Bottom of Da Hill

did you see on ch 12 his comments?mt vernon ff.s are some what good?he doesnt give a crap abt his fire dept! hats off to the brothers in the vern they do the best with what they have stay safe bro.s

Sometimes you can have all the proper staffing in the world and not save lives, like last weekends fire in the Bronx that killed 3 children. FDNY has great staffing and a pretty quick response, and Elmsford had a quick response with a lot of manpower with their fatal fire the weekend before. But by staffing under par, the chances of fatalities can greatly increase as if you don't have enough firefighters. How are you supposed to get to every trapped victim as well as all the other things that need to be done upon arrival?
This also shows how strict code enforcement can potentially save lives. (That's why there are codes). Not staffing your fire department and not having a proper code enforcement program in areas known for illegal subdivisions shows that the Mayor of Mount Vernon doesn't care if his citizens are safe or not.
Also, I thought things in MVFD were going pretty well as they can be and settling down and they were making some progress to repair years of neglect. I guess not.
It should also be noted that Mount Vernon is not the only community in southern/central Westchester that is understaffed. Fairview only has 2 guys on E-174/5, one firefighter on Ladder 1, Hartsdale usually has one guy on TL-15 and two on E-169. Eastchester and Scarsdale don't ride with full crews, nor does Pelham or Pelham Manor.Those are "combination" departments, but the volunteers have dwindled, have volunteers who can't be interior, or don't have them at all anymore. What about Rye Brook? A lone driver has to bring Engine 59 to sit there at night, depending on staffing from Port Chester. And I think White Plains FD is understaffed as well. How much more outrage would there have been if something like that had happened in one of those wealthier communities, where people pay an enormous amount in taxes? Would they accept there weren't enough firefighters? Would things change, or since it's people living in a poor urban area, the Mount Vernon politicians can get away with it?

1) The County Executive, What about the Gov. or Obama? NYS is a home rule state and until we realize that that is why are taxes are so high and our services so low it will continue. Until we say that emergency service should not be covered by home rule, then its not the problem or responsibility of anyone beyond the local boarder to establish levels of response.
2) County DPS is a law enforcement agency. If you mean DES (Dept of Emergency Services) their is nothing they can do about it. State law says city's must provide fire protection, but they have never defined to what level or the quality.
3) Maybe he should order DES to take over...oh what its illegal in NYS for counties to run fire departments.
You know I agree with consolidation, but until laws are changed, not much else is going to change.

I'm not sure I see exactly what "County Administrator Rob Asterino" has to do with fire protection in Mount Vernon. While yes, the citizens of Mount Vernon took the city backwards in putting Davis back in office; until Westchester County establishes a county-wide fire department, the "County Department of Public Safety" should have no involvement in local town/village/city/district fire protection.
Also, Rob Astorino is the County Executive and the County Department of Public Safety was created by the merger of the Parkway Police and Sheriff's Office.

The city barely gives them enough FF to cover the engines and ladders. Vehicle or not, how can they cover a rescue too?

and RUN FAST!!!!!
you only have to be faster then the last guy!

come on its not a parade now,its a hazmat call you dont run away,

Harrison Seagrave.

That only works with a wild animal. Hazmat you have to out run the chemical and it does not stop at the 1st victim

FULL ARTICLE: http://rivertowns.dailyvoice.com/news/ray-kelly-says-westchester-helps-stop-nyc-terrorism-crime

This is an interesting discussion. It's interesting to see how many fans of PD consolidation there are here but everytime the subject of FD consolidation comes up it's a horrible idea. Hmmmm...
Stores are private enterprises and have no comparison in this discussion. We don't pay for stores unless we choose to shop there. We do pay for every government service. That the Village of Tuckahoe chose to put its midnight desk cop on the road and have the County PD dispatch them only relates to dispatching. Your points about beat cops and CT is moot since this plan will put another Tuckahoe cop on the street.
The resident "with clout" will still get a local cop and if it saves 200K a year, that may be substantial in a village the size of Tuckahoe.

