gamewell45

The City of New Rochelle is refusing to pay for post-op medical expenses. They feel they are not required. In checking with many departments within the NYS government, no one will admit to jurisdiction over fire departments and 207-A. Once you get your disability retirement you are on you own.

I'm curious; can you elaborate more on this?

Even though if LE did they may be forced to call someone in to staff another radio car.

Right or wrong, it all comes down to money, which many communities are short on today. If they can get away without calling in someome to staff another radio car, thus saving money, then they'll do it.

I have been in situations like that also. When I was a volunteer officer in a Westchester Dept. That has a paid FF/ driver for each rig and volunteer fire fighter, at a fire I was having trouble with my portable and went to use the Mic. on the pump panel to communicate and I almost lost my hand. I was told "that Mic is for the paid guys only" Later back at the firehouse the paid guy and I had a conversation, I asked him if he dropped and was unconscious, could I then use the Mic to call for help, he told me to use a portable or just let him die. I'm sure he really wouldn't want to die, but he was serious about that UNION microphone.

Then on the other side, after leaving NY I worked for a FD in NH that had 14 paid union guys and 24 P/T paid on call non union FFs. We all shared the same equipment. The first due attack pumper was just that, any certified Operator could and would drive it. There were plenty of times that I drove and operated the pump with a career guy ridding in the offices seat. We all worked together, we trained together and we socialized together. That was a true brother hood. Maybe I'm wrong, but the wedge between union firefighter and nonunion FFs seems to be strongest in southern NY.

I read your comments on the "union" microphone with interest; I came to the conclusion the the career Brother may have been a bit heavy-handed on how he dealt with it; true, the handling of the microphone may have been within the jurisdiction of the collective bargaining agreement, but in non-threatening situation perhaps it could have been handled in a more diplomatic fashion; that being said every department, whether volunteer, paid, union or non-union has its bad apples or overzealous members. That's just the way things are in this world, but the important thing to remember is not to let the actions of a few tarnish the overall image of the department or the service. Attitudes will always vary in certain parts of the state or country as the case may be: brushing aside the intentional or unintentional slights, comments and digs from those who have poor people skills will make you a better person, earn more respect and prove that we all can work together regardless of employment status .

Encourage Brotherhood by example, much as you would lead by example; remember, you'll always attract more flies with honey then vinegar!

Just my 2 cents.

your right on target. Resident of these villages don't realize that their property taxes are high is due to the School Tax Bill. School Taxes are about 75-80% of our total property tax. Village taxes are not that bad considering the service we get. If paid Fire oe EMS was to go into a village, Yes it will increase Village or Town tax, but there are ways to cut other things to have a paid service. I'm a Volunteer and I would hate to see a Paid service come into my village, but I also don't want to see some die do to response time.

It all comes down to how much of a tax burden the taxpayers are willing to shoulder. With increasing school taxes and depending on what services your town, villiage or city provides most people aren't going to be too receptive to replacing volunteers (both fire and ems) with paid personnel until it has a direct impact on them. That, combined with a poor economy we are currently suffering under will make it an even tougher concept to sell to the taxpayers. Cutting budgets in other areas will most likely cause numerous issues since most departments are operating under reduced budgets and it all comes down to a turf war.

As has been mentioned in here on numerous occasions, a county-wide fire department would be a very viable option, however from what I've read, NY state laws prohibit this and the only way to its ever going to happen would be to change the laws. Good luck with that; the state assembly and senate can barely agree on what day it is, so until they are reigned in, its unlikely that anything is going to happen any time soon.

In the meantime, the career/EMS departments are going to have to wait and hope clearer heads prevail when putting together budgets that include increasing staff. The volunteer fire companys/EMS services will have to increase recruitment/retention efforts, offer and encourage as much training as possible and impress upon them the importance of their services to the community.

There is no simple answer at this point given the state of the economy; one can just wait for better financial times and work to do the best with what you have.

Just my 2 cents.

A true professional and a consumate radio personality. He definitley left his mark in radio. May he rest in peace.

Georgia is pretty easy getting hired but it also is an at will state. Atlanta area always hiring as well as along the coast in Savannah. Savannah-Chatham Metro PD hires regularly.

Georgia is a right-to-work (right-to-starve) state. Some municipalities have farmed out fire protection to private entities (Rural Metro comes to mind); one of my friends is a career fightfighter in one of the suburban FD's outside of Savanah; he makes a whopping $11.90 per hour and after taxes can barely pay his bills. While there are jobs down south, the money is nothing compared to the Northeast and some states may prohibit unionization in the public sector, so if you fall into this category, then you'll serve at the pleasure of the employer.

