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Some of this money could go to your department...... FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090524/NEWS02/905240344

It's interesting- not even VAC's are immune to the banking crisis nowadays! Shouldn't they be able to get a loan from NYS or something??? FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090524/NEWS...Oh9KaQbmeZLg%3D

From 1stResponder.com

I never knew about this event until I was asked to photograph it.....seems pretty cool! http://www.texasfirefighterolympics.com/index.asp

A classic! Hope it goes to a good home! http://www.auctionsinternational.com/item....item=0000044470

I find this guys views completly ignorant and selfish. I would agree with forgoing the raises if it meant jobs would be kept....but these guys are already underpaid and overworked! This is ridiculous. FULL STORY: http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1876294.html

BREAKING STORY: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090521/ap_on_.../us_temple_plot

Congrats to all those who recieved awards last night, proud to know some of them are members here!

GREAT Shots! Thanks for including the wreckers and the recovery, those were my favorites!

No matter what, it still doesn't make sense that these departments are all still seperate. Any working fire in the town, they all go. The have a lot of dual response areas. They train together. They are a single union. These departments can cut costs tremendously without sacrificing fire protection by consolidating. They can form a unified, single fire district independent of the town without comprimising fire protection if the right people are put in place. The way things are now are fiscally irresponsible to the taxpayers. How can you justify the redundancies? Even if they don't consolidate, aren't there ways that they can work together better to save money? What if each "region" in New Rochelle or Yonkers was it's own fire district? Would that make sense? Also to note, Eastchester has a single independent fire district/department to cover the Town Of Eastchester, Village of Tuckahoe and Village of Bronxville. Why can they do it? Status quo is not the solution. I agree that, based on the way EMS is staffed within the town, that the town is not competent to provide fire protection when you can barely get a town ambulance which are barely staffed. However, I believe the day has come for a unified Greenburgh Fire District, and if these departments truly believe that they are being responsible to the taxpayers by maintaining three seperate districts, then that's fine. If the people who pay for these districts are given the truthful facts and decide that's the best way, then that's fine. Personally, I'd like to see a reputable goverment and fire service consultant come in and do an independent, unbiased review and see what they have to say about the way the town is set up. This is just my opinion, and that's all. I know it's never going to happen. And please don't think that I am advocating saving money by cutting staff, I think staffing can be increased and money saved by streamlining and consolidating some expensive independent functions of these districts.

On now!

GREAT shots, Brett!!

I wouldn't make it as dramatic as "dissovlving", maybe bringing it into modern times is more the word. The voters in the Villages have a right to vote, since they pay taxes to the Town, as well as to the village. And even so, I don't know if it would be a town wide vote, or the petition has to come from people living within the affected district (who vote in December in the seperate Fire District and Referendum elections) As for the other point about NYS Law, you can still eliminate three fire districts to create one. I still need someone to explain the rationale behind having three seperate fire districts in one town in this day and age.

However, look at the other side of the picture. Each department has their own Chief and rank structure. Hartsdale's Chief is supposedly retiring in October. Fairview's Chief can retire whenever he wants to. In the future, I don't see that great of interest of people wanting to serve on the board of commisioners, in some cases, commisioners have been commisioners for years upon years running unchallenged. What better time to consolidate? Chief Raftery of Greenville has proven strong leadership skills, and the ability to coordinate interopeatability well with other communities. He would be a great leader for a Greenburgh Fire Department. A single Deputy Chief supervising town-wide would be sufficient, Captain in each house and/or Lt. on each apparatus. Each department's independent command structures costs millions alone. Fairview and Hartsdale both dispatch independently. This keeps two firefighters off the street, and costs money. Wouldn't having a central Greenburgh FD fire communications center be beneficial, especially considering these departments mutual aid and dual-response each other all the time? Fairview and Hartsdale only have one firefighter (the driver) on their ladder trucks. Could staffing be reallocated to properly staff all apparatus? Each department maintains it's own spare engine. Each has their own way of doing fleet maintainence. Greenburgh DPW has an excellent shop, and the capability of adding a fire apparatus fleet maintainence section. Each department purchases seperately from each other. Could greater savings be achieved if all departments bought together? Greenburgh, Fairview, and Hartsdale are one union, yet they have three seperate contracts. Why not a single contract? Not only would it save the department money in bargaining costs, it would also save the union money if they only had to bargain one contract. The volunteer portions of these "combination" departments are all but obsolete. And EMS should be transferred from the PD to a new Greenburgh FD, which would free up officers of the police department to police. It would also create a source of revenue for the FD. The town could provide funding to build a Town of Greenburgh Fire Training Center, which could also include the villages. A central Town Of Greenburgh FD Special Operations Division could be created that would fully staff a heavy rescue to cover the town and back up the villages. Facility maintainence and new facilty costs could be kept down using the current town resources and facilities. I don't think that a consolidation would be a bad thing. I don't see any downside for the firefighters or the taxpayers. Put Chief Raftery and some others from the three departments as well as Local 1586 at the helm, and you will see an AWESOME department form that will set a great example for many other muncipalities around the region!

Well, the town has THREE independent fire districts, but ONE Police & EMS department, and ONE highway department, ONE Town Hall, ONE Town Court, One Water Distriict, etc. In modern times, what's the rationale behind having three different redundant fire districts?

The above is why there is a new study being done.

Guys, if your department is looking to start a website, redo an exisiting one, or has ANY other IT needs such as software or hardware maintainence or purchases, consulting, etc, please consider the company above. It's locally run, and is VERY supportive of this site! THEY ARE GOING TO DONATE $50 OF THE PROCEEDS OF EVERY CLIENT GAINED THROUGH THIS SITE TO EMTBRAVO, which is extremely generous! Please, try to support our sponsors whenever you can, as they help keep this site alive plus they are mostly local businesses run by fellow emergency services workers........and don't forget to let them know you found them on EMTBravo!!!

Next year, EMTBravo will be commited to making sure this event is an even bigger success next year.....we look foward to continue working with the JIMMY Foundation to make this event bigger, better, and an annual regional tradition!

Tommorow night! World Television Premiere of "Wrecked: Life In The Crash Lane" Season 2, on SPEED TV. Check you local listings!! You won't be dissapointed!!

I should point out, this lady had the minimum required insurance on her car......

Pretty cool! Heads up to our photogs, I'd love to see a photo posted.....

How was Harrisburg this year? Anybody go? Anything new or exciting?

Any local apparatus displayed at the show? What were your opinions of the Ferrara MVP over the Pierce PUC? I haven't had the chance to see the MVP in person yet, but have heard Ferrara designed it with the flaws of the PUC in mind....don't know how true that which brings me to ask you the question....

Thanks for the shots! I like the seated turntable position for the aerial operator, and the pump panel placement on the engine. And I LOVE the shots showing the reach of the aerial with the building in the background! GREAT shot!

Plano, Texas is a suburban city of Dallas, TX. They are know for being quite progressive. I believe that firefighters should be physically fit, but if they're unfit to perform their duties, they should NOT be fired if they try and comply with the standards. HOWEVER, I think all new firefighters hired should have to maintain certain physical fitness standards throughout their career. Here in Texas, they take firefighter health very seriously, and many other cities have strict physical fitness standards for all aspects of emergency services, not to mention the rest of the city workforce. New initiatives are always being rolled out to promote firefighter health and safety. Heck, some even some dispatch centers and EMS stations have full gyms. FULL STORY: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n1.4c629cb.html