BigBuff

Upon leaving the Outer Banks, we headed north to Ocean City, MD. Again, we only spent a short time here. They have a huge FD in Ocean City with numerous stations. However, when i tried to stop at some on our way out, they were either out on runs or otherwise empty.
From Ocean City, we continued north to Deleware to spend the day. Our final destination was Rehoboth Beach, DE to check out the Dogfish Head brewpub, amongst other things.
On our way from MD to DE, we came accross the Bethany Beach Vol. Fire department. It was a huge firehouse and the doors were open...a perfect photo opportunity.
Even though the Firehouse and apparatus are labeled "volunteer," they do have career staffing. I met with one of the Career members who was doing his rig check of their Engine. When he was done, he gave me a tour of the Firehouse and a synopsis of their activity.
They are not an overly busy Fire department. But being a beach destination, their population skyrockets in the summer months. With that boom comes mostly medical aided cases, mva's and water rescues.
Heres a link to their website:
http://www.bethanybeachfire.com/index.cfm

Next stop; Outer Banks, North Carolina.
Ive been vacationing to the Outer Banks since 2005 or so. My wife and i got married on the Outer Banks of NC in 2009 and have been back at least once a year since.
On this particular trip, i believe we only spent 1 or 2 days here as Hurricane Irene was chasing us North.
We were "lucky" enough to be woken by the fire alarm 1 morning. As we evacuated, i took the oportunity to get some "action" shots. I heard there was a smoke condition on one of the floors of our Hotel, but never heard the outcome.
The FFs did however stretch to the Hotels FDC.
Most of the FD's on the Outer Banks have some form of Career staffing. We were staying in Nags Head and they are a combo dept like most, but i am unsure of their staffing levels.
Link to the Outer Banks Professional Firefighters website w/links to each of the stations.
http://www.angelfire.com/nc/IAFF3286/
Nag's Head Chiefs Car (IC)

Driver-side shot of NHFD E16

Officer-side shot of NHFD E16

Shot of NHFD E21

IAFF decal on NHFD Engine. (i liked the colors of the decal lol)

Somers FINALLY took delivery of our new TL. It is a Sutphen SP95. It will be housed at the Granite Springs firehouse. As always a great job by the Comissioners and everyone involved in the spec'ing. It is out for lettering now and it should be in service shortly.



All photos are mine and may not be used without permission..

Welcome to the site. Good luck with the exam.
Welcome aboard. This site is a great source of knowledge. I look forward to hearing the insight that you can provide with your vast experiences over the past 24 years.

Welcome to the site.

They messed up when they were putting in on and forgot to fix it. Its correct now

I'm sure someone from Armonk can fill us in but the Maxim is in much better shape then the KME. The Maxim rarely leaves the staion as it's Armonk's supply engine. The KME is second due to all MVA's behind the ambulance. Anyone interested in seeing their apparatus should attend their open house in May, usually held during EMS Week.
Maxim (Current E287)







KME (Current E288)

Maybe the responsible action should've been to say..."hey lets just give that part of the fire district to Millwood, they're only a half a mile away anyway"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice job...
WHy fight for a middle class tax break when we'll just spend it on new firehouses we don't need....Oh sorry i forgot about the surge in fire duty

Haven't had time to reply back but thank you and everyone else for the info on the relay pumping. I asked the question because no where did I see in the posts was there any indication that a relay pumping operation was set up and I commented on relay operations for those who don't know. I must have missed it in the thread and IA, it happens. But is seems like a lot of other issues being discussed were trumping that. Rural water supply is a hard thing, trust me I know, 90% of our M/A where I work has to do with drafting and trucking in water. Not at anytime was I trying to quarter back anything, I didn't know, that is why I asked, there are no stupid questions.
Also with the discussion of residential sprinklers, there are a lot of facts both on the construction side and the ownership side that are against it. Also another problem would be the water source in a rural setting if it can supply the proper GPM. Also there are a lot of other questions including the fact that water damage to a house can cost more than fire damage, at least the way some insurance adjusters / agencies look at it. It can be a double-edged sword for home-owners. In this day and age, many people don't want to pay for the added cost of maintenance, up keep and monthly / quarterly testing of sprinkler systems, check valves and pumps.
REMEMBER, SPRINKLERS ARE NOT MADE TO PUT OUT FIRES! THEY ARE MADE TO KEEP FIRES IN CHECK!

