sueg

FDNY Apparatus photos taken in Manhattan and the Bronx

Directional microphones connected to a computer that triangulates the position of the origin of the sound, over a fixed geographical area.

One-line, non-contributory and inflammatory posts removed, as well as the inappropriate postings by some members. Any further such postings will result in your posting privileges revoked, or your banning.
You do not like something someone says, say it in a constructive manner, or take it to PM and say whatever you want, but not in our open threads.

Marshall was a true fireman and a gentleman. The fire service lost a true one last night. Marshall was not only a member of the Redding FD, but also a member of the Bethel Fire Dept, being our immediate Past President and current Vice President. He was also a long time Danbury Hospital ER volunteer. I have had the GREAT pleasure of knowing Marshal and working with him for over 30 years.
Some may not know this, but he was an avid collector of antique fire trucks. All Macks from The US and Canada from chain driven to diesel, truly a one of a kind. He had the best toys in his barn.
Rest in peace my friend, I know heaven has to have a few Macks up there for you to take care of.
You will be missed my old friend.

Just signed up also. Send me a PM with your username and we can work together. Mine is the same as here, firemoose827.
Anyone else want to work with us on this? Support us? Coach us?

Several years ago I took an EVOC course with Lt Mike Wilbur and during the course he asked How much time are you actually saving if you drive the speed limit as opposed to driving above the posted speed limit? The answer was not much. Every operator should be familiar with the NYS V&T Laws regarding the operation of emergency vehicles I can't remember the correct section right now but it is included as part f the NYS EVOC course. Seven years ago I was involved in a rollover accident with our tanker, the County PD did a reconstruction and found no fault with me (the driver), the rig or the roadway. To this day I blame myself only as I was the operator of the vehicle and I broke a cardinal rule of apparatus drivers which in my book is getting the rig and most importantly the crew to and from the scene safely. This accident and lawsuit should be a lesson to all operators, I am surprised that there was no mention of punative monies which comes from you out of pocket.

Never, ever pass another emergency vehicle en route to an alarm. It's been on the books of the rules and regs of my former dept since the early 20th Century.


If this former chief would have stayed behind the other responder this accident never would have happened.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A firefighter is dead and five others have been hurt battling a warehouse blaze in Bushwick.
All six were taken to Woodhull Hospital. Two were in critical condition and four were in serious condition when they were taken to the hospital.
Sources tell CBS 2 that a FDNY lieutenant was one of the firefighters inside the warehouse battling the blaze. Minutes after the lieutenant emerged from the warehouse, he went into cardiac distress. He was taken to the hospital and died.
The 3-alarm blaze broke out at around on Flushing Avenue in Bushwick at around 1 p.m. and was brought under control just before 4 p.m.

The uniform requirement in NYC was under the assumption that cops and firefighters generally only wear their uniforms on duty. Exceptions are infrequent enough as to be insignificant. As grumpy pointed out while they are technically riding for free they are expected to act in the event of an emergency. While these are rare, they are frequent enough that the vast majority of employed cops, firefighters, and ems happily pair their way so as to remain anonymous.
The LIRR shooting was a really big deal. This was not some random spraying of bullets into a crowded train. He walked through the train calmly shooting each passenger as they sat or hid in their seat. He was armed with more than 100 rounds of ammunition and was not stopped until 3 citizens jumped him while he attempted to load his third clip. The public was understandably upset and politicians wanted to get more cops riding the trains. There were proposals put forward to make any cop legally allowed to ride mass transit for free. What is the value of a human life? Not the emotional value, but real world civil court value of a life. One cop on that train and how many lives are saved? I don't agree with randomly handing out free rides to anyone. However if an officer wants to carry and be willing to act, welcome aboard. Its a much cheaper alternative to hiring a cop to ride the train.
How is a discount any different than a free pass? What's a fair break, 10%, 20%, or 99%?
How many joy rides do you think cruisers, fire trucks or ambulances take across the bridges and tunnels? Generally speaking we are making these crossings because we have to. We do not charge the MTA or TBTA for services rendered on their property so why would they charge us for using their crossings? At the start of the budget crunch there was an attempt by the TBTA to start billing emergency vehicles until this very point was made to them. The FD would happily develop a rate structure for responses on their property. Its bad enough that not having an EZPass or using a cash only lane causes actual delays in response while they attempt to record your vehicle number, license plate, and driver ID. Everything has a cost, just because you're not seeing it at the toll booth or turnstile doesn't mean it is not being recouped in another way.
No, but they do frequently receive discounts to all those places and more. How often are doctors, nurses, or lawyers experienced in handling whatever situation they may encounter outside the warm confines of their office? The fact of the matter is emergency service workers are experienced in handling not just the situation but the crowds and uncontrolled environment they find themselves in. Businesses give us discounts for both the goodwill it generates and to attract people that can and will help in an emergency.
The engineer was paid to design the train. Until an engineer voluntarily walks into the MTA's Brooklyn headquarters and hands over a useful design or schematic without outside compensation that's not a valid point. The MTA expects members riding for free to step up and help in an emergency.
For all the calls I handle in public places in Manhattan it is incredibly rare for a bystander not connected to emergency services to stop and help. Nurses are the only exception to this. Everyone else, whether they're suits or laborers all have a volunteer gig or previous career in emergency services.

