The Kinsey Fire Observation Room

[dave ziegler]

The One day about a yr 1/2 ago I was able to get inside Old Warehouse H and save many old Fire drill papers from in there these are from May and June of 1956.
Here are the two pictures of the Fire drill Paper work from 1956 Warehouse H was the last one built by Mr Kinsey
Dave Z
-----------------------------------------------------------
It Seems All The Nicest people Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificnet Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

On Sunday while I could still get into it I took these two pictures of the Old Fire safety control center at the front of the Plant. Cal Roberts Chief and Harry Martin his second in command hung out in this little room with the Pumps and pyrotronics box. It was heated and their Lockers were in there.
It was built against the Blue water tank which is part of one of the walls.
As it says in the papers for the fire drills they would bring the truck out and do fire drills every month no matter how cold it was out.

When we were working once a week Cal would take the fire truck for a run through the plant and he would run the siren!

The truck had no cab was open air and was totally updated with the latest equipment after Publicker bought the plant. It had been bought by Mr Kinsey New.
Dave Z
----------------------------------------------------
Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

[dave ziegler]

For me the Biggest tribute to Publicker Industries is and was the fact that in all the Years they operated Kinsey they Never had one fire or explosion or anyone Hurt. And that every month they did their fire fighting drills every week opened and tested all the Hydrants in the Plant and the woods, and bells on alarms and always made sure there was plenty of water Power for fire fighting on hand.

And looking back at my Pictures of Warehouse Q's Fire Safety Room high above the Plant at the Plants High point built on that warehouse when it was built for safety sake, even when they were building the explosion proof warehouses back in the early 1940's they were thinking very Smartly in thinking to put that on that Warehouse at the Plants High ground point! And the extra room on top of it to see across the Roof toward the Fields and woods for fire watch.

Also the fact that they comitted to safety as soon as they bought Kinsey by putting Sprinklers in every single one of the Old Warehouses, even the 1892 Warehouse A & B and other old Buildings. They upgraded Mr Kinseys Fire truck year after year to modern standards and kept Power in every Building and kept them Clean.

When I worked there I was never ever Afraid of any kind of Explosion and Looking back now it was a place where that could well of Happen but it did not because of the Company caring and doing what was right.

We had safe working days every day. I was and always will be very Proud I worked there and regret that I left, what a mistake and remember those I worked with Fondly!
Dave Z
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=
Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

[dave ziegler]

Well I went to Kinsey this morning at 8:30 AM till 12:00 noon. And I discovered the young people that go there to break in had every one of the warehouses broken open so when I left I called my friends to let them know!

And while I was there got some good shots including revisiting the Fire Observation Tower! Here are some new for 2009 shots of it and shots from the roof.
Here are some picutres of the Tower from the roof, the room the Heating Element on the walls and a couple of Shots through the window and from the roof this is the High point of the Plant.


I am in awe of the forthought in building this different fire escape then the rest of the warehouses on the building on the high point of the Plant back in the early 1940's!

Q Building is the only one with this special tower and room and till the grating fell down in the hollow tunnel on the back side of the tower you could climb up the side ladder then go up the ladder on the top room and see across the roof side of the building to the woods to look for fire and smoke. You would never want to go in now as it would be trip falling all the way down to a sealed room. I think what happen was the grating melted when the people set fire to the Corn Whiskey barrels on the 3rd floor. And it fell down in the sealed tower at the back.

Also the windows in the room melted from the heat and liquid glass ran down the window sills. The window frames buckled there was a time when bottles with labels were put up there in the sun to test how they would hold up. But what a testamony to how well the Buildings were built even after the fire and the hole the fire company knocked in the wall Warehouse Q is still stable and safe, I know I was on the roof this morning taking these Pictures!
Dave Z
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
It Seems All The nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

Two weeks ago when I went to Kinsey and posted the pictures above of the Fire Watch tower one of the things that really impressed me was How dam strong these Buildings are.

If you look back in my pictures of last year you can see the big hole punched in the side by the fire company many years ago to put out a fire in a bunch of old Corn whiskey barrels that had a little in them on the third floor.

I went up on the roof and found that no matter where I looked the building had not gotten any worse even though many yrs before I went back there this big hole was knocked in its third floor wall to put out a big fire that was so hot it melted the Glass windows to moulten liquid in the tower room.

I was also impressed by the fact that they even had heating elements in the tower and the little room above it, of the metal fin type.
To do that they had to run heat pipes up all the way to and through the roof and they did.

These warehouses were in their time the highest of High tech and it must have been a joy watching them being built by Continental Distilling and they are a tribute to Macuskie builders and kelly Brick for their brick work.

I hope to see Industrial pictures of them going up when I meet my friend from the company soon I hope.

The steel rods are about 1 inch thick and run two ways every foot. The fllors and walls are all two foot thick and they are amazing in their build and in the Electrical setups they had for the 1940's.

I would bet that Old Jake Kinsey came and watched some of it once Continental started building them. As only 4 1/2 yrs before 1936 he had finished his last wood and brick warehouse H in the historic Pictures I posted last yr from Ludy. What a difference in buildings in so short a time.

