mfc2257

Unfortunately I wasn't at the call..... after getting married last month I've been staying at my wife's in the city until our lease is up Dec 1. Just got off the phone with a few of the guys and it would appear that the homeowner was having difficutly with the electrical panal in the garage in recent days. The power went out shortly before dispatch. Homeowner went down to garage shortly after and when he opened the door, the fire rolled in over his head.... Closed the door and made the call. 2252 arrives (without chiefs car or mobile radios as his car is being serviced) and fire is rolling out of the garage up above the roof and making its way into the diningroom that butts up against the garage reports 10-75. Batt 16 arrives and provides mobile radio support shortly after 2252's arrivial. No access to driveway due to electrical service line down in driveway.

Ex Chiefs Quast & Santone along with Lt. Puszka (2255) make entry through front door and push fire out of dining room as it neared flashover. 2252 reports a great stop & and great mutual aid coordination.

On a dissapointing note, a 2nd floor balcony seperated from the building and injured 3 ff's. They are all reportedly home from the hospital at this time.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

Just to weigh in on the opinion poll here, I've had a minitor III for about 5 years. Never had a problem.... My wife lived in Manhattan before we got married and I used to get pages in her appartment all the time.... I don't know of any problems with any of our minitor III's with the exception of one or two had knobs pop off the top right after we got them

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

Anyone know what happened last night. I was SB on the SBP @ Jackson Ave. when YPD began diverting traffic in a hurry up and over the overpass and back onto the roadway. To much going on to notice exactly what was going on, but there was a YFD unit with a lite tower pointing into the water. There were a few FF's preparing some hazmat booms. Here is what else I know

Date: 11-02-04

Times: Aprox 1945hrs

Location: Spain Brook Pkwy SB @ Jackson Ave. Interchange

Frequency: Unknown.

Units Operating: YFD with at least 3 engines, 2 trucks, Rescue, YPD and YPD-ESU, Rescue 3, Either E-175 or E-176 + additional.

Description Of Incident: Unknown emergency in the reservoir.

Writer: MFC2257

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

I was just there on my honeymoon... Stayed in Wailea about 5 miles from Kihei.... Lots of people driving and paying more attention to the sites than the road. I was run off the road twice between Kihei and Lahaina.

I think I have a picture of the Maui Fire HQ. Awesome building. 6 or so bays out front. Truck, 2 engines, 2 brush, 2 4000gal tankers, trailer with a huge center console boat and a bunch of other stuff thats stacked behind. All banana yellow.... Even the tanks on the tanker are painted. No chrome, no gold leaf, no aluminum wheels, but somehow everything looks really good in it's simplistic state.

Oh yeah... When good cribbing does break after years of use and re-painting and soaking up of oils etc... It makes awesome kindling for the fire place. Think old wood cribbing is to fireplace what matchlight is to BBQ. :-P

All the cribbing that we have on R-36/E-247/E-248 was made in house. Although the pre formed plastic stuff is light and apparently does the job, I find that making your own works out better because you can cut each piece for each compartment on each rig the way you want it. For example, the compartmentation on R-36 allows us to run very robust cribbing including large step blocks, 6x6's, 4x4's, long wedges and several milk crates of smaller gear. However on E248 I cut all the blocks shorter than we normal would because we were able to keep the cribbing in a compartment that offered greater flexablilty and allowed us to keep the combi tool and the cribbing all in one compartment. It would be difficult to experiment with preforms if you constantly had to order and return them while trying to find the best fit. I made a full set of cribbing for the new E-248 including 2 full sets of step blocks, 4 6x6's, 4 4x4's, 4 wedges, and a ton of 1 foot 2x4's for less than 50 dollars of lumber.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

Although I am a fan of seperate brush and initial attack vehicles (ie; a standard pickup with single rear wheels and a skid mount for brush and a mini fire body on a dual wheel super duty chassis for a mini attack) I realize the need to incorporate both into one unit with our shrinking woodlands in Northern Westchester.

On friday night, Millwood E-248 transferred up to Put Valley to cover their box during a social event. In their sub station they have a great combo unit. It's a F-550 with a utility body on it and a skid mount CAFS brush/initial attack unit. 2 or 3 1.75in attack lines and a booster reel and some compartmentation. Nice rig.

