EmsFirePolice

New utility, new chief car, refurbed air trailer.... Now to start working on a new ladder!  In all seriousness, NWP has been extremely proactive and is doing an excellent job moving forward!

 
http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20160924/michael-morse-firefighters-padding-numbers-or-saving-lives

Croton Falls Utility 28 is sold. New tanker on order with delivery around the end of this year.

 
Not my pic, just sharing.

From the Empress EMS Facebook page:
 
 

Looks like a clown car from the circus------How many will get out of it ????????

Back to the subject of lights and sirens, the two Con Ed guys I was speaking to today said the "Incident Response Unit" or "Emergency Command Unit" or whatever they may say are most likely members of the Emergency Response Group.  They have 'em in gas, electric, steam and substations.  None of them are authorized to have red lights or sirens but, just like we have some people with "extra" bells and whistles, some of these guys may have additional lights.  These are the guys that will hold the fort until more crews can arrive and they're trained in ICS and are the SME from their part of the company.  The substations guys are trained in firefighting at TEEX and deal with the oil filled transformer fires and other big events like that.  They can all set up one of the Con Ed ICS command boards and be your point of contact until more help arrives. 

 
This is a major factor why firefighters are generally not trained to properly deal with gas and electrical emergencies.  It takes a great deal of training, qualification, re-qualification, and maintaining the equipment to the mandatory standards; It's much like the standards for bail-out devices or EMS certifications.  It's a great deal of work, especially for volleys who barely have time these days to have them time put out fires or respond to car accidents.  Then again, if firefighters really want to be able to do the job,, they will take the training and maintain their currency.
 
And, as far as the skills go, you're right.  You can't teach it.  It takes a keen eye and a smart mind to identify curb valves versus main valves and understanding where they are located, never mind knowing the construction of the gas line system and what kind of pressures it's producing.  Only over time and responding to these incidents will you eventually become comfortable with how the system works and and how to mitigate a situation properly (I work in aviation, which is HEAVILY regulated.  I know the pain!).

North White Plains FD
New Car 2321
2016 Chevrolet Tahoe
Outfitted by Hudson Valley Fire Equipment
In service as of 9-20-16 1700hrs
 

 

I think the chief likes it! lol

First of all, I spent 42 years working for Con Ed in the Bronx and Westchester with the last 14 in Westchester as a supervisor in gas emergency until I retired last year. I responded to countless gas leak complaints both as a mechanic and as a supervisor. I am also a volunteer firefighter in Orange county. For me personally, the last thing I wanted to see is the fire dept on location when I arrived. They don't have the required equipment or training mandated by the PSC or the experience to investigate a leak. If it's on fire, I don't want anybody else than the fire dept but unfortunately the majority of firefighters lose interest quickly if it's not on fire. Then the paid depts. want to put the companies back in service asap and the volley companies in the day time Mon-Fri had what we call the paid firefighters responding, ie, the DPW members and their boss wants them back to work. So I would just prefer Con Ed to respond and if I need the services of the fire dept, I would request the FD.  At a damage that I responded to one time with the fire dept on location and blowing gas, the chief in charge told me they had shut off numerous valves to no good. I asked him how many valves and where they were. I got the deer in the headlights look back. I then went over and turned off the curb valve on the damaged service and secured the leak. They had turned off gas to numerouse homes and business, over 50. Restoration of gas is not simply turning the valves back on and is time consuming and costly.  A little info on responding. The New York State PSC mandates that all gas leak complaints must be responded to within 60 minutes. Con Ed has told the PSC that they will respond to 75% of the leak complaints within 30 minutes. That works well in the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens but can be difficult in Westchester. Con Ed will request the fire dept to respond if certain criterias of the leak complaint require it but the understanding is that it is to make safe by evacuating people in the area of the leak not to mitigate it.  The finest example of that was the damage in Scarsdale about 10 years ago where the contractor pulled the 1" high pressure service out of the regulator in the bsmt with ensuing high pressure gas filling up the house. The contractor called 911 and reported it but he did not evacuate his workers from the bldg. When the Scarsdale FD arrived, they evacuated the house where the damage was and the surrounding houses also. They opened windows in the house where the damage was to ventilate but being a cold day, the temperature dropped in the house and the thermostat called for heat and the house exploded but there were no injuries. Job well done. What would the outcome have been if they decided to look for valves? The curb valve was buried under construction material, main valves were further away in the intersections at the end of the street and can be and usually are difficult to open. In many older areas main valves can be much further apart than just in the immediate intersections and many are paved over. I was working the night of a gas main fire in Mamaroneck the night of a severe thunderstorm that took down a primary electric cable which grounded out on the ground burning a hole through a 4" steel medium pressure main that was four feet deep in the ground and igniting the gas. Such is the power of primary electric. Looking at our maps, I saw the location of the main valve but could not locate it, only a water valve. I had my construction crew start excavating in the area of where the main was (it was a one way feed down a dead end street) and had my two leak responders start searching for surrounding main valves to secure this leak and fire, a total of five more valves. While we were trying to locate theses valves, the water company responded to mark out the water main and services. After about 45 minutes, he came over to me and stated they did not have a water main any where near where the water valve box was. I had my crew open up that box to see if it was our gas main valve but it was filled with asphalt. I had my crew excavate that box down to the valve and it was our gas valve which we then shut to secure the leak and extinguish the fire. That took 2 1/2-3 hours to do from our time of arrival. Definitely unacceptable in my book and I spent the next hour apoligizing to the chief who was a genuine nice guy. It turned out the road had been repaved about 2 years prior. The contractor had damaged the gas valve box, did not report it and replaced it with a water valve box he had. You never know what you will find. Now back to the Scarsdale incident.  If I recall correctly, the FD said from the time of their arrival to the explosion was about 5 minutes. The first Con Ed responder, a supervisor, was able to locate and t/off the curb valve stemming the gas that was feeding the fire. As I stated earlier, the PCS does not want code 3 response and I personally did not want code 3 response having driven fire dept rigs code 3 and knowing the dangers. So my opinion and the way I understood the policy, the fire dept is to evacuate and make safe. 

