Alpinerunner

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Posts posted by Alpinerunner

  1. Posted

    Pretty unbelievable/terrible. You don't expect to be in much danger outside at a gas leak. It seems like a freak occurance that the gas travelled over the snow and in an door enough to fill a room. It's hard to blame the guy for not being on air and with a hood on when he was outside in what his meter was showing as a non-IDLH environment.

    Hoping for the full recovery of the LT and FF.

    efdcapt115 likes this

  3. Posted

    Issues like this should be resolved by arguing some logic. If the patient is being removed or treated in the car, it should be easy for the FD to explain to the PD why the lane has to be blocked. On the other hand, if nothing is going on and units are waiting for the wrecker, it should be easy for the PD to explain to the FD why the lane should be open. No need for someone to be "in charge"

  4. Posted

    I think it's at least a good idea... worth a shot. If they aren't officially a memeber of an agency, then they aren't "responding" or "being dispatched" so I don't think there is liability there. If the person helping has an AHA cert then they should know what they are doing. If they don't, they are protected under good samaritan law. You can say "well what if they mess up / give poor CPR", but that could happen in any incident where a good samaritan tries to help. The app isn't mandating you do anything, just giving info.

  5. Posted

    Awesome set up!

    It amazes me though, that some parts of our country are cutting staffing by 1/3s, yet this one city has enough excess money to build another "mini city" inside of its own. Kudos to the person in charge of money for Frisco.

    This is very true. I can't imagine any towns, and few cities having the budget for this, but it is money well spent.

  7. Posted

    If there is a lack of manpower, on both sides, and our brothers lives are being put in danger, shouldn't we be a bigger person, step back and say "This is too much for us to handle?"

    This is true. The volunteer houses in Stamford noticed this in 1942 (ish) and asked for career firefighters. No one is proclaiming to be able to do it all volunteer. Even Belltown who gets out the door all the time I doubt would say they can guarantee enough manpower for a fire by themselves all the time.

    Trying to say that the plan won't work because the volunteer companies don't get out the door all the time is totally missing the point. You're right that no one can sit at the firehouse all day and wait for every medical and alarm that comes in. We haven't been able to do that for 60 years. What we are looking for is a functional combination system that utilizes the volunteers when manpower is necessary, and allows them to help. The volunteer manpower does show up when there are major incidents (MVAs, fires, storms) and is an asset that should not be overlooked.

  8. Posted

    WOW! Clear case of a law suit that should never be. There are so many legal issues here. However, it sounds like the town had to pay because the dispatcher told him to pursue, not because he had his blue lights on, because, as we all know, blue lights mean nothing. On the other hand, legally, the fact that he was following him shouldn't mean anything either. You're allowed to drive behind someone (assuming speed wasn't a factor).

    I called the state police recently for someone swerving between all 3 lanes of I-91 who had bounced off the center barrier and was continuing. The dispatcher told me to stay on the line and give updates as to our location. It may have been due to the danger of the driver though. Usually they just alert cars in the area and don't purse those calls. However, I wasn't speeding and didn't have my blue lights on.

  9. Posted

    So, you state the problem is you have a crew, but no driver among the volunteers, correct?

    Uhhhhm, maybe you should train some of those crew members to be drivers?

    Good idea! I'll relay that up the chain.

    It takes time for the leadership to train and be comfortable with a driver. Progress is being made, hense the average response climbing from a poor 25%ish response for the first year all-volunteer to closer to 80% at the end of last year. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to want to and be able to be a driver, and to be at the station 100% of the time. This is why having paid FFs in house makes sense. Volunteers FFs then staff when they can, or respond from home to the scene. It's the most efficient way.

  10. Posted

    Cogs-

    If there is enough volunteer "staff" to man apparatus, the career guys can take the engines, and the volunteers "should" be able to respond with, trucks, rescues, tankers, etc. This would mean that the career guys should not have to split the company and take multiple rigs with substandard crews. If they sufficiently man all of the apparatus that is available to them, it would be a formidable force to deal with most emergencies. So far today, Engine 9 responded on 3 calls, with no TORFD turnout to any of them. This is not "being subsidized by volunteers" as Mayor Pavia hopes would happen with the new plan.

    That could work in some situations, but a lot of what the VFD's need are drivers. If there is a VFD crew with driver, they could take the truck. If just a crew, they could staff the engine with 5-6, or split the career staff and run 2 rigs with 3 each. If there isn't enough to supplemental volunteer manpower, then only the engine rolls from TOR and use Belltown's truck. Flexibility IS useful.

    When TOR has their daytime driver, there is the manpower there to properly staff the apparatus and they get out the door. Daytime divers are hard to get, and when one goes on vacation, that's a problem. For instance, there are FFs at TOR now, with no driver, same with yesterday. Text gages go out for "full crew need driver" all the time. When they had a regular overnight driver and day driver, they made 85% of calls. Again, the volunteers firefighters ARE THERE. They just need drivers and additional firefighters for a truly strong response.

  11. Posted

    http://www.stamfordfiretruths.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Stamford_Fire_Final.pdf

    Mailing sent out by Local 786 to residents in Stamford.

    That was certainly an extremely slanted and very carefully written to imply a lot of things that aren't true. I don't have time to go over it paragraph by paragraph, but let's look at the section on the Wallenberg drive fire. That section makes it look like the Volunteers aren't there. It makes it sound like the 29 FFs SFRD sent were all that were there and all that were needed. It doesn't mention that TOR alone sent 24 volunteers between the fire and station coverage. What if they weren't there? How much would they cost? It also says none would have been able to respond to be second fire. Well guess what: THEY WERE! The initial response was 1 SFRD engine, 1 TOR engine, and a Belltown ladder.