Very inspiring. Good luck to them. Greenwich FD is a great department that serves a great town.
The GFD is also expecting to hire one more firefighter to make the total FF staff 97. In case anyone is wondering, Greenwich, CT is a large town on the Southern tip of Fairfield County, CT, just near the New York State border. It is protected by a combination paid/volunteer fire department. Greenwich has approximately 61,171 people living in 47.8 square miles of land.
The town's fire protection comes from 2 all-paid Fire Stations(Headquarters and Back Country Fire Stations), 4 combination paid/volunteer Fire Stations(Byram, Glenville, Cos Cob, and Sound Beach/Old Greenwich Fire Stations), 1 all-volunteer Fire Station(Round Hill Fire Department), and 1 all-volunteer Fire Department that protects both Greenwich and Banksville, NY(Banksville FD).
The paid Greenwich Fire Department staffs 6 Engines(4 of which share quarters with the volunteers), 1 Truck, a Rescue, a Special Operations Unit, and has an on-duty Deputy Chief every tour. The volunteer Fire Departments(Byram, Glenville, Cos Cob, Sound Beach/Old Greenwich, and Round Hill) operate a combined total of 6 Engines, 2 Trucks, 1 Rescue, 1 Dive Unit, 1 Trench Rescue Unit, 2 Fireboats, and 3 Squads(Small Rescue Units), and 4 Utility Units. The volunteer units also act as reserve units utilized by the paid department when GFD units go OOS. The paid GFD rescue is cross-staffed and only responds to certain specialized incidents, as all 6 paid Engines are equipped with Hurst tools for MVA's. The Banksville FD operates, I belive, 2 Engines, a Tanker, a Rescue, and a Utility Unit. In addition, there is the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol, an independent agency which operates a Patrol Unit(Rescue) and a Utility Unit.
For some time(not sure if they still are), the Greenwich Fire Department suffered from staffing problems. Two of the paid Engines and the paid Truck were fully-staffed with crews of four, while the 4 remaining paid Engines were staffed with crews of only two. Thus, is an Engine with only two guys got to the scene of a fire, they would have to wait for the 2nd due Engine or the Truck, or volunteer units to arrive before they could really do anything. Hopefully, with these newly-hired members and if the problem hasn't been resolved already, staffing with be pack up to par with more than two guys on each rig. The GFD also plans to place a 7th Engine into service in the Northern sections of town for better coverage.

Brick Twp/Breton Woods New Engine and Rescue
Brick Twp/Herbertsville New Rescue
Brick Twp Police EMS New Ambulance

Police departments do in fact have these.. Including Westchester County PD and Harrison.
Heres a video of Harrison PD's dodge charger..
video by FiredudeAnother:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/03/nyc-fire-union-looks-to-speaker-quinn-to-block-fdny-closures/
A few days ago the mayor released his fiscal plan for the next few years. In it he included $50 million budget cut for FDNY. The only way they're cutting $50 million is to close houses. For anyone watching the past few years this should sound familiar. He will soon begin ramping up the media support for firehouse closures. In 2 to 3 months a revised budget will come in with an unexpected surplus from increased revenues in yadda yadda yadda. He will still push for the cuts because they are necessary to maintain a balanced budget in the near future. Come June he will submit his budget including the company closures to the city council. A few weeks of political wrangling later, the city council will approve a budget with funding restored for the firehouses. Bloomy gets to come away looking tough on those fat cat firefighters and public servants while the damn liberals in the city council continues to undo his hard work.
I am sick of this BS. I'm tired of giving up sunny afternoons for another rally at city hall. I'm tired of sitting in on long boring city council meetings. I'm tired of e-mailing and calling legislators. Sadly for another year we must continue this fight. This is a war and we have to fight every battle. If you're a teacher, cop, EMT/medic, sanitation worker, transit employee, secretary, or any other city employee this story should sound painfully familiar. He is forecasting another substantial reduction in employees on the city payroll, so look for cuts everywhere. He is also forecasting Billion dollar deficits in the coming years and claims to have exhausted the city's rainy day fund. There will be more pain and it will be wide spread. Please get involved with your union. Its going to be an election year, step up and support your local's political action agenda.
Thank you for indulging my rant.

