Alpinerunner

At least confer with the PD on scene before doing anything non-emergent to a vehicle involved in an accident (I'm not talking about extrication, I'm talking about things like cutting battery cables). If there is a serious injury or death and the possibility of an accident investigation cutting the battery cables may result in the loss of evidence and/or a difficulty in accessing evidence (computers, lights, vehicle settings, etc. More often than not you don't have to do anything to the vehicle especially if the victims are out.
Cutting battery cables does not eliminate hazards from the battery - an overheating battery (at least in aviation batteries) can still explode even if disconnected. A damaged battery can still leak acid even if disconnected.
Many of the things powered by electricity have their own capacitors so the hazard from them is not eliminated by cutting battery cables. Airbags are one such thing.
Another good thing to confer with PD about is whether or not it is appropriate to put speedi-dry down. If they're doing an AI, they may prefer to have the tow service do it so the scene is "undisturbed" for investigative purposes.
Again, all I'm saying is talk with your peers who have a job to do too. If we can help each other out, we should make the effort.

I "love" this line:
How about: "No other department in the country deals with the incredible number of high-rise buildings in such a concentrated area; therefore necessitating the need for the original agreement to staff as many engine companies with 5 firefighters IN THE FIRST PLACE DUH...."

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.

The East Fishkill Fire Department responded to this structure fire on Fairview Road on the evening of Monday January 17, 2011. Upon their arrival, they had fire throughout the small residential structure and quickly knocked down the same..... East Fishkill was assisted at the scene by the Village of Fishkills FAST team.....

Firefighters arrived to find fire throughout the small structure.....

A EFFD fire policeman stands guard next to a downed live electrical wire that fell from the structure....

Firefighters work to vent the snow covered roof....

A side shot of the scene......

Watter opp's......

The roofs open.....

With their "new" quint in the background, EFFD Firefighter Savino changes the bottles on firefighters Conti and Birkler...... I have made several prints of this on my printer that are
24"H x 50"W and they look pretty sharp...........

The La Grange Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire on Miller Hill Drive on the bitter cold evening of January 17,2011. Firefighters arrived to find an active fire with fire venting from an exterior wall in a large two story residence..... A second alarm was requested which brought in additional tankers from Beekman and East Fishkill as well as East Fishkills FAST team..... Firefighters made quick work of the fire and clearly held the damage to a minimum.....

Walk up shot...... Wow, this was a big house.....

La Grange Deputy Chief Barry Ward runs the incident from his vehicle as two State Troopers leave the scene after helping firefighters with a what I believe was an uncooperative individual.......

Firefighters had fire from the side of the structure at two points upon their arrival.....

La Grange career firefighter Zittel overhauls the exterior wall.....

East Fishkill firefighters check for extension in the garage......

EFFD FAST team member Jeff Savino watches over the structure....

La Grange Deputy Chief Barry Ward calling the shots.....

Water opp's out at the street......

La Grange 47-32.... One of two new 3000 gallon tankers that La Grange recently took delivery of......

La Grange firefighters assembled for this quick group shot.....

There was a pretty good article in Firehouse a few months back. It was written by a retired State Police Captain I belive. They had similar incidents. The gist of the article was that PD really does not understand our reasons and we do not understand their's. Like all the mayhem created miles back when drivers are pulling illegal u-turns and such. They solved the problem by having a number of training sessions so both agency's have a better understanding.All it takes is one officer or chief having a bad day and everyone gets labeled.

Come again?

Being chased is not an excuse to run!! So the driver was vindicated because he thought he was being chased by a cop? How much sense does that make? The driver of the fleeing car should pay the 14 million for injuring his passenger, and the volunteer FF should get a ticket for improper use of a blue light.

Being chased is not an excuse to run!! So the driver was vindicated because he thought he was being chased by a cop? How much sense does that make? The driver of the fleeing car should pay the 14 million for injuring his passenger, and the volunteer FF should get a ticket for improper use of a blue light.

