We had a little bit of excitement at the Historical Society (BMSHS) the other day. The BMSHS shares a building with the Briarcliff Manor Library, The Vescio Community Center and the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department.

I was sitting in the Historical Center when there was a loud bang and all the fire alarms went off. Of course we all had to evacuate the building (luckily the weather was quite pleasant) and wait for the powers that be to arrive. Above: the first to arrive, the Fire Chief.

Some of the Library staff wait for the call to return.

These people were doing some kind of exercise in the Vescio Community Center, and nothing was going to stop them from continuing.

Re-enforcements arrive. Briarcliff Manor fire trucks are interesting because they’re white rather than the more normal red. According to “A Century of Volunteer Service: Briarcliff Manor Fire Department 1901–2001. Briarcliff Manor Fire Department. 2001”:

Briarcliff Manor’s fire company existed for more than a year before Briarcliff Manor’s incorporation. Frederick C. Messinger (a fireman in Kingston for ten years) and thirteen local men founded the private fire company in 1901. Thirty-six men became the company’s charter members on March 4, 1902, and dues were set at 25 cents per month. On April 15 of that year, the company took the name Briarcliff Steamer Company No. 1. The company’s first equipment was a 1901 hand-drawn chemical apparatus, with a tank containing a mixture of water and sodium bicarbonate. Sulfuric acid would be added to the tank, creating carbon dioxide, which would propel the solution through the hose and help extinguish the fire. That first apparatus was white, which Messinger thought more visible than the conventional red in a village without street lights, and the village’s engines remain white.

One of Briarcliff’s finest waiting to give us the all clear. Apparently the Fire Department and the Department of Public Works was able to deal with the problem in a timely manner, and we were all able to return to our various activities quickly.

Fireman’s hat (I couldn’t resist)

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 10-24mm f4