dwcfireman

 
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/fdny-mechanic-saves-department-700g-engineering-feats-article-1.2893712

 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many of these calls I've taken over the years, but it drives the point home!
 
 
It's the same thing.  "Let me move to this quiet neighborhood with the small fire department nearby."
 
The point of the siren for a volunteer agency is the redundancy of notifying personnel that an alarm has been charged.  That department has been assigned to an incident in their district or has been summoned as mutual aid to one of their neighboring districts.  Someone needs help, and this in one way to get the volunteers to get up and to the fire house.  It's funny how private citizens just either forget or are ignorant to the way it used to be.  There used to be no text messages, pagers, or electronic devices to wake you up in the middle of the night for a call.  The good old siren did the work for years.  Before that, people had to run down the street screaming "FIRE!" at the top of their lungs!  Yes, technology has done wonders in communicating to us that there is an emergency.  But, the downside to technology is the simple fact that it can fail.  Some hilly districts have dead spots for cell phones and/or pagers.  Some districts cannot afford pagers.  Some districts have almost no cell service.  So, what is the backup?  the good old siren.
 
I would also like to add that the siren is good indicator to motorists in busy downtown areas to prepare them for the looming fire apparatus response.

I'm sure if, God forbid, their house were on fire, I'd bet they'd want to make sure that all the first responders would hear the siren(s).  

 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many of these calls I've taken over the years, but it drives the point home!
 
 
It's the same thing.  "Let me move to this quiet neighborhood with the small fire department nearby."
 
The point of the siren for a volunteer agency is the redundancy of notifying personnel that an alarm has been charged.  That department has been assigned to an incident in their district or has been summoned as mutual aid to one of their neighboring districts.  Someone needs help, and this in one way to get the volunteers to get up and to the fire house.  It's funny how private citizens just either forget or are ignorant to the way it used to be.  There used to be no text messages, pagers, or electronic devices to wake you up in the middle of the night for a call.  The good old siren did the work for years.  Before that, people had to run down the street screaming "FIRE!" at the top of their lungs!  Yes, technology has done wonders in communicating to us that there is an emergency.  But, the downside to technology is the simple fact that it can fail.  Some hilly districts have dead spots for cell phones and/or pagers.  Some districts cannot afford pagers.  Some districts have almost no cell service.  So, what is the backup?  the good old siren.
 
I would also like to add that the siren is good indicator to motorists in busy downtown areas to prepare them for the looming fire apparatus response.

 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many of these calls I've taken over the years, but it drives the point home!
 
 
It's the same thing.  "Let me move to this quiet neighborhood with the small fire department nearby."
 
The point of the siren for a volunteer agency is the redundancy of notifying personnel that an alarm has been charged.  That department has been assigned to an incident in their district or has been summoned as mutual aid to one of their neighboring districts.  Someone needs help, and this in one way to get the volunteers to get up and to the fire house.  It's funny how private citizens just either forget or are ignorant to the way it used to be.  There used to be no text messages, pagers, or electronic devices to wake you up in the middle of the night for a call.  The good old siren did the work for years.  Before that, people had to run down the street screaming "FIRE!" at the top of their lungs!  Yes, technology has done wonders in communicating to us that there is an emergency.  But, the downside to technology is the simple fact that it can fail.  Some hilly districts have dead spots for cell phones and/or pagers.  Some districts cannot afford pagers.  Some districts have almost no cell service.  So, what is the backup?  the good old siren.
 
I would also like to add that the siren is good indicator to motorists in busy downtown areas to prepare them for the looming fire apparatus response.

 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many of these calls I've taken over the years, but it drives the point home!
 
 
It's the same thing.  "Let me move to this quiet neighborhood with the small fire department nearby."
 
The point of the siren for a volunteer agency is the redundancy of notifying personnel that an alarm has been charged.  That department has been assigned to an incident in their district or has been summoned as mutual aid to one of their neighboring districts.  Someone needs help, and this in one way to get the volunteers to get up and to the fire house.  It's funny how private citizens just either forget or are ignorant to the way it used to be.  There used to be no text messages, pagers, or electronic devices to wake you up in the middle of the night for a call.  The good old siren did the work for years.  Before that, people had to run down the street screaming "FIRE!" at the top of their lungs!  Yes, technology has done wonders in communicating to us that there is an emergency.  But, the downside to technology is the simple fact that it can fail.  Some hilly districts have dead spots for cell phones and/or pagers.  Some districts cannot afford pagers.  Some districts have almost no cell service.  So, what is the backup?  the good old siren.
 
I would also like to add that the siren is good indicator to motorists in busy downtown areas to prepare them for the looming fire apparatus response.

 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many of these calls I've taken over the years, but it drives the point home!
 
 
It's the same thing.  "Let me move to this quiet neighborhood with the small fire department nearby."
 