By John Sullivan

Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 07/10/13

GREENVILLE — The secretary of the Greenville Fire District has quit, protesting the board majority's conduct in its pursuit of a nearly $1 million ladder truck.

"I don't feel that the current chairman or the attorney have the best interest of the people of Greenville in mind, and I cannot be a part of that," wrote Lisa Emanuelle, the fire district secretary, in a resignation letter submitted on June 25.

Emanuelle was referring to Chairman Scott Holowach, who along with Greg Einsfeld and Jack Coogan, and the board's lawyer, Frank Simeone, have been under fire from a public increasingly concerned about the prospect of the town buying a 75-foot-tall ladder truck in a town with no buildings even half that tall.

Holowach took over as board chairman in May after he, Einsfeld and Coogan stripped Commissioner Paul Witkowski of the board leadership for obstructing their attempts to pay for the fire truck.

On June 11, residents and town officials delivered a petition with more than 600 signatures calling for a special referendum on the planned purchase. Just two days later, at a hastily-convened meeting, the commission withdrew a former board approval of the purchase, effectively quashing the call for a referendum.

It was Emanuelle's job to properly notify the public about the June 13 special meeting.

The state's Open Meetings Law requires she post such notice in highly visible public offices and that news media be contacted.

The former secretary said she did neither.

Asked about the proper notice requirement at a Tuesday fire board meeting, Holowach said he personally put up the notices on Town Hall and fire district doors. However he did not notify the press, as that job is relegated to the district's attorney, Scott Dow, from Simeone's firm. "I just assumed he (Dow) did it," Holowach said.

Dow did not respond to emails asking about the media call.

According to a press release drafted by Simeone's firm, the decision by Holowach, Einsfeld and Coogan to cancel the ladder truck purchase stemmed from a realization that the district did not have enough money to pay for it. According to the release, that realization occurred on June 11

Emanuelle, however, contends Witkowski and fire district Treasurer Fran Multari warned the three commissioners about the insufficiency of funds more than a month prior. The three commissioners went forward with resolutions to both transfer money and purchase the ladder truck, anyway, while also removing Witkowski as the fire board chairman, she said.

Emanuelle accused Simeone's firm of siding with the three majority commissioners in the dispute, noting that the law firm wrote the resolution to remove Witkowski from the chairmanship. Dow, who was not at the Tuesday night meeting, did not respond to emailed questions about the allegation.

I think given the way she feels, the resignation was the proper thing to do. Better to resign as opposed to being part of something you cannot fundamentally agree with. I applaud her.

It's important to remember that in an emergency situation, minutes seem like hours. The public needs to be reminded of that.

is there a FASNY supporter on these boards who want to chime in????

Would you be willing to stick your hand into a hornets nest??

My old house has a fire pole in it although it hasn't been used for alarms in probably 50 years or more. I think they were afraid of injuries occurring to those using the pole. It's more of a museum piece now more then anything.

Best thing to do is to ignore them and their ilk. They'll eventually go away into the shadows.

from another board, it is going to Wexford, PA

I have a friend in Wexford; I think I'll wait for a few months and call him to see if they still have the truck in service.

May the Heavenly Father grant them peace and comfort in his kingdom.

Congrats

I think its paramount that everyone who belongs to a labor union, whether or not your private or public sector to oppose this proposed repeal. It would mean the literal enslavement of the public sector workers that would be suject to the whim's of administrators and politicans currying votes. I'm not public sector, but i'm private sector union and I know the damage it can do to a union; It's tantamount to putting a knife into someone with their back turned away from you. The playing field has to be level. It has to be stopped at all costs.

Once the fire fighters refuse to go into the building, citing health and safety issues, you'll get action by the city; if they continue to enter the building for each shift, grumbling about the conditions, nothing is going to change.

If Capt. Smart felt there was a safety issue, he should have asked the photographer to leave a few times, then called for police assistance. The police are trained to deal with situations like that.

A 58 year old man in Cartersville, Georgia was arrested after setting fire to his neighbors house because the lawn was too high. The house was set fire using gasoline while the owner and his 3 year old daughter were in the house. All escaped physically unharmed.

