mfc2257

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Everything posted by mfc2257

  1. Rescue 9 in Westchester has a small pump and tank. A department in Dutchess refurbed a FDNY Mack MR rescue with a small pump and tank. There are a handful of rescue pumpers in the county. Some departments identify them as engines others as rescues. Millwood, Thornwood, Armonk, Bedford Hills, Mohegan, and Pleasantville, to my knowledge all run rescue pumpers. E270 from Yorktown and E120 from Croton may have enough equipment to consider as well. There are plenty that I'm missing as this has become a popular rig in Westchester.
  2. I made a few attempts at reading this out loud to my wife before I had to hand the phone to her so she could actually hear (read) the whole thing. Lump in throatitis. Usually diagnosed in males who are no longer as tough as they used to be. Jim and family... I pray that God protects your daughter as she protects us. Joshua 1:9 “ …Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
  3. Drawing a comparison between the Tappan Zee bridge reconstruction and the renovation on the Taconic State Parkway is like comparing World War II to Vietnam. Bridge on the Taconic State Parkway was well engineered well-built and has served properly for 81 years and it is in need of maintenance and renovation so that I can continue to serve probably for another 80 years. The Tappan Zee bridge on the other hand was always designed to be a throwaway and has outlived its engineered life by decades. I'm not debating that New York State Department of Transportation does not make good decisions with regard to infrastructure spending and forward thinking however I don't think this is the case with the bridge on the Taconic State Parkway
  4. The bridge was built in 1931. Why would you call this a band aid? Unlike the TZB this bridge was built to last, and it has. A major overhaul once every 75-80 (81 in this case) years seems very reasonable to me. The cost of a new bridge would be north of 100million and would probably require a similar overhaul in the same or less time.
  5. You hate him?
  6. Everything you need to know is on this website... Office of the State Fire Marshall The Firefighter Minimum Standards Equivalency Examination is offered to individuals who have received training in another state (or country), that is evaluated as equivalent to that required in Florida's Firefighter Minimum Standards Course. To determine an individual's eligibility for the Equivalency Examination, a three-part application process is required. Part I is the Preliminary Equivalency Application (DFS-K4-1309). It is submitted to the Challenge Review Board, along with supporting documentation. Such documentation should be a transcript, by subject, of the hours spent in initial training. Upon review and approval of the training documentation by the Challenge Review Board, Part II, the application for the Equivalency Examination and Certification, will be sent to the applicant. Upn approval of a complete application, the applicant will take the written and practical equivalency examination (Part III). The Equivalency Examination is offered four times a year at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. Please refer to the Testing Schedule for test dates. The applicable Florida Statutes are F.S.633.334, F.S.633.34, F.S.633.35, F.S.633.352, F.S.633.351, and F.S. 633.353.
  7. Although I don't disagree with the effectiveness of a dry chem being used, in this case I'd like to point out a few items that may warrant discussion: 1: A modern vehicle with locked doors and latched hood has a difficult engine compartment to get at. Fender liners, plastic pans that cover a good percentage of the bottom side of the engine compartment, elaborate cooling and headlight systems among other advances in automotive technology essentially seal the engine compartment from the elements. Getting enough dry chem to the fire might prove difficult, or impossible. This is especially true in a luxury automobile such as the BMW in this case where the manufacturer is attempting to eliminate as much noise from leaving the engine compartment as possible. 2: Caution should always be used when attacking a machinery or automobile fire based on the increased use of flammable metals in mechanical design. Magnesium engine blocks, wheels, brake components, etc are not uncommon and although you may be witnessing the orange flame and smoke of a traditional hydrocarbon fire, this evidence may be secondary to a metal fire deeper into the the automobile. Use of the wrong extinguishing agent can result in catastrophic results for the attack crew and bystanders. I have personally watched dry chem react adversely to a lawnmower fire where magnesium was used for the engine block. A class D extinguisher was eventually used and thankfully an explosion didn't occur. 3: Those pesky airbag cylinders and hybrid batteries... They are buried everywhere and anywhere you can imagine on a vehicle these days. They are not designed to survive a significant automobile fire, or the combined heat and cooling cycle that inevitably happens once the fire is mitigated. Don't assume that just because you've put the fire out and cooled the bumpers down like we were all taught years ago, that there isn't a secondary danger lurking ANYWHERE in the car. Space is at a premium these days and you'll find dangers in the oddest places.
