PFDRes47cue

The new site seems to be functioning well. I like that it is so customizable (Ie - blocking parts that you're not interested in. One question I have it, how do you change your two profile pictures? I can not seem to find this option. Nice work overall.

Post successful, I laughed...

Wow. Luck was on their side for sure.

Terrible incident coming during rough economic times for people in the North Country. Alcoa Inc. is a very large employer in the North Country, employing around 1,800 local people. There is a lot of concern about the future of the plant. Thoughts and prayers are with the effected families. Great job done by all the firefighters and emergency personnel that responded to the fire. Good article to check out: http://www.watertown...EWS07/703309823 Incident Alert: http://www.emtbravo....563#entry261563 Pictures: http://www.emtbravo....583#entry261583

Some pictures from the scene. Incident Alart: http://www.emtbravo....563#entry261563

Date: 3/29/2012 Time: 15:00 Location: Alcoa Aluminum Manufacturing Plant (Alcoa West "casthouse" building) Frequency: St. Lawrence County Central Dispatch Units Operating: [Alcoa Fire Brigade]l [Massena FD]; [Potsdam FD; E80, R14, T5]; [Norwood FD]; [Louisville FD]; [brasher-Winthrop FD]; [Helena FD]; [Hogansburg FD]; [Massena Rescue Squad]; [seaway Valley Ambulance]; Units Reclocated: [West Potsdam FD @ Potsdam FD]; numerous others Weather Conditions: Cloudy, chilly, light snow. Description Of Incident: Working fire in the Alcoa West "casthouse" building at the Alcoa Inc, Aluminum Manufgacuring plant in Massena, New York. A Machine used to melt aluminum chips malfunctioned and exploded. 50 workers were in the building at the time of the explosion, several of which were close to the machine that malfunctioned. All workers were evacuated, no injuries reported. Alcoa fire brigade members and Massena FD members arrived on scene to fine heavy fire through the roof of the building. Mutual aid was requested from Potsdam FD (28 miles away), Brasher-Winthrop FD, Helena FD, Hogansburg FD and Norwood FD. St. Lawrence County and NYS Fire Officials on scene. As of 19:45, firefighter were still extinguishing the fire. Fire Officials attempted to get a helicopter to get an aerial inspection of the fire. Mutual aid began to be released around 20:30. Potsdam FD and several other departments re-toned at 22:20 for interior members to respond back to the scene. Writer: PFDRes47cue http://www.wwnytv.co...-144948215.html http://centralny.ynn...ant-in-massena/ **Fun Fact - This is the longest continually operating Aluminum facility in the world. Produces 800,000 pounds of molten aluminum per day.

Terrible news. Rest In Peace.

If you can do the job and do the job well...sex, race, etc does not matter. Best person for the job should have it.

All of our rigs carry basic first aid jump bags, oxygen tanks and AED's. These jump bags are not full BLS jump bags. We do not run EMS so the bags are mainly for member use for minor things. R47 also has a backboard/stokes.

Sounds like a good time. Keep us posted.

Lots of grass, brush, field, woods fires up here the past couple weeks. People need to think...

Two young people...terrible tragedies. RIP. Condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

Was on a call this morning while waiting for St. Lawrence gas, I noticed that one of the buildings had an exterior sprinkler system under the awning on the side of the building that faced an alleyway. I have never seen this before... Is this common in alleys? From what I understand, the system is dry, I am not sure if this is always the case with outside sprinkler systems or just good planning considering the very cold winters in the area. This concept makes sense and seems like a good last stand against fires threatening to spread to the building.

Not a crosslay but another front bumper option for hose storage. (Pleasantville FD's Rescue 47)

I do not have specifics relating to pulling weight, etc but this crosslay set-up seems to retain a good amount of the front bumpers integrity since the ends are not open. I am not sure of the towing capacity with the two hooks underneath the bumper. (Potsdam FD's Engine 49)

Rest in Peace, Thoughts and prayers are with the family and BMFD. Having lost my 42 year old father when I was only 5, I can't help but feel for his young children. My words of encouragement for them are that the pain never subsides but life does go on, he will be watching over you with a smiling face as you make the most out of the long lives ahead of you. The tears will turn into smiles as great memories of your father fill you mind and as you continue to honor his legacy.

Rest In Peace Tyler. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, EFD and HFD.

May both young men Rest In Peace. What tragedies.

As DaRock98 mentioned early in the thread, they run a dual response for MVA/s and car fires. Pretty sure this is only 06:00 to 18:00.

RIP Officer, God Bless.

I am a fan of disconnecting the battery without cutting if possible. Several people have mentioned having trouble locating batteries. This is something we have all experienced. I most recently experienced it on a Mini Cooper (2012). I was not sure where the battery was, I asked the driver and he said under the hood on the driver side behind the headlight...wrong. I looked and looked and finally found a very small compartment on the passenger side of the windshield wiper/cabin air intake bezel. Popped it open and sure enough a battery. FYI, the driver side has the same compartment but for windshield washer fluid. It is not a bad idea to make a drill out of walking around car dealerships and checking out new cars. I have done this on several occasions...usually if you mention to the salesman/woman that you are in the emergency service field and explain what you are interested in doing, they will let you check out what ever cars you want. ...easy way to get "new technology" training.

There is not a % increase for minorities? My apologies for the misunderstanding.

Now you have me wondering if "fair" was the correct word choice. I think it is fair in the sense that anyone can do well whether they put forth a lot of effort or zero effort. I am not sure if it is fair in terms of the best candidate getting the job. It is hard for me to compare because this was my first exam. IMHO someone who gets the extra points for residency or being minority can easily score higher than someone who is more qualified and a better candidate. For example, if I got a 100, I can only get a 100 because I do not qualify for any of the extra points. But if someone who qualifies for the minority points gets a 100 he then does better than me because he gets the 5% or 10% (I forget which on it is) in addition to his 100. Is he better for the job? So I guess it really is not that fair... yup not fair...final answer.

I'm all for waiting for checking for immediate life threats, and stepping back waiting for a hose line, but a car fire in its early stages can be greatly knocked down or extinguished with a dry chem extinguisher depending on what is fueling the fire. The car in the lot is parked directly next to other vehicles, so going at it with a dry chem or two as long as the car is not well involved is not a terrible idea. It is not that fact that they are not helping that is the frustrating part, it is the fact they they know they should not help but think they should make some ridiculous comments. Obviously it is best if untrained civilians stay out of harms way... Perhaps I am the the odd ball out but I try refrain from forming opinions or commenting on things that I do not know enough about. That is all I am saying, if you do not even know the name of the fire department, or the name of fire department personnel (firefighter) then why comment? Clearly a poor job done by a trained professional is going to be better then the untrained civilians attempt. This does not reflect my opinion of the job done in the video I am just going off of the fact that the commentators in the video think it is a poor job...would their effort be better? On a side note, I am not a volunteer officer.

I took the exam during the first offering on 3-15-12 at 8AM. I had never taken a civil service exam before and was shocked at the simplicity. I had looked over what to expect and such so I guess I was not actually that shocked. I am not sure what I can say about the test since it is still being offered but I am very willing to give info if requested. PM me... I found the test to be very fair and if you can read/write/listen to basic things then you should have no problem scoring very well on the exam. Best of luck to all who are taking the test! -Madison