fire2141

A little late here, but I, too, am glad to hear that there were no serious injuries to anyone involved, and that recovery is coming along nicely.
Also happy to hear that E-138 is still "alive" and well. One of my favorite rigs in the area, and one of several that I wish I had the resources to acquire and care for once it comes time for replacement. What a beauty!
Best of luck to the members of the Golden's Bridge FD as they progress toward a full recovery. Be strong, and stay safe!

wow come on really ? you go there when they just lost every thing?what answers are you looking for here?have some respect for gbfd even if there vollunteer.s.

James thank you for keeping everyone up to date on what's going on in the Bridge. I'm glad you also made some clarifications to false information like inoperable smoke detectors and an empty tanker. This is truely a bad time in our history but I know in my heart the department will pull through stronger than ever, between the dedication of our members and the outpouring of help in the overall fire community both near and far. Please continue to keep is all up to date brother.

James thank you for keeping everyone up to date on what's going on in the Bridge. I'm glad you also made some clarifications to false information like inoperable smoke detectors and an empty tanker. This is truely a bad time in our history but I know in my heart the department will pull through stronger than ever, between the dedication of our members and the outpouring of help in the overall fire community both near and far. Please continue to keep is all up to date brother.

James thank you for keeping everyone up to date on what's going on in the Bridge. I'm glad you also made some clarifications to false information like inoperable smoke detectors and an empty tanker. This is truely a bad time in our history but I know in my heart the department will pull through stronger than ever, between the dedication of our members and the outpouring of help in the overall fire community both near and far. Please continue to keep is all up to date brother.

We did lose a few items that are irreplaceable. As many know we lost our '43 Willys. We lost some memorabilia from the Rec Room, however a good majority was able to be recovered. The majority of the things we lost were completely replaceable. We lost approx 30 sets of turnout gear, with the remaining being sent out for testing. HUGE THANKS goes out to car 2443 for recovering our 100+ year old "Golden's Bridge Fire Department" sign from our meeting room. It was on the original firehouse when it opened and is probably one of the most important historic pieces in the firehouse currently.
We are already making progress in leaps and bounds. The restoration company, SoundShore Restorations out of Bedford Hills, has done a phenomenal job and has made the process as easy as possible for us. Their guys have been at GBFD scrubbing, wiping and mopping basically non stop since monday evening. They have assured us that by the end of this business week, that the remaining side of the engine bay will be cleaned to the point that you wont even be able to tell there was a 2 alarm fire in the building. when I left last night, I was able to see the white paint on the ceiling and the nasty puke green walls are back to being the nasty puke green walls. They literally have an army of workers there round the clock. as i counted yesterday, the total neared 40 workers. which doesn't even include plumbers, electricians, engineers and architects.
Currently "the neighbors" are housing our apparatus. We are waiting on a semi-permanant structure being transported from Tennessee, which will house all remaining equipment. For anyone whos familiar, it s the same building Katonah FD had out behind their firehouse while they were under renovation. As it stands now E-139 and Marine 25 are being housed in Katonah, E-138 & E-140 are being housed in Croton Falls Sta. 2 and T-1 is being housed in South Salem.
Also, there was a huge Interior attack initiated at this fire. Operations went exterior only for a small period of time after a partial collapse, however after deemed that it was safe to re-enter, the interior attack was re-established. The Master stream from TL-57 as well as the deck gun on E-149 were utilized after the collapse to darken down the free burning fire. The roof was constructed out of tri-bearing wood trusses. however the engine bays luckily, and unknown to us, had a double redundant walls. the first layer is 4 inch solid concrete block, which covered 2 inch styrofoam insulation board, which covered at least a 12 inch thick structural reinforced poured concrete wall.

For me I go back to YHFD, and hands down I say with great pride Martin McGannon! In my opinion he was a great chief and teacher. Not only did he encompass everything that makes one a great leader, but he was a great friend and role model. I also say Greg T., he also taught me a lot in the fire service and outside. And finally I add Kenny, I was honored to serve with such a great group.
And for my short time in Da Bronx I will most definitely say Geroge, Jimmy R, Danny B., Beefman, and a true legend D.O.C.
Finally I must say my Current Chief, Chief Olsen is very knowledgeable and very progressive yet still holds true to traditions. And my Academy Chief, Chief McLaren who is a great mentor and the Best instructor the Oregon DPSST has to offer.

