JM15

Great that they are replacing a 39 year old (donated?) engine.
What is sad is that the Great State of New York with a $136.5 BILLION dollar budget needs a grant to replace this engine. It should have been replaced 20 years ago. Shows you how high a priority fire service training is in NYS.

The bigger problem is the old homes that have had additions. You think its well built and it is, except that new addition.
And we expect the property owner will advise us....The property owner cant even figure out what jurisdiction he lives in, but he is going to know that he has got truss construction. Another feel good bill.

Engine 198 is in service? That's weird, nobody told me. I am only the Co-Chairman of the truck committee.

No, not at all! I'm unsure where your getting your information from. We are still completing driver training and familiarization. We hope to have it in service shortly.

X635, Please look this way

You never saw it, it does not exist. " The flash of light you saw in the sky was not a UFO. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus."

It can take 6 - 12 months to certify a test.
It also takes at least a month to hire before an academy class. Interviews, medicals, drug and background screening, fitting & issuing uniforms & PPE, etc.
And that's assuming they are hiring.
Good luck, be patient and take lots of tests.
Also on many test if you are not a resident 6 - 12 months before the tests, your chances are 0

3 fire departments, 2 VAC's and a battalion for a bee sting in the parking lot....

You are all "missing the boat." NYC has seen MANY maritime disasters. In fact, the colony of New Amsterdam was formed because of a maritime disaster when the ship Tyger burned to the waterline while moored in lower Manhattan. Capt Adrien Block (ie, Block Island) and his crew built the first European structures on the island and inhabited them until they built a new ship (Onrust). The hull of the ship was found in 1916 during work on the subway system at Greenwich and Dey Streets; now under the WTC site. Two firefighters were killed in maritime fires; Thomas Cooney in 1902 (fire on the British Queen started near Hoboken but drifted to Governors Island) and John Harvey in 1930 (fire at Pier 42, aboard the Muenchen). Lt. Francis Blessing of Rescue 1 was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal for rescuing two men from a submarine fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1918. 1941, the SS Panuco at Pier 27 in Brooklyn - 41 dead. In 1942 the SS Normandie burned at Pier 88 where it rolled on its side and got stuck in the mud because of the instabilty caused by the massive amounts of water pumped in to battle the blaze. Fifty workers died aboard the SS Constellation at a fire in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1960. In 1966 the SS Alva Cape and SS Massahusetts collided and exploded, killing 33. Other fires occurred along the riverfronts that did not include ships, only the piers such as the Lukenbach pier in 1956 where 10 civlians died and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal fire in 1946 where FDNY Telegraph Bureau Lineman Harold Clandening made the Supreme Sacrifice. The most recent maritime disaster was the SI Ferry Andrew Barberi crash that killed 10 civilians; no fire but a maritime disaster responded to by FDNY. And of course, there are the ones already mentioned by the group.

Just one other note...I guess it depends how you define "biggest."

You are trying to compare an ADULT ONLY retirement community in sunny Florida to a congested NY county. You say you spent 30+ years as a FDNR dispatcher? You must know the area Eastchester FD serves. Do you think that 2 firefighters on a rig is a waste of money? I caught a fire the other nite on the 8th floor of a senior citizen apartment. 2 Eng. 1 Ladder and my Duty car : TOTAL 8 MEN. You pay low taxes because the Villages doesn't have to build or run SCHOOLS! Plus the SCAB labor of Rural Metro doesn't provide pensions to it's workers. I'm sure you retired in either Tier 1 or 2 of the NYS Pension system and every month you cash your check. Yet you defend Rural Metro and speak of wasteful spending and "Breaking the Bank". Shame on you, sir.

Side note: I believe last time I checked that the IAFF's stance on the pulmonary function test is that it should not be used to determine if a worker is healthy for work but just an added result to monitor long term.. OSHA standards do not specify that a spirometer test be done but that it can be used as a tool....
http://www.iaff.org/hs/Resi/pulmonary%20function%20tests.htm

Fork you fat boy!

Danbury FD is probably the closest. I am not sure how inter-state mutual aid works but Danbury and Brewster have worked together often in the past. Danbury's Special Operations Division includes a "heavy rescue" Squad 1 which is very well equipped with multiple hurst tools, lifting bags, rope rescue, etc. There is also trench capabilities through a dedicated trailer, a "gator", and the CT Northwest Regional Hazmat team which is based at Engine 26 across the street from the Danbury mall. The Hazmat team has a dedicated vehicle (Haz-Mat 1) similar to WCDES and also responds with a support vehicle. As far as manpower I am sure if requested resources sent would include the squad company of 3, an engine company of 3 and a commanding officer (maybe more). All would be highly trained, highly professional, and highly motivated (plus already staffed). I am sure I am leaving some stuff out but its been a long day and that is all I have right now.

