wraftery

The Burn building had a wood supported roof. If you drilled there you had to make sure your fires didn't get too big or you would be buying a roof

New Rochelle Hospital (now Sound Shore) was one of the places that had emergency power long-term. Along with necessities like operating rooms, etc, NRH also fed emergency to one place it wasn't really needed...the spotlights on the roof that lit the American Flag. It stayed lit throughout the night.

Oh sorry, I forgot. I was thinking of the greater good for all. I tend to be politically incorrect. but more often right than wrong. Real Firefighters, because of the profession cannot be racists. All you have to do is watch them do their job and it will be evident.

How 'bout we get rid of Obamacare, stop giving planes and guns to people like the Egyptians, give welfare checks only to those to deserve them, end all the freebies that elected officials get, etc,etc. Then start up a National Fire Dept.

FAST, RIT, MAT, 2-OUT, RESCUE TEAM, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT MUST BE IN PLACE WHENEVER THERE ARE MEMBERS IN AN ILDH. That's not my opinion, it's OSHA's and it's the law. You are not allowed to put your RIT to work without replacing them with another RIT first. OSHA doesn't particularly care exactly how you accomplish this but they are sticklers on that you accomplish this with no gaps. This tip might help you as to what should be established on the fireground: Years ago I learned the "20 minute rule." If on arrival you expect members to be operating for more than 20 minutes to gain complete control of the fire, you must call for more resources. why 20 minutes? Because that's how long an air pack lasts. Its' not rocket science(although there are times you do need rocket science). It's more like baseball. You need 9 players on the field plus guys on the bench that can go in at any time AND play the position they are going in to fill.

Screw political correctness. Screw counseling. This has been going on for a long time and must be stopped for both legal and moral reasons. If his superiors refuse to take action, go to the Feds. I bet they would just love to set up a sting operation with the hidden cameras and audio transmitting tie clips that are siting in their closets. Just think. The guy is a racist...he may hate you, too. If the two of you were climbing 5 flights of stairs heading up to a patient, and you go down gripping your chest, what would he do?

You know you are going to work when you hear things like this. Soundview Chevrolet fire, New Rochelle. I think the DC was Oreste Spallone. His arrival report went something like "We have had a major explosion and fire...Transmit a 2nd, 3rd,and 4th Alarm. White Plains Grant Av and I-287, a propane truck and exploded, sending the exploding truck into a neighborhood of 2 1/2 story Balloon homes: 60 Control's transmission was "60 Control to Hartsdale, Fairview, Greenville, Scarsdale, Eastchester, and New Rochelle, stand by for a run to White Plains." But you are right Snotty, the World Trade Center early stages trumps all runs anywhere in the world.

I agree with all the posts before me who said this is not Affirmative Action, it is blatant racism in its worst form. If it is condoned by your higher-ups then I don't see why you could not file an EEOC against those higher-ups. "When a fire engine pulls up in front of your building, nobody gets off and says 'What floors are the White People on?" -Dennis Leary (Maybe Dennis was wrong)

Bnechis: Barry, I believe Tier 1 ended in the mid 70's and not the 80's. I was one of the last hires under Tier 1 and that was 1971. I think Tier 2 came about 2 years later

Many years ago, we (Hartsdale) tried 2 inch hose, thinking it might give you more water on the fire faster than using 1 3/4 off a standpipe and going to 2 1/2 as more manpower arrives. We found it to be too unwieldy for a small crew on initial attack and we stayed with 1 3/4.

I stand corrected. Apologies to Long Island. As for 9/11, we weren't ready. We should have been but we weren't. Are we ready now or has our height if readiness dwindled some? The public and the politicians are completely clueless. Look at the Boston Marathon. The Russian Police told us to watch those two guys. We all know how that went. And Westchester, don't worry about people knowing who you are. I'm sure your opinions are heard across the kitchen table too.

One more fact: Many Long Island FD's have large percentages of FDNY members. Thus, a higher standard of firefighter is responding on the NYC aid request.

Greenburgh has had that program for years. In fact a few that were in the WISE program are able to retire. They spent their last semester of high school as student firefighters and had to write a paper, keep a journal, etc. In fact, Barry, one of our successes went to Iona Prep and is now a Captain on the Stamford CT rescue

You must have been to NYS instructor conferences. That's where they find a course that they consider "brand new." Then they take a OFPC Instructor who they hired right out of college with virtually no experience, and tell him to certify people to teach this course . They can do a certification for a 16- hour course in 2hrs.

There could be another reason for that response Automatic mutual aid where the incident is receiving its response from the closest stations. That would make sense.

Just to say it again...Congrats Kyran

AH, but there's a catch. It's a thing called Expectation of Services which is a legal term. It means that if you advertise or imply that you can provide a service, you must then be able to provide that service. If your big truck says Fire Department on the side and the guys that get off it are wearing what appears to be fireman clothes, then the people you responded to have every right to believe that you are fully qualified to do the job of a fireman. Expectation of Services only comes into play when you screw up. For example, if you are extricating Suzie Q above, and in doing the extrication you cause further injury, the first thing Suzie's lawyer will want to see is your qualification and training

The NY Administrative standards have been around for a long long time but they have changed, Take a look at what is called "Best Practices." NY State lists a whole bunch of qualifications but requires none. Best practices doesn't say "Shall" any more, it sort of says "It would really be nice if your department required these things."