Warwick EMS' "new" rehab unit. Originally a Town of Warwick Dial-a-bus, conversion done by members and local businesses
 

I lusted after that truck for the longest time.  I was too deep in restoring by '57 B Model from my college department that I bought.  The rig from Millwood was the first rig I ever went to a fire in.  At the time of construction, was one of the most modern pieces of fire apparatus ever built.  Enclosed cab for 5 FF's, early version of pre-piped foam, 1500 gallon tank on tandem axles.  It is one of two tandem axle factory B models ever built (others were built off of Mack chassis by other apparatus outfitters).  The other went to a company just outside Pittsburgh.  This rig was re powered from a 707c to a N/A diesel (which I have always believed to be a Mack unit but not 100% sure), power steering was added (it wasn't very effective), auto trans replaced the 5 speed crash box (the rig should have always been spec'd with a 5speed main and at least a two or three speed aux box) and air brakes were added.  Even with the diesel the rig was a pig, but it served Millwood very will until 1995 when T-15 was purchased.  My first job on this rig (and one of its last) was a fire in Yorktown's southern box on Adams Ridge Road running as a tanker.  The following year it shuttled a few loads of water 1994 I believe at a big fire in Croton's box on Bethea drive.  That was about it for the rig though.  It was incredibly slow even with the diesel motor.  You could potentially jog up Allapartus Road faster than this thing could go.  It was also limited as a tanker because it didn't have a dump valve and the TTP valve to pump the load off was only 1.5inch.
 
Nonetheless, this is my absolute favorite piece of firefighting history and quite possibly the most handsome fire truck ever produced.  I'm not sure who owns it now, but the restoration that they performed appears to be of the quality that I had planned for it if I ever got a hold of it (and subsequently what I did on my '57 from college.)
 
My '57
 

As a "First Responder" for gas emergency there have been many times when I arrived on scene and fd would ask me what should we do , OR , I've asked the fd to assist me with entry into a house when's there's blowing gas possible filling the house on a contractor damage with complete hesitation by the fd because lack of experience with natural gas emergencies.. I've been a volunteer firefighter for 10 yrs so much love to the FD.. my point is , in my opinion I believe Gas Emergency responders plus all supervisors,  electric and gas should be code 3.. Fd is great, but we are the professionals when it comes to utility emergencies...

The red wagons are emergency electric splicers and respond to electric burnouts. If you see a red wagon in Westchester, it came up from Van Nest in the Bronx. As per the emergency stickers on the vehicles, they were put on certain vehicles such as the red wagons and the gas leak response vehicles to indicate to the police depts. that the vehicle has parkway permits  Though they now have emergency response groups in gas (2 vehicles) and electric that have sirens and red wig wags on the vehicles, must be a special permit. They respond to incidents and set up a Con Ed command post for communications. They are not there to mitigate the incident.  I should add that Con Ed is a private company and has no legal right to lights and sirens or to break into homes or other buildings. That is where the Fire depts and Police depts. come in.

New Foam pumper for Engine 14 in Newark. This rig was bought thru a grant with the NFD paying 25%. Pictures were taken Wildwood this past weekend, the rig will enter service in a few weeks. Engine 14's current 2003 E-1 pumper will be re-painted, re-furbished and assigned to Engine 18.

If the water department is requested on a rush for a water main break or Con Ed electric is requested for down wires on a rush, should they all have emergency lights and sirens too?
 
Sorry for the sarcasm but there are all ready too many vehicles with red lights and sirens.  Adding more won't help us get anywhere and it isn't about what an IC wants.  It's what the law says.  There's no provision in law for utility vehicles to be emergency vehicles.

The fire department is already there, they responded with lights and siren.  They can make the scene safe until Con Ed arrives whether within 14 minutes or 40 minutes.

 
It's like this in a lot of upstate NY, too.  I remember when my grandfather had a burn barrel for trash, and an open pit for yard debris.
 
But, to stay on topic...I don't see the harm in fire pits, especially the ones that you can get at Home Depot or WalMart (like chimneas or covered fire pits).  As long as you're being safe with it, I don't see the big idea about it.  Just keep a bucket of water nearby, don't leave it unattended, and enjoy some beverages around the heat in these cool autumn months!

In a combination department the money is split on a pro rated basis between the career and volunteer side

They aren't ordering from E-One yet. It is just out for bid. However, it will probably be E-One or Pierce that gets the bid from what I have heard.

 
Imagine if American police cruisers looked like this, with fairly standardized color patterns to identify them as police vehicles with high visibility markings for safety.
 
Should there be a standard police vehicle color scheme or pattern?  A pro would be that the public would always be able to identify the vehicle, where a con would be the lack of local identity (which is highly prevalent in the United States).

 
Dinosaur wrote:
" State law in CA has all police cars black and white "
This is a Newport Beach California car. I am not familiar with California law, but I have been to California on a few occasions, and while the vast majority of Police cars there are B&W, I have seen a few that were not B&W.
This example is the first photo I found on a Google search, but there are a few other examples.

I believe the fire service can learn a lot from the airline industry. With that being said, I don't really think we're comparing apples to apples here. The airline industry goes out of it's way to prevent accidents before they happen. If a wing flap is showing the slightest problem during pre-flight checks they won't take off. If the weather is not good, they won't take off. If the co-pilot feels ill and can't make the flight, they wait for another co-pilot and just don't allow the pilot to fly solo. The airline industry does have emergency procedures for when something goes wrong, be it engine failure, smoke in the aircraft, or deploying the emergency chutes after landing. But their response to emergencies is about 1% of what they do. The majority of flights go off without a hitch, as airline travel is the safest means of transport in the country.
 
Now compare the fire service. We have our fire prevention personnel and our public education programs, but when we get called it's because an emergency has already happened. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't use safe and effective procedures, nor am I implying we should go "all out" to get to the fire and the rest of the world be damned. What I am saying is that (just like in the military) there has to be a certain acceptable levels of casualties. If the military wanted to eliminate all casualties, they would never attack. But they plan for, practice for, and then implement a plan that will hopefully obtain a positive outcome with the least amount of casualties. The fire service should be looked at in the same light. Plan, practice, train, educate and then respond and implement a reasonable action that will hopefully mitigate the situation without casualties, but they are going to happen.
 
THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY DOES EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STAY OUT OF HARMS WAY, THE FIRE SERVICE IS EXPECTED TO GO INTO HARMS WAY.
 
The police are much in the same situation as the fire department. Prior to Columbine, police responded to the scene of a shooting and secured the scene and waited for SWAT. Now they are trained for and expected to confront the shooter/s. If two police officers arrive at a school shooting and shots are being fired, they are trained to enter the school and try to at least "pin down" the shooter so he/she can't continue to move and inflict harm. The officers are to hold their position until help arrives and the shooter/s can be neutralized. Not for me!
 
I believe that being safe is of utmost importance, but if you dot every "I" and cross every "T" before you begin operating, you will suffer "paralysis by analysis." At some point educated and calculated risks must be taken. Here is an example: I agree with doing a 360, but it's not always possible or practical. You're the Captain on a 3-man engine. Let's say you pull up on a 4 story multiple dwelling contained in a block long length of multiple dwellings. You see fire in a first floor room and it's just starting to extend to the public hallway. To complete a 360 you'd have go through exposure B, perhaps by breaking in the public door, go out the back door and into the rear yard. You then encounter a chain-link fence blocking you from the rear of the fire building's yard. You decide to pull a garbage can over and jump the fence. You look at the back of the fire building and can see the glow of fire in the public hallway. You then come across a wooden stockade fence blocking you to the backyard of exposure D. You take your tool and break through. Now you have to break into the rear of exposure D and go through and out the front. By this time, the driver has hooked up to the hydrant and your firefighter is finishing up stretching a 1 3/4" line to the front door. You look up and see that the fire has grown in size and now has control of the public stairway and is almost to the 2nd floor landing. By now you're thinking you better go back to the engine for the 2 1/2".
 
Now, would it be better if you pulled up and saw the situation at hand. You see there are attached exposures on Side B & D. You can't even see wants behind the fire building (Side C). You evaluate that 1 room is burning and the occupant left the door open and it's starting to spread into the public hallway. You make an educated decision based on the factors at hand. You and the firefighter stretch a 1 3/4" right away while the driver is hooking up to the hydrant. You immediately stretch the line to the front door and call for water. You flow water and extinguish the fire in the public hallway. You crawl down the hall and give a burst into the apartment to darken down the fire but not totally extinguish it. You use your tool and pull the apartment door shut. You instruct the firefighter to stay at the door with the line and keep the door closed but be ready with the hoseline to drive the fire back. You race up the stairs to do a quick primary of the public hallway. You stop at the door of the second floor apartment over the fire and bang on the door. The door opens and two people are standing there. There is no smoke or fire apparent in the apartment. You direct them to follow you and shut the door. You direct them into the neighbor's apartment across the hall and shut the door. You continue up the stairs. There is a moderate smoke condition going up to the fourth floor. You meet a couple people entering the hallway and advise them to go back into their apartments and close the door. You make it to the top floor and there are no people anywhere in the public hallway. You hear other sirens coming and you race back down the stairs. You meet up with your firefighter, still protecting the door, and advise him to back out onto the stoop. You meet up with the chief. Two more engines and a ladder arrive and go to work finishing off the fire, evacuating the building and doing a complete search.
 
To sum it up, you broke the 2 in / 2 out rule. You left your partner and two members worked by themselves in a building. You went above a fire without a hoseline. You made a conscious decision to do a quick knock down of the fire, then confine it by closing the door, doing a quick primary search of the public hallway, and decided to employ the tactic of "defending the occupants in place." You were aware that help was on the way and would arrive in 5 minutes. But instead of following the book and doing a complete 360 of the building, you put your judgment, training and experience to use by taking a reasonable risk by confining the fire and hence, saving the people in the building. This is much like Sully did when he decided to land his plane on the Hudson River. His experience, training and education told him he couldn't make it to any airport and the smoothest place to try to land the plane was in the river. He calculated and won.
 
 

Not entirely about NYC DEP but I am not in favor of agencies copying other agencies livery. I think each agency needs to develop its own identity, what in commercial circles would be called brand identity. I realize there are traditional colors and there are only so many designs to use, but why must everything be sanitized into a single logo. We see it all the time in patches, where a department is willing to part with their own history to look just like some department they want to emulate. I am not a fan of this way of thinking.