If you are going to go with a mini fire body, I'm partial to our MA-10

F-350/Saulsbury with a 750gpm pump, class B foam and 1000feet of 4in hose with two crosslays.

Good luck to Somers with the new Rescue, Engine, and eventually mini-something.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

Headquarters: 60 Millwood Road, Millwood, NY (Near intersection of Route 100 & Shinglehouse Road & Rts 120/133

Station 2: Route 134 (No Number), Ossining, NY (Between Taconic Pkwy & Allapartus Road just beyond Hudson Hills C.C.)

Headquarters Phone: 914-941-2222

Station 2 Phone: 914-762-4242

URL: www.millwoodfire.org

3 Chiefs (2251,2252,2253)

1 Captain (2254)

3 Lieutanants (2255, 2256, 2257)

Engine 245 (TS-2)-1982 E-One/Kenworth 1500/500. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: First Due Structure Fire / Auto Alarm / CO Alarm. Special Equipment: 50ft ariel w/ twin pre piped waterways and single automatic monitor. Truck Company Equipment. 1000ft 5in hose. Thermal Imaging Camera. Gas Detector. K-12 & Quick Vent Saws. Diesel Generator. Misc other.

Engine 247 - 1998 Spartan/3D 1000/750. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: FAST UNIT. First Due (East of Taconic State Parkway) General Alarms, Motor vehicle Fire, Mutual Aid. Special Equipment: CAFS Pump A/B foam. 1200+ft 5in hose. FAST Equip. Thermal Imaging Camera. AED. K-12 and Chain Saw. Diesel generator. Misc other. No less than 40 gallons of each (A/:) foam on board.

Engine 248 - 2004 Spartan/Sutphan 1500/750. Location: Station 2. Assignment: First Due (West of Taconic State Parkway) General Alarms, Motor vehicle fire, Mutual Aid. Special Equipment: 1200+ft 5in hose. Class A/B foam (no CAFS) Lukas Combi Tool, Gas Detector, K-12 Saw. Hydraulic Generator. Misc other. No Less than 40 gallons of each (A/B) foam on board.

Rescue 36 - 1990 Ford L9000/Saulsbury. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: First Due Motor vehicle Accident, Rescue Assignments, Cascade Mutual Aid. Backup FAST unit. Special Equipment: Full Heavy Extrication Tools by Lucas Gas powered and PTO. Air Chisel. Air Bags. Water Rescue Equip. 8 6000+lb bottle Cascade. Hazmat/Radiation equip. K-12 Saw. 3 Saw-z-all. PTO generatory. Misc other.

Mini Attack 10 - 1989 Ford F-350/Saulsbury 750/150. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: First Due Brush fire, wires down, water rescue. Special Call Source pumper, narrow driveway, class B foam. Special Equipment: Zodiac rescue boat, chain saw, winch, class B foam system. 1000+ft 4in hose.

Tanker 15 - 1994 Kenworth/3D 1500/3600. Location: Station 2. Assignment: First Due water supply operations (West of Taconic State Parkway) mutual aid tanker/pumper. Special Equipment: 3000gal dump pond. 1200+ft 5in hose. Floating 250gpm pump. Side and rear automatic dump valves. Diesel generator.

Utlity 44 - 2002 Chevrolet 2500 Pickup. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: Special call to complement all Fire Department Operations. Available to transport our 80 gallon foam reserve OR 3 portable gas generators, OR 400gpm gas portable pump.

I don't think that Torre managed that game as well as he has other clutch situations. 1st of all Ruben Sierra should have been pulled and a pinch runner used. He could have never scored from his position being the slug that he is. He's a DH and it wouldn't have affected the Yanks for the rest of the game had he been pulled once on base. 2nd, Tony Clark should have been pulled and Posada moved to first base if it went to extra innings. There are a handful of guys on the bench with better bats than he has. Even though having a seasoned catcher behind the plate would have been better, Posada was dead tired anyway. Any catcher would have done at that point and Clark added nothing to the equasion. 3rd the incident at 1st base has two different problems. The ball shouldn't have been knocked out of Arroyo's mit, HOWEVER the first baseman was blocking the bag and prevented a possible slide to avoid the tag. Although sliding into 1st isn't very common, that is a situation where it would have been used. I agree with calling the runner out but pulling the run and bringing Jeter all the way back is bogus. Just my opinion doesn't mean it right.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

How old is the mask that you are using? If you are using a newer mask, the nose cone should seal well so that your nose and mouth aren't expelling warm gasses onto the plexi glass which as the weather gets cooler, will fog faster due to the difference in the temp of you exhaling and the temp on the outside of the glass. They make different size masks for different size faces today. I would confirm that you are using the right size mask. If it's a Scott, check with Matt @ AAA in N.W.P.