Maybe there should not be one standard for fire people in NYS. If there were one standard, as we have pushed for all these years, it is pretty obvious that those who are lacking qualifications would impede the process. As in the past, the state would cave in and create the new standard to fit the lowest common denominator. How about two standards and two titles: Firefighter- one who has met all requirements, training, mask fit, etc. etc. And keeps up his qualification from year to year as required. Fireperson- Anything else less than fully qualified. Then maybe there would be an incentive to become qualified. Oh wait, there's more... Similar to the Gun Laws, the State of NY would have to enact a law that makes the possession of firefighting gear by any person other than a Firefighter (as defined above) a misdemeanor.

Food for thought: Someplace in this thread, it was mentioned that people were on-scene but not interior qualified. The brand new FF 1's are not yet qualified to go inside but should be watching the operation because they have a lot to learn. However, the older guys, or the "no longer able" guys who are on scene are a gold mine. Why not teach them ICS and assign them to things like accountability, resource unit leader, rehab unit leader, logistics, staging, or mentor for the new FF1's that I mentioned above? These guys could also be assigned to insure that your required FAST is assembled and in position throughout the incident. Use what you have to your advantage. It's a lot better than explaining over and over again why "you can't do it."

Somebody yelled SAFETY and all the pole holes became the target. Back in the dangerous day, we used the pole for every trip down stairs...alarms, visitors, lunch or dinner's ready, answer the pay phone (I'll explain what a pay phone is another time) until the safety fairy waved her magic wand. It's amazing that we train on things like rappelling of 6 floors, going head first out a window onto a ladder, and so on, but poles are dangerous. Back to my old saying: "Is the scene safe?" "No, it's not safe, that's why they called us. If it were safe , any assho#$ could handle it."

Amen to that. I believe the problem is that once people leave class, they don' use what they learned. If you use ICS on the little stuff. you may be able to use it on the complicated stuff

There's another thread that is running at the same time as this one. It's about booster lines. If you are leaning on your pike poles, why not pick up a booster line and wet down debris? After all you are both useless. Of course, your IC will have to get another RIT only because OSHA requires it, and at no time can he have people in an ILDH without a RIT outside. Also, do the guys that go inside (after all those guys are what this FAST stuff is all about) know that there is nobody there to help them if they get in trouble? Sample radio transmission: Mayday, mayday...I fell through the floor. I think I'm in the basement. 10-4 I'll see if there is anyone around who can give you a hand Mayday, Mayday...Come get me. I can't get out from under the rubble IC to Mayday...Can you hang on another 20 minutes? I've got a real good team coming, much better than the guys on-scene If this little scenario looks like anything that could conceivably happen in your department, don't you think you would have to be dumb to go inside?

Yes, John, practice with your Mutual Aid FAST team. In fact practice everything you do, including a mayday prior to the arrival of that FAST. Review the OSHA requirement that a FAST team must be in place when two persons are operating in an ILDH. Also come up with a written policy or procedure for establishing FAST prior to the arrival of a FAST company. If you want to prove a point to the naysayers try this. At one of your live fire drills, secretly tell one of your company officers that at 1 minute into the evolution to call a SIMULATED Mayday for his company saying the building has suffered a partial collapse and his company is trapped and injured under the collapse. Surprise the IC with this twist in the scenario and see how it is handled.

I'm not riled up. My point is that you just can't put people in pigeonholes (old-young...short/tall). And thanks, Willy D. for saving me a lot of time. I was going to write almost the same post as you did but now I don't have to. Why do we "smarter" old guys hate booster lines? Simple: they are heavy and useless. Some day a fuse will blow and when you push that hose reel button nothing will happen. Let me know how you fared with your 150' of booster line. Bangor ladders are a different story. The reason they are gone is because it takes six men and an officer to raise one. How many guys are rolling out the door on your truck company. And us with the rubber coats and roll down boots! Guess why you are now fully encapsulated in your PPV? The smarter old guys said there must be a better way to protect ourselves and keep the brothers from dying. So now you are fully encapsulated and protected. Have Firefighter deaths dropped off over the years? Looks to me like today's Firefighters might want to take a look at the improvements we old guys gave you and think about some improvements that might help your and future generations. How about starting with "Now that I am fully encapsulated and cant feel my environment, how do I know when I went too far?" And for spin-the-wheel, I am sorry, Mike. This is not intended to be personal in any way. You just happened to be in the way when my rant started. It's an unwritten rule that every Fire Officer is required to throw a conniption fit twice a year, no more, no less. Think about that one. Picture the Officers you know who either throw too many fits or not enough, and rate them as an officer. Let me know what you came up with.