And just alittle advice there young man. If you're smart, you won't put all your eggs in one basket. Yonkers is a Great Dept and if I was a young guy, I know how you feel. It certainly would be something that I would work for.
But, in the meantime, continue to take every test you can for wherever. I ended up taking six test and I didn't get the dept I wanted (Bridgeport, Ct). But I got on the job somewhere else. Did my thing. Had a Great time and retired after some 30 years.
I hope that you are lucky enough to get Yonkers. Just keep in the back of your mind, there's other depts out there that you should also be applying for.

I'm overweight and I know it. Before I went to college I was doing great. I was down to a healthy weight and I felt great. I was doing physical labor working as a groundsman for a tree company. But then I went away for school and I went above and beyond the freshman 15. Between August and my normal yearly physical in October, I gained anywhere near 60 lbs. I've been trying to cut back on what I eat to loose some weight. I know I am overweight but I surprised myself at how much I was able to accomplish at a structure fire last year. But not I've lost that cardio ability. I'm still 250 lbs and I have to catch my breathe walking up stairs or up a hill. But I'm starting to exercise. And I'm hoping to lose 20 lbs by next October but I would really Like to to be more. I don't want to be 23 and have it be determined that I have a heart condition.

Excellent topic, thanks for starting it Moose. I praise you for being so honest and accepting that changes need to be made. I am currently on a rigorous workout/diet regime. I have done hours of research and so far in three weeks have lost 25 pounds, even with Easter! There are a few things that you should consider doing, that I have been having great success with.
1 - WATER - drink lots of water. If you feel hungry throughout the day, drink water and wait 10 minutes, magically, the hunger goes away but this is only TEMPORARILY.
2 - Walk whenever possible.
3 - Discipline - you need to want to change, you need to fight through hunger urges. When you feel hungry, you most likely are not hungry, go a while without eating and you will soon learn that you can actually survive the hunger pains and train yourself to be less dependent on frequent munching.
4 - Eat more meals but make them smaller. (IE - breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, night snack if needed)
5 - Calculate BMR (Calories you will burn if you stay in bed all day) - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
6 - Understand that one pound of fat is 3500 calories.
7 - Track calories, plan meals for the day, and track exercise using MyFitnessPal - http://www.myfitnesspal.com (Excellent iphone APP available to that allows you to scan barcodes.) You can also enter recipes and figure out nutrition info for each serving. You can set reminders to notify you if you forget to track your info. EXCELLENT TOOL!
8 - Snack on proper food, fruits, veggies, etc. Too much of anything is bad...
9 - Portion size - try eating proper portions, this alone will help.
Some snacks I have found fulfilling and healthy, trail mix, granola bars, yogurt, cottage cheese, hummus, veggies, fruit and much more.
TRY FOR NATURAL OR THE MOST HEALTHY FOOD OPTIONS. (IE NO PRESERVATIVE< ADDITIVES, ETC)
It's a hard journey but their are good resources available. Good luck Brother. PM me is you have any questions.