Dude, this has everything to do with him and his agenda, which is shared by many powerful folks in NYC and NYS. De Blasio's agenda takes PC to an entirely new level, and this is but a taste of what is likely to follow.
Mark my words: law enforcement and emergency services are going to suffer greatly in this new administration, especially given that their agenda is supported by the same judges behind this class at the Rock!

Seems to me if a person is willing to put most of their personal life on hold to generally be available 24/7/365 and most likely would participate or intervene in any situtation come upon whether in or outside his/her own district, then the use of a vehicle as a perk is more than justified. Lots of volunteers put in a lot of hours and Chiefs lots more. Lots of police chiefs have department vehicles available to them 24/7 as well although usually unmarked so not as obvious.
If you expect someone to be available 24/7 then you should provide the means for them. If it becomes a pr problem start stripping the command cars of their department name but don't penalize the Chiefs in the name of political correctness.

Yes, the Mack was refurbished by E1 and a new 8V71 Detroit repower in the early eighties. I remember the body being so rusted out that we had to put plywood on the floor of the compartments to keep stuff from falling out.

On the slide it says 1965 Mack C/1982 E-One....did Golden's Bridge refurb this truck at some point? photo Glenn Vincent


Thanks for the info, and it does look like a city rig!

Thanks for the info and it does look like a city rig at that!

Being a former volunteer firefighter and a career firefighter for the last 23 years (an officer for the last 15), here is my take on it:
Being career does not make you any better than being volunteer. I know some volunteer departments in my old hometown (Dutchess County NY) where everyone is well certified and competent, and they show up very rapidly when the tones go off. Heck, some of those guys are better trained than the people I currently work with.
It all has to do with the following and applies to both volunteer and career departments:
Leadership -- if the department's leadership does not make sure that there is a means to get their membership trained and encourages it, the department will never be functional.
Membership -- if you can't get enough people to adequately staff the vehicles when called, then the department will not be functional.
Political Support -- if you can't get the support of your commissioners or supervising governmental entity, the department will not be functional.
Fire Prevention -- if the department or municipality doesn't take fire prevention seriously and does not have a good inspection program in place where property owners are held accountable, there will be fire safety issues.
I've seen terrible volunteer departments and I've seen terrible career departments. I've also seen great career departments and volunteer departments that would put most career departments to shame. I really don't think it has anything to do with volunteer vs. career as a whole, but the specific area in NJ.
I've seen many departments here in Florida go from volunteer to career and shut down/disband firehouses completely so they could pay the staff of 2 firefighters on an engine for each of the other stations covering a larger area. Yes, you have 100% assurance a unit will respond immediately, but you have less units and longer response times in those areas where the fire stations were shut down.
This is just my 2 cents.

From what I have heard about this electrical fire, unless someone called it in when the problem first started happening it would not made much of a difference. People forget you had 30 MPH winds driving that fire so once flame broke out the theory of fire doubling every minute went out the window.
I have heard of plenty of large fires were paid departments were completely in charge and they still lost a lot. I have heard paid departments cancel mutual aid just to end up calling them back 10 minutes later as they are loosing the building.
No volunteers are not perfect but no one is. In this current world especially in our situation where we have a large mix of paid and volunteer departments we need to stop fighting one another and work with each other to get the job done.
Believe it or not volunteers will support paid firefighters MORE when they are not A**holes back at them.

Drafting in New Orleans after Katrina was a four man job, myself and three other guys knew how to do it! We had to teach the other guys. Great times!

Maybe when the career departments acknowledge the volunteer departments as the farm teams and use the farm teams to feed the system. Go to the "farm teams" and mold them and shape them to the standard the career departments set as the standard. Do this instead of putting people and departments down.
To paraphrase a saying in baseball, " you offer to train them and they will come"
The career departments should be the mentors and the leaders to raise the standard in Westchester.

I remember riding on the back of the open Seagrave (Engine 139) back in the day. Wsa is service I believe untill 1977.

Mack Factory photo Port Chester Hook and Ladder.