I wouldn't necessarily say this is a battle, inasmuch as it's a disagreement that ended up with a summons being written. Hopefully this gets resolved and everyone walks away happy.
In my experience on this side of the radio, I can't count how many times I've gotten calls from PD Traffic Control asking, or actually demanding me to tell my units to move so a lane can be opened. There are a number of times I have told them no, because I know why the lanes are blocked.
Civilians also are a little clueless on this one, as well. I had a rollover wreck on the Deegan in front of the chateau one night, 3 or 4 cars involved. NYPD ESU Truck 4 was facing south in the northbound lane on a diagonal angle in front of the rolled over car. 81 Engine and 46 Truck pull up, the Engine gets in the center lane, while 46 Truck pulls in at an angle to reduce the traffic flow to one lane. One of my neighbors says, "Oh there go the firemen blocking traffic again" (Edited for content by me) I looked at the guy and said, "Do you know why they're doing that??" He looked at me kinda funny, and said no. I explained to him that it was done so that the Firefighters, Cops, and EMT's that operating don't get hit by someone trying to come through. It's unfortunate that a situation like this had to come down to a summons being written, but, safety is paramount above keeping the traffic moving.

What exactly was said that is so offensive to Police Fire, EMS and other emergency service personnel? As a responder who was present that day when both towers came down and who lost a lot of friends I take great care in issues evolving around 9/11. I think he picked a poor topic to include in his game but I am not offended by it.
To me this sounds like a very poor attempt at humor by this bartender. I don't think there was any intentional malice towards public safety personnel. Regardless of how many police are stationed at this new precinct they will not be able to stop another plane from crashing into the Freedom Tower. Using the tower as an airport. I believe that is what his reference to an airport is all about. As for the costs, he is right, there are going to be tremendous costs associated with this staffing level which will be borne by the taxpayers. With a family member involved with NY City budget issues I know that staffing this site will require reducing police manpower levels in every precinct in the City because they don't have the money to increase manpower by hiring large numbers of new police officers. The federal government will pay a portion of the security costs but they will never come close to the actual costs that NY City and it's taxpayers will be assuming for years to come. This knowledge in no way diminishes the need for security or the costs of protecting our Freedom and should not be construed as supporting budget issues when making security decisions.
I am all in favor of rebuilding at the sight and building even bigger to show our country's resolve against those who attacked us. They will not put us down and we will come back stronger and better. But the reality is the terrorist have the same attitude and will view this tower as their number one target. Terrorism expert around the world have deemed this site as a target and fully expect another attack. It might not be tommorrow or ten years from tommorrow but there will be another attack. Look at the resolve of the terrorist after the 1993 attack (which I was also at). They were beaten but not detered and came back 8 years later when we let our gaurd down and became complacent.
I think people need to step back and take a look at what really happened here. This was a piss poor attempt at humor. 9/11 is such a raw emotional issue for so many that it is often considered a personal attack by public safety personnel when someone mentions something other than remembrance and honor for those lost on that day. The bartender made a mistake. It is normal human behavior to become defensive when confronted like he and his boss were. To think that they don't respect the feelings of police or firefighters because they didn't immediately give an apology is some how tied to 9/11 goes a little far.
To my eleven buddies that never came home, you are with me every day.

Up the ladder....

Overhauling a hot spot in the front of the structure.....

Working the hot spots from the tip of the ladder....

In control.....

Inside.....

and in the cold..... Firefighters Davision, Volk, and Parise get something warm to drink.....

The City of Poughkeepsie, Arlington, and Fairview Fire Departments operated in single digit temps at this fully involved structure fire at # 90 Hudson Avenue directly across from the Smith Street Housing project on Sunday evening January 23, 2011...... This was initially an exterior operation due to the amount of involvement upon arrival and the questionable structural integrity...... I believe the building was vacant/abandoned...... Arlington and Fairview were dispatched on the initial assignment due to the City operating at another alarm and were cleared from the scene as I arrived.....

From the front...... Access for Ladder 1 was heavily impeded by numerous overhead wires I/F/O the structure.....

Firefighters use a hand line to knock down the rear section of the structure.....

Time to move the hand line through the snow to the rear of the structure...............

