Fire: Hell on Earth! The Bronx - 1979

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!

I miss quality journalism like this

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

These fire fighters are great

The Greatest Job on Earth!

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

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

Thank you for showing this.

Loved the black 1970s anchors.

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.

John Johnson. He's still living too!

I'm glad that this was archived.