firebuff860

Captain,
I am not going to argue about the lack of standards in NYS for becoming a ff, an officer or Chief. But their are some Dept's that have worked hard, and have pretty high standards to meet in order to become a ff, an officer and chief. So please do not say you need to get voted in period. It is unfair to those Dept's that have set requirements for all classes of ff's, and meet them on a yearly basis.

May I say, what we have here is a "culture clash" of sorts. Most of us know the following, but for the edification of the member who asked the question;
There is no such thing as a career chief's turnout coat that says "Ex Chief." The only way a career chief would still be wearing a turnout coat and not be a chief anymore, would be through a demotion (voluntary or involuntary) and the new coat he would be wearing would display his current rank, or through a move from being a career Chief to a career Commissioner.
In volunteer fire departments, the selection of chiefs is a different process than in the career civil service system (which is primarily based on testing). The election of a chief does carry a significance to the members of those departments. Words like "honor" carry a lot of weight in both systems. But, a member would probably say he was honored to have been selected to serve as chief, and therefore might chose to wear a turnout coat that displays "Ex Chief", as a way of showing his gratitude to the department for that honor as they see it. Additionally, the other members of the department will probably recognize that "Ex Chief" simply by leaving the "Ex" out of the title. It's a way for other members to show their respect; especially if they believe that "Ex Chief" was a good chief while in title.
In this particular instance, there is no way to lump the two different systems together, or for that matter to even try and compare them. They are distinctly different, so maybe we should just note those differences.....maybe not judge them....and just say.....
"It Is What It Is."

It is up to the membership and the Chief's to fix the problems, if they want to. If the Dept was denied funding for training prior to the tragedy, then they should be raising hell. If they never asked for the training, then shame on them. If the Dept and the Chief's can't/will not fix the problem (lack of training) then the Village should look to remove the leadership and start over.
Maybe Mike Blau has been stuck in communities where the FD's rely on tradition and pride instead of training, and the elected officials cow tow to the FD's.

Captain,
From what I read, the republicans are holding off on voting until the tax cuts are finalized. The Democrats were told that no bills would be passed until the tax bill is voted on, but brought this up anyway knowing it was not going anywhere. Shame on both parties for playing politics with this bill. As far as your millionaire and billionaire quote, this bill will have an effect any any household with a combined income of 250K+. In this neck of the woods, that does not get you too far.

This is a good question and I agree that many may choose not to answer because they don't want to offend anyone and / or look in the mirror. I'll jump in though because I think this is an important topic.
In the career fire service a good senior man should have several qualities...calm, confident, lead by example, minimal or no whining, an advocate for the men to the officers and an advocate for the officers to the men. A good senior man praises in public and criticizes in private. A good senior man does not take things personally nor does he make personal attacks.
A good senior man does not need to be the most intelligent, skilled, or physically fit firefighter...he realizes that his years of experience entitle him to respect automatically and this respect will be lost only if he is dishonest, uncaring, a bully,or a loudmouth.
A good senior man rarely, if ever, asks for special privilege due to his senior status. The less he asks, the more it will be given.
Good senior men have many different styles and personalities but I have found the most effective, comforting, senior men to be the type who are more likely to be found quietly observing from a corner of the room than loudly carrying on in the middle of the crowd.
Now, maybe we should talk about what makes a good junior man, because we can have the best Officers and senior men in the world, but if the guy or guys at the bottom and in the middle don't do their job and just want to blame their own bad attitudes and work ethic on those above them, all the best intentions of the bosses and senior men are useless.....

I think it is fine the way it is. If certain "members" are upset by other "members" critiquing response times and the number of personell who respond- fix it. If an IA went out that said xyz dept responded within 2-3 minutes with appropriate apparatus and personell, then other "members" would have nothing to critique. It is not the Deputy Chief's problem for pointing out the obvious, maybe it is others problem for trying to ignore it.

This comes across more as an opinion to me than an actual question. And frankly, I would not normally dignify comments and opinions coming from an 18-20 year old (whether career or volunteer) with a response. It is basically impossible in my opinion for you to have adequate expertise in this area for anyone to take your opinions seriously. I do not mean this as an insult- it just is what it is...you have not had enough years as an adult on this planet to have accumulated adequate
e or experience on this subject to engage in debate. If you were a career Firefighter it would already have been explained to you in no uncertain terms to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut (or in this case keep your fingers off the keyboard) until you have some time on the job. This is for your own good most of all...how can you ever learn if you can't humble yourself to just be quiet and listen for a while?
That being said, since you raised the point and others out there may be wondering and it gives me another opportunity to get the message out (thanks for that, BTW)...the history of the existing career team is clear...I cannot speak for the various Fire Commissioners / Chiefs of Department of the various teams which make up the career task force but there is an established history of the Southern Westchester Career Depts. responding when requested to Northern Westchester. I have no doubt that if there were an incident anywhere in Westchester requiring the response of USAR assets, and if the Southern Westchester Career Task Force was requested, that they would arrive in force and be operational long before anything even approaching an adequate response from this other "team" showed up. The shane is that we would not be called immediately most likely...there would very likely be a delay while the other team is called and responds with a completely inadequate number of trained and capable personnel.
But, you have apparently confused my posts on two different threads young man. I do not believe the Westchester Tech Rescue "team" is a duplication of resources...I believe they are an illusion and are not actually a viable resource at all. Further, many years ago, as I have stated previously, the Southern West Spec. Ops. Task Force had offered to have a squad or squads established in Northern Westchester which would include volunteers, however this effort was killed politically by the volunteers because they wanted their "own" team....
Thanks for throwing me the softball. I'm sure you are a great guy and have wonderful intentions but I would strongly advise you to stick witht the basics for a while...concentrate on hoses and ladders and all that stuff...

Slander is spoken, libel is written. Many topics on here basically bash people or groups soley for the purpose of inciting animus. While I did not read this topic due to lack of care, why is this topic banned and others permitted??