FFPCogs

7 hours ago, x635 said:

Will the "half doors" be put back on the back open cab?

Yes their supposed to be. The pic is a few days old so I believe they are back on now. Last I heard 45 was due back in CT for lettering yesterday.

41 minutes ago, mfc2257 said:

If everything on the rig is essentially new, than why not enclose the cab?

Enclosing the cab would involve moving the turntable back about 3 feet which means re chassis-ing the rig.  It also means the rig wouldn't fit in the firehouse well enough to make the turns out of the bay. For our circumstances the refurb option was/is the best choice. This rig has plenty of life left in her, especially in our little corner of Stamford. Keeping her pretty much to her original design is actually a benefit here since she can go where no other new monster aerial can.

1 hour ago, GreatPlains588 said:

How much did they spend on this refurb?

In the neighborhood of 250K

11 hours ago, AFS1970 said:

This is all part of a vicious circle. Higher certifications are created. Department changes rules to require those. A few candidates become chiefs. Department does nothing to help additional members get certified. Chiefs step down/retire. Lack of qualified members leads to lowering requirements.

 

I don't know how it is in NY but I know in CT you can contract the state academy to come in and run a class at your department. Granted you can't make the class meet everyone's schedule, but you can get members certified if the department and the members actually have the will to do it.

 

The key is to make any requirements reasonable.

Beyond that Alan there is also the cadre of officers/leadership that meet a requirement or creates their own standard and then prevents anyone else from being able to attain it. Some call that job security, I call self serving, but either way it ultimately causes big problems in succession not to mention morale.

5 hours ago, AFS1970 said:

Last section? Near the bucket or near the base? I only ask because I still see the 1996 decals on that section near the turntable.

Top section Alan sorry...poor choice of words on my part

A crack was found in the last section of the boom on TL-45 and it is now being replaced. With that there are no longer any components on the rig that are original.

Made racial slurs, admitted it and got suspended (IMO should've been demoted) = justice.  Got booted without being able to defend himself (even if he was dead wrong and may deserve it) = injustice.  Wants reinstatement and $10.2 million in damages = Insanity

Happy to say things are moving along pretty well with no real issues lately. 

This Saturday April 9th is the start of National Volunteer Week and in conjunction with that a number of Connecticut FDs will be hosting Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Open House events from 10am - 2pm. Please spread the word 

Here's a bit more info. Just FYI the correct address of the Stamford event is the Springdale FD @ 987 Hope St.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/bulletinboard/article/Seeking-recruits-local-fire-departments-7227197.php

When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work.

-- Chief Edward F. Croker, FDNY,
 

Our recognition comes from within - within our communities, within our departments and most of all within ourselves.  There is no accolade, award or prize that can ever adequately acknowledge the service of a fireman and none of us stand above the rest.  Yes, it's true, some may perform acts above and beyond the call of duty, but the simple act of becoming a fireman has already placed each of us in our Hall of Fame.

Date:  3/24/16
Time:  3:40
Location:  18 West Putnam Ave (Rt 1)
District: Downtown

Battalion: - 

Channel:  - 

Weather: clear
Units: 
Writer:  FFPCogs

Description:  Greenwich had a job early this morning at the Barcelona restaurant at 18 West Putnam Ave (U.S. Rt 1)

From the Ragvocate:

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/loca...nt-7004967.php

NFI

43 minutes ago, nfd2004 said:

 

  That is so TRUE.

 

  I am involved in the improvements of the fire service in my own city here in Connecticut. I have no interest in any political future for myself. Just trying to make overall improvements for the benefit of the people this fire service in which it serves. What a NIGHTMARE it has been. As the topics come out, more and more problems seem to arise. The number one issue being the politicians are only concerned of "Their Own Political Future".

 

  If and when any story does finally come out, I hope to share it with all here. The firefighters as well as the citizens they are assigned to protect have been put at risk due to self promoting politicians and fire service leaders who also are only apparently concerned of their own status and well being.  

 

  I have taken on this project "on my own" having No Political ties. My only concern is for the people who depend on this fire service. It has certainly been a learning experience for me. I expect this to be a very long process and one that may bring out many more issues than what first had appeared.

Even though I would probably disagree with some of your solutions I'm sure, Good luck on your mission Willy...fighting an entrenched system is no easy task and a thankless one at that.

As far as the entire department quitting, well without knowing the whole story I can't say I endorse such a move no matter how much politics are involved. But then again I'm not one to quit regardless of the obstacles. In fact the thicker the wall the harder I push...or go over, under or around. There's always a way to set things right and get things done....quitting is rarely one of them IMHO.