I know some of us have some crazy neighbors that we have in our neighborhoods, but this is rather extreme.

http://www.11newsalive/news/article/292833/40/cartersville-man-set-fire-to-neighbors-house-for-not-mowing-lawn

So what happens now?

I guess there'll be some openings for mods?

May the Heavenly Father welcome our departed brother into his kingdom with open arms and grant him eternal rest and happiness.

What kind of training does the Sheriff's Office give?

I know you said that most fire police, including myself, would not arrest anyone except in extreme circumstances, but do you get legal updates to make sure you don't accidentally arrest someone or ruin a case for the sheriff or troopers?

For example, an obviously intoxicated driver is at the fire police road closure, do you have the authority to tell him to wait for the troopers/sheriff to show up? If so, what have you done, arrested him, made a traffic stop, a detention?

Or, you have an 11 year old kid who keeps riding his bike past the fire line and trying to touch the apparatus at a working fire; he has done this multiple times; do you have the ability to tell him he has to wait for a parent or the police to come pick him up?

Or, you go with the ambulance to a medical call, the police aren't there for whatever reason. As the patient is being walked to the ambulance(another issue), they say "I think I want to kill myself" and turns to go back into the house, do you have the ability to tell them now that they have to go with the medic crew? Is that considered an arrest?

These are just some examples of situations that I feel fire police may find themselves in that aren't all that extreme, yet may not have the training to do, and don't even involve "going hands on"

The training is still in the early discussion stages (we started discussions in December); however the sheriff's department has expressed a willingness to work with us very closely to develop training programs to assist us in doing our duties better.

We do not receive legal updates on a regular basis; our normal procedure, for example as you gave, a possibly intoxicated driver is observed by fire-police at a road closure, we would note the license plate number and notify the police of our observation. We would not attempt to arrest, make a traffic stop nor detain the driver.

In the child/bike scenario, we would again request police assistance should it be required.

The ambulance scenario, depending on the situation, we (and ambulance personnel) always stage away until the arrival of police and scene is declared safe for us to go into. Should we arrive at the scene only to find out that the patient is unstable, all parties would evacuate and advise police and wait until we are notified that the scene is secure.

and unfortuantely now the people who acutally need the help are getting screwed....

It should also be noted that congress voted/received pay raises.

After reading all of the posts in here so far and found it interesting to hear of each person's perspective.

I do know from my experience, at least in Dutchess and Putnam Counties, the fire-police in general are respected by the state and county police agencies and value our assistance at various incidents which require traffic and/or crowd control. Depending on the department that you are a member of, the age bracket of the members of the fire-police can vary. In my department, we've had fire-police as young as 18 and at the other end of the spectrum, in their 70's.

When I first took the fire-police course, it was only 9 hours and only recently upgraded to a 21 hour course which I beileve was a step in the right direction as in all honesty, no matter what job function you perform in the fire service, you never have enough training as technology and methods are constantly changing. That being said, in Dutchess County we will be working very closely with the Sheriff's department to formulate and offer additional training courses to help us better do our jobs as fire-police officers.

While fire-police officers do have powers of arrest when on duty, I believe that 99.9% would never exercise that statutory right unless absolutely necessary and only if they feel that they can do it without placing themselves in physical jeopardy; instead calling for uniformed assistance conditions permitting.

Since their is no local police agency in my town, there would be no issue of replacement of career police with volunteers as some might fear; particularly since our duties are specifically spelled out and they do not come close to the responsibilites that a sworn police officer has; instead there is a working partnership and mutual respect of each other and for us it works well.

Many of our fire-police officers in my department are very pro-active when it comes to training, attending additional training courses and seminars since they get encouragement and support from the fire district.

Each fire district's attitude should be, the more training you receive, the more capable you will be in performing your fire-police duties. The days of "dumping" aging firefighters into a fire-police squad with a traffice wand with little or no training needs to come to an end wherever it exists and instead encourage people of all ages to who express interest in becoming a fire-police officer and affording them the proper training to make them as prepared for their duties as much as possible.

Just my 2 cents.

May the Heavenly Father welcome him into his Kingdom with open arms and grant him eternal peace and happiness.

Why is anyone advocating in favor of laying people off? Shouln't emergency services be sticking together not turning against each other?

Sometimes when technology evolves, there will inevitably be change that is unwelcomed, however there is an old saying: "while jobs become obsolete, people don't, they can be trained to do other jobs" No need to lay off people; just retrain them for other positions. A good strong union contract will provide the necessary job security in these types of circumstances.