Once we receive your order we will contact you via email with more information about availability, payment, shipping costs, etc.

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Location:

100 Duane Street

Manhattan, New York, NY

Years in Service:

1905-present

Companies Quartered:

1. •Engine 7 (organized 1865, quartered 1905–present)
   

2. •Ladder 1 (organized 1784/1865, quartered 1905–present)
   

3. •Battalion 1
   

4. •Assistant Chief, Manhattan Borough Commander Car 6
   

Videos:

FDNY Engine 7, Tower Ladder 1 & Battalion Chief 1 In House Visit (house visit, 2021)

FDNY Full house response Engine 7 + Ladder 1 + Battalion 1 MOVE AWAY! (code 3 response, 2017)

Release Date:

• November 2022

Dimensions:

• Base width: 14 inches

• Base depth: 11.5 inches

• Building width: 14 inches

• Building depth: 9.5 inches

• Building height: 10.5 inches

Features Included:

1. •Black base with 2 inch apron in front
   

2. •Removable roof
   

3. •Working apparatus bay doors (slide them into any position with the touch of a finger)
   

4. •Flag/Flagpole
   

5. •Printed eight-page firehouse fact sheet booklet
   

6. •Apparatus re-number sheet (a poster-printed sheet of apparatus numbers you can use to convert existing models into units quartered in this firehouse)
   

Pricing:

Our introductory price for this firehouse replica is $359 plus shipping (Note: the models of the apparatus are not included). The price covers the cost of the photo-quality prints (starting at about $50), the building materials (various paper, foam, plastic, wood and metal products), and around eight hours of time to construct (not including the many hours of preparatory research and design time spent to create each prototype model). Note: We create each or our replicas by hand—this is NOT a 3D printed or laser cut model.

Battalion 1 was never released by Code 3, however this unit can be easily replicated from an existing GMC battalion chief vehicle. A printed sheet of unit numbers is included with the firehouse to assist in converting existing models.

Battalion 1:

1. •GMC Suburban (chassis and body by Code 3, 1998, decals by First Due Shops, 2022)

Ladder 1:

1. •Seagrave Tower Ladder (series 3, #12738, 2007)

Special Services Ladder (SSL) 1:

1. •Ford F-450 (chassis and cab by Greenlight, body by First Due Shops, 2021)

Greenlight produced a model of a generic FDNY Ford Crown Victoria car in 2014.

Assistant Chief, Manhattan Borough Commander Car 6:

1. •Ford Crown Victoria (Greenlight #29772, 2014)

The esteemed architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston’s exceptional design earned the structure landmark designation in 1993, and prompted the AIA Guide to New York City to call it “among the most impressive small-scale civic structures of the period.”

This firehouse is also the current quarters of the Chief of the First Battalion and the FDNY Office of the Manhattan Borough Command. Over the years this building has also been home to numerous FDNY special units including Water Tower 1, Searchlight 1, Relay Hose Wagon 1, Smoke Ejector & Foamite Truck 1, as well as temporary homes for Engine 10, Ladder 10, Division 1 and Battalion 2.

In 1957 Ladder 1 moved to the center bay to make way for the Fire Department Museum. Eleven pieces of antique apparatus were moved into the right bay, including an 1810 ‘gooseneck’ fire engine. The museum remained open until 1987 when the memorabilia was moved to 278 Spring Street. The fire department’s Bureau of Fire Communications then used the space followed by the current Manhattan Borough Command.

Engine 7 is known as “The Magnificent Seven,” a reference to the western movie, based on the idea the inside of the firehouse looked like the old west when the department used horses. Ladder 1 is known as, “The Original One,” both for being one of the first fire companies in the city and for also being the first Tower Ladder in the FDNY in 1964.

While many other companies were relocated throughout their existence, Ladder Company 1 and Engine Company 7 still remain in their striking 1905 firehouse. Located near the center of NYC government, Engine 7 and Ladder 1’s first due area is made up of mainly large commercial buildings as well as City Hall and numerous other government buildings.

Engine 7’s 2000 Seagrave pumper was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Amazingly every single one of this Miracle House’s fifty-five firefighters—including the thirteen on duty that morning and the forty-two who rushed to assist them—survived the attack. This firehouse is featured in the documentary film 9/11.

Trowbridge & Livingston blueprint drawing for the Front Elevation of
Engine Company No. 7/Hook & Ladder No. 1, 1904.
Buildings Division, NYC Fire Department.