NoWestFF

Yes, Golden's Bridge decided to keep the 1988 Volvo/White tanker so the Department now has two tankers available for responses.

"My safety is first, then my partner, then my gear, then my patient."

No argument from me about the order of #1 and #2, but putting gear that can be replaced above the safety/well-being of a patient who is in your care seems backwards.

1) 60 Control will follow the depts. preplan if it can. Its only 60 Control decision if the IC says: "Get me an engine or get me a truck or even get me a mid mount 95 ft tower ladder". If the IC says get me Mildew Hose companies tower ladder, then thats what 60 will call.

2) While the coordinators will try to avoid stripping part of the county, everytime there is a fire in the northeast or northwest 1/2 the tankers in the county (all in that region) are stripped.

3) If we request all the depts in our region, 60 will contact all the depts in the region. It is up to each dept. to determine (at the time of the request) if they can assist while maintaining home coverage. There are times when depts have to turn down the request because of unit activity, apparatus out of service, staffing, etc.

Since water is as important as firefighters when extinguishing a fire and not all areas of the county have hydrants or are close to bodies of water for drafting operations, tankers in the northern part of the county are critical and will be called to the scene. You may consider the need for multiple tankers to respond to a fire as "stripping" a region, but I consider it a request by an IC for a necessary resource.

Chiefs in the county who depend upon tanker shuttles are aware of the risk of pulling multiple tankers from a region, but they're as concerned with quickly establishing a water supply that will support containment and extinguishment as safely as possible. We've seen on EMT Bravo and in other fire service forums comments about the need to quickly "get water on the fire" and how "most problems go away when the fire is put out" so a mutual aid request or a pre-plan is likely going to pull the closest tankers to the scene of a fire. A good battalion coordinator or 60 Control dispatcher will recognize the impact of pulling multiple tankers from an area and compensate by backfilling some of the tankers or putting other departments on stand by.

In Westchester County, can information in the CAD system about a fire department's response area be updated by the fire department or does an employee at 60 Control have to make the update? For example if a department wants to list in the CAD the primary and secondary water sources for locations in an area without hydrants who can make the update?

Thanks for posting the photos.

What's the purpose of the Hose Layer Module pod? Is it filled with larger diameter supply hose for use at incidents requiring high flows or with long stretches? If so, is there more than one such module and what is the response time? Do your front-line engines carry much hose?

Anyone hear anything in terms of potential school closures?

Stay safe everyone.

The North Salem Central School District sent an email this evening:

As we all watch the dire storm predictions, it seems likely that we will be closing schools for multiple days. To allow families time to prepare, plan and possibly leave the area for safety, rather than wait until the storm is upon us, by late Sunday morning we will make a decision about Monday and Tuesday.

Given the latest forecast from the National Weather Service and the high wind / flood watches, I doubt many schools will be open on Monday.

I suggest you speak with representatives of the Somers and South Salem fire departments. Somers bought a new tanker on a commercial cab about five years ago and South Salem put a new tanker into service last year. Granted the South Salem tanker is on a custom chassis, but the thought process about speccing a tanker and any lessons learned from the procurement process (there definitely are some) should help you.

In a sad twist the little girl was in an MVA on I-684 the next morning as her mother drove her home from the hospital. The girl and her mother had minor injuries I believe, but it added to a very traumatic time for the girl.

Perth Amboy is a small town in a heavily populated area of New Jersey. It's south of Elizabeth and Newark, and across the water from the southern tip of Staten Island. Like the surrounding towns and cities, hydrants are the primary source of water for firefighting so I suspect the amount of damage was not the result of water supply issues.

According to its web site the Perth Amboy Fire Department has career and volunteer divisions. There's no information about the strength of the volunteer division, but the following information is provided for the career division:

http://ci.perthamboy.nj.us/perth-amboy-fire-department.html

The newer turnout gear issued by my department does not have radio pockets so I carry my radio in a case on my left hip under my turnout coat with the strap over my right shoulder. This approach ensures: (1) I always know where my radio is; (2) the strap won't interfere with my SCBA or get snagged on debris; and (3) the radio doesn't become an obstacle should I ever need to use my PSS (my department issues a PSS that is carried in the right bellows pocket of the turnout pants).