So then what are those Caprices for?

I currently work for Acadian Ambulance. We've been changing out all our MiniMod (van chassis boxes) with the Mercedez Sprinter with the exception of our CCT trucks, which will remain on Frazer Chevy 4500 Duramax.
I hate the sprinters. There's hardly any work room....granted AEV has since made some adjustments to make more "room". It really hasn't changed much. Most the employees are torn between them. bout 50/50 in liking them or hating them. The only thing I like about the Sprinters is the head room in the cab, the ability to stand up in the back and the A/C is phenomenal. Other than that, using them as an ALS emergency unit is a pain, with all our ALS gear, a patient, the paramedic and possible riders to assist, it get VERY crowded in the back. I much rather have a Frazer / Wheeled Coach unit with plenty more room.
I work the South East Texas Region. Currently our truck is a Frazer only until remount....at which point it will be shipped to Dallas or Houston (new markets) for CCT and we'll get a Sprinter.

Thanks Walt. I kind of figured this, but we wanted to make sure we didn't have to tell a guy that's been in 35 years he now has to take Firefighter I because he never took Initial Attack and that's the only option now.

That's kind of what I am trying to verify. We have our own minimum training requirements, and I am trying to make sure we meet what is LEGALLY REQUIRED and put in what we expect from our guys.
Last I knew, each department basically draws up their own set of rules, but I would hate to do it then find we missed something required of us. If you know what I mean.
Thanks.

Vinny,
I took Essentials in 1994. All I remember was folding tarps, rolling hose, and putting on our gear and air packs. No real hands on stuff until I took Initial Fire Attack, Fire Attack II and others.
What guys get now in Firefighter I is so much better, it's just not enough yet. I think we should all push to see FF I, FF II, Survival, FAST, HMFRO, Confined Space Awareness, AVET and Truck Ops all into one "minimal" program. Sure it's a lot, but it is a good start.

NYS states that minimum training for Interior Firefighters is as follows:
For members that joined before 8/1/02:
Firefighting Essentials and Initial Fire Attack
For members that joined between 8/1/02 and 12/31/05:
Basic Firefighter, Intermediate Firefighter and Firefighter Survival
After 1/1/06:
Firefighter I and Firefighter Survival
The question I had and still have is this: If a member joined an FD say 20 years ago, was the Essentials and IFA the required training, or was it just Essentials?
And, do guys now need to take equivalent or better classes to retain their Interior status, or are they "grandfathered?"
Thanks.

I guess talking about lights is off track my fault I'm sorry.

Police departments do in fact have these.. Including Westchester County PD and Harrison.
Heres a video of Harrison PD's dodge charger..
video by FiredudeAnother:

You must be very popular at your firehouse, it is always nice to have some one around that knows everything and never makes mistakes. It is also nice to know and I'm sure you take pride in the fact you "ususally never call to initiate help for people"

everybodygoes I strongly suggest you find out how to apply for an observer shift at the TMC. Maybe a Friday night of a holiday weekend or a rainy night when the Sh-t really hits the fan. See what they really do and how the "mentally challenged" can multi-task in ways that would make your head spin and have you crying for your mommy in about an hour. Do not toss criticism out until you have walked a mile in someone else shoes. Remember hind sight is always 20/20 and Monday morning quarterbacks always win the game but this is life not fantasy land. Do that tour then come back and tell us if you opinion is still the same.

Maybe some LE guys or gun aficionados can explain this one to me. How often do you get rounds that don't fully fire like that? I'm guessing there was either insufficient or damaged powder in the cartridge. I'm sure the skells weren't working with the highest quality rounds or maintaining the weapon with the strictest of care, but I'd think an incompletely loaded round would be pretty easy to catch during manufacture.

Nice video. Shot well and explained well. All I might add is that: 1) You can start with the bevel facing AWAY from the door at first. Sometimes on a really tight door, you might need that curvature facing the other way so you can slip passed the initial gap. Once you've got that(this might save you from driving the forks into the frame), flip the tool the conventional way to complete the job. 2) Leave the axe, bring a maul. That extra heft might save you a lot of effort and time.
Again, nice job on the video.