Personally I have no problem with the phrase "In God we trust" but this has to be taken in the larger context of what is appropriate to the community at large. The separation of Church and State is one of our founding principles as a nation and a damn good one of you ask me. That said, I did a quick google search but didn't find an answer as to whether this VFD is a municipal agency or a private non stock corporation. My take on it is this, if the town buys the apparatus with tax dollars than it shouldn't be on the rigs. If on the other hand the rigs are bought and owned by the company and the company is a private non stock corporation than they can put whatever the Hell they want on their rigs.

There's no doubt that in our collective neck of the woods, (i.e. NY, CT) the level of redundancy borders on the absurd and that this is a costly and unnecessary waste. But on the flip side there is also no doubt that volunteers are far less costly than an all paid service, even with all that waste. To that point, I would contend that this would be so even if stations were consolidated and staffed by paid FFs and property/insurance losses were reduced by having that staff able to effect more positive outcomes sooner (although there's no empirical evidence to support that claim to the best of my knowledge). There is also no doubt that a paid service would provide a higher degree of protection in terms of trained personnel and the availability of that personnel, but as I stated earlier that too comes with a trade off, as less stations means longer response times in getting those trained personnel to incidents. Bottom line here is that volunteers will almost always be cheaper (and that's not even counting the transitional costs of shifting from a volunteer to paid service) and since they are, Mr. John Q. Public will happily live with having them as his sole source of fire protection. He doesn't think he'll ever need the fire department in the first place so he see no need to pay more for it then he already does, and besides, that's how it's always been. And if God forbid he does have a fire, well then...when Blubbery Barney and One tooth Willie (as some see volunteers) show up in their big red shiny parade piece firetruck and squirt water in his window, he's ok with that because his friends and neighbors came to his aid in his time of need and he's got home owner's insurance.

Career FFs will never fully replace volunteers, nor could they. The cost is just too prohibitive and thus there is no political will to make it so. Unfortunately for far too long the volunteer fire service in general has lived off that fact and refused to take steps to provide the best possible protection to those we serve. Like most of the rest of America it seems settling for mediocrity instead of striving for excellence is the new normal.

​And one last point that although it's been said before it bears repeating. Many of our predecessors on both sides of the paid / volly divide worked tirelessly to make our service better for us and our communities. When we spend more time infighting or pushing this or that agenda then we do serving, I think we are all doing a great disservice to those who came before us and those who will come after. We are all in this together and we could accomplish so much more, for those we serve and for ourselves, by building each other up than we do by trying to tear each other down..and that is something we should all strive for, because in the end there's nobody looking out for us but us.

^{How about guys lay off the Cigars/Cigarettes too? Now there's a start! I believe there's some Depts out there that have a "No Smoking Policy" in order to become and stay a FF, like Boston and some other New England Depts.. There's also plenty of guys that wont even mask up for a car fire so can we please stop blaming our Dirty Turnout Equipment for every ailment we get!}

Well now there's a dose of reality for ya, btw AMEN FirN...and I'm a smoker

I think you may be surprised. There are municipalities/departments that already issue 2 sets of gear per firefighter.

This is something I pushed for at my current department several years ago and when we pitched it in contract negotiations we expected some push back from the administration, but they agreed to it with no haggling. We had a number of strong arguments for it and it worked. In our case, each person has 2 sets replaced in rotation so that their primary set is not more than 4 years old and their back up set is not more than 8 year old.

Yes I am aware that a good number of cities/towns/departments do provide two sets of turnouts, but I think they are the minority overall. There's alot of cash strapped departments out there barely getting by now. I mean I'm all for it, career or volly it doeasn't matter, this job is hard enough without the specter of another way of getting cancer hanging over us. Sadly though even with grants I just don't see how many departments would be able to do it.

Another avenue that would be interesting to explore would be the impact of more regionalized fire services.

My county (in PA) has a lot of small departments covering small districts which results in multiple departments responding to most calls. I looked up some figures a few years ago for comparison and found that PG County Maryland and Fairfax County Virginia both had an average fire station to sq. mileage ratio of around 1 station per 10 square miles. My County was around 1 station per 3 square miles.

Additionally, at the time a nearby group of 3 communities collectively had 7 fire stations and at least 14 large apparatus and 7 support vehicles. My city is slightly larger than that area, but with the same population density. We have 2 stations (down from 4 a couple decades ago), 4 large apparatus and 2 support vehicles. We run around twice as many first due calls as that group and a lot more working fires. Why do they need so much more to do less?

How much money could be saved if we consolidated into fewer stations with less duplication of apparatus? Could that create the call volume and labor pool large enough that each station could be staffed most, if not all of the time? What would be the impact of that on dispatch to on scene response times and incident outcomes compared to what they are now?

