FIRST DUE FIREHOUSE REPLICAS

Website by Andrew Benzie Creative Design.

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 #3:

FDNY Squad 1

“The One and Only”

The third release of First Due Firehouse Replicas:

FDNY’s Squad 1, “The One and Only”

New York City Fire Department Squad Company 1 is one of only eight Squads in the FDNY Special Operations Command (SOC), which includes rescue, hazmat and marine units. Squad 1 responds to fires and other emergencies throughout New York City, operating primarily in Brooklyn from their firehouse in the Park Slope neighborhood. Squad 1 is the third release from First Due Firehouse Replicas.

About the Firehouse

Squad 1’s ornate firehouse is located at 788 Union Street in Brooklyn, New York. The building was designed by the Parfitt Brothers Architects, one of Brooklyn’s best and busiest architectural firms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Squad 1 was first organized in Harlem at Engine Company 59 in 1955. They moved to the Bronx with Ladder Company 58 in 1972, then to Engine Company 45 in 1975, then disbanded in 1976. They were re-established in 1977 in Brooklyn at 788 Union Street, the former quarters of Engine Company 269 which had been closed during a budget crisis. The community placed great pressure on the city to reopen the former house and the city responded by making it the new quarters for Squad 1.

Squad 1 responds as an engine in its first, second and third due assignments, and as a Squad Company to working fires, high angle, collapse, confined space, subway emergencies and hazardous material emergencies in Brooklyn and throughout the city as needed.

About the Replica

Release Date:

• January 2022

Dimensions:

• Base width: 5 inches

• Base depth: 15.5 inches

• Building width: 5 inches

• Building depth: 13.5 inches

• Building height: 9.5 inches

Features Included:

•Black base with 2 inch apron in front
•Removable roof
•Working apparatus bay door (slide it into any position with the touch of a finger)
•Flag/Flagpole
•Printed firehouse fact sheet booklet

Pricing:

Our introductory price for this firehouse replica is $339 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.

Code 3 produced two Seagrave models of Squad 1 (not included with firehouse purchase). The first release in 1997 came at a time Squad 1 was the “One and Only” squad in the FDNY. The second was released six years later as part of a set of all seven squads in service during 2003.

Squad 1:

•Seagrave (series 1, #02453-0001, 1997)

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.

Location:

788 Union Street

Brooklyn, New York, NY

Years in Service:

1908-present

Companies Quartered:

• Engine 269 (organized 1908, quartered Oct. 5, 1908–Nov. 25, 1975)

• Squad 1 (organized 1955, quartered 1977–present)

Books:

Squad Company Apparatus of the New York Fire Department (John A. Calderone, ASIN: B004H5SJT8, 2008)

Videos:

FDNY Squad 1 & TRV Inside of their Firehouse in Brooklyn, New York City (a look inside the apparatus bay, 2014)

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.

The two additional models of Squad 1’s auxiliary units were both built in-house by our First Due Shops. The first is based on a 1991 unit known as a Technical Response Vehicle (TRV), and the latter referred to simply as the “Second Piece.” New York City’s squad companies are each assigned a second unit which carries additional rescue equipment.

Squad 1 Auxiliary Unit: