EmsFirePolice

Funny thing,
I don't remember hearing that the Chappaqua Fire Department or VAC had units at Bill and Hill's while he was president. Ditto on Crawford.  
 
Also the law was changed. Bill Clinton is the last ex president to receive protection for life. Now it only for 10 years after leaving office. 
 
 

 
I don't think this is your typical VIP visit. I think this is unprecedented. And I think this is the first time a President comes with such a large family, and has an iconic building that still houses his wife and child (which complicates things even more). The costs need to be reimbursed, as it's not the NYC's taxpayers responsibly to fund protection of the President, his family, and his 50 story building with his name plastered all over it in midtown Manhattan. The whole circumstance is a terrorists wet dream.  This is a national responsibility to protect the President, and it's not fair to NYC's taxpayers. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars here over 4 years if not more, considering a President is guarded by Secret Service for life.
 
Although I'm not sure that the Fire and EMS resources have to be there.
 
 
This was reported by several news outlets.

EJ Metals of Wisconsin is currently building an attack pumper for The Long Hill Fire District in the Town of Trumbull, CT. The truck is being built on an F-550 4x4 chassis and delivery is expected some time in June.

Years back Harrison donated the old engine 13, a 1985 mc Mack pumper to a dept. Down in Louisiana after hurricane Katrina destroyed all of the depts rigs. Also they sold for a dollar, old engine 11 a 1988 Mack cf  pumper to a dept upstate. Engine 42 what a shame, some poor dept. Could of used this rig and treated it like a brand new rig. Some dept. that can't afford a new million dollar engine. But I guess the people in charge needed the 2800.00 or whatever they sold it for to be destroyed.

 
It was replaced with a new, modern engine that fit the current needs of the fire company and department. The Village of Mamaroneck can afford to replace it's apparatus every 20 or so year with a new truck, and there are communities that can't. One mans trash is another mans treasure as the saying goes. And hundreds and hundreds of department across the nation, in some of the poorest and rural areas, this truck would have been a Cadillac.  Top mounted pump controls, 1750 GPM pump, 750 gallon tank, light tower, upgraded LED lighting, 10k hydraulic generator, easy to maintain and durable Detroit Diesel engine with Allison automatic transmission.This engine could have a great second home somewhere it was desperately needed.

Other local departments that have replaced apparatus have donated it to departments in need.  Sleepy Hollow donated their Engine to Broad Channel FD after Hurricane Sandy. Mount Kisco FD Independent Engine Company donated their engine to a department upstate that was decimated by flooding. And Harrison donated one of their engines too a department down south after another disaster.  Maybe Mamaroneck FD wanted to do the same but the Village decided this was the way to surplus it. It's too bad it can't be "rescued".

The deparment in warwick mass that had mother and 4 children die in fire yesterday would love to have a truck like this, they only have 12 volunteers, what a shame to scrap that truck

I drove that engine for 10 years and it was great. Still can't believe the village couldn't get more for it, it's a shame and I think they got it for even under 4200. The thing was still in very good shape, too bad it couldn't go to somewhere that could use it. REST EASY ENG42INE! Sad to see it go to scrap metal.

Just an interesting idea that my hometown's department is doing:
 
My friend just became chief, and he is truly concerned about the current condition and future of the department.  So, he sat down with the company's membership committee and built a 12 question survey to ask FORMER members what they liked about the company, what they disliked, what drove them to leave the company, and whether certain incentives would have made them stay longer or bring them back or entice new members to the organization.  I filled both sides of both sheets of paper detailing MY positive and negative experiences with the company (he already knows my story, but the membership committee doesn't know who I am).  Both of my parents filled it out, and several of my friends have as well.  I think this is a cool idea because you can evaluate the common problems that past members had with the organization, see what practices worked the best, and determine what the best recruiting and retention efforts will work the best based off suggestions.
 
Like I said, just an interesting idea.

 
This is extremely interesting to me.  In my experience with a village fire department, the VILLAGE owned the property, building, AND all equipment and apparatus.  It's strange to me to think that a specific fire company would have ownership of the equipment.
 
The other fact that confuses me in this paragraph is that the Village Board of Trustees APPOINTS a Board of Fire Commissioners.  My experience was that the Village Board WAS the BOC.  I guess when the article states that it's a "convoluted relationship," it's not lying!
 
But, back to the matter of the cost:
 
 
Option A definitely sounds the most feasible, and is the most economically fiscal situation.  It is much cheaper to renovate a fire house than it is to replace a fire house.  Then again, as the article further details, the citizens of Chappaqua voted down a fire house expansion last year.  Albeit, the Chappaqua situation is a bit different, as it called for a $15M renovation, $10M to expand and renovate three fire houses isn't too shabby.  I think it's a swell idea.

