JM15

Wow language changes over 80 years are interesting.
Springdale: "and to establish and maintain club rooms, for social intercourse and the promotion of the interests of the company and the purpose thereof".

Yes and I heard a bunch of their "in-service" members were out there picking it up today...

A CFA Fire Instructor II class will be held at the Belltown Fire Department 8 Dorlen Rd Stamford, CT beginning Sunday April 6 2014.

Course Dates and Times:

April 6, 13, 20 8:30-16:30
May 11, 18 8:30 -16:30
June 1 8:30 Practical examination
June 11 19:00 Written examination

Course fee is $300.00 plus textbook

Anyone interested please call 203-323-0626 before March 31, 2014 to reserve a place in the class.

One that comes to work with a monogramed brief case.

Someone needs to have thicker skin.

From my experience, every time there is a major issue at hand that could potentially be of some type of embarassment to the fire department or the fire district, the commissioners say that it is somehow related to a personnel issue (Obviously!!! How else would the department be embarassed if not by the actions of an individual or group of individuals) and that it must be discussed in a closed door meeting. They then return to the floor and any questions asked regarding the issue are deflected by saying that "it is connected to a personnel issue and connot be discussed for fear of litigation" (exactly what was said in the aforecited article by the Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners). Then, if a newspaper or reporter asks any question about a personnel matter, the Commissioners buy time by saying that the reporter must FOIL them. Then after they get the FOIL request, they defer to the same tactic and say that they can't discuss personnel issues.
SO WHY WOULD THE PUBLIC ATTEND? I was a 10 year member of the emergency services community (5 years as an Officer) and it didn't take me longer than a year to stop going to those meetings because all of the pertinent matters are discussed behind closed doors. The commissioners were talking about things that directly impacted me as a firefighter and I got fed up and wrote those meetings off as a waste of my time. Why should John Q Taxpayer feel any different? Just like everything else with politicians, they hide behind smoke screens, generalities, and procedure until taxpayers who have legeitimate questions about their emergency services get fed up and determine that its not worth their time to figure seek the answers that they desire. They then curse the Department, the Chiefs, and the Commissioners under their breath and tell their entire circle of friends within the community over dinners and drinks about their awful experience with the Fire Department (they generalize) and what bad corrupt people they are. Then neither they nor their friends within the community attend, vote, or volunteer (or donate).
I think some people in this business (no reflection on you Bnechis or FFPCogs as I truly appreciate your posts/views) have a tendency to say "why is the public doing this to us?" instead of "What are we doing to make the public think of us in this light?" and "How are we driving people away?" The emergency services can blame the kids who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths; they can blame the businessmen who have no time for their community; they can blame the economy for creating stagnant conditions that require people to work so hard that they have no time to volunteer; they can blame video games. BUT IN MY OPINION, THEY SHOULD REALLY TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND ASK THEMSELVES WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO MAKE PEOPLE NOT WANT TO ATTEND, VOTE, OR VOLUNTEER. After all, how is your retention rate? Most places can't even keep the people that are interested to begin with.
Just like your reputation within the department, it takes 10 "atta boys" to get rid of one "oh s***." Does your organization have 10 equally weighted positive articles published (or stories/rumors spread around the community) about it for every 1 negative article that has been published about it in the recent past. I can tell you with complete certainty that the organization with which I was previously affiliated absolutely does not. The emergency services are not getting a bad rap out of thin air.

Seems to be a lot of hard feelings about this "incident"

I think CFFD is responding to GBFD for other reason then consolidation..... can anyone but some light on the subject?

My Department had many Engines like this up until 1990. It was a popular feature in Volunteer Departments in the North East especially on Mack trucks. Believe it or not back in the day the "bench seats" above the hose beds were usually filled with many bodies gearing up!
Photos circa 1971

@firnatime....Are you volly or career? Just curious because your profile is vague. Maybe if we knew who you were your post might be more meaniful. Bnechis is respected fire officer in a career department and im sure has seen more fire than you have. If we all had 5 man engine companies (like FDNY) or put 50 FF on a first alarm (like FDNY) than none of this would be a concern. We don't and can't. I think you need to take a look at FDNY history. Reverse stretch is not done because its better at every job, it's done to make room for the trucks because space is an issue.