I think this forum should have been titled "Botherhood" then "Brotherhood" it's more appropriate! LMAO! If anybody gets a chance Google Comedian Adam Corollas take on the youth of today it's exactly what we're talking about! He hits the nail right on the head! It's an interview dealing with the Occupy Wall Streeters. He puts it perfectly!

To join the WCTRT you must be trained to the minimum of BRT which is a NYS course, be 21 and have taken FF or other (have some non-fire people i.e.; PD, EMS, Engineers, Surgeons, etc.) training, passed the annual NFPA/OSHA medical and have SCBA clearances for interior operations. Training continues with utilizing NYS Technical Rescue courses same as everyone else. WCTRT members progress from awareness to operational to technician as they take courses. They have varying amounts of awareness, operational and technical level responders in each of the seven TRT areas and meet all NFPA standards. The twice monthly are drills to maintain and refresh training based on the NYS courses and are usually under the guidance of a NYS instructor. Two years ago WCTRT were called about 12 times in one year and responded with over 20 technician level responders for each of the calls, with more operational and awareness level members. WCTRT went on structural collapses, trench rescues, swift water/Flood rescues, wilderness SAR, confined space, high angle rope rescues, etc. It was a busy year, but since then responses have averaged 4-6 per year which is what was anticipated. WCTRT also have been dispatched regionally by the state during storm and resultant flood waters and the state recognizes WCTRT have "come a long way in a short time”. Our apparatus & equipment is incredible in how it has grown and we have been trained on all of the various apparatus. Includes the MEC rail cars were we can access rail lines during TRT or haz mat calls. START training gave us technician & specialist T-T-T level training prior to initiation county-wide. The present 20-40 responders on each of the calls is typical and we can call on more if the call is extended. We have gone through 3 sets of 50 to 100 technicians prior to the present (4th round of) staffing which is between 50-100 averaging approximately 75. In the ideal world we would like to keep all of the people however, people and lives change and the pay is not so good. Most of our equipment and apparatus have been paid for through various grants with minimal cost to the residents of Westchester County. We also have a mutual aid team for back up and we are speaking to other regions to work together. To date all WCTRT members have not received one dime for our time or effort or even for our personal gas, nor do we ask for it. Response times are: apparatus out the door manned within minutes of dispatch as it is a central location and we need to drive to it. For one, I am usually there in about 5-10 minutes depending on traffic. Many members and team leaders respond directly to the scene depending on the location of the member to the call location to provide expertise to the local first responders. We have so much equipment it takes a large binder to maintain the records but I would estimate there is $5-10 million invested. We have saved more than one life, and as we all say in emergency services ..."if we save one life it was all worth it". I hope this answers your questions, and please show some respect for a quality team. I don't bad mouth your career squads and you should not bad mouth the "volunteer" team. We are both in it for one purpose....and the WCTRT has performed well in that respect. BTW, nice high angle rescue on that apartment building in Yonkers a while ago but you should have called us for back up (Ha-hah). You were called to the tornado in Mt Pleasant, in an OMG a 100% volunteer area. And just so you know, the county executive past and present, and the Board of Legislators realize we are cost effective and a highly regarded TRT by our peers. I only wish we could work together. I say that you should want a trained FF even if all you can afford is a volunteer (yes we meet all national and state standards regardless of what some of you think, and yes some volunteer leaders don't lead, but I see that in career departments as well) with minimum staffing and if it means a mix of volunteer until you can afford more, you should embrace it for the good of your community. I guess my glasses are a little too rose colored....
I know most if not all of the posters above and most of you know me. I am an original founder of the team started in August 2001, and the county approved the team several years later. So we have been in service for over 12 years, I believe 7 under the county. I usually don't answer requests on this site as it seems anything a "volunteer" does is no good to some, and eventually turns into a bashing and pissing match. That's not my style. I quote LA's Rodney King, "can't we all just get along (work) together?" So I say: The emperor has clothes in this case....and more....much more....it is not unnecessary, is the most cost effective and most viable special operations, that’s why it was chosen to serve all of Westchester County and continues serving with distinction today.
I would like to emphasize that in this post as well as in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the County of Westchester or the Thornwood Fire Department.

And yes, I realize it would be safer to express myself anonymously, but that is not my style and never will be.