Im glad you brought that up, and I couldnt agree more. I would have said this earlier, but the whole point of starting a topic on these forums is to generate discussion, if I were to put everything down in the first post...no one would reply!! LOL
This is a very important fact about our personal health, as firefighters we should be thinking of the big picture, not just our own hides, but the safety and well being of our fellow firefighters who have to come and rescue us and CARRY us out of the bad situation we get ourselves into because pride and ego get in the way. Especially with our families at home; what would happen to my wife and daughter if I passed at a fire with a massive MI because I was too prideful to admit that I need to be careful??
There is a lot to think about and hopefully this thread is getting some if not all of you to think about your health which in return affects all around you.
Thanks for your reply brother, stay safe.
Moose

The site looks great - very impressive. Never knew you could see details about members by putting cursor over name at "who's on/visiting site" (lower User) section - neat touch. Thank you for spending so much time and effort and probably stressful moments too trying to make the site more user friendly.
And, like this post, it is sooooo nice to have it auto saved so if it does not post earlier, and you have to go back to work in the real world because break is over (boo, hiss), you can find it again and toss it up there just so the over-worked EMTBravo stff member(s) who make this site so enjoyable and are trying to accomodate all of us with our different likes/dislikes/bells and whistles preferences can have fun playing.
Thank you, Seth!!!! And thanks to the moderators, who keep us in line....
Plus, I just edited my post.

First off--even though it has been said before many times-- excellent topic. That can't be said enough.
Second,


I'm quite surprised that your superiors were shocked by such a request, and I think they should reconsider how they "play officer". Seriously--kudo's to you for coming to the realization that you may need to go exterior/take it slow. You've achieved the first step in improving yourself and your lifestyle by coming to that realization, and reaching out to your friends on this forum.
Why am I surprised? I'll tell you (and i'm not necessarily picking on you here Moose--this is a general statement. I hope no offence will be taken, based on the fact that you started this post). Obviously, our own health and safety is vitally important to us. If we do not feel comfortable in an environment, or not physically fit to do a task, then we should not do it--especially if both things are the case. However, I do understand that there will most likely be a short in manpower with volunteer departments, so situations may arise in which we are needed, regardless if we cannot perform well. Ignoring my slight digression, the point I am trying to make is that being physically unfit is not only a danger to ourselves, but is also equally dangerous to our fellow brothers and sisters who work with us on a scene. I have a fella' in my department who could lose a good amount of weight, but has made no effort in doing so--they eat like crap (McDonald's, Garden Catoring, etc), and take no initiative to excercise. Not only are we concerned of something happening to them in the field, but also something happening to us BECAUSE something happened to them (i.e., heart-attack while on the line/searching, etc). Not only do we have a fire scene to deal with, but now we have a medical emergency; the fact that it is one of our own only makes matters worse. It's a very difficult fact to realize, but it had to be said, and I have yet to see anyone else on this thread comment about it.
Moose, I congratulate and thank you for bringing this issue to everyone's attention. I hope that this will inspire others to not only follow your lead, but also learn to recognize these problems, and help educate others in achieving a healthier lifestlyle.

There are 3 tank cars total the fire brigade has. All have 10,000 gallons of water and high volume pumps. They are kept in Harmon, Brewster and Stanford. The key with these tank cars is to request them as soon as you think you may need them. Keep in mind the crew has to hitch these up and they have a daily inspection before they go out on the rail so it could take a little while

Here is one of the water tanker cars being towed by work engine #106 at the Brewster yard 3-31-2007

Its up to the conductors discretion

Is there a mysterious font-size bug? random posts have real tiny text, just like yours^
Keep pluggin' away!

I went to fix one thing, and broke ten other things.
I am aware of the issues being experienced, and am trying to get them fixed but do not have a timeframe.

