FFLieu

Well, if they absolutely must cut staffing to meet a budget gap, then they should do it correctly. Cutting the guys on the firehouse level only adds up to a few percentage points worth of savings, and overall, it hurts the community. Response times might increase. Fatalities might increase. Shuttering firehouses or reducing staffing levels doesn't solve the issue, especially since there will be the same issue again, inevitably, in the future. However, cutting duplicative management or reducing the salaries of those who make in excess of $185k per year as of the last publication date, would better serve the community-at-large and would be a better "bang" for the overall taxpayer buck.

Did you not read the first sentence with the word volunteer emblazoned in all caps for all the world to see how we're the scum of the earth? Perhaps not.
Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together as a sentence. Many sentences comprise a thought. Maybe they didn't teach you that in elementary school.

Yeah, because no career FF ever drove recklessly, ever, in the history of the world, right?

I hear you loud and clear! This is the trouble that we face. While the Bush Justice Dept. initially filed this suit at the behest of the Vulcan Society, it is the Obama Justice Dept. that is pushing this agenda considerably further.
You're absolutely right about republican's assaulting our rights and pensions. It's a pretty serious double edged sword.
This is going to sound like a bold statement, but it might just be a reality for me. I'd rather spend time fighting to keep my benefits than watch the job I love turn to sh!t because we're bringing people through the door who don't deserve to be here because they couldn't put in a lick of effort.
I'm not doing this to get rich, not to say I don't need to earn a decent living. I do this because I love it and I don't want it to turn into a place I just go to every day to work. I did that once and while it paid a lot better, I'm never going back!

The US Justice Department also tacitly condones the smuggling of arms from the United States to Mexico, irrespective of the fact that two of said illicit weapons were later used to murder US law enforcement agents. You'd think that in light of things such as Fast and Furious, it would have more important things to do. Behold the powers Hope and Change!

Coming soon to DPW workers everywhere, helmets and safety belts... I hope he pulls out of this, my wishes to him and his family...

Hours I don't mind, I like popping on to see who had jobs that day or overnight. Days however I agree with you, unless its "the big one" or has some kind of special circumstance I could care less who had a room and contents job 3 days ago.

yes it does and it was a great drill to participate in

I dunno. There's only so much tax and spend that people can take before they start to get fed up. Look at what's been going on in the news with the taxpayer-subsidized GSA junket to Las Vegas. My man took a trip on our dime, made sure that he got himself photographed in a suite, and then had the audacity to take the 5th in front of Congress. Personally, as a Westchester taxpayer, I'd much rather see those in charge cut some dead wood making better than a buck-eighty-five to sit in an office all day behind a computer, being otherwise unproductive, than have them cut the cheaper-but-more-productive version, all while de-valuing my home because it gets bad fire protection coverage.

Well, if they absolutely must cut staffing to meet a budget gap, then they should do it correctly. Cutting the guys on the firehouse level only adds up to a few percentage points worth of savings, and overall, it hurts the community. Response times might increase. Fatalities might increase. Shuttering firehouses or reducing staffing levels doesn't solve the issue, especially since there will be the same issue again, inevitably, in the future. However, cutting duplicative management or reducing the salaries of those who make in excess of $185k per year as of the last publication date, would better serve the community-at-large and would be a better "bang" for the overall taxpayer buck.

Ray, I can only speak for myself and my statements, which incidently enough, weren't about the fd or the pd or the schools or anything else other than how the City government is being run, and the components thereof.
While I can see that you're on the job, I surely hope that you come out unscathed from any proposed cuts. Like I've said, cutting the guys who do the job doesn't solve the underlying problem. It didn't work in NYC, it didn't work in Indianapolis, and it won't work in Yonkers.

Uhh, yeah, that's not real....

I'm inclined to agree with ny10570. Let's say for argument sake, you have a career department with 12 guys on duty at any one time. The department has 2 trucks, and the manpower is split, 6 on one truck, and 6 on the other. An alarm comes in that is 5 miles from the station. Each truck will drive 10 miles round trip, for a total of 20 miles driven for just one alarm.
Now let's say that you have a volunteer department with the same amount of personnel and the same amount of apparatus. However, the station is not staffed at the time that the alarm comes in, as it is a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. Each member lives 2 miles away from the station. An alarm comes in for a location that is the same distance away from the station, 5 miles. Each member will drive 4 miles round trip to and from the station, which when extrapolated over the amount of personnel, is 48 miles. Then, the trucks will drive 20 miles to and from the alarm, taking the grand total to 68 miles driven for just one alarm.
At least in this particular example, volunteers would drive approximately 70% more miles for the same alarm. Therefore, with the increased mileage driven, and the laws of statistical probability being what they are, there would definitely be a correlation between the number of volunteers and vehiclular accidents.
The only controlling factor in the equation is due regard. Everyone is taught to drive with due regard and applicable courtesy, regardless of whether they are a career guy or a volunteer. The adjective describing what kind of firefighter the person is, is simply irrelavant.

Everything you've stated explains why I would expect volunteers to have substantially worse numbers. What you're discounting is that the accidents include personal and dept vehicles. With every volunteer driving to the station and only one career firefighter per rig driving, the volunteers have many more miles per response. Does this make up for the disparity in total responses? I have no idea.

I concur with you 100% on this

I'm not surprised that accidents involving volunteers greatly outnumber paid.
Volunteer firefighters greatly outnumber paid so of course the incidences would be correspondingly higher.
This was just another lame attempt to create animosity between the the vols and paid. Poor judgement behind the wheel is a reflection of the
individual regardless of compensation.

Yeah, because no career FF ever drove recklessly, ever, in the history of the world, right?

OK everyone, the original post was whether FDNY can ride for free, which has been more than sufficiently answered by more than one person. It wasn't a thread to compare EMT qualifications, length of time as one, et al. Let's all put the rulers away - it's short, shriveled, and hangs to the left anyway.

Did you not read the first sentence with the word volunteer emblazoned in all caps for all the world to see how we're the scum of the earth? Perhaps not.
Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together as a sentence. Many sentences comprise a thought. Maybe they didn't teach you that in elementary school.

Did you not read the first sentence with the word volunteer emblazoned in all caps for all the world to see how we're the scum of the earth? Perhaps not.
Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together as a sentence. Many sentences comprise a thought. Maybe they didn't teach you that in elementary school.

Did you not read the first sentence with the word volunteer emblazoned in all caps for all the world to see how we're the scum of the earth? Perhaps not.
Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together as a sentence. Many sentences comprise a thought. Maybe they didn't teach you that in elementary school.

Yeah, because no career FF ever drove recklessly, ever, in the history of the world, right?

Yeah, because no career FF ever drove recklessly, ever, in the history of the world, right?

I dunno. There's only so much tax and spend that people can take before they start to get fed up. Look at what's been going on in the news with the taxpayer-subsidized GSA junket to Las Vegas. My man took a trip on our dime, made sure that he got himself photographed in a suite, and then had the audacity to take the 5th in front of Congress. Personally, as a Westchester taxpayer, I'd much rather see those in charge cut some dead wood making better than a buck-eighty-five to sit in an office all day behind a computer, being otherwise unproductive, than have them cut the cheaper-but-more-productive version, all while de-valuing my home because it gets bad fire protection coverage.

Yeah, because no career FF ever drove recklessly, ever, in the history of the world, right?