Firefighters hit some fire from the #3 side...........

Pulling apart the rear.....

Making progress in the rear.....

Back out front....

Keep up the good work......

A City of Poughkeepsie Detective watches the operation as the Chauffeur for Engine 3 gets some time off his cold feet......

Deputy Chief Decker monitors the progress....

This is a cool feature that I haven't seen on other message boards. *REP* for Seth.

A CHANGE IN THE FIRE SERVICE?!?!?!

Could make a nice tanker tractor

Bear with me for a moment; A while back, I put up a request on the board for any gear or equipment that could possibly be donated to a rural fire department in Maine. My mother's cabin is in the town, and I had contacted the COD on a different matter, but the discussion evolved to the needs of the department.
They don't HAVE enough turnout gear for their members. Maybe the Chief from Rockland, antiquefirelt could expand on the lack of funding for the fire service up there......
Initially, the idea was greeted with much enthusiasm from more than a few members. As I tried to pursue the idea of following through, one member actually grew hostile in his e-mail responses, like "I'm so busy, why are you bothering me..." Aside from maybe one member the request for donations turned into an utter bomb with members dropping the ball.
I was not going to mention this until now in this discussion, I just began wondering....something is definitely not right here, aside from the horror show of 14 seconds of video. I think maybe we should be careful to rush judgement, but now that this is out on the blogs and boards, the fire service deserves to know the facts. But I relayed the information about the gear for Maine thing because.....maybe this department lacks turnout gear. You may laugh, but it's a 2011 reality in the fire service that there are places that lack basic turnout gear.
Of course, chances are these are some type of members of a department were seeing, they might have all the latest and greatest gear.....back on a rack at the firehouse, or folded neatly in a compartment.
These stills from a newspaper tell more of the story:
http://www.uvaldeleadernews.com/news/article_69171608-1c40-11e0-b79e-001cc4c03286.html?mode=image
I would say hold off judging until we know for sure, and we deserve to know, there's nothing wrong with asking the question, "what the hell is going on here?" It could be taken as a mockery of our profession, career or volunteer. There should be a groundswell of anger in the fire service at incidents like these if justified, because everything guys fight so hard for in this business...guys died and safety improvements came from their deaths....do we disregard those lives given to the service...do we disrespect the profession so severely....I was actually thinking earlier a good soundtrack for this video would be 14 seconds of a ringing cuckoo clock.
But one thing I want to do is give credit to the Brother working on the roof properly. Like it ain't hard enough, and you have added chaos from the personnel around you....

Just thought I would chime in....
Although I have significant disagreement with Pete regarding some of his remarks and positions, he has always remained calm, courteous, and professional when debating this issue here or when interacting in person.
If you want to beat-up his opinion or position, try and do so without going personal. Yes, I find his remarks somewhat obtuse to my beliefs, but his general poise and tact could be a lesson for others involved in this debate (I am not referring to those debating here).
Just trying to keep the discussion where it should be.
PS - Geppetto starting to come out of his shell, could his true identity soon be revealed??

How about the fact that they are spraying water INTO the structure.....
It hardly looks too far gone to begin an interior attack. Spraying water into the structure...especially with a automatic nozzle is a quick way to successfully save the cellar.
Of course, I suppose that interior attack tactics would first require firemen numbering more than 1. Also, what are they doing with that chainsaw?? The fire's vented, to some extent, just get in there and get some water on it.
This has disaster written all over it. Obviously, this is a case of extreme condition, however it highlights a need for some "back to basics" training. We all need to be rock solid on the basics of fire attack and fire-ground operations. This is especially important in the volunteer realm where tools aren't being handled and looked at everyday. In a situation with many more variables, including manpower, a great deal of emphasis needs to be placed on what to do at a fire in the first few seconds. What line would go where, who does what and where should I go with what tools in (_____) situation?
I know that, at work, we're trying to incorporate more basic drilling on a regular basis alongside keeping up with the new tech. that comes up. I also know of volunteer agencies keeping a good ratio of basic training mixed in with a hurst tool drill or bail-out practice. Sounds like good logic to me.

