spin_the_wheel

From some photos I inherited ...similar Rescue 1 and 4 from 1972ish.

From some photos I inherited ...similar Rescue 1 and 4 from 1972ish.

From some photos I inherited ...similar Rescue 1 and 4 from 1972ish.

From some photos I inherited ...similar Rescue 1 and 4 from 1972ish.

Unfortunately it happens from time to time all over the fire service career and Volunteer, East Coast West Caost. Should be no beer in any firehouse.
http://www.examiner.com/article/allegedly-drunk-on-duty-san-francisco-firefighter-collides-with-motorcyclist

Goldens Bridge Mack CF

Rig is actually Hempstead. They had 2 of these, well sort of. Approved fire apparatus on Long Island actually "stole" this design and started to build a few look alike engines, sold to LI area departments, one went to Hempstead. Legend has it FDNY was impressed with the Fox/Beck design engine and wanted to place a large order. By the time the contract went through Mack owned the design. Ahrens Fox buffs wonder if the deal would have went through while the design was still in Ahrens Fox production it may have well saved the company.
On a side note West Hempstead had a large Mack fleet. A mix of L's, B's C's and a CF at the same time.

Maybe they realize that there are plenty of Tower Ladders in the area if they need them for the "big ones" and the 75' ladder is just fine for the majority of runs they do. if so good job.

I think the message people are trying to drive away here are that members have valid concerns and interesting questions to grasp a better understanding on what happened but we should let the dust settle for our brothers before we get into the nitty gritty. The event that we are trying to break apart only just happened a few days ago and the Brothers in Goldens Bridge are trying to piece together all of the events for themselves let alone providing the play by play of the fire in addition to all questions on previous matters of the company and its business. Information is still unfolding and as has been stated that an investigation is still at hand. We are all curious and time will tell. Let us just give everyone involved a break and let them come out on their own. This is no discourtesy to the posters or their questions they have. Like I said these are all valid questions and information we can all record and learn from but some members here just want to see better support for our brothers in their time of need.
On a side note do we seriously have to go down the road of insults and putting barriers between volunteers & Paid organizations? Seriously? members of our own family almost lost it all and you guys pull this card. Lets show everyone in this forum respect since we are "Brothers" in whatever sense that means nowadays. So lets get back on track, let the GBFD guys add info at their convenience and everyone stop being so sensitive!

Alright, here goes nothing...
First, the chiefs vehicle that is being investigated as the cause of the fire was parked in the garage because it was due for replacement. Our replacement, another Police Interceptor SUV, has been on order for months and is currently at Cruiser Division for outfitting. It had been expedited at this time and is slated for delivery within the next couple of weeks.
As it stands the Goldens Bridge Fire District is being covered by the South Salem and Croton Falls fire departments. The officers from GBFD will be responding to aid with logistical aspects I.e. Water source locations, address locations and aspects of that nature. We are not responding solely due to the fact that a good majority of PPE has been either completely burned beyond recognition or has been exposed to extremely high heat. Not to mention it's all covered with about a quarter inch of soot. All of our reserve sets were in storage in the effected apparatus bay.
We did have a chief resign for reasons that are far, far out of my pay grade. However, he was in attendance throughout the process of of this incident. Both remaining chiefs were on location however opted to have 2071 act as incident command, however remained at the command post to aid with building construction aspects and to assist with possible hazards.
After another day, the amount of aid that we have been offered is unbelievable. We have received emails from fire departments from all over the world offering assistance. From turnout gear to pieces of apparatus, the offerings have been truly amazing. A huge thank you goes out to the Croton Falls, South Salem, and Katonah Fire Departments for making this process extremely easy for us. Again we can't thank everyone enough for reaching out a offering any assistance possible.

We did lose a few items that are irreplaceable. As many know we lost our '43 Willys. We lost some memorabilia from the Rec Room, however a good majority was able to be recovered. The majority of the things we lost were completely replaceable. We lost approx 30 sets of turnout gear, with the remaining being sent out for testing. HUGE THANKS goes out to car 2443 for recovering our 100+ year old "Golden's Bridge Fire Department" sign from our meeting room. It was on the original firehouse when it opened and is probably one of the most important historic pieces in the firehouse currently.
We are already making progress in leaps and bounds. The restoration company, SoundShore Restorations out of Bedford Hills, has done a phenomenal job and has made the process as easy as possible for us. Their guys have been at GBFD scrubbing, wiping and mopping basically non stop since monday evening. They have assured us that by the end of this business week, that the remaining side of the engine bay will be cleaned to the point that you wont even be able to tell there was a 2 alarm fire in the building. when I left last night, I was able to see the white paint on the ceiling and the nasty puke green walls are back to being the nasty puke green walls. They literally have an army of workers there round the clock. as i counted yesterday, the total neared 40 workers. which doesn't even include plumbers, electricians, engineers and architects.
Currently "the neighbors" are housing our apparatus. We are waiting on a semi-permanant structure being transported from Tennessee, which will house all remaining equipment. For anyone whos familiar, it s the same building Katonah FD had out behind their firehouse while they were under renovation. As it stands now E-139 and Marine 25 are being housed in Katonah, E-138 & E-140 are being housed in Croton Falls Sta. 2 and T-1 is being housed in South Salem.
Also, there was a huge Interior attack initiated at this fire. Operations went exterior only for a small period of time after a partial collapse, however after deemed that it was safe to re-enter, the interior attack was re-established. The Master stream from TL-57 as well as the deck gun on E-149 were utilized after the collapse to darken down the free burning fire. The roof was constructed out of tri-bearing wood trusses. however the engine bays luckily, and unknown to us, had a double redundant walls. the first layer is 4 inch solid concrete block, which covered 2 inch styrofoam insulation board, which covered at least a 12 inch thick structural reinforced poured concrete wall.

Gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking anyone who was involved with on scene operations as well as all of you who took the time to bring us refreshments and food during our definite time of need. While I was not on scene, I would like to try to clarify some of the still foggy details.
1.) @RWC130, Engine 138 was successfully removed from the building before any damage was sustained. That goes for E-139, E-140, and T-1 as well. R-24 was badly burned and while it's not been deemed a total loss yet, it's in bad shape. We did lose 2142, a 2006 Chevrolet Suburbam 2500 as well as ex-2143, a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban 2500.
2.) @JM15, Mack your somewhat correct. We do currently have a tanker in the final/paint stages at 4Guys and we were visiting for pre-paint inspection. Myself and 3 others attended. Truck looks phenomenal, once I'm done here I'll post a few pics.
3.) Our tanker was full until, like GBFD111 said, an ex chief deployed the contents into the 1st arriving Porta-Pond. Standard practice is to leave the tanker full in quarters in preparation for an alarm, we're no different, our tanker stays full.
4.) The alarm system was functioning properly and it did activate. The original call was for a commercial alarm. Anyone who has any doubts regarding this fact, pm me your cell numbered I'll be glad to send you the ipage.

I think GBFD109 did a great job in giving as many of the facts as he can without getting himself in trouble. *NOTE* The man puts his name on his profile. He's not hiding behind anything...NOT that you are or anyone else is for that matter but he is telling like it is.
As far as disccusing an ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire why in the world would someone want to make a comment on this ESPECIALLY on a public forum like this. He would be opening himself up to a world of nonsense if he did so.
I think what Bottom of Da hill is getting at is the old saying "A Time and a Place for everything" I dont think this is the time and certainly not the place to discuss the problems that the dept may be having internally.
I am postive the investigators (PD, FD on all levels) who are doing the investagation will uncover everything and the facts of what went down will all come out in time. THEN and only then would I think the topic would be fair game for whatever rants anyone wnats to throw out there.

It's disconcerning to me to read your post referring to any department that has there members respond directly to the fireground. I am the chief in a department that covers 28 square miles of first due district out of one firehouse located in one corner of that response area. It would not be practical from a response time standpoint to have our rigs wait for full crews before they respond. With proper training and management we are able to provide an organized, professional, and effective fire department response. And not only does this include stretching a line, performing searches, and venting the roof (if needed) but also securing a water source and managing any mutual aid resources that were requested. If it hasn't worked for your department I am sorry for that but we have been able to do it in my department for at least the 26 years I have ben a member without it being a "friggin" mess.

What a disgrace to the uniform.
And that goes for the Fire Chief as well. What no PIO to at least keep the press informed if you feel like running from the story and cameras? I can tell you from past experiences you need to get in front of a bad story...and fast. They are loosing the public trust of the community and thats about the worst thing that can happen to a Fire Department. JMO.

What a disgrace to the uniform.
And that goes for the Fire Chief as well. What no PIO to at least keep the press informed if you feel like running from the story and cameras? I can tell you from past experiences you need to get in front of a bad story...and fast. They are loosing the public trust of the community and thats about the worst thing that can happen to a Fire Department. JMO.

Rockland Monsey old school Rescue

From Rockland ALF from Spring Valley. This must have been a work horse!

Goldens Bridge Mack CF

Great later model Maxim from Ossining. Question about this rig. If I am not mistaken this rig lasted into the 2000's? If so di the guys still ride the back step? I think it had hose bed bench seats...did they ride up there?

Rye Classic Seagrave

Village of Mamaroneck 1963 Seagrave Engine 39 photo by Glenn Vincent

Village of Mamaroneck 1972 Mack CF Engine 41 photo Glenn Vincent

A friend of mine passed away a few months ago and his family gave me his collection of photos. There are boxes filled with photos, negatives, slides and manufacturer delivery photos. Going through it and scanning the good stuff I see there is some Westchester stuff. I'm going to put the good quality stuff up in this thread. He did a lot of photo buying/ trading so if there is a photographers name on the slide I will post it along with the image. First up is a 1964 ALF tiller from Hasting on Hudson.....Ron Bogardus photo.

Rye Classic Seagrave