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There has been lots of money spent at wcdes. This money could of been better spent by a fire department that actually responds to emergency's.

There has been lots of money spent at wcdes. This money could of been better spent by a fire department that actually responds to emergency's.

' I have been down there alot lately and have seen trucks and stuff that looks brand new too... there is a scene support truck too? looks like a 10 wheeled modified box truck with a 4 person cab... i can't say for sure i didn't take a really good luck at it... but it would be nice to know what is there if we need it... why can't the tech rescue guys or hazmat guys staff it as a volunteer thing? just get it there type of thing ? '
Letter To Legislators Burrows, Burton, Harckman, Myers, Nonna, Rogowsky, Ryan ;
As A Member Of The Public Safety & Security Committee I'd Like You To Be Aware That An Enormous Amount Of Federal Funds And Taxpayer Dollars ( Millions + ) Were Spent On Vehicles For Westchester County DES At Grasslands Reservation And MOST Of These Are Housed In A Special Garage Collecting Dust Because They Can NOT Be Manned Or Were NOT Needed. Numerous Attempts By Fire Service Personnel To Inquire How These Vehicles Can Be Special Called And/Or Utilized Were Met With SILENCE. This Is A Misuse Of Taxpayer $$$$ And Federal Funds And Someone Should Be Held Accountable For This Horse & Pony Show Before The Media Is Involved In An In-Depth Investigation. i.e. 1) A Field Communications Unit And Paid Lieutenant That ONLY Appear At Parades And Public Safety Expos Rather Than Responding To Major Fires, Etc. 2) Scene Support Trailers That Have Been Parked For 6+ Months And NO ONE Can Explain Their Purpose. 3) Collapse Rescue & Support Vehicles That Haven't Logged 500 Miles Since Being Purchased From A Long Island Fire Department.
http://www.westchesterlegislators.com

There has been lots of money spent at wcdes. This money could of been better spent by a fire department that actually responds to emergency's.

Date:2-7-11
Time:1545
Location: 478 E 3rd st
Frequency: 154.145
Units Operating: Eng 6,5,4 Lad 2. lad.3 R-1, Batt4
Weather Conditions: overcast
Description Of Incident:Fire on the 1st floor of a 2 family, 2 lines stretched 1 line put into operation.
Reporters:
Writer:ltrob

Date:2-7-11
Time:1545
Location: 478 E 3rd st
Frequency: 154.145
Units Operating: Eng 6,5,4 Lad 2. lad.3 R-1, Batt4
Weather Conditions: overcast
Description Of Incident:Fire on the 1st floor of a 2 family, 2 lines stretched 1 line put into operation.
Reporters:
Writer:ltrob

There was no doubt that a shameful liberal like yourself would take the opportunity to bash a great man like Reagan when all this thread was about was wishing him a Happy Birthday. Judging by your age status 18-21 you weren't even alive during the Reagan Presidency so anything you know was taught to you in whatever bastion of liberalism ( sorry i meant college) that you hide from the real world in.
You speak of Iran Contra .. first things first junior, no concrete evidence has ever been uncovered that directly linked Reagan to Iran Contra with that being said, the sale of weapons was devised to secure the safe release of 6 American Hostages that were being held in Iran. Some money was then funneled to the Anti Communist fighters but funding and arming anti communist groups is nothing new for the US.
Were the other presidents that you mentioned good presidents ? Yes they were but they weren't the leaders that Reagan was. The rest of the world respected and feared him which ultimatly kept us safe... but thats something that rose colored glasses wearing liberals like yourself know nothing about.
You have proven yourself time and time again on this site to be liberal, anti cop , anti government, and sometimes anti everything. You're obviously a young know nothing kid that thinks that your corner of the world is everything and the rest of us known nothing.
You post your stupidity on here like you know what's going on when in reality you couldn't shine the shoes of the senior men and women who are on this site.
I'm sorry about the rant guys and i know this will get pulled down real quick but you can only read this s*** from this guy so many times

Interesting article. The City higher up's are using the surrounding departments to say there is still adequate fire coverage and there is no danger to the population. Would this happen in Westchester?
http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/layoffs-take-effect-struggling-new-jersey-city

This is very true and I agree that there is a different dynamic and set of challenges to officers in smaller dept's where the separation of officers, firefighters and politicians is much smaller. Thank you for the alternate viewpoint. This situation does and continues to impact members in larger jobs as well. You could be a boss in a company with someone who was in your proby class and still a fireman, ect. ect.
I think a constant here is that being promoted is rewarding yet very challenging. One of those challenges is the need to sacrifice your standing as on of the men, not always, but sometimes. The best bosses (and I'm fortunate to work for terrific bosses) have the ability to be all business and lay-down the law when it is necessary and still be on deck cheering you on at the plate for softball. Some of the burden here is shared by the firemen as well. It is up to us to know how and where to draw the line. Your best friend could be your boss that day. You owe it to him to keep that separate and address him by his title at work, at least in front of the others. It's give and take. The successful officers I've seen know how to take charge and respectful firemen who are broken in the right way will give you the respect of the rank. If an officer were to seek disciplinary action against a subordinate, I would think it less likely that he is some hard-nosed guy and more likely that a subordinate backed them into a corner and left them no choice. Thankfully, I've never seen this happen.
Any officer here care to share a bit about the transition? What was the first tour like? What did you do internally to make the change and what external factors helped/hindered the transition?