This is the only way to make it work, but as with all change there's always a trade off. Some areas would benefit with paid crews available 24/7 right down the street, other would suffer from the longer wait for anyone to show up at all as stations are consolidated to gain savings. Most county systems work and save money because they are combination in one form or another, but the ones that work best require 24/7 staffing utilizing both career and volunteer personnel to ensure there's always crews on duty in house.

The turnout gear and PPE manufacturers are sure making a lot of money scaring people about cancer!

I don't think it's all scare tactics, cancer is some serious sh!t. That said while having two sets of gear would be great and necessary the bottom line here is who's going to pay that tab? I have a feeling that no municipality or fire district is just going to happily pony up another $2500 minimum per firefighter. I find this to be another case of sounding great (and completely valid) on paper but next to impossible to put into practice.

In 2016, more so than at any other time in most of our lifetimes thus far, Democrats are going to vote Democrat and Republicans are going to vote Republican. The country hasn't been this polarized and divided in quite some time. Fact is there's nothing any candidate can do to swing voters of the opposite party, the line are too firmly drawn. The middle ground, like the middle class, is disappearing as rhetoric replaces reason and ignorance overwhelms intelligence....and that's bad for the politicos and bad for us.

Pete, you mean this Danny Boy ? Former Mayor of Stamford, Ct., now Governor of Connecticut.

www.nationalreview.com/article/389857/americas-worst-governor-matt-purple

You bet I do Willy. Those of us who lived through Danny boy's tenure as Stamford's mayor know full well what the rest of the State had in store. It's no surprise to any of us he's ranked as the WORST governor in the country and this debacle is just one more on a long list of him living up to that well deserved honor.

Thanks Danny boy...good job.

This isn't simply a Putnam county issue or NY state issue, the probelm is nationwide. Dept's and towns can either get out in front of the issue (Strong financial controls and audits) or get run over when the issue pops up.

Agreed. Excesses and outright theft abound across the spectrum of departments nationwide and more often than not it turns out such activity was / is no secret. The corrupt are usually only a very small percentage but the root of the problem goes much deeper than just the guilty. Bottom line: knowing this stuff is going on and doing nothing about it makes one as guilty as the guilty...and a coward too.

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas everyone!!


Here's a Christmas time joke I heard many moons ago, hope it gives you a chuckle and brightens your holiday just a little bit more...

One snowy Christmas Eve Santa was out delivering his toys and making his rounds.
After a few stops he came down a chimney to find a bright eyed little girl standing there with a glass of milk.
As Santa turned to go she asks -
"won't you stay and have a glass of milk with me Santa"
to which Santa replied -
"Ho Ho Ho gotta go, gotta deliver toys you know"
and in a flash he disappeared up the chimney.

A short time later Santa comes down another chimney to find a wide eyed young boy standing there with a plate of cookies.
As Santa turned to go he asks -
"won't you stay and have some cookies with me Santa"
to which Santa replied -
"Ho Ho Ho gotta go, gotta deliver toys you know"
and in a flash he disappeared up the chimney

After a few more stops Santa comes down yet another chimney to find a gorgeous nubile young woman lying on the floor, naked.
As he turns to go the woman asks seductively -
"wont you stay and fool around with me here on the floor Santa"
to which Santa replied -
"Hey Hey Hey gotta stay, can't get up the chimney anyway"....


I'll leave the rest up to you



From my family and I to you and yours, Merry Christmas all and may 2016 bring each of you the bounty to sustain your wants and needs and the blessings to fulfill all your hopes and dreams.

Stay well and Stay Safe

Unfortunatly, this issue is not confined to "rural" NY. Declining volunteerism is an issue from the city line, north. That said, there are a lot of dedicated volunteers who could (and would like) to do more. The current system is truely a hindrance and a serious overhaul is needed. Smaller town and village fire departments shouuld be combined into larger area districts. The pool of active volunteers would better service a larger area and more call volume. In areas where necessary, by population and call volume, could be supplemented by a career staff.

Towns and villages really need to give up a little control and allow for a vastly superior, efficient reorganization. Emergency services can operate more effectivly on economies of scale, to some degree.

I live in Westchester, in a high-tax community. I work in the poorest congressional district in the United States. The residents of said congressional district recieve vastly superior Fire and EMS service. Why does anyone think this is acceptatble? Everyone, regardless of municipality should demand equal emergency service protections.

This is not a volunteer/career issue. This is not one municipality vs. another....this is a life safety issue for citizens and responders. We can better utilize our emergency personel, improve and better utilize volunteer service and compliment with career firemen when needed.

Lets smarten up.

Amen to that M

Well it's that time of year again so time to post my favorite Christmas song. Greg Lake, disgusted with the over commercialization of the season released this video in 1975 and his message is as fitting today as it was then, if not more so.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin's birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire