FFEMT150

After speaking briefly with one of the moderators I have decided to go ahead and start this thread. This was a thought I have been contemplating for quite some time. I travel the TSP everyday to work and often ask myself as I pass a trooper on a traffic stop, "Why don't these guys wear the safety vests?"
DOT requires that emergency personnel operating on roadways wear an ANSI approved traffic safety vest. My thought is, If we wear them with FD and EMS, than why dont LEO's wear them? I understand the tactical aspect of the job may be inhibited by the vest but as far as a traffic stop or detail, why not have it on?
Thanks for the input folks and as always, Stay Safe out there!

OOOOO...no eye protection while operating the Jaws....I'm tellin'....

You should try and understand him in person... Almost impossible! Fortunately, I speak Tominese. What he was suggesting is setting the tri-village departments up to operate on alarm assaginments as though each department were simply a station rather than an independant agency. For example: activated alarm at 123 fake street in montrose, montrose would roll an engine, verplanck a truck and buchanan a rescue. Alittle overkill for an AFA i know, just trying to explain the confusion that was a tommy thought.

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You should try and understand him in person... Almost impossible! Fortunately, I speak Tominese. What he was suggesting is setting the tri-village departments up to operate on alarm assaginments as though each department were simply a station rather than an independant agency. For example: activated alarm at 123 fake street in montrose, montrose would roll an engine, verplanck a truck and buchanan a rescue. Alittle overkill for an AFA i know, just trying to explain the confusion that was a tommy thought.

Nice shots! Love the demo of throwing water on the greese fire.

Even when dealt with a massive county wide emergency such as this weekend, you are always calm cool and collected on the radio. I personally would like to say thank you for making this storm run as smoothly as possible, even with the upwards of 120 backlogged calls you received on Saturday and the numerous working fires you were handling at any given time.
So, thanks guys... Be on the look out for a gift basket this winter

The best thing to do would be to ask the chief of the department what you would be allowed to do.

With due respect to the staff,
Before the topic was locked, there was some measure of displeasure with the post from the site's founder regarding one-liners and inflammatory comments, with a poster saying the site has lost it's balls and the members need thicker skin.
It's not a matter of the site "losing it's balls" or members who need "thicker skin", it's about keeping the site educational, a positive environment, and most of all, PROFESSIONAL. Sometimes we need to remember that "we" (emergency service members) are not the only ones who read the content contained in these forums. I'm sure there are enthusiasts, members of local government, members of the media, and so on who read the content contained in these forums. While it's all good to banter amongst each other as if we were in the firehouse, precinct, quarters, or whatever you would like to call it, we still have to maintain some level of decorum and professionalism just as if we were present in a public place, since this board is easily viewed by members of the general public, and more importantly the media. Case in point;
The NYPD Rant for those who's haven't read it is full of so much garbage since there is little to no moderation, it's not one bit enjoyable to read from an educational standpoint. If anyone outside the NYPD read the material in that forum, the useless bantering of a few sets a bad precedence and honestly depicts the members of the NYPD in a very negative light. The media reported today on a thread contained in the NYPD Rant website about posters who posted personal attacks against an NYPD member. As a civilian reading that article, what kind of opinion do you think the "average Joe" will have of the Rant and the members of the NYPD?
So in order to keep this site from becoming another "rant style" website, there needs to be a level of moderation that suits the wishes of the site's founder, since it is ultimately his call on what is and what is not permitted. If any of us don't like it, we are all free to start up our own site where anything goes and all the members can brag over who has the biggest balls. Personally, I'll stick with the site that's an educational portal as well as promotes and exhibits the professionalism of emergency service providers.

I've been giving some thought on some of the comments on not only Yorktown's recent fire, but other incidents and want to share my thoughts.
Ten years ago, many of us were getting along fine, making do with what we had at our disposal in terms of manpower. Most fire departments would handle a single family dwelling fire with little to no Mutual Aid. Was it because we all had an abundance of manpower? I don't think so.
Many people like to get on the "manpower soapbox" all too often to explain their dwindling firehouse numbers, yet it can generally correlate to other contributing factors that many don't admit to, or even recognize.
1. Poor leadership. Many people in the volunteer fire service are giving their time to the FD while balancing their family duties, jobs and other commitments. Most guys and gals join either to be an integral part of their community and/or to become part of a social club. When your leadership is doing it's job (leading when leading is needed, being fair and balanced, treating everyone with respect, making everyone feel safe and accpeted) then the troops feel better about themselves and the department they've joined. I've been in my department since I was an Explorer (1992) and have seen AWESOME LEADERS (Chiefs and Company Officers) and sadly, we've had a few too many crappy ones. If you can lead your troops when they need leading and you can motivate them by making them feel a sense of ownership in their company/department, then they'll give that extra effort.
2. Lack of Training Availability. So many of us strive to be the best departments we can be, and this means a lot of training. We've grown from doing roughly one drill per month to offering 4-5 different training venues every month. Since everyone has crazy schedules, you need to be flexible. Having just one drill night isn't going to cut it. Also, training that we are all required to have isn't always made easily accessible. I don't fault WCDES for the lack of some courses - I lay blame on OFPC (or whatever acronym they use now). Why can't volunteer fire departments have an MTO? In our own department we have a half dozen NYS and/or National Fire Service Instructors and we're being under utilized. We had a good thing going for a couple of years where one of our guys was granted a "supplemental CFI" status and was providing in-house OFPC classes, such as HMFRO, HMFRO Annual Refresher, Confined Space Awareness & Safety, Scene Support Operations and others that you just don't see often enough. Losing this has hurt our training program, and now it costs us more money to outsource and bring instructors in. In a nutshell, the current system sucks.
3. Personal Agendas. I've seen a couple of Chiefs (not just in our FD but around the county) that get elected with an agenda of their own. In order to get what they want, they start cutting funding for certain things, they lie to everyone and worst of all - they let the department's members suffer. For example, if your Chief is up in your commissioners officer / town hall lying to them about what your members need simply to make themselves look good - that will come back to the guys/gals and ruin their ambition to be a part of your department.
I know I may sound like a broken record, but it really does come down to how your department is run, from the top down. If your Chief can't run a scene, the guys lose faith in them. If your Captain can't be bothered with drill night because of his softball games, how are the guys in the trenches expected to show any initiative? And if all the guys walking around with collar brass don't take the time to guide, mentor and lead their men/women - kiss it all goodbye.
These things have major negative impacts on your department's performance call after call. You might get 40 guys in line at a parade, but how many of them can honestly remember the last time they got out of bed at 2am for a CO call?
Leadership makes/breaks fire departments - we can blame it on anything else we want, but this simple truth is what hurts so many of us.
Stay safe & train often.
/thoughts.

Hang in there! You have THOUSANDS of people standing by you! God Bless all of you!

Congrats to all and to your CCVAC friend (and yes I know who he is) listen to your elders and dont stop learning! Way to go everyone! (Got my recert card too and yes< I passed. 3 more years, just 3 more years)

I don't (ever) post because I often feel like I have nothing to add. I have no experience other than as family. My grandfather was FDNY. My brothers were volunteers in Dutchess County.
But I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and every one of you. As a family member, I understand the sacrifices you make, the training you make time for and the time you are away from your families, friends and other activities so you can serve your community in the most amazing way I can think of.
I salute your bravery, your commitment and your expertise. Our communities are better places because you live, work and volunteer here.
Consider this a long distance hug from a very grateful community member.
-Heather

Congrats Chief! Stay safe and the best to you and your staff!

Just saying, but I wouldn't risk driving in the middle of this thing to get to the firehouse(even though I live about a minute away) if Irene's going to be as bad as they say it will be. Wouldn't want to get stuck out there.
On a side note, and I think I speak for everyone, for every member who's living and/or working this weekend and into next week in Irene's path, stay safe!

On my way home today northbound on I-35 service road, I saw a small plume of smoke. I looked over and saw a brush fire growing with heavy fuel and light wind gusts propelling the fire. No PD of FD on scene yet. Given the amount of smoke and the fact a brush unit was putting out a fire on the other side of the highway, I assumed 911 had been called.
The staff of the cabinet store were trying to keep the fire back with garden hoses and fire extinguishers. I also saw a large propane tank. I quickly turned around, parked my car in a safe spot, and told the PD that there was a propane tank involved. I shouted to the people to get away from the fire and come to the front of the building. The owner let me know that there was another large propane tank in the back of the facility. Upon arrival of the first due engine, I let the officer know about this, and they made maneuvers to keep the fire away from the building as much as possible. They did not have a water supply besides the onboard tank, and later on in the incident mutual aid engines had to relay pump with 5 inch hoses for about half a mile, to the nearest hydrant south of the fire. Until then, most departments relied on their booster tankers. Round Rock FD, an urban department, has a tanker that responds with its brush truck. This water was kept to protect the building. Star Flight, our EMS-Fire-Rescue helicopter, provided aerial surveillance to the IC, and then initiated water drops. As of this writing, the fire is almost 100% contained, but that does not mean the fire is extinguished.
The following link contains the entire set of my photos:
x635Photos-Goldstar Brush Fire 8-25-11 Complete Set Of Photos Click Here









The following link contains the entire set of my photos:
http://www.emtbravo.com/texas/incidents/goldstarfire.html

Chris - you woould be angry too if your keyboard didn't have a SHIFT or PERIOD key!

You forgot the NYC DEP that also has jurisdiction in Westchester County. And just for the record, neither Elmsford, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, or Hastings have jurisdiction on I-87.
What's your gripe? Have you been stopped on your boat on the Hudson or are you just generally anti-law enforcement?
Every department isn't trying to get a boat. There's a small number of department's that have made the commitment to the river and staff a boat. Every department couldn't do it anyway as the jurisdiction of some municipalities doesn't extend beyond the water or shoreline.
As for a job that's "being done good already", what are you referring to? And what team are you reminding us of?
And please, for all of us that are actually trying to decipher your posts. Try to use the "SHIFT" button and a period once in a while. It is very difficult understanding your point when you type as you do.

The one yelling the loudest.

Nice shots! I guess I wont be stopping by to power wash my Jeep this weekend! Keep the pics coming!

I snapped a few pics of lids today at a live burn..always been fascinated with fire helmets and the story they tell.
I collect them as well.
Feel free to post up your own helmet pics.
Milan, NY Lieutenant

Great Shots Kyle! Looks like a good stop too. Well Done MFD.

I don't think this will cost the Croton taxpayers a single penny.