billfitz

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Posts posted by billfitz

  1. Posted

    In a recent journal news article touting Andy Spano's Achievements (revisionist History) stated how he and the County DES coordinated resources to NYC on 9/11 at Yonkers racetrack - Nothing could be further from the truth! - It was NYSOFPC who requested Yonkers Racetrack be established as a staging area for resources going into NYC - 60 (lack of) control stood by while just about every dept in Westchester with an exception of a few freelanced and responded to where ever they wanted to buff out! It was not until late that evening that that a Bronx Division Chief requested to get all of the unauthorized units out of the Bronx - and sent every one to Yonkers Raceway - Westchester County through the corrections dept. did provide breakfast the following morning at the track for all buffs in attendance! This is a disgrace that the Spano administration is claiming this as a highlight of his administration (as printed in the Journal News) - when in fact he and DES did nothing but add to the confusion - I would dare any one to say anything to the contrary! "The Emperor has no clothes" bring it on - !!!!!

    http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912310327

    helicopper likes this

  5. Posted

    Very nice looking unit! I'd like to know more of the specs if they're available. Looks good with a pair of monitor nozzles and well protected outboards.

    Does it have a tow bit?

    Pump Capacity?

    Who's the builder?

    Ect. Ect.

    Boston whaler 27'

    twin 250 Mercury Verados

    Tow post

    800 GPM - 45 HP Darley fire pump system

    Remote akron combination nozzle on bow

    aft manifold 3 - 2 1/2" connections

    radar

    flir

    dive door / ladder

    dive cylinder racks

    etc

  7. Posted

    It's a nice looking rig.

    I can't for the life of me figure out what an adjustable nozzle is doing on the end of ANY pre-piped water way. The principal use is to flow large amounts of water during a defensive operation. You need volume and penetration. Two things that adjustable nozzles are poor at. Forget the straight stream setting too, it's broken. Nothing beats the volume and penetration of a smooth bore.

    Thanks for your opinion - but many New England Cities (Yonkers/Boston) have 3-4 story wooden frames, asphalt shingles as siding - with front or rear wooden porches - seperated by 2-4 ' alleys - which you rarely find in NYC - while I whole heartedly agree reach & penetration of a stream are directly related to the use of a solid stream not a straight stream as from a combination nozzle - a 30 - 45 degree master stream will provide better exposure protection than a solid stream from the same appliance. The same appliance after exposure protection is addressed can have the nozzle changed for direct fire attack into the top floor (cockloft) or to hit the seat of the fire. IMHO I think it is better to ride with the combination nozzle and switch to a straight tip when conditions warrant!

  10. Posted · Edited by billfitz

    At approx. 0200 hours this date Water Tender 1 was placed in standby mode - The city had widespread water outages due to a main beak in the high service system. The 5000 gallon tender was manned and standing by to respond to any fire call. The tender is designed to buy time until a relay can be established. This would not be used to create a shuttle w/ quick dump & refill - but bridge the gap w/ the 5000 gallons. Normal water service was restored approx 0500 hours

  12. Posted · Edited by billfitz

    I will be one of the first to point out a deficiency or an area that needs improvement with Westchester County DES - but I am also want to point out when something is a benefit . We recently responded to M/A 2 days in a row - Last Sat. Batt 14 and last Sunday Batt 18 - switching to the appropriate channel gave us constant updates on what was going on with the incidents - as well as having our units utilize a common M/A frequency when on scene. We also occassionally use the tac channels for training and other miscellaneous operations. I know one of the original criticism with this system was that the frequencies were shared with the County buses (I don't know if this is still true or what effect it would have if it was true) - I am sure their are other departments out there that use this system a lot more than we do - what has been your experiences? So far I find it a big improvement over the old 46.XX that was previously used for M/A

    For another thread - as someone mentioned previously - I think the radio designation "Battalion XX"" to 60 control should be changed - that designation implies they may be associated with the "Incident Command Position" I believe it should be changed to a title that better descibes their role as a "liaison" just my 2 cents

  14. Posted

    Tanker is set up with 2 1/2" or 5" storz connection - in addition to gravity/suction feed it has an onboard diesel pump to assist with offloading - it is not set up with a quick dump valve as many other tankers are - it is intended to supply a limited amount of water (5K Gallons) until a relay can be established with LDH - most of our troublesome areas are augmented by water towers which would buy us a few hours if we needed to stage the tanker in the event of a planned or unplanned interuption of water supply in a particular area.

