hudson144

a possible # of 23 !

according to my sources,the new cfis will be notified this week.

60 control has come a long way over the years,for those who have never been in the hot seat as a dispatcher they may never know the amount of mental work that goes on. it can be a draining experience! they do a great job and are appreciated by many. if you want to thank them send them an e-mail or a card,or a couple of pizza's. no need to thank them over the air-you are only tying up air space that is already packed with too much chatter. be safe!

bfd stated exams,great idea but if it is given by the state you will be grey before you get the results and the career guys call the test day lucky saturday! there is alot of fire officers out there that made out well on lucky saturday. you can't be a good fire officer if you never really did the job as a firefighter. i have seen this in my career prior to retiring and it was always the firefighter who was in there doing the job that he was trained to do. some fire officers are terrible as bosses. but because of some of the civil service rules they get promoted anyway! not all depts. operate the same but what i mentioned does exist and is a hazard to all involved. training is a big part of a career-paid or vol. the fire service is always changing and if you don't go with the tide you will be lost . everyday new ideas,techniques are introduced.it sometimes takes progressive people to make a progressive dept. i wouldn't mention some of the techniques that were used 25 years ago to a new generation of firefighters,they would think we were nuts! many people out there in the crazy world of firefighting are teaching new methods as well as old methods that still are used today. if you want to learn keep yor nose in the books and most of all in the mags that give you the most updated info available. the internet is another great place to pick up on new info. keep digging for knowledge,because its knowledge that may save your life not tradition! be safe!

Date:4/13/04

Times:1840

Location:40 East Syndney Ave.(Saratoga bldg)

Frequency:

Units Operating:

Description Of Incident: news 88 reports a fire on the 4th floor.fire showing upon arrival of the fd. interior operations with a standpipe hookup with fire in the kitchen,fire knocked down with no extension and injurys.

Writer: hudson144

read in the paper that the fire was in the wall and the firefighters stopped it prior to extending both vertically/horizontally, fire ignited possibly from an electrical short on the exterior of the bldg.

the vulcan decree has been in existance since 1980.although it appears that the only dept that still goes by it is mt vernon in the area,recently an article about boston fd mentioned that the decree is * and void and the supreme court threw it out.it also stated that the supreme court is looking into the westchester decree because its needs were also satisfied as far as hiring goes. a few guys that i know in nrfd mentioned that a rep from the human rights division was looking into the decree because of complaints of wrong doings with the decree. a few firefighters from mv stated that if you don't live there and that you are not a friend of mayor davis you shouldn't waste your time taking the test for mv. i guess that sums it up.i don't know how mv fd operates but the rumor out there is that it is run like a card game.

glad to hear that the 2 firefighters are ok,just a little note that I feel that needs to be said,usually after an incident such as this we as firefighters are always ready to make comments about why,when,how things happen. without saying why,when,how or to add one more who, I never condemn the persons involved! i was taught a lesson years ago and till this day i still remember what i learned from an incident that happened at the fd that i was involved with at the time.a member of the dept. that i was with at the time had an accident with a rig,one of our fellow firefighters was busting the guys chops bigtime about damaging the apparatus. he was a little overboard where it got to the point where he was out of line. at first it was funny but he carried it to far. the following day the ****buster had an accident of his own. was it funny to him now? no-- in my career i have seen rigs go through doors,ladders ripped off,portable radio's run over,helmets run over(no head in it) and some other avoidable incidents, i don't say a word because it is not the right thing to do. IF YOU DRIVE A FIRETRUCK,EMS VEHICLE,POLICE CAR ETC.REMEMBER THIS! YOU ARE ONLY ON DECK,THE NEXT INCIDENT MAY BE YOU! I DON'T CARE HOW CAREFUL YOU THINK YOU ARE IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.LEARN FROM THE INCIDENTS THAT YOU MAY WITNESS,HEAR ABOUT AND BE THANKFUL THAT NOBODY IS HURT OR KILLED, BE SAFE -HUDSON

in other words Don't eat where you sleep! or **** where you eat! ah you all know what I mean!

this is a big topic among thousands of union firefighters,in fact a large amount of fdny firefighters/officers are leading a charge for a "firefighters for bush campaign"go to firefighters for bush.com. I know that according to many,alot of firefighters are for president bush. like a few members stated,who asked me if i was for bush or kerry. being pro union I still vote for I feel will be best for our nation, being a former military member I back our president 100%. Even on my job here in westchester I have been asking members of my job who they support and alot of them are not for kerry. I do feel that the IAFF has some goals for the career firrefighters and I am all for them but I also wonder what goals Mr Shaitberger has for himself? we have seen it here within the fdny/westchester area of some union leaders leading the charge for union,union,union-and before you know it they are serving as a commish. in the dept that that represented as union leaders. from reading some info that i have access to,Mr shaitberger isn't to well respected from his former fd>(fairfax county) boys,its all politics! I am not into politics that much but I do see things that stick out like a sore thumb!