The point of the siren for a volunteer agency is the redundancy of notifying personnel that an alarm has been charged.  That department has been assigned to an incident in their district or has been summoned as mutual aid to one of their neighboring districts.  Someone needs help, and this in one way to get the volunteers to get up and to the fire house.  It's funny how private citizens just either forget or are ignorant to the way it used to be.  There used to be no text messages, pagers, or electronic devices to wake you up in the middle of the night for a call.  The good old siren did the work for years.  Before that, people had to run down the street screaming "FIRE!" at the top of their lungs!  Yes, technology has done wonders in communicating to us that there is an emergency.  But, the downside to technology is the simple fact that it can fail.  Some hilly districts have dead spots for cell phones and/or pagers.  Some districts cannot afford pagers.  Some districts have almost no cell service.  So, what is the backup?  the good old siren.
 
I would also like to add that the siren is good indicator to motorists in busy downtown areas to prepare them for the looming fire apparatus response.

Scott has many of the same features as the MSA, if not more, and they have been proven time and time again to work. I think it's just as comfortable as the G1, especially the Scott x3.  And Scott offers the Pak-Tracker and In-Mask thermal imaging, a growing technologies MSA doesn't
 

Boston would still be Scott if Scott hadn't just blown them off. From what I hear, MSA was much, much more responsive to their needs during this process.
 
When my vollie house wanted to replace our packs, we wanted to use Scott through our local dealer we've used for many years and are tremendously happy with their service. However, Scott tried to force us to use a large dealer with locations nationwide that I personally think they have ties with and we haven't had good experience with especially after the sale. We're now considering MSA because we think Scott's regional manager that's been involved will try to steer business and give this national dealer a price advantage over our local guy, and us staying with Scott is based on us staying with our local dealer. Don't get me wrong, we love our Scott SCBA's and I still think they make the best product but who you get after the sale is the most important.
 

I like how the women are complaining that they were not notified about the siren when they moved into the development. First of all, isn't the area and what's around the property something you look at when you go look at and/or research a property for sale. Second of all, didn't anyone go outside, see the pole (especially the lady across the street), and go "Hmmm, I wonder what that telephone pole with horns atop it is?" and then ask?" And who's responsibility is it to notify new people moving in of this siren? I also like how the one lady attributes her stroke to the siren. How does a noise cause you to have a brain bleed or a clot make it to your brain. Personally, I think the FD was right in offering to move the siren but having the neighbors pay for the move. I'm sure the FD had permission from whatever municipalities when they put up the siren and whatever other permits and permissions they needed, and now these women have come in and decided to live right next to the siren and complain about it. It's like someone who moves next to an airport and then complains about the noise from the planes.

its loud near an airport ? what a surprise.
 
lets not forget the people that move into a house or apartment next to a firehouse then want the firehorn shut off, and no sirens when leaving the bay going to a call.

I worked in Fire Patrol 2, 84 west 3rd st Manhattan it was said ;by the oldtimers it was haunted by a member who hung himself on the 4th floor,i spent 32 years there,never ran into him....but the wireservice picked up on it the rest was history....google it,it makes good reading....

 
If I had to guess, the new law applies to rear loaders because this type of waste collection requires people to be in/on and out/off the truck to load the waste.  Hence, the law is aimed to protect the people working around the vehicle, as such the "move over" law does for emergency and service vehicles on the side of the road.  A side loader with an automated arm should be treated with the same caution, but does not have people outside or around the vehicle (unless there is a malfunction).
 
 
This is the hard part OVERALL with the "move over" law.  Unless there is a police officer free and sees the offense, there is going to be no proactive enforcement.  However, if you hit a sanitation worker who is outside of the vehicle, you are definitely going to have the extra infraction against you.

I know it's past Halloween now, but this article popped up on my Facebook feed:
http://www.firerescue1.com/history/articles/134758018-10-of-Americas-most-haunted-fire-stations/?NewsletterID=139022063&utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Exclusives1LeftTitle&utm_campaign=FR1Member&cub_id=usr_uxlWcZsGs9HGgKpG
 
I figured that it was worth sharing....I also figured it would be cool to share some of the more supernatural incidents that some of us may have encountered in our fire houses.  I will be more than glad (as an intrigued believer in the supernatural and "Ghostbusters" fan) to begin with a few haunted tales of my own.
 
My hometown fire house gives me a few tales.  The first come from a night that I was sleeping on the couch upstairs.  My car was in the shop, and it was just easy to walk to the fire house and sleep there.  Any way, I fell asleep with the TV on.  I woke up to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs, and I noticed the TV was off.  I peer over the top of the couch, towards the door, and I see the figure of an ex-chief who had passed away years ago (natural causes).  I called out, "Jimmy?"  I heard him say, "Go back to sleep," and he just simply walked back down the stairs.  I did not go back to sleep.  I turned the TV back on, along with the lights, and stayed up the remainder of the night.
 
The second story from home was when I and two brothers were in the lobby on the first floor.  It was New Year's Eve.  At the stroke of midnight we heard clapping and hollering from upstairs ( in the same lounge that Jimmy scared the bajeebuz out of me!).  There were only three people in the fire house, and we were all in the lobby.
 