    That night there was also an MVA. SFRD had very few engines left, and no rescue as it was at the fire along with TOR's. So who made the inital response? TOR engine and Belltown rescue. What if the volunteers weren't there? What is the brown plan was in place and there were even less apparatus downtown? What if something happened downtown?

    I also like how it mentions the situation in Roanoke, to try and imply to the Stamford residents believe that under pavia plan, there would be such an abysmal response time. However, everyone in the know, knows that the volunteers would be able to respond with to the scene directly, with paid staff getting the truck out the door immediately.

    Say what you want about 786 career guys vs. SVFD career guys, say what you want about having 1 department, but when people try and say that the plan will fail because of lack of volunteers, that's just not true.

  12. Posted

    thats good and all but once empty and need to fill....how long does it take to fill....whats it turn around time?

    I have no idea. To be honest, I find the truck pretty amusing. The one thing I can say about the idea is that if you can't put the fire out with that much water, the house is lost and there is no need to refill. I can also see it being useful in dry areas with no municipal water supply, or areas where MA tankers aren't available.

    Actually, a little research shows this about the truck http://www.kimbertonfire.org/apparatus.htm

  17. Posted · Edited by Alpinerunner

    I believe that an additional 994 first responders, FD and PD have died since.

    That is incredible. I think history may re-write the number. Right now, with people still dying, the number won't be revised. However, I think this is the case with many wars, the initial number is the one that gets quoted. The majority of the public, especially outside the NYC area, probably don't even know people are still dying.

    My bet is that as history is written, the true total will come out, but it won't eclipse the initial number in terms of "popularity" / the number in peoples heads. It will just be an "*" in books.

  20. Posted

    Or the powers that be should decide what units will be staffed by the career staff and the volunteers man the other equipment. If they are there with a full crew, they go in service and are added to the CAD. When they leave they go out of service and are removed from the CAD. The volunteers could staff their equipment whenever they wanted. The career staff would remain 24/7, the volunteers would be an added bonus if you will. If they go into service with a truck, then they would be dispatched if they were the closest truck company. (not in addition to another truck) So there would be no "secondary" roles. They would be the 1st due truck on whatever the call is.

    I do agree that command is the main issue. On the scene the guys doing the work, do the work well and they do it together without issue for the most part.

    I like this idea! I've always thought it would be great if maybe ST1 TOR volunteers could man 1 engine, ST1 career guys take another engine, Belltown take their truck, and there you go, you have your alarm investigation crew for a call on TOR ST1 side, and you've left the truck available downtown, and the engine available on TOR ST2 side.

  22. Posted

    So, in a perfect Stamford, there would be one combination FD with a single, qualified chief and officers would be both career and volunteer who have all received (and documented) training and experience approrpriate to their positions.

    Has this been proposed anywhere officially?

    That is an ideal situation, yes. But the Devil is in the details. I don't think the two forces could be entirely equal, or else you would have a command problem at all levels.

    The fear of the volunteers is that if SFRD/Union had their way in the 1 department deal, there would be lots of career manpower in the northern districts (fully staffed rescue, ladder, engines) and little room (both operationally and physically) for the volunteers. The volunteers would be relegated to the 4th or 5th seat on the engine, and be useless for anything but structure fires, and even then, they would be bottle changers. The system would end up like Danbury or New Canaan, where the volunteers do very little. Combine that with the "anti-volunteer" nature of some of the people downtown (it can also be seen in this thread by some, and by certain groups who sport NVA stickers on their helmets), and you would understand that this feel is valid. Due to the charter and past legal rulings, ther VFDs would be in their right to sue for control back.

    On the flip side: if the volunteers have the "majority" of the power in a 1 department deal, and had the 3 SFRD guys on a rig during the day, and 2 at night (as is planned), the concerns are that the union wouldn't let them swap rigs, leaving the north either without a ladder or rescue. Due to union contracts, the union would be in their right to file suit due to not meeting minimum manning, and they won't operate without their own Chief in command. The other valid concern is the qualifications, ability, and availability of the volunteers.

    I'm not meaning to slam anyone, just trying to give a honest assessment of the problems with a fully integrated department. If this plan goes through, the new guys hired would KNOW what they are getting into, they would know that they NEED to work with the volunteers and it would be a true combination department. Not everyone wants to do that. I know that if this were my career, I would want to do the work myself, and get the rewarding feeling myself, not let someone else do it. That is why I'm not looking for one of these positions, so I really do understand where some of the current career guys are coming from.

    Is there a possible solution? After being on the ground in this situation for a while, I would say yes. I have had a lot of positive interactions with the career guys and "on the ground" everything is pretty good and the majority of the SFRD guys are respectful. It would take bending from both sides; the union might have to bend and allow rig swapping, they might have to bend minimum manning and generally leave room for the volunteers. The volunteers might have to give up Chief authority, and have captains and lieutenants command only volunteer personnel.

    I hope this at least gives you some insight into the complexity of the issue.

  24. Posted

    If the paid members are also volunteering in the same dept, the dept or the "new" consolidated VFD had better put some additional funds aside, so that after this legal action is resolved they will have the money to pay the additional OT that they will be slapped with. UNder the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. Career personnel volunteering for the same employeer are entitled to compensation (ot) for all hours worked (including those as a volunteer). Montgomery County Maryland, found this out the hard way, when 1 member complained, they had to pay all of them and it was in the millions.

    Not to worry, this is the opposite of how I said all the other combination departments worked, and how the consolidated department will operate. I just said LRFC is the exception.