But, Option B is a pretty good option, too.  Put all four fire companies under one roof.  This is exactly what Peekskill is doing.  Put everyone in a central location.  Yes, Peekskill is a different dynamic than Mount Kisco, as PFD incorporates both paid and volunteer personnel, but the idea of having all of the fire companies under a single roof can promote better synergy among the companies. If you can get them together in one place, and get their training schedules to match up, then you can have the multi-company training that you need to succeed!  The point I'm getting to here is that you can train as an engine company all you want, or a ladder or rescue company, but an actual fire requires the teamwork of all of the companies working as a cohesive group.  Being together in the same building, sharing the same space, sharing the same training tools/props can overwhelmingly provide the cohesiveness that every department needs.
 
Option C just sounds sill to me.  Would it be lovely to have three brand new firehouses with all of the latest technology?  Heck, yeah!  But it is really worth it to the taxpayers?  Is it fair to the taxpayers?  My own department desperately needs a new fire house, but it wouldn't be fair to our taxpayers, the people that we protect, to build a whole new building.  The cost is too astronomical for what we have and what the public needs.  So, why spend more money than you really have to?
 
I understand that departments have to think about fire house design and functionality for the future, but we're talking about tens of millions of dollars that could be utilized elsewhere.  I trust that the Village of Mount Kisco is going to be fiscally responsible with which ever decision they make, but it's going to be with a keen and watchful eye from the public.

M' Ave - Nicely put. It's not easy in our current society to find the time to volunteer. On one hand I'm all behind the concept of consolidation and it makes sense, but I've experienced it from the other side that once you give up control of your own destiny, you'll never get it back. Sure the fire chiefs don't want to give up their kingdoms, but they aren't the ones I'm truly concerned about. I worry about the politicians. Everyone could be on board when the consolidation happens, but then 2 or 3 administrations down the road new people take over and decide on massive changes and you're like, "this isn't how it was supposed to go." You may have had 1 engine & 1 ladder in your station. When it comes time to replace the engine, the new administration decides to buy a quint and dispose of the engine and reallocate the ladder to a different station. You have two career men on duty who roll the quint on every call but there's nothing left for the responding volunteers, so they end up driving to the scene in their cars. Let's face it, part of the fun of volunteering is the ability to climb on the apparatus and respond making some noise. That's just one example of how things could change over time and the local department can do nothing about it because they are now part of a bigger entity. I never thought I would think that way or even write it, but I have seen some weird things as the years go by. 
 
On a related topic, I wonder if Mt Kisco is happy about giving up their police force? If you get inside and really study it, is what was promised really happening? I hope for them it is, but I wouldn't put it past the powers to be to decide that they are one officer short on the Evening shift for the whole Westchester County Police force. To save on over-time, they'll drop from 3 to 2 cruisers in Mt Kisco for the Eve shift and if necassary they'll divert a cruiser from the parkway if they get busy. But low and behold, the car on the parkway stops a suspicious vehicle and the closest back-up cruiser happens to be in Mt Kisco, so he jumps on the parkway and drives up to the next town as a back-up and leaves Mt Kisco with one car for 45 minutes. The people may say, "we were always happy to send a car or two mutual aid, manpower depending, but we would always keep two cars in town as a home guard. How come at times there's only one car?" 
 
I'm just using Mt Kisco as an example because I'm familiar with their situation. I hope it doesn't happen that way and I hope the people of Kisco are happy with the move. No disrespect to the WCPD.
 
So I would say that consolidation is the way to go given the current climate, but I would say to tread lightly and get certain things in writing to protect your jurisdiction. 

Think about it...

That's great, get rid of the professionals buy a new truck.... What's wrong with that taxpayers

Port Chester fire Dept Rescue 40  in committee now for a new rig
 

WOW. Hard to believe this is an EMS station! Looks to be designed well and give FDNY*EMS crews the home they deserve. And note that the only time FDNY EMS crews see the station is during shift change, since they are posted on street corners. They designed this primarily to be an architectural masterpiece. They found the money to pay for this, but not raises?
 
http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12306-emergency-medical-service-station-50-by-deanwolf-architects

 
 
This is what I meant about time requirement.  You have to make a certain number of meetings, certain number of drills, and make a certain number of calls to stay as an "active" firefighter.  I've heard of some volunteer departments that have actual time requirements, such as a duty night where a specific crew is on call and hangs out at the fire house.  It's a cool concept because this time at the fire house can be used for training AND you have a fully staffed apparatus out of the door immediately should an alarm arise.  Unfortunately, it's not a model that could work for everyone (especially smaller departments).

