squadstuff

It's a one week vacation that never ends!!

It's all good Willy. You are a top shelf guy who has the good of the Fire Service in mind. Just trying to remind people that there is many layers in the onion. What appears to be the whole story from their perspective is often just one spoke in the wheel. Congrats to your friend and all the others who have been hired. May the tradition of excellence continue. It is their time to shine.

I defer my 33 years to the 4 year guy who isn't sure where he has been assigned. There are medics who are assigned to the Units by request. Some are assigned to the units because of need. Some are assigned to stations with units in them to facilitate rotation on to the unit. Some are assigned to other stations but are detailed to the Units. If the plan to add more Emergency Units goes forward there will be transfers to properly staff the Units. These transfers will likely include medics currently assigned to Engine & Truck Companies. The Department understands burn out and is mindful of medic rotations but medics need to understand they are hired with the condition of employment of maintaining their medical control in New Haven for 10 years. But what do I know? Oh yea, you will be paid better than most ambulance services with benefits that far surpass what they are getting now. And you get to be a part of a Class 1 Fire Department that is seeing fires weekly.

A quick correction to my post Firefighter Trainee / Probationary Salary is for ONE year - $ 40476 3rd grade 45462 2nd grade 52553 1st grade 74630 You can view the entire contract at http://cityofnewhaven.com/HumanResources/pdfs/2011-2018 Local 825 (extension).pdf

New Haven has hired in excess of 125 firefighters over the past 3 years. Some were paramedics. There are plans to put additional ALS Emergency Units in service. This prompted the Medic list to be created. All Medics are trained as Firefighters. A condition of employment is to obtain med control and maintain it for 10 years. All EMTs must keep the card for their career. Currently there are enough medics to allow rotation off the Units and on to fire companies but not enough to activate additional Units. Assignments in New Haven are payroll positions. Your assignment is not a guarantee which rig you will be working on. When I was a Captain in NHFD there were assigned drivers & tillermen. The others did a day & night tour on the pipe, day / night on the hydrant and day / night on the truck. And if a driver was off the back step firefighters rotated driving. This kept all skills fresh because if you were detailed to another station you could be filling any of those roles. But it is the Captains decision who rides where based on the needs of the Department. As far as the pay goes, there are 4 pay grades. Recruit pay is low. You get a raise after 6 months then yearly until top step. Once off probation you are can work overtime and get acting Medic pay when working in that capacity. Plus pay stipends. I retired 4 years ago as a Batt. Chief with 33 years OTJ. So the info I post is accurate and not hearsay.

222 East 5th St near Maple St Downtown Los Angeles CA

Chief Burford was a paid firefighter in Manchester CT before going to Ridgefield. Curious why she neglected to include that tidbit in the speech.

Chief Burford was a paid firefighter in Manchester CT before going to Ridgefield. Curious why she neglected to include that tidbit in the speech.

This is from a 4th alarm fire in New Haven CT. The buildings on this block were preplanned and vacant. The woman in the 3rd floor window showed about 14 minutes after arrival. We were in defensive mode until she showed up. Also, this building was exposure 4. The main fire building was fully involved.