I give the chief credit for recognizing a potential problem and wanting to address it. Too many firefighters are dying and getting injured each year responding to incidents in apparatus and POVs. The chief's plan is seriously flawed, however, and he should not put it into practice. If he wants to address speeding and possibly reckless driving by his firefighters there are better ways. He should start with a discussion of the plan with his assistant chiefs and company officers...what do they think? Are they part of the problem? They should be able to help enforce a safe response if they take their positions seriously and are respected by the firefighters. What about asking all members to sign a pledge to drive safely...similar to the pledge many firefighters have signed to wear a seat belt while responding to calls? One may say a pledge is only a piece of paper, but if the chief stood up at a meeting and asked all members to sign such a pledge he'd get their attention, maybe their signatures and hopefully their compliance.

No need for me to comment further on the need for the chief to respond to the scene and fulfill his duties as it's been said plainly by previous posters.

And I'm not a problem in my own department, I'm not a wacker and I don't have any blue lights. I'm a past chief and current officer who has his priorities in the right order.

This was a fire in San Bernardino, CA on February 28, 2012. Local reports said there were two occupants of the home: a woman who escaped the fire and a man who was trapped until rescued by the first-arriving engine crew. Unfortunately the man passed away according to local reports. The video was posted on Statter911 and there are quite a few comments about the rescue and the subsequent medical treatment.

Nice job by the first arriving crew to make the grab regardless of the outcome.

http://statter911.com/2012/03/27/helmet-cam-san-bernardino-firefighters-find-victim-in-house-fire/#comments

There was a similar accident over Putnam/Westchester just five years after the 1960 mid-air collision over NYC. One plane was able to make an emergency landing at JFK while the other plane crashed into a field in North Salem, NY. Thankfully far fewer lives were lost in the the second crash, only 4 as opposed to the 134 fatalities in the 1960 crash. There's a marker on a large stone on Hunt Lane in North Salem that acknowledges the accident and the local response.

My Link

Given current events and this discussion thread, here's a timely article from today's New York Times about some of the difficulties Israel will have to overcome if it decides to launch an air attack on Iran's nuclear program:

NYT: Iran Raid Seen as Huge Task for Israeli Jets

While a U.S. led attack has a better chance of destroying Iran's technical pursuit of nuclear weapons, we can't lose sight of the difficulties our military would face and the many ramifications of an attack. Iran has prepared for an attack against its nuclear program by locating anti-aircraft systems near facilities, distributing the facilities across the country and hardening the facilities against an aerial assault. We have the best military in the world, but we should not under estimate the difficulty of knocking out the Iranian nuclear program. Don't take my word for it, listen to someone who knows a thing or two about such campaigns:

“All the pundits who talk about ‘Oh, yeah, bomb Iran,’ it ain’t going to be that easy,” said Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, who retired last year as the Air Force’s top intelligence official and who planned the American air campaigns in 2001 in Afghanistan and in the 1991 Gulf War.

I agree the time for an aerial assault against Iran's nuclear program will arrive one day, I just don't believe that day is today, tomorrow or later this week. I also don't think it's three years from now. As mentioned above "there's a different between patience and appeasement" and I think it's fair to say we're engaged in a multi-faceted campaign against Iran with a fair number of activities not even known to us.

Golden's Bridge has several locations which get an automatic response from Croton Falls depending on the nature of the call. For example, based on the life hazard the elementary school in Golden's Bridge gets a full response from both departments if there's a report of a fire or smoke in the building. Several commercial establishments also have a dual response for reports of a fire or smoke in the building (e.g., North County Shopping Center, Estate Motors, King Lumber). A fire or report of smoke in the building at the firehouse also triggers an automatic response in case the bad scenario of a fire in the firehouse is realized and apparatus or equipment can not be used for suppression. These arrangements were entered into 60 Control's CAD system several years ago with the agreement of the chiefs of the two departments.

When Somers' Ladder 48 was put in service at the Somers firehouse it was added to the response for certain types of calls in Croton Falls and Golden's Bridge.

A few calls over the past few years, and within the past few weeks, have triggered the above responses.

I was in a department that had unpainted roll-up doors on several rigs and am currently in a department that has painted roll-up doors on some of the rigs. I prefer the unpainted roll-up doors because the painted doors eventually get chipped, scratched, etc. It's ironic the choice that "looks better" to some people when the rig is delivered may wind up causing more maintenance headaches and detracting from the rig's appearance in the long run. Also, if you put any stock in the notion that taxpayers expect to see well-maintained apparatus than unpainted doors should be the choice as the painted doors will eventually get beaten up...unless limited maintenance time and funds are spent to maintain painted doors, which isn't a worthwhile investment in my view.

