newsbuff

And for those of us that work in them???

How about instead of throwing money and "technology" at the problem, why don't they spend it on better training for the officers. I think it's pretty common knowledge that the academy sucks... why not fix that?

Fun

This could be a fire where nothing much went wrong. Or it could be a fire where nothing at all went right. The outcome is that firefighters showed up to a well involved fire where residents had self-evacuated, could not make an interior attack, and performed surround-and-drown operations while they watched the building burn down. We don't know if they had 5 members show up or 50 members show up. We don't know if it took them 5 minutes or 25 minutes to arrive on scene. That was my whole problem with this article. It seems like this article is praising a group of individuals for unfavorable outcomes and potentially shoddy performance. "Great job showing up and watching a house burn down."
This gives the volunteer fire service, the residents, and the public a false (poor) sense of what is expected and what is favorable. The volunteers now know that they get a pat on the back regardless of whether or not the building is saved. The residents gain a false sense of security since the newspaper has just told them how great their local department is (that just allowed one of their neighbors houses to burn down without mounting a coordinated interior attack). The public now thinks that the volunteer fire service does a great job (when we all know that most volunteer departments are seriously lacking in manpower, training, and professionalism these days). I would imagine that this fire was not much different than the Vista helmet cam fire where everyone bashed them on this very website for their poor performance (we saw the article that they Huffington Post wrote about how great they were). This article is complete bullshit. Write an article when rescuers make a save. Not when a bunch of losers watch a house burn down.
Don't mistake me for a career firefighter who love to bash volunteers. I am not a career fire fighter and have never been one. I spent 10 years in the volunteer fire service as a Firefighter, Lieutenant, and Captain and quit because I believe that the volunteer fire service is a façade and a waste of taxpayer dollars where members are more concerned with social functions than they are with training and firematics.

I couldn't disagree more. I know of more than a few guys who have ZERO business being in the "fire service" yet they are still considered "volly firemen" and they parade around on scenes dressed in half turnout gear doing absolutely nothing but getting in the way. In the professional world this is not tolerated.
Now before you freak out i will say there are MANY great volly firemen in this county and i RESPECT that greatly. Not to get way off topic here but ever think the vol fire service should be a little more selective when letting people "join" aside from just being a resident of that particular area and having a clean background?

It would have to be constantly transmitting for them to do so.

It would have to be constantly transmitting for them to do so.

Unprofessional would be department's not getting off of 46.26 when everyone else is on a trunk frequency, or there's is an actual run or a job ongoing or getting on the radio to give your noon time test when companies are currently on a run or just finishing up. This guy just decided to man up and say what a lot of us are already thinking!

"The plan couldn't even get the votes of the estimated 100 volunteers of the Yorktown Heights Engine Company No. 1, which serves the district."
That is the most telling part of the entire story.

KUDOS to any Volunteer EMS agency to ADMIT they have a problem and DUE something about it.

Was it explained to you too that you can only have ONE blue, visible from 360 degrees affixed to your vehicle? Not a blue bar, grill lights, deck lights, wig-wags, etc. etc. etc. etc. Or that it doesn't give you any special privileges or authority under the law? LOL
Volunteer fire associations in NYS also fight against training standards, response time standards, and staffing requirements. Nice to see they're staying with the good causes.

Why is this being linked to the Polar Plunge? These accidents happen all season, from pure stupidity, but because it's cold out there are magically more injuries?
Must be a slow news day.

The questions we should be asking are
Does he drink on the job that pays his rent??
Or does he only do this at his hobby??

How can it be a secret if it drove past everyone from Nebraska to Conn.?

Kid should go down for murder

Kid should go down for murder

220k Salary for a department of ~60 members? Wow, I must be doing something wrong.

220k Salary for a department of ~60 members? Wow, I must be doing something wrong.

220k Salary for a department of ~60 members? Wow, I must be doing something wrong.

220k Salary for a department of ~60 members? Wow, I must be doing something wrong.

Only places that will see these are VACs. No commercial company will spend the $

Black huh? Another fire chiefs car that we don't want to look like a fire chiefs car? Who are we hiding from? Or are we just trying to look like a Secret Service motorcade?

Rest in peace sir.

I'm not going after you! Sorry if it came out that way.

Way to make yourself look uneducated. We are talking about 684 between exit 2 and 3.