No offense, Seth, but posts such as this one are a perfect example of why I rarely post here anymore and also why I recommend to our young guys that they use this site and other similar sites solely for entertainment and local incident alerts only. For the purpose of fire service education and intelligent discourse that is vetted and edited by credible experts, stick to the edited fire service journals and websites published by such entities as Fire Engineering, Fire Chief, Fire Rescue, Firehouse, WNYF, NFPA, NIOSH, NFA, FEMA, and fire service textbooks. There are many experienced, educated, intelligent, and reasonable individuals who post on here, however there is also an incredible amount of disinformation and outright falsehoods / nonsense. For our newer fire service membership (which we have very many of currently in YFD) who may not yet have learned which sources are credible and which are not, take what you read here with a healthy dose of skepticism. Oh, and QTIP....

I know the question was specifically what ONE thing rookies should know. Unfortunately it is not that simple. When I teach I try to emphasize they need to learn to follow the Marine Corps philosophy of "adapt, improvise, and overcome." In addition, whenever I teach a probie class, I hand out something I got from Lt. Tim Klett of FDNY many year ago he refers to as "The Four Ups" which all firefighters, career or volunteer, should take to heart and live by.
“Listen Up”
“When you are first starting in the fire service, there is a lot going on. You are entering a culture that is unlike any other one on this planet. You will hear stories, tales and just plain B.S. But listen carefully. That is our past talking. All of the information has value….Listen to the older, over-the-hill, past-their-prime, malcontents, for the little ‘pearls of wisdom’ that aren’t in any textbooks. A lot of important information that will help keep you safe and alive on the fire ground is not written down. The fire service is very young. We are losing our experience. The firefighters that went to fires during the war years are slowly retiring. Talk to them before they leave. We are losing our history, we are losing our past. Don’t let this happen.”
“Clean Up”
“The firehouse is your second home. Treat it as such. And if you are the junior firefighter working, you are the lowest on the totem pole. You get the dirty work….This is based on the fact that all the junior people before you did it, or should have done it. You do it until the next probie (comes along). It is part of belonging, it is doing what you should be doing. And it is always pretty funny, because in my experience, the ones that piss and moan about doing the chores usually end up doing them by themselves for a long time. But the ones that just do it…usually find that they have help. They become accepted into the “family” a little quicker.”
“Step Up”
“Be involved in your company and in your department. Attend company functions, help run them if possible….Become a productive member of your Company. Above all, go to funerals and services, especially the line of duty ones. Pay your respects. Become a part of the fire service by deed and not by mouth.”
“Shut Up”
“Spend more time listening and doing than talking about it. Show by your actions and your deeds what type of firefighter and member of this great Brotherhood you are.”

Just as it was told to me...short and sweet
Have big ears and a small mouth.
As for the why, well you can't learn anything if your lips are flapping and as a new guy it's your job to learn

I had the honor of meeting Tomasz's family and some of the Members of West Webster FD at NFFF Memorial Weekend this year. Great people, the department sent down about 100 people to the service.
Received this from WWFD after the service:

In NYS it is required by law for all Firefighters (including scene support) to have Hazmat Ops BEFORE they are allowed to respond to ANY calls.

Why is this in the Law Enforcement section?
First of all, I totally agree in required training for Officers. We recently implemented requirements for our officers, which followed the recommendations of OFPC (DHSES, whatever they are now) and/or NYSAFC (I forget who). We added some other stuff. In order to be flexible to the masses, we had to let former officers be allowed to hold positions again for another two years to give guys time to meet the new requirements, provided the past officer isn't moving up, in which case they must meet the new requirements.
Second, and I swear by this - it doesn't matter what classes or training someone has. If the guy/gal hasn't been around long enough to earn their peers' respect on and off the fireground - they don't belong in the ranks. Experience, training, attendance above that of the minimum, common sense and a mindset of doing the greater good for their company/department are the attributes of a good officer.
Third, you can have someone who either does or does not have a lot of training run your department into the ground. We have suffered quite a few poor Chiefs and poor Company Officers over the years, and I am sure we'll make those mistakes again. (Hopefully I am wrong) You can have a Chief who does nothing at all for two years, followed by one that does a ton and changes things for the good for two, then have another flapjack come in and set you all back in time again for two years. Realistically, term limits should be looked at and if the majority is content with their leadership - why change it because it is someone else's turn? If a guy is in say, 5 years, and the majority has had their fill of him, VOTE HIM OUT. It isn't rocket science to me, but I am part of the minority.
Westchester-area Career Officers generally get FDNY's FLIP school, right? Man I would give my left nut for that kind of program. The officer courses offered to the rest of us don't tell you how to handle your calls - they just tell you how to avoid getting sued and show you ways to earn your members' respect (which is fine, but where the f*** is the REAL TRAINNG?!?!)
I think there are plenty of people in this county - paid and volunteer - that could put together an amazing officer program for both sides of the fence which would cover your soup to nuts. Then, and only then, could any of us really feel "trained & prepared."
/rant