Danbury FD is probably the closest. I am not sure how inter-state mutual aid works but Danbury and Brewster have worked together often in the past. Danbury's Special Operations Division includes a "heavy rescue" Squad 1 which is very well equipped with multiple hurst tools, lifting bags, rope rescue, etc. There is also trench capabilities through a dedicated trailer, a "gator", and the CT Northwest Regional Hazmat team which is based at Engine 26 across the street from the Danbury mall. The Hazmat team has a dedicated vehicle (Haz-Mat 1) similar to WCDES and also responds with a support vehicle. As far as manpower I am sure if requested resources sent would include the squad company of 3, an engine company of 3 and a commanding officer (maybe more). All would be highly trained, highly professional, and highly motivated (plus already staffed). I am sure I am leaving some stuff out but its been a long day and that is all I have right now.

Danbury is 15 minutes away, Westchester is at least 40 if not more. In Albany County they had a system where each dept if they had the desire could be a part of a specialized team. Luckily here our soil is not very sandy so its fairly stable. This was operator error, not a result of a true trench collapse. Realistically a cache of shoring should be kept somewhere other than at Home Depot in case $hits on. Basic building construction and knowing about loads and how to transfer them is not as common as it once was. New guys text and are on playstation all day and not out building a tree fort like they used to.

Also consider out of state resources. Danbury has a multitude of special operations equipment and some really excellently trained personnel to staff them. They definitely couldn't get the numbers SOTF could get, but you'd get some well trained people with some equipment on scene to at least get things started until additional resources could arrive.

BOLO*



*(Be on the lookout)

That's ok because it is part of everyday FD tool maintenance.

Shamelessly, I'd like to side track the thread a bit by congratulating the new Capt. John Baker. A great teacher and a well deserved promotion. And now back to the political wrangling.......

Working schedules not written in the contract? Im confused still on how this happened.

Hope you weren't driving...

New Haz-Mat 1?….

Date:4/3/14
Time:08:00
Incident Type:Major Structure Dire - multiple exposures
Location: Taylor Street
District: Torrington
Units:Multiple towns and cities - 36 departments from Litchfield County, Upper Fairfield County and Hartford County - 5 - State Foam trailers , DEEP multiple Task Forces activated (3 eng -2 trucks-rescue/air)

Description:
200x75 tire warehouse fully involved, multiple exposures on fire ( SHF/MFH). 4 alarms+++++ on scene or en route. evacuations of a 4 block residential area.
Live video streaming http://www.wfsb.com/category/222096/wfsb-livestream
Live audio - http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/9247/web
All 4 Torrington Departments
Winsted
New Hartford
Harwinton
Litchfeild
Bantam
Washington
Thomaston
Watertown
Waterbury
Danbury foam asignment - Sq 2 with foam trailer unsure which Engine co manned this unit.
Task Force 54:
Canton
Simsbury
Avon
Granby
Farmington
Danbury Area Task Force Ridgefield Tower 8, Danbury E 26 E-12 (tanker pumpers) Squad 7 ( fresh air and sunshine) Bethel's Stony Hill Eng 1 ( Tanker Pumper) Newtown 's Sandy Hook -Quint 440.
Hartford Eng 11, DC 2 and Foam unit
New Haven E15, Squad 1, Hazmat 1
Coverage:
Winchester and Waterbury ( think they went to work) covering Torrington
Pleasant Valley and Riverton covering Winsted from quarters
Farmington E2 covering New Hartford
Trumbull - Two Foam Engines requested to standby in quarters.

1. So long as personnel are operating within the IDLH - then yes, someone needs to be designated to the responsibility of firefighter rescue. How an IC handles this is their call.
2. Why doesn't Westchester have an accepted minimum training / minimum staffing requirement in the Mutual Aid plan for a FAST company?
3. Why is everyone depending on the Mutual Aid FAST to be their "solution" to cover their 2 In / 2 Out? Someone needs to be the "2 Out" right off the bat if you got "2 In."
4. What is a department's SOG when they have a MAYDAY? This is something our department is working on now for several months. Our biggest concern isn't so much what happens at an incident in our jurisdiction, it's when we go Mutual Aid. How do we go about getting the resources we're looking to get? What do you do if that IC refuses to call for them?
5. It's 2014. We have talked about FAS Teams for what, 15 or more years and had the same discussions/debates... let's knock off this bullshit and get a f***ing plan in place, train on it and pray we never need it! This isn't about paid vs. volunteer, this isn't about calling a department because they're your drinking buddies - THIS IS TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN.
I'm sorry guys, but this stuff truly strikes a nerve with me. But I know DAMN WELL that those of you who are intelligent firefighters, officers or past officers are agreeing with me and beating your head against your desk just like me.

I cannot imagine that GFD responds, on the first alarm within 8 minutes, this:



Anything less, and you're endangering life, of both your citizens, as well as the firefighters there.

Well said.
Now the diagram you have shown is the minimum response for a 2,000 sq ft home (or smaller) without a basement. Not many of those in Greenwich.
Anything larger requires more in the 1st 8 minutes.