In the meantime if you get into a situation where you cant see due to fog in the mask, turn on the manual purge valve that is attached to your regulator. It will blow cool air through out your mask and reduce the interior temp on the plexiglass and eliminate the fog. You will have to do this periodically to continue to stay fog free.

The best solution is a proper fitting mask though. This will eliminate much of the fogging as well as the need to waste valuable air on defogging.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Company

Truck 22 (Hastings) and Trucks 25 & 26 (Rye) are tillers (at least until a few years ago Rye had two). They are difficult to staff by volunteers. They require two highly skilled operators. Suffern also has one now that I think about it. There are tons of them in the Washington DC, Baltimore area. Owens Mills and PG County Truck 34 (Chillem) are two awesome examples.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Co.

Maybe this guy would like to look at the old LA County and City of Syracuse way of doing things. They tried these plans and they failed. Both departments ran a Mini Pumper with their engine companies that handled 90% of the calls. Both departments have converted back to traditional engine and truck companies.

FYI... Car 2251's father made Millwood's command board which is nearly identical to the one at the train incident with the exception that it is a wood frame as opposed to aluminum. If anyone would like, I'll get the info on how he built it and pass it along. For those that were present, it was the board used by 2251 at the Kings College Fire last year.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Co.

Although I've never seen it out of the bay, North Hudson Fire Rescue's staion in Weehawkin at the entrance to the Lincoln tunnel has a converted bus in it. It looks just like the last generation NYC GM busses before they went to the new low profile CNG/Hybrid units a few years ago. Not really sure what it's assignment is. It is quartered with a Seagrave 100ft rear mount and an engine.

Agreed.... Ready to work it's the only way to be. Every time Millwood goes to a call we stress that our guys should be ready to work. Every call is a training opportunity for us. The Lieutenants or senior FF's are supposed to be giving assignments on the back of the rig and when each FF steps off, they get their equipment and stand-by awaiting orders. If this doesn't happen we usually (even if it is an obvious false alarm) will tell them to return to their apparatus and get the equipment that they need to do their job. Although this doesn't happen often any more. The biggest problem is to get some of the older guys (not all) to break the habits that were acceptable years ago. We need to act like professionals OR professionals (paid) will replace us some day.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Co.

Amen.

Yup... Car 2253 was towed. Alternator went while two Millwood FF's took the car to assist Hawthorne with traffic for a biker who went down on the TSP.

It was a great way for us to spend the afternoon. E-245 (old TS-2) and Mt. Kisco TL-14 displayed the Stars & Stripes on the Pinesbridge Road overpass while MA-10 and T-15 flew the flag at the Pinesbridge and Rt100 on ramps, R-36 had the flag at the turnaround in the middle of the district, and I had E-247 on the grass at the bottom end of our district. The State Police and an unknown police motorcycle escorted over 1000 bikes from Mahopac to Ground Zero. The bikers loved it, as did just about every motorist who honked on their way past.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Co.

I was at work, but spoke with 2252 briefly this is what I got.

TSP SB b/t Rt 134 & Pinesbridge Rd

Millwood R-36, E247, E248

Yorktown E270 (possibly R-16 & MA-8 )

SB Vehicle hydroplaned @ excessive speed hit large tree.

All tools / hands working

At least one pt critical.

Possible original dispatch as vehicle into Croton Res.

Edward Smith

Captain (2254)

Millwood Fire Department

Below is a message I returned to somone who posted some pretty nasty stuff on the Millwood FD web page last summer. It all but stopped the complaints regarding the siren. It's just a FYI.

Edward Smith

Captain - 2254

Millwood Fire Dept.

Sir/Madam

Thank you for your inquiry with regard to the siren alert system that is utilized by the Millwood Fire District. Please let me first say that the system is used as a supplement to the radio and digital paging system that is utilized and is NOT used casually just because we can. Second I am confused as to why you use the term "single point of failure" in your inquiry. I would question why it is a "failure" at all.