Rombout and Hughsonville worked to extinguish this fire in a residential structure on Redout Rd Saturday January 15,2011 that I believe was caused by a faulty chimney.

Hughsonville firefighters arrive on the scene and get their chimney fire gear together...... They were assigned the fireplace as Rombout Firefighters were busy above the fire.....

Firefighters get their saw ready as interior crews are busy trying to access the fire from the inside....

Given the word from the interior command, the roof crew makes a cut around the chimney..... It was cold..... So cold the saw mans face shield kept fogging up and he could no longer see....

Rombout Asst. Chief Wes Hall gets some one-on-one feedback from the roof crew.....

Brrrrrrr......

Crews opened up the entire run of the Chimney to check for/and extinguish any extension.

Hughsonville works the area around the fireplace....

A Rombout Firefighter gets his chain saw ready for some interior cuts in the floor and wall on the second floor.....

With the floor and wall on the second floor open, the smoke picked up on the second floor interior..... Firefighter now had
completely exposed and subsequently contained the fire and limited the damage....

Looks like a great job from NHFD and Photounit!

That sounds like a "standard" magnesium steering column explosion/reaction. I've seen a good number of videos of this happening. However, your point is taken that vehicle fires pose more risks than one might think.

This is a pretty stupid response. 1st, R3 does about 1700 runs, give or take. They have a few 1st due boxes in truck company form and that is part of their total response #s. The rest are made up with being additional unit on a 10-75 or specialized rescue runs.
Run #s are pretty meaningless. It's what you do when you respond that makes a difference. There are some company's around the city that top 4 and 5 thousand runs, but respond to far fewer fires than company's with half (or fewer) runs.
Runs and OSWs are the two silliest numbers to compare or rely on.

The bottom line in this entire "Merger" is personalities, not public safety. The volunteer chiefs ( who are elected by a popularity vote, not credentials) cant stand the fact that they might not be able to issue an order! That's ridiculous......working at Eng. 8 &9 and being stationed at Eng. 7 for a few years there were many times that we followed orders from volunteer Chiefs! Remove the volunteer chief's from LRFCo. TRFD, and Springdale and things would be fine! Have you ever worked with any of them? It's better than any Barnum & Bailey side show! All they are interested in saying is 711, 611 and 511 "are command".....Many, many times they have made the "wrong" decision...who do they answer to? No one! Make some of the bonehead calls that they made in SFRD and you would be looking at a few days off without pay! The volunteer firefighting forces (firefighters) are great people. Do what you do best! Continue to VOLUNTEER! Stop all this nonsense of "we know how to manage paid staff"...concentrate on managing your Volunteer staff. Develop more volunteer drivers.....what good is Rescue 66 responding to every call in TRFD. Get these volunteers out there as qualified drivers on engines, trucks and tankers! Over the past 10 years the volunteer departments wanted noting more than have the City take over the paid staff. And thats what happened..starting with Springdale over 13 years ago. Chief John Hoyt had the right idea. The total protection of his district and citizens was in jeopardy. He did what he thought best( as did the entire company by vote at a meeting). Everything was going smoothly there. Qualified volunteers were permitted to ride on Engine 7. When Chief Hoyt passed away things changed. It's all about personalities! Since Chief Fahan took over there has been nothing but problems between volunteers and career staff. Doesn't that make you stop and think? Could it be 511?? I sure think so! Belltown has the right idea...continue to volunteer in the great fashion that they have for years! They never, ever create a problem with career vs. volunteer! Perhaps the other remaining 3 volunteer departments should follow by example with Belltown!

Very true about people's feelings toward the federal government and what people feel is right. It seems to me this is a pretty clear cut case of violating federal law. It's seems in the maryland case one firefighter brought the case and all the firefighters who "volunteered" got paid for it. Is there one guy in long ridge who maybe didn't plan for his retirement and see this as a way to cash in? Maybe a past disgruntled employee of LRFCO would consider bringing suit. I just wonder how this will all play out when there is a new taxing district and more revenue to pay these guys.