Firefighters are getting hot new digs in a series of extreme makeovers paid for by the communities they serve.
Firehouses across New York are being primped by fund-raisers who were shocked by the state of the accommodations where the Bravest relax between emergencies.
Organizer Fran Moss, in partnership with the FDNY, started raising cash to refurbish “ready rooms” – the section of firehouses where emergency workers spend their downtime between calls – after visiting a firefighter friend at work in Brooklyn.
“It didn’t have insulated walls. It was dank and battleship gray,” she said yesterday at an unveiling ceremony showcasing the comfortable new living space at Engine 47, on West 113th Street – the first to be completed.
“The floors were concrete with a drain in the middle. There were tattered couches and a small old TV.”
The fund-raisers worked with the FDNY – including Engine 47’s 27 members – to rebuild the room from floor to ceiling.
The new quarters boast wood floors, an electric fireplace, tin ceilings, a newly exposed brick wall and a huge flat-screen plasma TV – with four comfortable couches to watch it from.
Photographs of the crew hang from the walls.
“These men give so much to us every day,” said Moss, 53, an Upper West Sider and former marketing professional who now works full-time as a community volunteer.
“My idea was to do what we could to improve the quality of their lives.”
The $5,000 renovation of Engine 47 is the first of four to be completed. Other renovations are being carried out at Ladder 3 in the East Village, Engine 54 in Hell’s Kitchen and Engine 24 in TriBeCa.
Moss and the FDNY hope to expand the program to include other firehouse across the city.
Traditionally, the quarters are furnished by the firefighters themselves, who try to make them as homey as possible – often with castoff furniture brought in from home.
“We have a tight budget and we do not want to take taxpayer money away from protecting the public to make these areas more comfortable,” said an FDNY spokesman.
“We are grateful for any help that we can get from the community to renovate.”
Donors to the makeover projects include philanthropic groups such as the Anthony E. Meyer Foundation.
Companies including Sony, Home Depot and BoConcept Furniture gave materials and furnishings, and the work is carried out by the firefighters themselves.
“This is extraordinary,” said FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta at the Engine 47 event.
“A lot of houses could do with a little sprucing up, and this one will become the envy of other houses. It’s quite splendid from top to bottom.”
“It still has a traditional firehouse feel to it, but it is so much better,” said firefighter Bob Fitzgibbon.
“It had a very dark look to it before. We’ve made it into something beautiful.”