- We have implemented more modern techniques such as radio and digital pagers (so YES we have done better as you say)

- We do not get dispatched to medical calls (I agree that siren alert systems for a one victim, one ambulance call is unnecessary)

The Siren provides several benefits for us:

- During blackouts, members pagers will eventually run out of battery power. The fire stations have "stand alone" power systems run off powerful diesel generators that can power the siren and alert our members.

- County radio coverage of the western portion of New Castle is spotty at times. If a pager fails to "trip" for one or more members the siren can be heard. The same can be said for a member who is recharging a pager at home and may be working in another room in the residence. He or a family member can hear the siren and respond in a timely manner.

- In times of an elevated emergency state, such as last weeks blackout OR Hurricane Floyd (the MFD ran 80+ calls in 36 hours) the county can become overwhelmed with 911 calls and many general alarms will come directly to the fire station. We can dispatch ourselves however our radios are not as powerful as the county's and the siren is a tremendous supplement.

- The siren is a means of letting trucks that may be making deliveries to local businesses know that they may need to move their vehicles so that fire apparatus may exit the station in a timely manner without being blocked or impeded.

- Finally, as a point of safety... The Millwood Fire Department is located in an urban area. The siren system also alerts members of the public to the fact that there is an emergency in the area thus letting them know that multiple emergency vehicles will be on the roadways in their vicinity either immediately or in the near future. In addition, it alerts those members of the public that are near the fire station that they should use caution to avoid costly incidents or injury.

We are aware that the siren is loud enough to wake our neighbors up at night and we are sensitive to the issue. However living next to a rail station or rail crossing, freeway or busy roadway could produce the same levels of noise from time to time. We are open to constructive and educated commentary as to how we can better use our siren system as a supplement to the primary dispatch technology that is significantly more advanced than the siren BUT not yet a 100% perfect means of dispatch under all circumstances.

Thank you.

Edward Smith

Captain, Millwood Fire Company.

Ladder 72 has been removed from the FDNY roll from what I can see. Ladders 62 to 75 AND 88 to100 are not in service as well as Engines 98 to 150, 168 to 200 and other random closures between.

If you encounter the problem that Doug was talking about there are a few other ways to gain access... If you need to work quickly try using a sledge or haligan to gain entrance throught the tail light assembly. If you simply need to extinguist a fire this will usually give you enough room to flow water. If you need more complete access, drive a hole through the sheetmetal and use a sawz-all or air chisel to cut the top of the trunk off. If you can gain access to the back seat of the car, see if the seats fold down or if there is a "ski bag" pass through. Often times the rear deck has weak spots near the speakers as well.

-2254

Funny... I just cleaned my gear so it's fresh in my head

Cairns New Yorker (Leather forever !) helmet with an old tractor inner tube as a band with a pair of leather work gloves (for everything except structure fire) in it and a sprinkler wedge and door wedge

Turnout coat has a Streamlite, my portable and a spare hood inside.

Pants on the left have a leatherman, Remington Shooting/Saftey goggles (my bourkes are usless at MVA's and those ski goggles suck that come with helmets these days), folding spanner, latex gloves, yellow hazmat guide, 1 roll of 1in electrical tape.

Pants on the right have 30feet of 1in webbing with a figure 8 on a bite already tied into one end with a steel beener on it. Also 50 feet of 3/8 rescue (bailout) rope with figure 8 on a bite/beener on it too. 100feet of utility (1/8 inch 200lb rated) rope. Each length is neatly wound up, easy to undo and identifiable by touch with a glove on.

Pants on outside have firefighting gloves attached to the waist via two beeners and a glove strap (easy to get to once you have already packed up.

Don't hold me to this. I believe that the law changed and now states something to the fact that you can only collect benifits from 1 benevolant association but that you can be a member of more than one department.

Find some old carpet (1/2inch) that has a good glue fiber backing. Cut a piece about 6 inches long by 3.5 wide. Take a scrub brush and cut all the bristles off and apoxy carpet upside down to the bottom of the carpet. Apply Mothers or whatever you use liberally to surface and work it with the carpet. Have someone else follow right away with a good towel to get excess. Buff after drying as ususal.

Get over it. It's a support vehicle. Order a red dash light for it sot that it can clear routine traffic and be done.

How many rural departments are doing just fine with "run whatcha got" apparatus. There's nothing in the fleet available so they solved the problem.

Function comes before form in the fire service.