    Foam truck is currently at SOC having lights installed - it is awaiting paint, decals and radio's before returning to Station 13 - it will have foam unit signboards from previous unit.

  15. Posted

    Tanker = 5000 gallons

    18' shamrock - former FDNY to be disposed of shortly - new 27' Boston Whaler w/ twin 250 mercury verado's on order

    other rigs in lot (except HazMat Support) most are either awaiting repair or disposal - rigs will be moved inside before the winter

    FYI - We plan to have the 56 ALF on the road for the Columbus Day Parade

  19. Posted

    The Yonkers loaner was returned in early July - we needed to have it UL'd and PM'd for use at our upcoming probie school - after that it will most likely be auctioned off

    I guess FDMV needs to replace Engine 5 & 6 (Former Engines 3 & 4) and maybe its time to give back the Loaner Ladder from Yonkers (Ladder 78). Is the FDMV Mack Baker down and out for the count?

    If anyone within FDMV knows what is coming from Sayerville and what rigs they are indicated to replace, that would be appreciated

  20. Posted

    Chief Fitz - You have hit the "Nail Perfectly On The Head" !! - Great Idea. Regionalization of Special Operations within the County is the way to go. With Yonkers having the "Premier" Special Operations Department in the state (with the possible exception of FDNY), it would make sense for Yonkers to managed the "Westchester County Southern District" as it relates to "Special Operations. Chief Fitz, would you think that having some of Yonkers SOD equipment "spread out" around the Southern Tier of the county would make sense (like maybe having a Southern Region Foam Rig say housed at the Fulton Avenue Fire House in Mount Vernon, near "Oil City" ???)

    Our Foam unit is currently assigned to Station 13 (Could not be any closer to MVFD or Southern part of County) it carries 200 - 5 gallon pails w/ handline & master stream eductors & nozzles - it repsonds w/ E-313 & L-73 for Master stream foam operations (8 man crew) it is available on M/A - it did respond to New Rochelle for standby for the overturned gsoline tanker a few years back.

  21. Posted

    And do we think the HAZMAT Unit should be the next thing assigned to a specific department?

    Very -interesting this is bizarro world things are starting to make to much sense! - CE Spano mentioned recently at a press conference on sharing County services that perhaps the County should look into Yonkers providing HM for the Southern part of the County - what next White Plains covering the North?

  22. Posted

    I would like to applaud the recent vote by the Westchester County Board of legislatures to reassign the foam trailer to the White Plains Fire Dept - this shows a commitment on behalf of them to put politics aside and do what is best for the county - putting a resource where it can be deployed most effectively - what a novel idea! - could this be a sign of things to come?

  23. Posted

    Very well designed rig.

    I really like the on-board compound sliding miter saw...custom-made specialty cribbing, on the spot. Nice.

    The saw location was planned from the beginning - but when we went to the factory for final inspection realized the rollout shelf was to low to operate the saw safely/comfortably - Hackney fabricated the raised shelf on the spot - also creating a storage space under the saw for a few tools, tape measure etc. also the saw can be removed quicky and set up on the DeWalt saw stand away from the truck. The saw is plugged in and ready to cut upon arrival -

    I can't stress enough the value of a pre-construction trip to the factory to work with their engineers on site/ Also during final inspection have the factory mount as much of the equipment as possible. For the final inspection we drove down with a pickup and brought the saw, stanley power unit, airshores among a few other things - it was no coincidence everything fit perfectly it was all coordinated with the factory from beginning to end.