this morning I heard a dept working at a structure fire with a neighboring dept. being called in for a fast team,just out of curiousity I monitored the call and it tokk the neighboring team 9 mins. to assemble and 15 minutes to get to the incident. I really don't have a problem with this as long as the department that has the fire has some of their own standing by as the fast team.I'm sure that this has been mentioned before in this forum and thats why I watched this incident. Hopefully most depts if not all utilize their own as their own members are inside doing fire suppression dutys or doing a primary search. Enough said for now.

and how long would we have to wait for the "westchester tech rescue team to show up"?

ok , alot is said here and its great to be able to say things about what goes on here in westchester.if the yonkers fd feels that it needs another rescue co,truck co,eng co then good for them.applaud the yfd for trying to upgrade the dept. to better protect the citizens of yonkersas well as their own ff"S. if all communitys were at the point where they can do what yonkers is doing or trying to do then we all would be in better shape! yonkers is just about the one and only dept. in the area that is going in the right direction.many depts. in the usa are limited with manpower and equiptment and plays a large roll in firefighter injurys/deaths. a few career depts have guys using duct tape on their boots,rigs with doors hanging off, and 2 men engine companys.so i salute the yonkers fd and wish that i worked there! as you get older in life and you have a few years as a firefighter under your belt you will understand how older or senior firefighters feel about the job. i am not knocking any junior or young firefighter because it wasn't to long ago I was a young guy also.may thoughts and ideas have changed over the yrs but thats because it comes with age>maturity as well as experience.this goes with life in general.

ok , alot is said here and its great to be able to say things about what goes on here in westchester.if the yonkers fd feels that it needs another rescue co,truck co,eng co then good for them.applaud the yfd for trying to upgrade the dept. to better protect the citizens of yonkersas well as their own ff"S. if all communitys were at the point where they can do what yonkers is doing or trying to do then we all would be in better shape! yonkers is just about the one and only dept. in the area that is going in the right direction.many depts. in the usa are limited with manpower and equiptment and plays a large roll in firefighter injurys/deaths. a few career depts have guys using duct tape on their boots,rigs with doors hanging off, and 2 men engine companys.so i salute the yonkers fd and wish that i worked there! as you get older in life and you have a few years as a firefighter under your belt you will understand how older or senior firefighters feel about the job. i am not knocking any junior or young firefighter because it wasn't to long ago I was a young guy also.may thoughts and ideas have changed over the yrs but thats because it comes with age>maturity as well as experience.this goes with life in general.and when i was a junior guy i spent more time out having a good time chasing you know what and not worrying about tax dollars! be safe!

from reading all of the above thoughts you all have some great points.as I had mentioned before the main purpose of fast/rit is to protect ourselves from the worst thing that can happen,being trapped or lost in a fire/emergency situation. For those of us that feel that the fast team is the answer to everything I want you to take a look at the study that the phoenix fd did about fast teams. I have a close friend on the job there and he says that if any new methods or tools hits the market they usually get it to try it out. The other thing that pfd is big on is admitting to mistakes made and learning from them! alot of depts. don't want to admit to any wrong doing and they go on like nothing happened. Its great to have a forum like this because it gives us all a chance to voice our opinions and learn from others. do we all work the same way? NO! we don't ,each dept has their own set of rules and sog's that may not work in other depts. keep subjects like this going and we all can learn ! be safe

wow,great job answering that one,I know you must have had some help and probably had some laughs!

ok guys,here is something that has been on my mind for a long time.recently I was at a parade where the fire depts were invited as guests. it was not a fd parade at all. Viewing the parade brought back some fond memorys of my childhood watching parades with my grandfather. as the parade went through I noticed alot of people start covering their ears and some little kids crying. parents with annoyed faces covering their infants ears knowing that the infants are sensitive to noise and i"m sure they were worrying about if the knuckleheads in the red trucks are gonna give it a break! its time to realize that we as firefighters are respected throughout our communites and in some eyes we can't do any wrong! well,that is true to a point,this day I heard a couple of adults say what a buch of *******s driving these trucks. from looking at my sons face who is 3 yrs old I think that he was thinking the same. We know ourselves that ear protection is provided for us as we respond in the rig.over the years air horns and sirens were moved to the bumper area to help our hearing. if this is true then why do we have to blow the sirens/airhorns in the fun parades and act like a bunch of kids with a new toy.does the siren/airhorns make us that happy? I'm glad that I saw this first hand because now as I get older I do see things in a different light. lets pass the word and try to keep our image a great image rather than a negative image.please,don't take this like I am an old man,I just don't like the community to think of us the wrong way,if the westchester county judges were at this parade you wouldn't hear a peep! maybe we should march all the time as if it was a parade being judged! be safe! a hearing sensative firefighter.