  8. Indeed... The new FDNY boats went through similar experiences with dry docking occurring to effect warranty issues and tweaks after about 6 months in service. These vessels serve for a half century or more in some cases and getting it right during the early stages set them up for successful careers
  9. Touché on the Hawthorne miss... Auto correct as well on my part. The scenario I proposed included a healthy dose of sarcasm. Maybe trying a stretch to BHFD might make a good drill though....(more sarcasm) You might find it hard to believe that I won't relent on my point, but honestly I am not surprised that you continue to argue yours, as it seems to be the norm for the justifying the giant waste of taxpayer money that exists in Westchester County.
  10. YAWN!!!! I believe you meant to say "you're flip flopping"... I digress... I'm not sure where I flip flopped. Was it when I indicated that the current apparatus has somewhere in the area of one mile of supply line and then drew in the fact that another station that is 1.7 miles away (google maps) probably has a similar amount of supply line. Between KFD and BHFD less than two miles apart, AND the fact that I'm unaware of any driveways that are two miles long in the area, if you can name a logical reason for making a two mile lay in the Town of Bedford I'd love to hear it. Or is the "flop" coming when you don't know that a modern quint carries a similar amount of supply line as an engine and it would be logical, even fair to the tax payers who are footing the bill, to eliminate an engine when acquiring a quint? It would appear that KFD is looking at a Smeal quint. Coincidental to this conversation, I'd offer that I worked off a Smeal quint for several years and can comfortably say that it will carry 1000-1250 feet of supply line without a problem. The way that fire districts in the NY metro area choose to equip their fleet's has little to do with necessity and plenty to do with irrational school play amongst individuals who are more interested in saying they were on the apparatus committee than they are with providing the taxpayer with great fire protection. KFD is merely collateral damage in what has been a years long mission for me to point this out to those who continue to believe that a problem doesn't exist. This conversation will pop up again when someone in Mount Pleasant decides to replace their tower with yet another over redundant tower... OR better yet finds a way to add a quint to sit next to their tower like Hawthorn and Somers did not long ago.
  11. My previous post was slightly off based on KFD website. 4700 of LDH posted above vs 2000 ft of 3in and 600, 1800, 1900 of LDH on KFD web. Still 9/10's mile of LDH
  12. Looks like a light truck or other utility type vehicle not frontline is he mentioned
  13. Facts in this case are very subjective... It would be tough to objectively argue that KFD needs an aerial device. 600ft vs 1000 ft we're splitting hairs... E116 carries 4000+ feet of 3in and E115 and E117 each carry 1800+ feet of LDH. With a split lay of E116's 3in and the 3600+ feet on the other pumpers AND the 600 feet on the tanker we're talking over a mile of hose. Assuming they could get all the rigs out the door in time to establish contineous water supply and mount an attack, there is enough hose to stretch 85 percent of the way from Katonah FD to Bedford Hills FD where 3 more class A apparatus, a mini pumper, a tower ladder and another heavy rescue are sitting with another mile or so of supply line. I think they're covered. KFD is another department in Westchester that is adding more resources than it's members can staff. It's never going to end... A decade from now everyone will have their own aerial device and the vast majority of them won't have a clue how to perform truck company operations because each department will only catch one or two jobs a year where the rig is used properly and the crew actually performs truck work. For the number of fires in Northern Westchester, the region could use to eliminate 10 or more of the 30+ aerial devices in the area. The county certainly doesn't need more. On the other hand, I'm glad that KFD is getting the needed renovations to their station as well as an opportunity to build a training facility near home. Anything that adds to the skill and training of fire crews will most certainly increase the chances of a positive outcome at the fire scene. Training puts out fires and sends everyone home safely. Apparatus is just a tool they use along the way.