Was self defense by GZ needed? -If my face was being bashed into the ground and I thought I would die then yes.
Every American has the right to defend their lives, but provoking a confrontation this was not going to end well. -So what if he did "provoke" it he was still attacked.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but only buy people that need it, and have a extensive back ground check. - How do you define people that need it? Is being able to defend your life or your families a need?
I'm sorry to say but this topic is going to become racist and not about the Dispatcher/Zimmerman situation. - Why does it have to become racist? Facts can be discussed without the issue of race by some.
I own a gun for work and I'm always thinking about " what if I have to pull it out, and against who, and if I do and fire it how will I feel knowing that what I did was justified in the legal system or by God. - There is a saying that I would rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6... Seemed to work out for Zimmerman

HazMat is an especially contentious issue in NYC because technically the NYPD is the lead agency until the incident is determined to not be terrorism or criminal. However the FDNY is still to be in charge of decontamination and mitigation. NYPD frequently does not notify FD of suspected HazMat calls while they investigate them. This is not speculation, since I started working in Manhattan I have witnessed this on multiple occasions. This has been going on for years though. 9/11 hasn't changed anything, as HM1 is probably busier now than it was before.
The volume seems about right. The truck takes an inordinate amount of abuse for the sheer number of miles it covers.
Fire Chiefs Claim Cop Commanders Hinder Them At Emergencies


Posted: Monday, July 9, 2012 4:15 pm | Updated: 4:16 pm, Mon Jul 9, 2012.



By SARAH DORSEY | 0 comments



Police commanders frequently prevent firefighters from doing their jobs properly during emergencies, ignoring protocols set up after 9/11 to ensure that the two agencies cooperate effectively, Fire Chiefs said in a 2008 survey published last year.



Nearly 200 Chiefs were asked about the Citywide Incident Management System (CIMS), which was established in 2004 after the 9/11 Commission found that poor coordination between agencies hampered rescue efforts during the terrorist attacks. The program dictates which agency takes command in emergencies, with the FDNY leading technical-rescue operations and the NYPD commanding hazardous-materials incidents until criminal intent or terrorism is ruled out. Other agencies, such as the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection, often also advise the first-responders.

http://thechiefleader.com/news/news_of_the_week/fire-chiefs-claim-cop-commanders-hinder-them-at-emergencies/article_0d442094-c9cf-11e1-8f17-001a4bcf6878.html

I feel, in this instance, these officers did a great job. Making a traffic stop is far more dangerous then this to a police officer. But should they stop making traffic stops? No. There may be other opinions, but that is mine and I stand by it. I can think of many other counterpoints to the opposing arguments, but there is no point, my opinion is not going to change.
So smoke and CO detectors are useless? They were elderly, and this is not something unheard of. There should be more of a focus on promoting these alarms, so we're not having these types of situations progress.

So, leave him and his parents there to die while they just watched? If you saw someone trying to get out of a burning car, would you just stand there and watch until FD arrival? If you saw a man collapse in the middle of an intersection, would you just stand there and watch because you didn't have a traffic safety vest? And how do you know what information the officers got from dispatch, and what they encountered. We don't have the facts to be scrutinizing these officers. I'm sure if it were two neighbors or off duty firefighters, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Sometimes, you need to risk some to save some. These officers evacuated the parents immediately, and went in for the son, who was moments away from death. Or, as you put it, "balls over brains". Or booksmart vs. streetsmart. It's easy to anylyze an incidents afterwards, but when you're in the moment, you do what you are trained to do.
Anyone who's had enough experience on the job knows when you are exposed to situations like this, you're often taken to the hospital just as a precaution. Such as firefighters with smoke inhalation. So just because the officers went to the hospital doesn't mean anything signifcant.
And the "previous IDLH incident" you refer to is like apples and oranges and doesn't need to be rehashed here.
The Police Officers in this situation took heroic action, for nothing else but to save lives. I'm not saying whether their actions were right, nor am I saying it was wrong. But 3 people are alive. Again, 'nuff said.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Segments of the media and some politicians have had a long standing agenda against guns and this tragedy is their excuse to take action.

Or maybe our softer, gentler society has had some unintended consequences...