Throughout the westchester area many departments over the years have gone from small engine companys to responding with trucks as trucks companys. The identification should be either truck or engine. It may and will eliminate problems in the long run. A truck company is responsible for VES,Vent,enter search. by assigning your manpower to the 3 mentioned tasks it is important that the personnel at the fire scene are trained and work accordinly to the situation,in other words a truck co. has to work with the engine co. to know when to vent as well as when not to vent. it is very important that a coordinated attack happens on the fire ground.this is where the riding assignment comes in.at times no members may ride on the truck to the fire scene and it has to be established with your members as they arrive about what tasks are going to be distributed in an order that helps the evolution go into place. yes,1st due lay in,handlines stretched and placed at the front door(remember that hose placement is vital to help protect building occupants eggress from the structure involved) and aggressive attack to be a planned attack. at this point even if the "truck" hasn't shown up someone has to be assigned to vent and give the engine crew the green light to go in and carry out the suppression duties of the engine co. this should all be systematic to help eliminate any type of mistake that might get a ff hurt. I realize at times that manpower might be an issue both on the career side as well as with volunteer depts. most career depts in westchester run with skeleton crews but they have the luxury of showing up around the same time with members being assigned the task for the whole shift. riding positions or job tasks is important to help extiguish the fire as safely as possible!

for that job,MOVE! GO FOR IT!

I didn't realize that the radio frequency was for emergency use.I always thought it was for announcing that a parade was going to take place or that a fire truck needs to be washed or a pasta dinner was going to be served as a fund raiser! how tradition in the fire service is going to take us into the future!

my advice to the younger crowd,if you want to wait to get on the job around here it may take some time,in fact it might never happen.if you are willing to move away alot of places are always hiring. Atlanta fd,fairfax county VA,Las vegas , phoenix to mention a few. i have several friends that work for the mentioned depts. its tough to get hired here in ny.with alot of the residency laws in place its almost not worth the wait unless you are 100 % legit. I really am not saying this to cast a shadow over your dream of getting hired but I know the system quite well and almost relocated to Atlanta back in 1984. If you do want to get hired. go get an apartment in Yonkers and work your butt of to do well on the exams. Yonkers fd is one of the best jobs here in the northeast! good luck and never give up!

always have been a problem in westchester.like everything else there is nothing here that is uniform.and if the county steps in to try to rectify the problem every chief,commish start crying how the county does not have the right to intervene.well ya know what,someone has to! the radio system is a joke,always has been a joke and will continue to be a joke! sit back and listen to the radio,eveyone wants to run their own parade. in some depts. when an alarm is transmitted you have 3 chiefs signing on,3 line officers signing on,5 deputy chiefs signing on and then 5 apparatus signing on,hello,breaker 19 this is not a cb radio. someday an emergency transmission is not going to get through because a message from another dept. will step all over the signal from being sent from the ff in trouble. amazing how some people like to hear themselves on the radio. what is the solution-good question!but its time for board of smart people to sit down and figure something out.for a county such as westchester to still operate like we did back in the 60s something is very wrong. yes over 40 years ago we operated the same way.now i'm telling my age. haha-anyway-10 codes? actually saying what you are doing? know wonder why some departments went out on their own frequencys.

with departments the size of ossining as well as peekskill i go back to what i said the other day,there is no reason for a dept. with a large amount of their own manpower standing around watching not to be formed as a fast team.it takes time for mutual aid companys to respond in from other communitys to be the team.i honestly feel that even though legally a team does not have to be in place until it is clear that all civilian occupants are accounted for.however,what is wrong with having a team in place from the beginning of the incident through the end.our priority is us,us,us!over 100 firefighters die in a year here in the us. way too many!whem **** hits the fan and someone is not acounted for then we really have to rely on the others out front to save us. I know first hand how important it is to have someone out there. departments need to work together with each other and other departments with a bunch of companys need to work with and for each other.to a certain degree,its a form of consolidaton. its happening all over the country!

the original and main purpose of the fast,rit or whatever you want to call it is to protect and save your own if stuff hits the fan.many fires now you hear a 10-75 transmitted and a neighboring dept. dispatched for a fast team. on some occasions by the time that the team arrives on the fire scene there is a "puff" of smoke coming from the fire building and the team sets up in front next to the other 20 guys from the department that has the fire. I do agree that the system does work at times but it needs to be re-defined before it is too late. We all want to get in there and go to work but to be honest how many firefighters do you need on the 1st line? You do need a back up line for the 1st crew as well as a crew to help in case the worst does happen.Some depts may have to train their own to be the fast team until the neighboring dept shows up. if they do have the luxury of having additional men available then it should be considered. Timing is everything,a fire at 10 am during the week may have different amounts of firefighters than 10 pm during the week,"circumstances dictate actions". Its not easy but somehow things need to be re-established and be more defined.As far as letting the fast team go in and get involved lets not forget that structures have collapsed well after the flames and smoke has cleared and firefighters are still in jeapordy while inside working,EG:heart attack,or some other medical problems. if you are assigned to a fast team try to keep your ground and stay as the team.it may take shackles to keep us there but is important that you are available in case you are needed. keep safe!

the mutual aid stand by for the tri-village area does work to a degree,it should be tuned up a little bit and the dispatchers at 60 control should be allowed to use their discretion if they should tone out all 3 depts, alot of times the incident is a minor alarm that turns into chaos over the radio. The dispatchers know when they have a "job" coming in. The 3 departments have been working together for over 50 + years even before the tri-village response.