firedude

Below the video are some facts.

Just like so much else in this business it depends on how they're used in a given area. The term "Structure Fire" is often just a dispatch description, though a few years back there was a movement to make this a benchmark type term denoting the fire had actually begun to attack the structural elements of the building. This didn't seem to take off in many places, but I suspect there are some who utilize it this way? "Working Fire" is often a alarm level between how a building fire is dispatched and the next full alarm level, often bringing a reduced number of units. For example a building fire in our area is most often dispatched as a first alarm assignment getting what the FD places on their first alarm list. A second alarm may bring another 3 engines and 2 truck, but often the fire does not require 5 more companies, thus a "Working Fire" declaration may bring just 1 and 1. Like I started with, these examples may vary greatly from locality to locality, standardization in the US fire service is nearly nonexistent.

Here is the Special Ops car along with all three cars lined up.

IF the FDNY battalions are anything like the the NYPD RMPs, then it depends where it the city they are assigned. When I worked in Manhattan, we regularly had older RMPs with lower mileage due to the density of population in a smaller area. Our cars would go 5 to 6 years before replacement, depending on conditions. Where I am at now it the Bronx we rack up the miles pretty quick. Our newest van put 41,000 in its first year with us, and now as it is approaching its second year is around 79,000 miles. I have been there for 2 and half years, we have gotten 1 new van and 2 new cars in that time period. From what I have heard, that is normal. Overall the conditions of the cars at those mileages are the same, tired, prone to breakdowns, doors and windows leak, need greater maintenance, etc, the only difference is age.
Yonkers has 2 to cover the city. They probably run nonstop. As was mentioned, what condition are the spares in, if there are any? NYPD spare RMPs are a crap shoot.

Your scanner model is capable of receiving trunked radio broadcasts.
Programming using the scanner keypad is very tedious and a real pain in the you know where.
You could invest in some relatively inexpensive software which can make programming much easier, and do it yourself.
If you don't already have one, you can buy a USB cable to connect the scanner to your computer.
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Radio_Shack_Programming_Software_Free_Trial
Use the software for free a limited number of times before you have to buy a license for it. You can also purchase a subscription at Radio Reference that will allow your software to download exactly what frequencies and talkgroups you want and import the data right into your scanner.

batt 2 has 53,000 miles on it already in just under three years. Does anyone know what the average is for miles put on a fdny batt in say a year? I heard the old batts were a little too big in length for the tight streets and the tahoes may be a better fit for their needs. Any they averaged 3 mpg on top of that. Lol.

Spy Shots
Empress EMS 43-M-1, 2013 Dodge Charger w/ all wheel drive
One of two being delivered, with the other being assigned to 43-M-2. 43-M-1 is still is awaiting installation of of the push bar grill guard, the Whelen Howler siren, and some other goodies, and the 43-M-2 car was delivered from the dealer today to get outfitted and striped.

Date: 12-18-12
Time: 0840hrs
Incident Type: MVA, Water Rescue
District: Yonkers
Location: Bronx River Parkway NB btwn Exit 8-Crestwood and Vermont Terr
Units: Yonkers FD Engine 313, E310, Ladder 73, Battalion 2, Empress EMS Medic 31 Supervisor 307, Yonkers PD, Westchester County PD
Frequency:
Weather Conditions: Cold, overcast,drizzle
Reporters: x635
Description: Two car MVA, cars landed in the adjacent Bronx River, which is rain swollen and has a strong current. One car was submerged up to it's windows, County PD arrived within minutes and Officer James Rosselli went into the river with rope attached, Officer Matthew Cohn secured the rope from the shore and both removed and rescued the single female occupant....other vehicle tipped on it's side when it went into the river...singled occupant rescued by a nearby Yonkers DPW crew who witnessed the incident.

No matter where you go, a boy and his dog will follow the fire trucks..

Command Tactical Vehicle

Firefighter from Rescue 3

RAC 3

Repacking Engine 83

Engine 35

Field Comm

Looking back at the scene, an unknown engine which left room for Tower Ladder 17 to set up

Ladder 29

Engine 83 and Ladder 48

EMS continued to bring in gear in case it was needed. Most of the EMS ops were set up on E 149 street and Jackson Ave

Mobile Respiratory Treatment bus

MERV 2

Crew from Truck 42

Tower Ladder 14 set up on Pontiac to lob water from the 3/4 side of the building

Tower Ladder 17 continues to remove the siding off the front of the building.