Those must have been some exciting days and I wish I could have seen them doing it. Those were days when people needed Hope as WWII was coming on Quickly
Dave Z
----------------------------------------------------------
Kinsey The unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

[dave ziegler]

After walking around the open buildings and taking pictures on the third floor of Q building I went up on the roof again to get a couple of shots from the roof and of the Fire watch room and the room at the stair well that goes to the roof.

Q Building sits at the High point of the plant so when they built it that is why they chose Q Building to put this room on



Here they are
1. Back water tank tower from Q Building roof
2. Shot from roof looking back at tops of some of the warehouses
3. Fire watch tower room from roof
4. Another shot of the fire watch rooms
5. Shot from roof of big black storage tank on O Building roof from Q roof
6. Top of front stairwell to roof note square hole in wall there is a air intake fan there and also open window to let air in.

After all that has happen to this building it remains strong and steady it is such a shame that it has been left at the mercy of Young people who think its fun to ruin things breaks my heart.
Dave Z
----------------------------------------------------------
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

One of the Things that I never worried about working in the Plant was safety. Things just seemed so well watched over with the Fire drills and all the extra well made Explosion Proof fixtures that I don't remember even thinking of anything Happening.

And in all its years of operation There was never any fires of deaths in the Plant and few if any injuries. In 94 yrs operating Kinsey not Only was Beautiful but well protected.

The only time we even thought about fire was when Cal Roberts Plant fire Chief would take the fire truck out with Harry Martin Asst Chief and drive around the plant sounding the siren for fun!

The design of the Explosion Proof Warehouses had the little porchs reached through a door on the wall as the escape you would step out on the porch and in a door on the fire escape the stair well was doubled walled and so the only way in was through the porch separating it from any explosion area a very good design indeed.

I have added a Picture of the Porches as they were made going from the Warehouse to the Fire escape.

The first floor you would go out the Back ground floor door so there was no conection to let fire in the stair well from the warehouse it would have had to travel on the little Porch and that was very unlikely. You could get into the fire escape stairwell from a door on the roof or the ground escape door at the bottom.

Going back and looking around at the Hundreds of Fire Hydrents in the plant and the woods down back the large pump room down there and the one out front and the water towers and special fire fighting blue water tank near all the Old Wood and brick Warehouses and Still Continental did things very right including putting Sprinklers in every single Building no matter how old and keeping them working even when as the example of the DSP-Pa. 12 still not being used anymore.

Safety was always a way of Life at Kinsey and I am very Proud to have worked there.
Dave Z
-------------------------------------------------
Kinsey The Genial Gin
Join The Swing To Kinsey

[dave ziegler]

Tonight I am wondering what the Fire prevention setups were for other Distillerys. Fire Prevention was always a top priority for The Kinsey Distillery and there was never a Fire there or even close to one. Publicker Had a bad fire in Phila in 1957 and after that they really went all out to make sure for the rest of the years they were in bussiness to never let that happen again!

I never in all the years I worked there even thought of it Happening, none of us did because we, One had a Practis fire drill every month and two we were told all the time to be careful to not let that happen.

The Kinsey Distillery was one of the safest Distillery's to ever operate and I am very proud to have worked there through many safe years!

I will always remember watching Cal Roberts and Harry Martin ride around in the Old Kinsey Fire truck blowing the siran and also every month checking all the Hydrants to make sure they were working.
Dave Z
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
It Seems All The nicest People Drink Old Hickory America's
Most magnificent Bourbon

[Josh]

Tonight I am wondering what the Fire prevention setups were for other Distillerys. Fire Prevention was always a top priority for The Kinsey Distillery and there was never a Fire there or even close to one. Publicker Had a bad fire in Phila in 1957 and after that they really went all out to make sure for the rest of the years they were in bussiness to never let that happen again!

I remember seeing an old firetruck on the grounds of the part of Beam Clermont that is open to the public. It's a really nice looking old truck, maybe from the 1940's? I'm not sure. Not too good with cars. I'm sure they must have had more than one back then and many more now. As huge as those Beam facilities are, it's hard to imagine they don't have their own fire dept.

I seem to recall seeing and hearing about the fire supression systems at BT when I took the hardhat tour, but I don't remember the details.

[dave ziegler]

Josh the Old Fire truck we had at Kinsey was a Mack from the mid 1930's and when Continental Distilling bought the Plant they had it upgraded as far as fire fighting equipment almost every year. It was of the type that had no roof on the cab and we always got a big kick watching Cal Roberts the fire chief and Harry Martin his asistant riding around sounding the very load Siren as they drove through once a week.

Even though it was very old it was in perfect shape and ran great!

As I have stated many times we had monthy Fire drills and most times they were in the area where at the Old Buildings and warehouses were.

I have the original title for truck in my Collection of Kinsey Things it was Junked after they went out of Bussiness.
Dave Z
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Join The Swing To Kinsey Whiskey And Gin