"4 Guys Tanker with the chassis of Spartan ERV"
Spartan ERV does not make chassis, they make the apparatus. The chassis is a Spartan, which owns Spartan ERV, but that is run as an independent company that competes with 4 guys and others

FAST / RIT is not supposed to be a special op's resource or a special team, county team, select group of folks who are trained differently or to a higher level than other firefighters, etc. FAST / RIT skills are necessary for EVERY firefighter every bit as much as any other firefighting essential functions are. When a MAYDAY is transmitted, IMMEDIATE action by knowledgeable, skilled firefighters is required. FAST / RIT operations are often required very early on during an incident, obviously we all need to be ready to perform appropriately and immediately when a firefighter requires assistance due to entrapment or medical condition while in a hazardous location. FAST / RIT training absolutely needs to be a requirement for new firefighters prior to certification. Currently certified firefighters who are not FAST / RIT certified should be required to attend the course and become certified. Firefighting is not a game, a passtime or a hobby, it's about life and death. Those who don't see it that way need to find a different calling.

Congrats to the newest class of 60 Control dispatchers!
Sal Astarita #668
Chris McGee #669
Alex Camacho #670
Mike Cyrulik #671
Alex Dennett #672

We'll see if any real fire depts. go for this "change." Close all the doors on the inside and hit it from the outside first. It seems to me that if you could get in to close doors, you could get in and put the fire out. This sounds like Lloyd Laymen deja vu...it works in a confined space but that's all.
Bear in mind that when you hit it from the outside, you've created steam inside. You lose much of your visibility for fire attack and search and steamed any victims that might be present.
Sometimes the tactic of an outside knock-down is a good one for perhaps a fully involved basement fire that has made the basement stairs untenable. However, if you do choose the outside knock-down, bear in mind that you may not be able to get down the stairs because it is still the chimney. You're still going to heavy steam and probably zero visibility.
Look at the picture in the article at the beginning of this thread. That's a vent hole, lad. It is only one window, so you don't know the whole situation, but your best bet is to leave it as a vent hole and go inside and bang a straight stream off the ceiling of the fire room then finish it up with a lower angled line. You kept a lot of your visibility for extinguishment and search, so just thank Mother Nature she had the wind blowing in your favor.
All these studies are under controlled conditions and you can do that at an actual incident too. Just get the fire to a manageable point, by tried and true methods, then pick up your radio and say under control.

Radios confuse me.

Chief, thank you for the complement. That was definitely the point I was trying to make. This horse has been beaten to death, and the people who fear change will still refuse to listen to common sense and logic, no matter what we say about it.

Drive fast, take chances.

Lets not forget in all of this "Stuff" the fantastic job the Brothers did that night under these extreme circumstances--. rescues were made-- civilians were saved--firefighters put their lives on the line for the citizens of Mt Vernon.
To any firefighter pulling up on a scene and being told that people were trapped in side--chills run up and down your spine--your training kicks into high gear and you go to work doing the best you can. Those firefighters and Officers that night were sworn to protect the citizens of Mount Vernon and they did it to the best of their ability. 2 men 3 men it didn't matter - people were trapped and they went to work, knowing full well that at any time it could be them in trouble...it didn't matter- they did it any way. For that the people of Mt Vernon should be proud of firefighters and Officers of FDMV.
Let politics take its course--it will all shake out--but FDMV did a yeoman's job that night.
Just my thoughts

Would love to know what law and federal overseeing agency. I have yet to know of any.