Chief of Operations Esposito leaving the command post

Crews Standing by with the FAST gear ready to go

Tower Ladder 17 at work

Ladder 55

Ladder 42 in a new Ferrara and Ladder 19 in a spare

I went to the other side of the fire buildings, by Jackson and Pontiac for this group of photos

Engine 69 and 91 were staged on E151 St and Concord while their manpower were at work

Engine 82 hit the hydrant on E151 St between Concord and Jackson. I believe they were feeding Tower Ladder 31

Tower Ladders 31 and 17 working the front of the fire building and exposure 4

Here are some photos I took at yesterday's 4th alarm fire at 603 Jackson Avenue in the Bronx. These photos are about an hour into the incident. There was no visible fire at this time, but still heavy smoke. Mostly tower ladders performing hydraulic overhaul, and apparatus on scene. Enjoy!
Across the street from the fire is a school playground, and a large crowd had gathered to watch. Air recon (NYPD Aviation) can be seen above the fire buildings.

Engine 96 took another hydrant the next block over on Concord, and hand stretched a 3 inch line through the playground in case it was needed

Yet NYC gets almost 8 years out of their Chiefs vehicles

Empress EMS New Paramedics Vehicle - 2012 Dodge Charger
Good luck Empress!

County: Westchester
City/Town/Municipality/Dept: Yonkers Fire Department
Unit designation/identifier: Battalion 1 & Battalion 2
Chassis & Body (or Aerial) Manufacturer and model: 2012 Chevy Tahoe
Estimated delivery date: December 2012
Details: Replacing current Battalion 1 & 2 cars (Both 2010 Ford F-350)
Status: Delivered, not yet in service

Many interesting and valid points here. I'd agree we'll never know the root cause of this or similar tragedies, but like so many other problems we must seek to identify commonalities and determine if there are factors that can lead to identification or prevention. Here's few things that have come to stick with me over the last two days:
1. How much does the media contribute to these heinous acts. I'm not blaming them, but it seems that in many (Most?) cases the perpetrators are most often described as withdrawn, quiet, "nobody's", or otherwise lacking a significant number of peer friends? Very often these people are also described as bright; genius; brilliant; etc. So we have smart kids going unknown or unrecognized. Add in some level of depression, and yes the "goth" style seems to typify the dark, quiet depressed nature of many kids. Do these kids starve the spotlight? Does the media making these tragic events so front and center provide the venue for them to be noticed?
2. While I'm an advocate for the 2nd Amendment and responsible firearms owner, I can't think of a scenario where my having to register my firearms would adversely affect me. I say this because I think that forcing some gun owners to be more responsible about how their firearms are kept would reduce unwanted use and stolen guns. Eliminating gun show loopholes to ensure all transfers were recorded and checked through NCIC (or whatever DB they use) again can't really be a huge inconvenience to legal gun owners are compared to the all out bans that are becoming more palatable every day as these tragedies mount. I fear not the U.S. government taking my legally owned firearms, I'm confident that if used against another human it'll be completely justified, but far more likely they'll never have a human in their sights. Those who fear the government will use LEO's to grab their guns fail to realize that cops, military personnel and federal agents are American citizens too, come from all walks of life in various sizes, shapes and colors and even political affiliations.
3. I too played violent video games, loved war movies and played army as a kid, none of which has made me a violent human being. That being said, there may be some merit to the point that the amount of violence seen by kids today contributes to their desensitization? We must remember that not all have the same capacity to handle what they're exposed to, hence Road Rage and seemingly these mass killings of innocent victims. Sadly, we can somewhat understand mass murder for a cause, but these total acts of senseless violence seem to prove a growing disregard for human life. Should kids be playing games that reward them for injuring and killing innocent people?
4. Lastly, maybe it's time to start meeting in the middle on some things. Our country gets weaker by the day as we deepen the great divide. Today it may be gun control, next week we'll be back to fiscal responsibility, national healthcare, religion, same sex marriage, you name it, we are so far from agreement on so many things we are a nation divided. Instead of seeing any middle ground every issue have become a larger fight. We rarely see any merit or listen long enough to hear the other point of view. It seems we all can agree that senseless tragedies need to stop, maybe we could stop the name calling long enough to see that even a few little steps toward the middle might help stem just one tragedy from ever happening. Problem is we can't see something that never happens thus we can't prove it'll work.
Wow, this soapbox is pretty high, guess I'll climb down.

Battalion 1


Battalion 2

The reason is that some FD's use 33.96MHz for pager activation. The same FD uses 46.26MHz for apparatus response. So, if a member is only monitoring 46.26MHz (or doesn' have a pager) he can hear the dispatch on 46.26MHz.
The original premise for the 33.96MHz frequency was to get FD's off of 46.26MHz so that dispatch tones would not interfere with Fire Response on 46.26MHz. It never caught on the way it should have.

Here's a photo of the new ambulance 88B1 F-350 4x4 engine is full led light package whelen siren with howler