Newburgher

Greenhouses, car ports, three season sun rooms/porches.

 
 
To the extent that bitching here doesn't solve any problems, I agree with you wholeheartedly. 

But to say that things are ever "textbook" on the river or that we shouldn't criticize in the hopes of making improvements and developing a more efficient mousetrap, sorry, you're wrong.  There hasn't been any agency bashing, there's criticism of the fact that the river is like the wild west and there is virtually no accountability, coordination, or efficiency in responses.  THAT is not bashing an agency; that's a statement based on a long career working on and near the river.  You can go back to Flight 1549 and there's a thread here saying "thank God he turned left and not right" because the outcome would not have been the same if that was in Westchester/Rockland (or Orange/Dutchess/Putnam). 
 
If you can't answer the fundamental question "who's in charge" of a response on the river, despite things like the Westchester River Emergency Advisory Board or whatever Nick Gasparre's attempt at bringing this to a real table was called, then there is a problem. 

I respect your position and agree that debating tactics isn't always productive, particularly in a forum like this one, but thinking your comment is the final word in this topic is, in a word, nonsense. 

While it certainly sucks for its members, does a .4 sq mile town really need it's own department? It's certainly unlikely that a town with 3,000 people could afford the apparatus or supply the manpower for a self sufficient department. At the end of the day the town needs to give the best fire protection possible and do what's right for th taxpayer. 

They were running with a 1979 Ford/Hamerly, 1999 HME Pumper, 1975 American La France ladder truck. I think the town made the right choice. Why waste $1.5 million on the vols when they only went on 61 calls. I don't think that money total took into consideration that a new rig needed to be purchased. They had a GoFundMe site set up to buy a ladder. The town weighted the options and it would be cheaper for Pittsburgh to come into the town when they had a call. It works out to about one call every week, easy coverage. The borough is 0.4 sq mi. with a population of 3,330 people. There are only 28 members on the rolls but i think we all know about the roll numbers and actual firefighters are two different numbers. They should be happy a fully staffed department with properly trained guys are now covering the town. 

I still believe that RIT should be part of FF1. Few if any departments have the luxury of a dedicated RIT that is always available. Everyone needs to be able to be basically competent at Firefighter Safety & Firefighter Removal. 
 
A few years ago when I left the Fire Service, the CT state fire academy was offering a 2 day Basic & a 2 day advanced RIT course, as well as a 1 day Mayday / Self rescue class. I took all of three and they were great classes. While you could put those together into a 40 hour class, I think that is probably not going to fly as part of a recruit class. However if you did maybe 8 on RIT, 8 on Self Rescue, and then incorporated those into other evolutions as you trained, then I think we could get everyone on the same page.
 
Existing members need to be refreshed on these skills and that includes Chief's. Yes the chances of a Chief being on a RIT are rare except in the smallest of departments, but how many places in our area will roll a mutual aid FAST with a chief officers as wither the driver or officer? Look at the IA's on this site, almost everyone sends a car as part of the RIT/FAST assignment. That tells me there is a need for that officer to have a clear understanding of what will be involved, how long it will take and what other resources may be needed just to remove one firefighter. Reminding a chief of his roots is never a bad thing.

According to the state DOH website CFR classes are 48-60 hours, EMT is 150-190. I'd say "waste of time" is pretty subjective. It really depends on what this person intends to do with it. 

Perhaps they should make all things equal.  Like this coverage and training!

Snarky comment aside, how do you provide coverage to volunteer FF?  It's pretty straightforward on the career side but who pays on the volunteer side?
 

I know for the most part, the home rule applies about who is on the "FAST" Team and what their training is. It is nice for everybody on a FAST Team to have the FAST class offered by NYS. However, we know that this isn't always the case. What's important then, is to have experienced and trained guys on that crew. That has to be determined by the officers of that department to keep everybody at a certain level. Also, you have to take into consideration that sometimes a FAST Team isn't available and you got to use an incoming unit as the FAST, whether it be a mutual aid engine or ladder. The fireground can be a tricky and fast-paced place, so being able to call a shot on a dime is important. Remember, FAST techniques are really just honing in on firefighter survival and truck operation skills. Throwing ladders, searching rooms, buddy drags, etc. It's nice to put that title as a "FAST" Team, but honestly, everybody should be ready to go if they get called from the bullpen. It's about being good with the skills that you have been trained to do and have been implementing for however long you've been in the fire service.  

Hope the new Mayor and Fire Commissioner work. on background checks, so as not to hire problems, Remember past actions are the best indicator of future actions. MVFD needs eleven new firefighters not eleven new problems.

That is correct. The reserve apparatus, when manned are designated Truck 10, Engine 10, 11

With our SAFER grant, we routinely had four and sometimes five guys on our rigs. The difference was pretty dramatic. We went from one guy stretching the first line to two or three. Our current minimum is three on a rig. Trying to get better manning is something they were trying to achieve long before I got here.
We cover 3 square miles and a population of 30,000+. More than half of the population is below the poverty line. Median income is around $23,000. Out of 7,000 buildings, 980 are vacant.
We routinely apply for and utilize grant money for everything we can.

Depending on the time and day of the week, 10-20 minutes. We have no control over the volunteers crewing. Our area is already experiencing volunteer burnout from every district around us using automatic response for every call.

With our SAFER grant, we routinely had four and sometimes five guys on our rigs. The difference was pretty dramatic. We went from one guy stretching the first line to two or three. Our current minimum is three on a rig. Trying to get better manning is something they were trying to achieve long before I got here.
We cover 3 square miles and a population of 30,000+. More than half of the population is below the poverty line. Median income is around $23,000. Out of 7,000 buildings, 980 are vacant.
We routinely apply for and utilize grant money for everything we can.

