Paul J DeBartolomeo

Members
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    151

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Paul J DeBartolomeo

  6. Posted

    Interesting topic. Cogs your first post was right on the money and sums up my feelings about alot of the fire service. This is a blue collar business that needs blue collar workers with the skills and attitude to match. We get guys that cant start a saw because they never started a lawn mower, but they can disect a computer. Too much emphasis on safety can be a bad thing. The job is becoming so bogged down with rules and regulations that we cant perform what needs to be done to save life and property. Good training is very important but it has to based an solid experience. If the people doing the training havent done it on the fireground and figured out what works and what doesnt then what good is it. Leadership also has to be experiened. Many of todays cheifs have little or no practical experience, they just evolve through attrition within a dept. How can you expect sound leadership and decision making from a guy whos never been there himself.

  7. Posted

    I agree with ALS & 488 that PPV fans are great for clearing smoke conditions, especially in high rise bldgs. On Saturday at the 3rd alarm on Lexington ave the PPV's were used and worked very well. Im just very leary about introducing them prior to full extinguishment. I now some places use them as an aid to fire attack and it works for them, but Im not sold on this. I think it leaves alot to chance as witnessed in several videos like the one posted. The tests conducted on Govenors Island this year were very informative, and proved that the fans can greatly assist at wind driven fires, but the tests were conducted in fire proof multiple dwellings not 2.5 story frames. There is obviously a huge difference.

  8. Posted

    The majority of window frames Ive encounteed are somewhere in the range of 8-12 inches at most so the chain saw can easily sever the inner 2x4. Once the 2x4 is cut in half it is free to spin out of the inner window frame, thus the plywood can be manipulated in or out of the window.

  9. Posted

    Nick,

    I was just about to get to that. Many of our HUD's dont have the outer 2x4 (traditional HUD). So what you are faced with is the plywood and the carriage bolt heads. Smashing the bolt heads with a 10lb sledge has proved effective. Also using the forcible entry saw is a very good option. Start at a 45 degree angle a couple of inches back from the bolt head. Cut into the plywood on this angle and you will sever the threaded rod thus disabling the connection with the plywood. The quickest and most effcient method would be to plunge the chain saw in the middle of the plywood from top to bottom severing both 2x4's in half. This has posed some issues when members are operating inside the bldg in close proximity to the cutting operation and is therefore not a favorable method among our command staff at this time.

  10. Posted

    Good Topic,

    Be prepared to see more and more of the VPS doors & windows in your response areas, a much different animal than the traditional HUD window. As mentioned saws work great on the HUD's as long as they can be safely accessed. Consider working on them from a tower ladder bucket. Very difficult to force them from a portable ladder use caution. They can be forced with the halligan by splitting the outer 2x4 & driving the pike through the plywood in the area of the bolt head thus expanding the hole. I will try to get some photos of HUD's and VPS next time Im at work.

    Paul

  11. Posted

    I think the Capt answered it already. It doesnt matter if the 1st due engine is out on a sprained ankle, or a car fire if they are out there out. If many of your resources are tied up at incidents it becomes a dispatch issue to fill in the gaps with relocators. I know in the city if there is high call volume in a particular area that has stripped resources the dispatchers will relocate companies. Im sure this can be done, and is done in Westchester as well. We cant deny a response because we are waiting for a fire to come in. For the person who calls 911 with a medical condition, whatever it may be, this is a true emergency. They expect, and deserve the same level of care as everyone else regardless of call volume.

  13. Posted

    There is no doubt that conditions on the fire ground hampered efforts at this fire, let me clue you in on something they do at every fire. The difference is how you overcome these obstacles and carry out your objectives. Im not knocking any individual dept but does anyone believe this is the first house in the area with a long uphill driveway. Is this something we should be caught off gaurd by and allow to hamper our operation. At several recent fires I have heard about long driveways and water supply problems, are these issues something new to the companies involved or have they always existed. It comes down to preparing for the big one before it happens by training and developing tactics to handle the situations we can expect to encounter based on our response areas. Lets stop making excuses as to why fires have gone bad, man up and make some positive change so we perform better in the future.

  14. Posted

    Jason,

    Thats the video I was thinking about when I asked my question. Anyone who knows me on here has heard me argue about the tactics involved with an attached garage. I am a big proponet of bringing the 1st line through the front door into the dwelling as Ray Mack demonstrates on training minutes. In my mind that is the right move and tactically sound in these situations. I wasnt there last night and dont know how the tactics played out thats why I asked. Hopefully we will get an answer from someone on scene so we can intelligently discuss the fire and all learn from it.

    Paul

  15. Posted

    Obviously those who defend Leary and support his donations are not directly affliated with the FDNY and rely on reports from outsied sources. He is not helping firemen by donating rigs or bldgs or boats, hes helping a city that could care less about firemen. Real firemen who work in that city could care less about the things he donates. As far as donating money back to the neighborhoods he films in, I work in the neighborhood he films the majority of the show in and Ive heard of no such actions. Drunk, drug addicted, adultering, mal adjusted individuals does not put firemen in a good light in my mind. His depiction of "the drama that goes on in City firehouses " couldnt be farther from the truth. I can say this because Ive spent the last 11 yeas in one. Not to mention his views on children suffering with autism, which several of the brothers in NYC deal with. If he wants to make a meaningful donation he can steer some money there way. Until then he remains a P.O.S.

  19. Posted

    I am quite confident that the cheif was not denigrading the effectivness of sprinklers with his comment. I am sure he was reffering to the extensive water damage they caused for a nickels worth of fire, and the fact that some of the brothers were soaked to the bone on a cold winters day. I recently responded to a cooking fire that resulted in a sprinkler activation in an OMD. The fire was extinguished upon our arrival, but the water damage extended to the 2 floor below the apt of origin.

  22. Posted

    Scotty,

    In the almost 20 years that I have been wearing an airpack I have never gotten hung up when my waist strap was secured. If this is presenting an issue with you perhaps your not securing it properly. I have often heard of guys getting hung up with the straps hanging but I have never heard of the opposite and would hardly promote not wearing the waist belt as a means to avoid entanglemnet issues.

  25. Posted

    How about assigning specific seats that corespond with a specific job or posistion. For example, the seat directly behind the officer in the ladder truck is the canman seat. That where your junior man always sits. If you have personell to fill all the seats its done based on experience. If you have limited personell you fill the seats based on priority. If you have members that lack experience you train them to ride only in the position they are currently qualified to man. Ive seen this concept in place in my old volunteer/combo house and it worked very well once all bugs were worked out.