norestriction

I don't think that Chief Flynn hates volunteers necessarily.

I believe that he expects firefighters and fire departments to be responsible and accountable for their actions. I think he doesn't think that we should accept BS excuses why volunteer agencies shouldn't be held to high standard of professionalism. I think he believes that fire departments should have a certain degree of transparency to the citizens they protect. I think he believes that firefighters should be properly trained and equipped to do the job and should be willing to do ALL of the pairs of their job, not just the glamorous parts.

And I think I agree.

Nah I have read his post for a long time and I agreed with him once 10 minutes ago. I do and always will respect his knowledge and accomplishments but I think your assessment is wrong.

I disagree Chris, respectfully. I think it is very important that we continue to take opportunities when available to educate the public concerning the fact that monies which are donated to volunteer fire departments rarely, if ever, are used for purchase of firefighting equipment, or for training, or such purposes, but rather the monies people donate to volunteer fire departments are used for parties, extravagant dinners, vacations and excursions, etc.

Also, it is important to continue to emphasize that although there are lots of dedicated volunteer firefighters, such as Nick, who want to do the right thing in regard to being trained, prepared, and ACCOUNTABLE, there are many other volunteer firefighters who take advantage of the system, collect pensions and other perks,use the firehouses as a social club, and who have extremely little legitimate training, are unable to provide the service they claim they provide, and are basically accountable to no one.

Wow might be the first time I agreed with you Chief well said and there are a few lines I will use on my guys.

A volunteer fire dept (each company in fact) must have their own tax id number and file taxes according to law. This is talked about every year in Albany at one of the conventions and every year they spend 3 hours on the subject. In my dept our company just went through the process of obtaining a new non profit tax id but taxes still need to be filed

Ghost letterings are considered markings .

My question is if you do get a ticket from an officer in an unmarked car and it stop doesnt fall under the "exceptions" rule do you think if challenged the judge is inclined to throw out the ticket ? There is always someone looking to exploit a loophole.

Capt Glover

I dont know you from a whole in the wall but I must say you sound like the voice of reason and I appreciate you taking the time in spite of some of the silly remarks to CRITIQUE the video so those of us who wish to learn do learn from your expertise.

I'm 40 years old with 14 years of volunteering and and I cant stand people who "know it all" and arent willing to listen.

Thank You Capt

If you needed to make an attack on an interior fire with only what is in your tank, lets say 500 gallons, I would go with a fog nozzel. I was taught that you can extinguish more fire with less water using a fog nozzel.

Fog nozzle in an interior operations ??? have you ever use a fog nozzle interior before?

Hi Mike,

I didn't consider my comment to be a criticism. When I was on the job we frequently would sit around the kitchen table after a working fire or an unusual emergency and do an informal critique. It was never used as a method of pointing fingers or attaching blame, rather it was used as a learning tool to help us to find the best methods for dealing with the myriad of situations that we as firefighters frequently encounter in our profession. Our goal was to always be prepared to do the best, most efficient job of protecting civilian lives and property while maintaining safe practices at the same time. IMHO the photos and videos of fires and emergencies that appear on this website can prove to be a valuable learning tool. Posters should show respect when making suggestions as well as make sure that you are suggesting procedures, equipment, etc. that is 'tried and true' as opposed to something you have dreamed up and never put to the test at the drill site. Other than that, I think we all need to admit that none of us know it all, always do everything right and can't benefit from a good suggestion now and then. If we want to continue to improve as fire rescue personnel, we'll have to be open to the real world experiences of Brothers who have been there and done that enough times that they have something to offer to the newer generation of folks on the job.

Stay safe ...

Amen

criticism is never a good thing and should be banned BUT a critique of a photo , video or any other fire related action should be welcomed with open arms whether in a round table discussion or on this site and to try and silence a critique only hurts the good of the fire service. Remember if you make fun of or speak with malice its NOT a critique and your better off just passing the topic by. I personally love knowledge and questions should be encouraged even if the question seems strange to us it may not be to the person asking and your answer may help that person.

I am not saying anyone is trying to silence the critiques but it sometimes has that feel. We are not 7 year olds that will run to mommy crying most of us are mature and welcome the help.

maybe one of the first times I agree with you Seth , my only question I wanted answered was how did the call come in and was it a Hastings or Yonkers address. As I mentioned 3 times already class act by YFD sticking around if it was a hastings address. I'm not here to play Monday morning quarterback nor am I even trying to and I ask everyone else not to either , BUT with that being said I also think some sort of CRITIQUE in a respectful manor i always in order thats how we better ourselves but thats a different topic for another day.

Yes it could of been alot worse so I dont think it should matter why YFD was there what matters is damage to the home was minimal, no one got hurt and the fire was put out. Seems to me by watching the video both departments worked well together.

I agree with you and seeing YFD and HFD reminds me of the old days BUT I was curious if the call went to Yonkers directly via 911 ? Like I said the first time if the house was a Hastings address I think that was a real class act by YFD to stay I couldn't stress it enough. YFD came through for a fellow FF volly or not and I tip my hat to them.

was this called in to 911 via a landline or cell does anyone know? I ask because that might answer why yonkers was dispatched and I will give Yonkers credit if the address was Hastings for sticking around and helping. Class decision by Yonkers

Why was Yonkers there?

August 18

Fire Chief’s Car Ablaze

7 p.m.—Police received a call from James Sarfaty, the Hastings-on-Hudson fire chief, reporting that his 2006 Ford Expedition had caught fire outside his home. Police and fire department arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

above is a little piece I copied from the river town patch anyone have any additional info?

Sorry to be the bad guy but this just shows how much non essential equipment is in Westchester County. If all this can be shown at Playland it's obviously not needed on the "front Line" IMHO

you asked a legit question and all who disagreed gave you a respectful answer except for the one who had to stand out.

Yonkers has a new system which integrates well with their gear. Maybe if you ask nicely one of their members will post a pic or two. I like the Sterling F4 for its simplicity.

maybe if you ask nicely ?? was there any indication otherwise

I was reading an article in "First Responder Newspaper: New York Edition" April 2011, about the history of Dobbs Ferry VAC's 1948 Cadillac Meteor ambulance by Frank Rauhofer. It was aqquired by the newly formed Dobbs Ferry VAC in 1962 from it's previous operator, Dobbs Ferry Hospital. It was sold in 1964, to a retired Dobbs Ferry Police Officer to ultimately move to AZ.

It was found in October 2008 in a California salvage yard, still reading "Dobbs Ferry VAC" on the doors.

Members wanted to buy back this vehicle and restore it, but apparently the DFVAC board declined it as a "waste of money", and was sold on an online auction site and shipped to Europe. Even though a resident offered a place to store the vehicle and work on it, as well as storage after the resoration.

This kind of stuff ticks me off. First, there should be a proper Fire/EMS/PD museum in Westchester. Another rant for another day. History like this should not be passed over. In my opinion, again my personal opinion, they should have at least aqquired the vehicle and stored it until they found a proper home. EMS history like this is hard to find, many FD's have antique fire apparatus but many EMS agencie's don't have much to highlight EMS history. And now, quite possibly, this car is gone forever, to someplace in Europe.

I'm aware that the VAC has other financial commitments, but after talking to some people about this, there was quite a bit of people willling to step up and help out and this would cost Dobbs Ferry VAC very few dollars.

Thanks to Frank Rauhofer for highlighting this, and hope he does not mind me sharing this information here. Also, if he is a member here, I hope he'll add the photo to this thread.

I was on the board at the time and Seth your info is one sided , without naming names or getting into to many details the veh purchase price was $10,000 then it would have needed $100,000 to renovate. I was originally for the plan and I actually pushed the board to do it but at the time there were many financial discrepancies with our books and there was a change of the board which took a more conservative approach with its finances.

The DFVAC has a poor record on covering calls so what ever money we had was to be put into recruiting. One last thing we threw this around the town and there was no way we were going to raise the $100,000 to restore it and that is on the low end we looked into it , also putting the veh on a residents private property was not a good decision for a Ambulance corp that has to answer to a village board.

One last thing this was over 2 and a half years ago that this all went down so why is it in the 4/11 issue is beyond me. No one was stepping up to donate to fix this car so that is not correct , we asked around for months thats how we got the $100,000 estimate along the way so there is no "quite a bit of people" that wanted to step up. They had the chance to step up and NO ONE did.

what a waste of money and time , cant find it anywhere on the internet that this is a legit charge.

we are starting to explore our possibilities in Dobbs Ferry , our 1991 Mack with Ariel scope is due to be replaced and because of the inherited possibilities of metal fatigue due to its age the decision was made to go new. its a fine line when you think that in 20 years the metal on the Ct rig will be 60 years old.

At $2.2m there is not a lot to cut.

Which areas should be cut: Street maintenance, snow removal, street lighting, traffic lighting, sanitary and storm water system maintenance, Fleet maintenance for all village vehicles, mintain parks, maintain 1/2 of water system (other 1/2 is united water) plus meter reading. The have 9 employee's

Fire dept budget is bigger than the dpw? I am not here to knock Pelham but when you compare the size of the villages to others without pulling out the calculator there has to be an answer ( maybe consolidation)

Where in Westchester are you? An annual budget of $375,000 seems low compared to what I have seen elsewhere for similar sized communities in Westchester? Does this figure include LOSAP (if applicable), workers comp, health care (if applicable), apparatus, fuel, maintenance, facilities and equipment, training, etc.? Also, any tax credits or rebates given to members if applicable should be factored in to the total budget.

chief Dobbs Ferry -that is our budget and we must use it for gear,training ,repairs to rigs (3 engines 1 tower ladder a utility and chiefs cars), equipment and other odds and ends including our yearly medicals from Partners in safety.. Fuel is paid by the Village and if you own a home you save $2000 of your $20,000 tax bill.

Chief we do a lot with a little we dont get Greenburg money and it is true no one volunteers like they used to but if they had to staff Dobbs what would the board do if 3 million was needed so right now they get 24 hours of protection at A DISCOUNTED price

not $375,000 you must deduct United Waters money

2 % money is used for the good of the members

Yes

it all makes sense then.. you want protection you need to fund it.

I will say it - cut the DPW budget

Someone correct me If I am wrong but they do about 900ish calls a year

Thats a lot for such a small Village , is that medical also

what are the run totals for a Village of 6500 as of 2000 ? Isnt there a possibility that the Village cant afford to maintain what is has. Was there a need for a career dept ( serious question) and if so does the career end need to man the firehouse 24 hours a day.

I live in a Village of 12,000 and we are strictly volunteers with 450 runs a year with a budget of $375,000 with $150,000 of that going to United Water , I would love some of Pelhams budget

I thought the Hastings old 22 tiller was not up to todays safety standards and could not be sold to another dept , I thought it was supposed to be a private collectors sale only ???