After moving to Westchester, the department that I had transferred to had/has some strange happening late at night.  The gentleman's name is Herman, and if you recognize the name, you know which fire house I'm talking about.  Well, late at night he roams around the fire house.  You can here his heavy feet going up the steel stairs to the attic in the apparatus bay, and you can here him walking up and down the halls.  It seems like he's just keeping an eye on the place, but it also seems like he's keeping an eye on you.  Sometimes it sounds like the footsteps are following you.
 
Where I am now, in a smaller and much older fire house, the strange things keep happening.  One night, while sleeping on the couch upstairs (yes, there is a theme), I was awoken by a serious thud to my chest.  It felt like someone had punched me dead center on the sternum.  I have no idea what happened.  I woke up in a cold sweat.  I didn't sleep for the rest of the night.  Another guy told me he saw a random person walking around the apparatus bay, just to disappear through a wall where a door used to be.
 
Alright, now that I've told you me scary experiences, I want to here yours!  What supernatural things have you experienced in your fire houses?

Interesting that the article says that it only applies to rear loaders.  It should cover all garbage trucks.

The hard part will be enforcement...

I don't know how I feel about this.  On one hand, you gain a few extra personnel in those small communities to come to the rescue, but on the other you have responders that are tipsy and are slightly impaired.  Granted, the majority of people (especially in Europe) have no ill-effect from one or two adult beverages, but there are a few people who react much differently to alcohol.  One person can be absolutely fine where another can be a bit lightheaded, or in some instances, drunk off of two drinks.
 
Then again, this isn't too dissimilar to our accepted practices here in the States.  Many departments, and I'm talking about those smaller communities, allow their members to have one or two and still respond.  It allows the departments to gain a few extra bodies whereas they wouldn't if they had a zero tolerance policy.

I could support that idea.

My only concern is that the policy includes " using heavy vehicles". Switzerland is not exactly the wide open spaces like Montana. I guess they have different liability laws there. 

Yes, it's supposed to, but some designs are better at it than others.
 
As for weight and ergonomic differences between Scott and MSA.......
 
My department evaluated SCBAs a couple years ago, right before the G1 was introduced.  The brand we'd been using for a long time was no longer available, so we had to look into other brands and do a complete switch out.  Personally, I thought that the Scott model that we demo'd (the next one down from the NxG7) felt noticeably heavier and less comfortable when wearing it compared to the MSA model we demo'd (M7 Firehawk).
 
I've always been a fan of Scott from my initial experience with the 2.2 model many moons ago and brief encounters since.  I've used a couple different MSA models previously and they did the job well.  However, IMO, the MSA was a far superior product in that comparison in almost every way.  Not that the Scott was awful, but MSA was clearly better and giving them a run for their money.
 
Ultimately, Scott was selected and that's a different story.  We've been using them for a little over 2 years now.  They get the job done, but their ergonomics are not good in my opinion.
 
 

Rumors abound about this major shift from Scott. There are few if any other brands on this job that I have a deep a loyalty to. I'v e switched helmets, boots, bunkers, hose, nozzle, apparatus and always felt fine, but a switch from Scott to anything else would be a hard pill to swallow. I'm not sure of any piece of equipment we invest so much time in being intimate with and rely on for so much. I can honestly say I've never had an issue that took air away from my mask with Scott, something I cannot say about previous uses with two other major brands. I hope this works out for BFD and isn't due to a foolish backlash.

I don't know how I feel about this.  On one hand, you gain a few extra personnel in those small communities to come to the rescue, but on the other you have responders that are tipsy and are slightly impaired.  Granted, the majority of people (especially in Europe) have no ill-effect from one or two adult beverages, but there are a few people who react much differently to alcohol.  One person can be absolutely fine where another can be a bit lightheaded, or in some instances, drunk off of two drinks.
 
Then again, this isn't too dissimilar to our accepted practices here in the States.  Many departments, and I'm talking about those smaller communities, allow their members to have one or two and still respond.  It allows the departments to gain a few extra bodies whereas they wouldn't if they had a zero tolerance policy.

I don't know how I feel about this.  On one hand, you gain a few extra personnel in those small communities to come to the rescue, but on the other you have responders that are tipsy and are slightly impaired.  Granted, the majority of people (especially in Europe) have no ill-effect from one or two adult beverages, but there are a few people who react much differently to alcohol.  One person can be absolutely fine where another can be a bit lightheaded, or in some instances, drunk off of two drinks.
 
Then again, this isn't too dissimilar to our accepted practices here in the States.  Many departments, and I'm talking about those smaller communities, allow their members to have one or two and still respond.  It allows the departments to gain a few extra bodies whereas they wouldn't if they had a zero tolerance policy.

I think its legit, except for the .50 typo.  That's drinking into a coma range.  Betting its suppose to be .05.  Remember Ireland a year or two back tried to or raised the DWI levels in rural areas.

I can't tell if this is satire, but it is on Reuters which is a international news outlet....
 
 
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN12Q1B0