Engine 33 on Kehr St had its problems over the years, No, not in service but our church, True Bethel located in the old TWIN FAIR/BELLS building has renovated House#33. It serves now as the True Bethel Help Center/Clothing Pantry. I'm sure the memories of that neighborhood are bewildering, but True Bethel is bringing life back to that neighborhood!
Tom
05-Jan-2008 23:06
I disagree with Mr. Whelan, this firehouse shouldn't be torn down. In some really bad areas of Chicago and Philadelphia, things eventually got SO bad that even the drug dealers, prostitues etc moved out and the neighborhoods became virtually empty. Years after that what eventually happened is young people just starting out on their own looking to buy a house started moving into these neighborhoods. The properties were so cheap (the cities sold them for $100 each or less) that the new owners could afford to put their money into rehabbing the properties. Slowly life returned and the areas became "trendy". It may take decades (and might be hard to imagine) but it's not impossible for the same thing to happen here. What a shame it would be to lose a beautiful old building like Engine 33.
Jason Whelan
27-May-2005 01:47
The quarters of Engine 33 have been in rough shape for some time now. The station is so bad that the apparatus has to be parked in the lot at times due to the rotting floor beneath it. Engine 33 has a basement below the apparatus floor which is causing this.Unfortunate because she is a beautiful stationhouse. Engine 33 was and still is an important company on the East Side. Kehr Street, although dotted with potholes now, used to be a connector street for the IRC Trolley cars from Ferry Street going to Jefferson Avenue. Engine 33 also used to house the 5th Battalion Chief, or B-45.
Engine 33 is to be closed this year and the company moved to new quarters in the vicinity of Fillmore Avenue and Delevan Avenue in a new two bay station.
Hopefully the city will salvage what they can from this station for the Buffalo Fire Historical Society, and demolish her. The neighborhood that Engine 33 resides is littered with too many empty buildings, perfectly inviting for arsonists and drug dealers. Let her go out with pride!