  14. I've been in the game long enough to look at a duck and know that it'll quack. Tanker 6 has a 2000gpm pump and I'd put money on it that it's got 1000+ feet of supply line. They've got 3 other class A pumpers as well. Add a quint to the mix and you're talking about 5 class A apparatus along with a heavy squad and a mini pumper.... THIS IS NOT A KFD rant, it just happens to be where I hopped on my soap box today... Look at the incident alerts on this website for northern Westchester... You see departments sending 1 and 1 mutual aid to another department and then requesting standby coverage in their own quarters while 4 or more front line apparatus sit idle... You can insert any number of northern Westchester departments into my rant including my own former department, Millwood. Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Armonk, Pleasantville, the Tri-Village gang, the list goes on and on where departments have 6 or more pieces of apparatus, often times redundant in their own department or certainly with their neighbors and they can never get more than a handful of it out the door at any given time. This is a waste of taxpayer money.
  15. This is Westchester we are talking about right? There are more apparatus in the county that weren't planned for than anywhere else I can think of. Wanting to have what the other guys have does not constitute a plan. If KFD eliminates an engine in place of a quint then it's a start. They should also eliminate another engine given the purchase of T6. This is not a KFD rub, it's a county wide issue that is only getting worse.
  16. Another aerial device in Westchester. Great. Along with all the pumper tankers that have been added lately without eliminating an engine... the over redundancy in Westchester is at an all time high. The last thing Katonah needs is an aerial device. Let the boys on TL57 do what they do best.
  17. I have had the privilege of working off of a Mack CF and can say that it was always up for the job. Although reliable I always found the factory Mack engines to be weak. There is one other rig that I have worked off of that I put in a class at the top with the CF and that is the American LaFrance Century. Every other rig may be more comfortable, faster, quieter, etc, but those two were the best I ever worked off of or drove!!! Disclaimer: I own a B Model Mack and am a huge fan of all things Mack!!!! But a Century Cab LaFrance with an 8V72 got the blood circulating vs a CF Mack with a Maxidyne
  18. Slugs and snails are terms used in railroading for auxiliary power. A slug has traction motors but no prime mover (engine) thus the lack of diesel tanks in the belly of that unit. It essentially uses excess electricity produced by the traditional diesel electric locomotive that it is coupled with and powers additional axels without the need for more combustion. A snail is a rarer piece that has a prime mover but no traction motors and is intended to provide more electricity to the other locomotives. All this not to be confused with a "B" unit which is a fully functional locomotive built without a cab to run in consist behind another or multiple locomotives.
  19. Best check with the boys in Millwood to see how something like that works out.
  20. Love the slug without its mother ship. Rarely seen railroad apparatus outside of closed, working yards.
  21. Come on down... We can golf fish lounge, etc... And Im related to one of the key authors of the consolidation language for Orange County.... Business with pleasure!!!!
  22. Same up here in Orange county (and Seminole, Polk, Marion, Lake, Sumter for that matter)... The county provides fire protection for much of the unincorporated areas as well as smaller municipalities... where the City of Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Apopka, Ocoee, and Reedy Creek (Disney) among others maintain their own FD/PD. The most important thing though is that these departments are much more keyed in with the county wide system of dispatch, aid, and overall operations than anything in the NY metro area.
  23. For the sake of that argument, should they not have to pay taxes to support the water mains that the hydrants are on in the "inner districts"? Should they have to foot the bill for the department tanker since its not needed in hydanted areas?
  24. You are right it never happened, but the lower deck expansion did. Although I hold no expectations that mass trans / rail expansion would actually happen on the TZB, the GWB is a good example of building for the future.