I am not knocking the Port Authority for the job they do.
They have a job to do, and most of them do it admirably.
The problem is the pay.
If anyone thinks, no matter how much O/T is worked, that any cop deserves 300-400K a year is out of their minds.
Surgeons do not get paid that much.
Stories like this are why there is much flack over cops salaries in general.
Never mind the stories that will come about when the public learns of the pensions that salary will generate.
...and cops wonder why the anti-pension movement is gaining steam.
I have been in LE for 35+ years, and yes, I would like a raise.
I would like to ask for 300 Thousand a year.
If they gave it to me I would think they were out of their minds.

Port Authority PD lost 37 members the NYPD lost 23.

 
I think this is one of the more significant reasons for loss of volunteers, especially in the more affluent communities. The median home price in Pleasantville is over $500K, Briarcliff Manor is over $700K, in Chappaqua and Katonah it is over $800K.  So you lose the younger members who followed their childhood desire or their parents/family into the service because at some point most need to move on. Those who are moving into town and buying homes of these values aren't necessarily inclined to become volunteer firefighters.
 
You just have to listen to the scanner to know that, especially day time, many of the volunteer departments are lucky to get one piece of apparatus on the road and it is usually inadequately staffed.  Sooner or later many of these departments will be forced to go combination.  In some of the more rural departments, the lack of volunteers will undoubtedly affect response times as fewer members to make up a crew need to travel further to make the apparatus.
 
Fifteen years ago when my nephews came into the service as our families fourth generation of volunteers I said they would probably be the last.  I believe I will be correct in that prediction.

There is so much going against volunteer fire departments these days that it's insane to think that any VFD could recruit more volunteers.  There's the time commitment, between training, classes, and alarms that it eats at everyone's personal time to have a social life and spend time with our families.  The stress of working a full time job then being a firefighter on the side doesn't help either.  It's not a wonder why a lot of us have high blood pressure.
 
But, some departments get lucky and gain a few firefighters here and there.  Unfortunately, a lot of those recruits wash out.  They don't have the time.  They realize that they can't make the commitment.  Heck, some realize that fire is scary!  I've seen a few people over my career leave because they were either afraid of fire, heights, or were scared away by the stress of the job.
 
Then, there are people out there that say that can't do it.  These are the people that are happy you got a new truck, and want to take a ride on it, but never fill out the application.  There are so many citizens that could be great firefighters, but they already have themselves in the mindset that they can't do it.  OR, they think that the department is paid and they don't want to "switch careers" at this point in their lives.
 
But, there is another evil working against the volunteer firefighter that always seems to be left un-discussed.  The volunteer fire company.  VFC's always have some sort of minimum time commitment that's associated with their memberships.  Generally speaking, probationary firefighters have to put in the largest commitment, and as your career progresses the less of a commitment you have to make.  A lot of companies make the minimum commitment so high at the beginning that there is a large washout rate.  It's almost like some companies don't want to bring in new firefighters because in this day and age it is far too difficult to keep up with the training and time commitments (never mind that too many people require second and third incomes to survive).
 
There is too much working against the volunteer firefighter. Yes, time commitments are important, especially with newer firefighters that need the training and the experience.  Yes, it's a thankless job to bust you butt for free.  Yes, you lose time in your personal life where you have to leave a party or a family function for the big one.  For those of us who stick through it we show that the volunteer firefighter can prevail.  We show that we do mean something.  We just have to find a way to show everybody else that they can do the same and start handing them applications.

Once again politics rears it ugly head.
 
The hiring of the chief's son,IMO, should be celebrated, The fire service has a always been a family. Sounds like the chief ruffled a few feathers, so this is the payback.

 
http://www.peekskillpost.net/peekskill-fire-chief-vincent-malaspina-resigns-after-city-cites-nepotism-concerns/

Unsure of Year but here's Van 2 Ford van on loan to Co#2 it's used as a manpower unit & fire school bus yeah it's old pic taken last weekend 

That's a great video showing how pre-planning your area before purchasing a rig is always a great idea. I think that while great, most departments don't have the man power to operate the tiller. In Westchester, most are lucky to get one guy on the rig. Does the Officer drive the front or the back? It sucks to bring up staffing but its the hard truth when it comes to these apparatus.

It maybe the reality, but that's the whole point of this thread. We have more apparatus in Westchester than FDNY, but more than half never goes out the door and the rigs that do are almost always understaffed. Maybe instead of maintaining 100's of unnecessary equipment, we need to worry about staffing.
 
the point of the testing was to show that they did much worst. In fact the chances of survival for a victim was much better with a four man crew that arrived latter than two 2 man crews that arrived sooner.