Usually, after an upgrade, the posting levels drop as everyone learns how to use the new software. I was concerned about the posting stats because I was making sure there was no bug.
The reason for the upgrade was because the old software was at it's "end of life", meaning it is obsolete and is no longer supported. I held out as long as possible. The new software is also required to keep up with modern internet technology.
Let me ask this though....if you don't know the reason for the upgrade, how can you say it was uneccesary?
I'm sorry to hear that. I've heard from many that the site is running faster and loading faster, and my server stats seem to support that. I am still making ajustments to increase the performance. Speed can also be influenced by your computer, your browser, your connection, your ISP, etc and have nothing to do with this site.
Not happening. Sometimes, change is inevitable and needed. Just like the firefighters who got upset that the motorized engine replaced the horses. As much as they didn't like it, it happened and it was for the better as they later realized.
Now, to other members, I am working on any bugs or changes you may have. If you have a technical issue or need help using the site, please post. Opinions or commentary aren't neccesary or wanted at this point. I want to know the issues that need fixing and explaining any features or how to use the forum.

Norfolk County Sheriff's Department deputy and corrections officer Ryan Tvelia died Tuesday morning after being involved in an accident. He was on a department motorcycle on his way to a funeral for an officer's mother.


He leaves behind a wife and three kids.

RIP
http://www.theboston...684/detail.html
http://boston.cbsloc...-95-in-walpole/

Date: 4/7/12
Time: 1528 (time of the original call)
Location: Tamarack Lodge and surrounding area
Units Operating:
Ulster County: Accord, Bloomington, Centerville-Cedar Grove, City of Kingston, Cragsmoor, East Kingston, Ellenville, Esopus, Gardiner, Glasco, High Falls, Hurley, Kerhonkson, Kripplebush, Malden-West Camp, Milton, Modena, Mt Marion, Napanoch, New Paltz, Olive, Phoenicia, Rifton, Rosendale, Shawangunk Valley, Stone Ridge, Ulster Hose, Walker Valley, Wallkill, West Hurley, Woodstock, Ellenville Rescue, Mobile Life Support, Wallkill Ambulance, NYSP, Ellenville Police, UCSO, DEC
Orange County: Bullville, Chester, Cuddebackville, Goodwill, Howells, Huguenot, Mechanicstown, Orange Lake, Pine Bush, Salisbury Mills, Vails Gate, Walden (possibly more, PM me w/info)
Dutchess County: East Fishkill, Hughsonville, Pleasant Valley, Rombout, Roosevelt
Sullivan County: Grahamsville, Loch Sheldrake, Monticello, Mountaindale, Summitville, Woodbourne, Woodridge (possibly more, PM me w/info)
Description Of Incident: Multiple wind driven structure fires, also a massive wind driven woods fire w/evacuations, still ongoing at the time of this post (20:20), operations will continue tomorrow morning (4/8)
4/8 Update: 44 buildings burned, approximately 200 acres burned. 4 injured FF's
Reporter: eric12401, se36, Newburgher, conman, HAZFD360
http://hudsonvalley....-tamarak-lodge/
http://www.recordonl.../NEWS/204080334

Firemoose827: When was the last time you had a full checkup???? You are starting to worry me with your "symptoms", and absolutely do NOT want to read about you in a RIP post - please follow up - you know the warning signs, and the big RED flasher is going off - either that or I am overreacting, but......
Please.

Sueg, I have my annual fire department physicals every year, the last one was in November 2011. I was checked out for class "A" interior, and the doctor told me the only thing she found was the weight and that I was to start thinking about diet and excercise. But they cleared me. I still take it easy though, when possible I am part of the command structure and just do what is needed, but in a small department like mine with only 9 interior qualified firefighters (including officers) its hard to not get active in interior firefighting.
Im watching what I eat now, and going for walks daily with the family and/or using one of those Total Gym units in my house. Im building my way up slowly to get my heart the workout it needs without overdoing it.
Thanks for your concern about me, I will take it easy and go slow for now until I get more conditioning.

Believe it or not, I have done that voluntarily before. I have gone right up to my chief and told them that I am going exterior/one bottle only in an emergency until I lose some weight. Some times they just stared at me in shock, others they understood, but I never got any help from any of them or support or guidance. I guess thats why I started this thread, to let everyone know that we should be reaching out to those members that may need better physical conditioning and offering them help and support. Especially those with heart problems already diagnosed and being treated for, those members with known medical issues, and us overweight brothers/sisters. I know that I would not turn down any advice or assistance or encouragement from my brothers and sisters to loose this weight.
Thanks for your replies and concerns everyone, keep them coming and reach out to someone in your department today and offer that encouragement and concern to them as well. We should and CAN change things around if we all work together.