I have no idea why I thought it was 750, doesn't even make sense looking back on it. Thanks for the correction and I've updated my post

Correct you are not penalized if you carry the full compliment of engine compnay tools & hose.
ISO credits Quints as 1.5 units: an Engine and 1/2 a ladder or 1/2 an engine and 1 ladder (the dept can choice). Now this can help or hurt your rating. ISO requires 2 engines & 1 ladder or service company plus water supply units if no hydrants. Ladder vs service is based on building size/height in district and a service company is a rescue. Now if you send 2 quints thats 2 engines and 1 ladder you can be credited (but you still need 6 on each minimum [4 engine, 2 ladder]) if you take and engine and ladder and replace it with a quint it will hurt your ratings.
Rescue pumper works the same way, Its an engine & 1/2 service company so 2 of them may reduce the need for a ladder, but most rescue pumpers do not carry enough ground ladders to even be close and agian maining needs to be for both companies, minimum 6.
Generally a rescue pumper does not hurt ISO rating, but it may not help.

westchester 2000? report.

westchester 2000? report.

Good luck everyone.
A few of my buddies got the typing notice for the test. Not sure what the qualifying word per minute score is. Somebody told them to also keep an eye out for the food consumption evaluation test notice. I think the minimum qualifications are 4 meals and/or snacks before lunch time.

The storms over the past couple of years have highlighted some needs for us, and we have either received those or are in the process of securing them.
We lost our old, aluminum "Rescue Boat" during Irene. With the FEMA money we replaced it with a 14' Mercury RIB w/ 25 HP motor. We (prior to this) expanded our water rescue abilities with training and equipment, as well as dual-responses with neighboring Yorktown FD's Water Rescue Team. During Sandy, we were able to put this boat on the ready as well as our spare 12' inflatable.
Sandy knocked out power to our only firehouse without a generator. Although it is in the Capital Budget for next year, our village has approved to pursue a federal grant now to install it. Hopefully it works out.
The storms have sent us on dozens of calls that don't truly require the response of our larger apparatus, nor a ton of manpower. This year we were able to get the village to purchase us a Utility Truck, which we are in the process of getting ready to purchase and build.
This vehicle will be outfitted with extra saws, traffic barricades, trash pumps and the like for storm-related calls. It will also allow us to take specialized equipment from a rig going out of service and keep it on a vehicle so we don't lose it - something we've lacked for a long time.
Lastly, our "Radio Room" has seen some equipment additions and upgrades, and more on the way. This will give us a better place to set up and dispatch our units from during storms. A secondary communications system has been built and put on another firehouse - which is also our Village's backup EOC now.
I believe anytime we come up short on something, that should be the last time. If we don't learn from our mistakes, we are doing a disservice to everyone.

come on i got the lunch.its not a parade.

sad story here the man is out sick and they fire his son to?look at the poor brother over in eastchester what he.s going thru and now this!.come on brothers band together and lets stop this BS we lost alot of guys on and after 911 do to cancers and other illnesses.were,s the brotherhood? i hope they catch the poeple who did this.karma will,

I don't even know this guy, but from the sounds of it, if you are against him you are a moron. Any man who is willing to risk his reputation for the safety of the men is what I consider an allstar. All these guys who think he is the problem should go take a walk outside of Sloan Kettering on York Ave. Look at all the people who are sick from cancer, then see why this guy is so adamant about your welfare. Or you could just be in the clique and suck up to the next Chief and get stretch marks on your mouth.

You know what I mean bro, if you have an issue sort it out at work, not bring it home. And yes, no leaving dead animals anywhere - that's just nasty.

nice truck good luck with it and again nice job with the spec the lay out is great,stay safe.

New Rig Ladder Company # 12 is now in service.
Here is a photo. I did not take this photo and photo credit to Greg Rigos.

The city planned to enlarge the house in 1999, but to save $$$ took that project out. They new for the last 4 years that they would have to deal with it eventually.
Only 2 bidders out of 3 manufacturers who make a 100' rear mount that would fit. All of the rest would not even come close.
The new epa regs make the rig wider and taller.
When it was 1st delivered I backed it in to the fire house in one shot and I have not been a truck driver in a decade. It fit, but was very tight and the concern was if a driver is not carefull there will be a major problem.
Today one of the regular drivers backed it in, after the pedistal, railings and the door moldings had been modified and it was fine.
The rigs 90 years ago when this house was built were a lot smaller.

Agreed, but same size rig or smaller is no longer manufactured. In large part due to EPA engine emmission requirements.