This was a great topic to start. To try and analyze the supervisor/firefighter relationship is very difficult, especially to someone who does not reside within the ranks of our respective profession. In other professions you do not eat three meals a day with your boss. You don't reside in the same building a few nights a week. Above all, you do not enter into hazardous environments with your boss. I believe that the underlying concept of the brotherhood and the responsibility we have for one another transcends rank, to some degree.
I'm simply a fireman, no bars for this guy. Not yet at least and I like to think that I pay attention to the dynamic and here is are my observations. In New York City, following promotion, you are indeed removed from your immediate work environment to attend FLiPs. Once you complete that schooling, you are assigned to a division and often a Boro that is different from where you served as a fireman. Suddenly everyone calls you "Lou" and you are responsible for EVERYTHING that happens with that company during the tour. I have to imagine that this does help the transition since, in all likelihood, no one at that company knows you as anything other than a boss. However, you knew yourself as fireman, so I would imagine that it is a difficult internal transitions to make. Would I be wrong to assume that the first promotion is the most difficult to adjust too?
In my limited experience, the best bosses are rarely feared, sometimes loved and always respected. In our system, we live in the same house as officers, right up to the rank of Deputy Chief. There should be a mutual respect between the rank and file and the boss. He is the superior officer. He has gained rank and with that comes responsibility and that should not be challenged by the lesser rank. From his perspective, you cook his meals, make up the rack for him and clean his office. To some degree, as you move past the Co. Commander (Capt.) and on to chief, he spends a lot less time with the men, but the best officers know how to balance their time. They know just how much time to spend in the kitchen and the sitting rooms with the men. They know whey to just head up to the office and stay there. In the best scenario, the men know when to let the officer lead and when to settle issues in such away as not to trouble the officer. I have always been told that in a perfect world, the men run the house and the officer runs the company.

I KNEW this was going to happen here, that members were going to "take the bait" that the City of Buffalo threw out to see where it would stick. Well if you bit into this ALCOHOL arguement, you've been BUFFALOED.
First, it is disgraceful that news organizations do not even do the DUE DLIGENCE to find out what happens after a LODD funeral; it's called a COLLATION, not a "reception", not a "party", nothing other than a collation, which is a religious term meaning "light meal." The term reception is reserved for happy occassions; like a wedding reception.
THOUSANDS of firefighters, career and volunteer alike, some from as far away as Australia attended two LODD funerals. The Union did the right thing in providing those members with a Collation, where brother firefighters, law enforcement, ems, all came together to commiserate, after standing at attention for TWO LODD funerals.
Ever been to a LODD funeral? Ever stand at attention for three or four hours? Then imagine this day, and doing it TWICE. Think you might want a bite and a brew, drink, soda, coffee afterward? Of course you would, so let's stop being ridiculous about this issue.
This is a simple case of a CONTRACT VIOLATION. The union has an ironclad, protected by LAW agreement with the C.O.B. which states, the city will pay the union $12,500 for a LODD funeral for expenses incured. Period. It doesn't say, "well, we'll pay for this line item or that line item", it says will pay for expenses. The City has violated the contract, the union has probably grieved the issue, this will be mediated, arbitrated, wind up in court, and the city will LOSE...and THEN PAY.
There are difficult and protracted contract negotiations between the city and the union right now. The firefighters and cops have marched on city hall, and many believe bringing ALCOHOL into the disscusion was merely an attempt to smear the union.
Let's please not get into who drinks what and where with who's 2% money or fundraising, etc. If you engage in that, you have been Buffaloed in this case.
No on-duty members imbibe at colations, period. The insinuation is thrown out to see where it will stick, and it landed right here on emtbravo, and you guys are missing the issue of a contract violation, and making judgements that you should not be making; whether "taxpayer's money" should be used for alcohol is a bogus disscusion. Corruption in gov't is rampant. Governors spend millions of dollars decorating their offices. Legislators are bought by lobbyists. Our tax money by the billions has been thrown at large corporations, who in turn have handed out RECORD BONUSES to their incompetent CEOs. YOUR money at work fellas. Where is the uproar about that?
Let us remember what we are talking about here, and if some locals like INIT's pay for their own expenses for an LODD funeral, well they obviously don't have a LODD funeral expenses line in THEIR contract, or they'd be getting reimbursed for it.
http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/84990367.html?video=YHI&t=a

As the "OP" (took me a minute to figure out what that meant) I strongly believe that the thread should remain open at this time. The "OP" was only made 4 days ago. I would bet that a lot of members have not yet had an opportunity to read it. Especially in light of the Holiday week. Many of our members will most likely be shocked to learn of some of the aspects of this whole issue and they should be given the opportunity to do so.
I also believe that several members would like to see this thread go away because the truth hurts and they don't want this information out there. Further, I think we will see positive change come out of this thread. Some departments will be proactive and others will be reactive. The reactive departments will make changes only after there is a tragedy and someone dredges up the information from this thread and delivers it to the media and / or elected officials. This will show that the problem was known about in advance and those responsible failed to make changes. At that point, change will be demanded by outsiders and it will come swiftly.
The very fact that several individuals are so outraged by this thread begs for it to remain open. If you believe that this whole thing is a non-issue, just don't read it.
Also, for those who repeatedly state that this is not the forum for this discussion...I think it is the perfect forum. Sure, there are other avenues for obtaining, discussing, and disseminating this information. However, for myself and others who love the fire service yet are quite pressed for time normally, this is great. It's fairly convenient to check in here from time to time to check up on the IA's and other issues posted on here and then chime in as time and energy permit.