More importantly, move away from the appearance of the doors to the utility of the doors. Do you operate on busy roadways/interstates where roll-up doors provide some degree of safety over the swing-out compartment doors? I know scenes should be blocked with apparatus and other measures should be taken when we're on a roadway, but there are those misguided and distracted drivers who will find their way into the scene and just miss hitting a firefighter or worse. If we can avoid standing further into the likely path of a moving vehicle when getting equipment out of a compartment we just might avoid a close-call, injury or LODD.

A final thought: if you don't like unpainted doors because they don't look good then you won't like the high-visibility reflective striping/chevrons you'll eventually have on your apparatus. And it would be a shame you put appearance over function and safety...your safety and that of your crew.

Heard during an EMS call in the middle of the night:

Unit: Rescue XX to 60 Control, responding to XXX.

Dispatcher: 60 Control to last unit responding, identify yourself.

Unit: Uh, this is Mike XXX, I’m with the XX Fire Department and I’m in Rescue XX responding for the EMS call.

Dispatcher: Ok, that’s Rescue XX responding.

A recent posting in another thread decried the use of pension funds to support building of a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge. While the headline of an article in today's Journal News may trouble some people, a statement in the article should bring some relief to those active in this forum:

Cuomo pushes labor unions to invest pensions in roads

"Cuomo said he was not considering investments from the state's roughly $134 billion Common Retirement Fund, which provides pension benefits to about 1 million public-sector workers and retirees. The fund is controlled by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli."

Today's fatal MVA on Route 22 in Pawling claimed the life of a long-time member of the Lewisboro VAC: Laurie Gagliardi.

Lewisboro Ledger Article

Earlier this week, Laurie's former brother-in-law and long-time member and past chief of the Golden's Bridge Fire Department (John Gagliardi) passed away.

I'm sure the engines are well thought out which is the number one priority, but it will take time to adjust to Engine 3 in a red paint scheme. The white scheme of the former engines was classic.

Yes, Golden's Bridge has a new unit on order as x635 mentioned. It is being built by 4Guys on a Ford F550 4WD chassis. It will have the equipment mentioned by MFC2257 (minus the forestry hose) and a bit more water (though no foam). The new unit should be in service this spring after delivery and training.

There are a few large IBM sites in Westchester, but the only one with an on-site emergency presence other than contract security guards is the T.J. Watson Research lab in Yorktown Heights. Given the presence of many different hazardous materials within the lab, it makes a lot of sense to have an on-site capability (though, the team most likely would work with the Yorktown Heights Fire Department and other essential agencies in the event of an incident). In addition to the above comment about the Emergency Control team in Poughkeepsie there is another team at IBM's Fishkill facility that at one time ran with two engines, a utility and an ambulance (that's going back about ten years).

I agree with your thought that the TIC can be a great tool alongside the first-in hoseline. A few years ago when my department purchased a TIC, we had a debate about its placement on our apparatus. Some argued it should be assigned to our rescue since it was viewed as "specialized" equipment and would be used most often by crews doing search & rescue. Others argued it should be assigned to our first-due engine since it may be more helpful to have a TIC on the fireground sooner rather than later, it could compliment the hoseline on the initial attack and given our response protocol our rescue is fourth due on structure fires (after our first-due scene engine, our tanker and our source engine). Thankfully we came to agreement the TIC was best placed on our first-due engine.

As with any piece of equipment, a TIC is not a silver bullet for fireground search or operations and it's not just for victim search. It's one tool in our arsenal that can have many applications, but it's only as effective as the firefighters who have trained with it and are correctly interpreting the images they're seeing.

I agree with taking a tougher stance on what students wear to school, but a uniform isn't necessarily the answer. Creating "respect for learning and the learning process" is more about a student's attitude, interest in learning and how he/she is challenged to perform. While offensive or inappropriate clothing doesn't help, a constructive learning environment is much deeper than the clothes worn in schools.

As far as requiring a school district to provide uniforms, why add to a tax burden many people in this area are already struggling to meet? Anything that is at the expense of the school district is at the expense of the parents since school districts rely on taxes from residents.

You'll like Hose Company #3 in Bogota, NJ. Their last two engines have been white Macks: a 1965 Mack with a 1,000 GPM pump and a 1985 Mack also with a 1,000 GPM pump. Scroll down on the "History" section of the company's Web site for a photo of each engine:

History of BFD Hose Company #3

Each of the four companies in the Department decides the paint scheme of their apparatus. One engine is all red, the second engine is white over red, the third engine is all white (mentioned above) and the 1993 E-One ladder truck is also white:

BFD Hook & Ladder