Do you think the members don't push for more? On a second alarm we have another engine plus the spare truck manned, another Assistant Chief, a FAST from mutual aid, an additional engine from mutual aid, plus whatever else is needed. When help is needed, we call it in. If we don't need it, why call everyone and their brother?

Do you think the members don't push for more? On a second alarm we have another engine plus the spare truck manned, another Assistant Chief, a FAST from mutual aid, an additional engine from mutual aid, plus whatever else is needed. When help is needed, we call it in. If we don't need it, why call everyone and their brother?

Do you think the members don't push for more? On a second alarm we have another engine plus the spare truck manned, another Assistant Chief, a FAST from mutual aid, an additional engine from mutual aid, plus whatever else is needed. When help is needed, we call it in. If we don't need it, why call everyone and their brother?

We staff Engine 1, Truck 1and the Chief out of the Grand St firehouse and Engine 3 from the Broadway firehouse with at least 3 on each.

In terms of total cost, sure, it would probably cheaper overall to issue a single set of gear and have a gear washer available. However, the primary problem with this is the fact that when that single set of gear is being washed and then dries, the person that gear belongs to is essentially out of service during that time period unless they have immediate access to properly fitting spare gear. This isn't necessarily a problem when you have clearly defined off-duty periods in which you will not be needed to respond to calls and can clean the gear then. However, when you are essentially on-duty ("on call") 24/7, this can lead to people delaying proper cleanings when needed in order to available for that next call.
The idea behind the second set is to resolve that issue. You use one set while the other set is being cleaned and in most cases, that set will be available by the time the other set needs cleaned.
Clean gear is safer from a health standpoint and it can help the gear last longer.

I've been a volunteer and career firefighter too. I often work along side of volunteers. I agree that we should be more united and respectful than we are.
From my experience and perspective, the volunteers oftentimes are more of an obstacle in getting to that place than the career folks. I often hear claims about how we're all doing the same job, have the same training, etc., but the fact is we aren't and we don't. Unfortunately, when you try to discuss this, the only thing too many on the volunteer side seem to take from it is that career guys are great and volunteers suck rather than understanding that career guys can be "better" by virtue of those differences in training and experience, but that doesn't mean that the volunteers are automatically inadequate. It's a lot like comparing pro athletes to college/high school athletes. The pros are typically better, which one would expect, but a lot of the non-pro athletes are pretty darn good, if not just as good in some cases. And in some cases, their best just isn't good enough.
We hear claims about how fires don't care if you're career or volunteer or that the person who's house is on fire doesn't care if you're career or volunteer, but who yells the most about training mandates or being held to any sort of standard? Who thinks it's perfectly ok to give a person a few dozen hours of basic introductory training (or none at all) and then turn that new person loose to respond and actively participate on calls? Who thinks it's appropriate to make a teenager with little actual experience a line officer?
IMO, these are the things that are at the very heart of the animosity between career and volunteer from the career side. Too many in the volunteer ranks want to be viewed as equal to the career guys without putting in the work necessary to truly be equal. Yes, there are places where truly providing services on the same level are not realistic (rural areas for one) and they do the best they can under tough circumstances, but there are others where the departments are just not being honest with themselves or their communities regarding the level of service they can realistically provide as a department or as an individual.
It's also frustrating to see comments about how career guys only care about the paycheck and don't have the pride in the job because we don't work fundraisers to pay the bills or in some cases don't live in the community that we work in. While there are career guys that are like that, the majority aren't and you'll find people like that in any career and you know there are plenty of volunteers that are all about the t-shirts and image rather than the work and service to the community.
Like you said, career and volunteer share a lot in common.
Personally, I try to be respectful of the volunteers in my area, but it's very hard at times to view some of them as peers when they do some of the stuff that they do and that includes burning down buildings that should not have burned to the extent that they did.

That's certainly subject to debate.

At risk of unintentionally insulting volunteers, I might ask if the FASNY study took into account how much money would be saved in property/insurance losses if a paid staffed FD was there to effect more positive outcomes sooner? Not a knock on the potential quality of work that a VFD can accomplish, but a realistic view of how much different a fire looks at minute 4 vs. minute 12. Take the same firefighters put them in the station when the call comes in nearly every time, and see how that affects the outcomes.

It's about professionalism, standards, and supervision, or lack thereof, and this reflects on the organization as a whole that this is acceptable behavior. This is not the first time something like this has occurred (Squuuaaad 15), and not the first time someone has called in and their terminology has been rephrased by the dispatcher to sound more "buffy". What would happen if the dispatcher decided to dispatch decided to pronounce street names his or her own personal way, and units went to the wrong address? When you have a voice that everyone is listening to, you are in the public eye. As a dispatcher myself, this would never fly in my organization, and the Chiefs of our agency would not find it acceptable. It's ok to sneak in humor here and there when appropriate, but the initial dispatch should be consistent and professional agency wide. What happens to a callers confidence if their town is mispronounced? Or the responders in that town that their name is being mocked? Dispatchers have to work extra hard to gain respect, and it takes one bad apple to ruin the whole bunch's reputation.

Let's keep this going!

If HR told you deferring the CPAT was an option then I would imagine they'd have information regarding that and would be worth a phone call.

Huh, here we have a Command SUV that is assigned to the ranking officer (Fire Chief). It has numerous pieces of equipment and information stored in it that could be very useful at most incidents, therefore it is always made available when the ranking officer is not to be available. If your Chief's don't give up the buggy, how do they justify the costs of all the equipment carried? At that point it's just a perk of the "job".