Flashpoint

WHY is the question. WHY did that person have to go that route? Not so much the write in ballot, but at the very last minute. WHY was false info put out there? WHY did they not want to campaign for votes? Just ask yourself that and think about how that may look.

I don't see why everyone is calling this a sneak attack, if write ins were considered sneaky then why are they allowed? It seems to me that the people of Somers both members and non members felt there needed to be a change in the board of fire commissioners and exercised their civil rights to vote for anyone they chose to. Everyone here is talking about this as if they are members of the Somers fire department and know what goes on there but except for one commenter it doesn't appear to be that way.

Please. Admit it. He was a sacrificial lamb who was clearly retaliated against from a small minority of members who are scared of the future of the district and how it affects them and their egos, NOT the public they serve.. The way the members who went after him went about it unethically and unfairly. If they wanted him out, why couldn't they run a fair campaign against him, instead of a coordinated, sneaky, last minute, write in vote tactic? Explain that.

What amazes me is at this point, with the way they're burning the candle at both ends of extremely low, inexperienced manpower, and low member turnout on calls, that the state hasn't stepped in and said enough is enough before a disaster happens. The District has already basically come out and stated, indirectly, that they don't think the experience in the ranks in good enough to run the department successfully by adding a line item in the budget for a career chief.

WOW.
So what difference would it make if Jim made $200,000 or the other candidate who gets elected makes $200,000? How would that change the outcome?
Did the opposing side do anything illegal? Please do not bring up the immoral or inappropriate ways this played out. Maybe looking at how that fire district conducts its business and the damage it causes on daily basis if you want to see immorality and inappropriate behavior.
A lot of people chimed in and put in their two cents. You know who the only true losers will be? The members that serve the district and public. The drama and "payback" that I am sure is already in the works and the toll it will take on members with dissenting opinions will be far reaching and those who have targets on their backs, who already have lost friendships, who have already suffered and who still struggle to find a reason to serve and do the right thing will lose again.
The fact is the Somers Fire District is in terrible shape. It is a sinking ship with its crew members busy fighting each other and looking out for their own interests and egos as boat goes down. If it wasnt for the fact that REAL people will die and property will be lost this would be a great TV show. Its a bad movie where real people suffer.
Jim Arena is a great person. A friend. A man I know I could count on anytime, anyplace, anywhere. He is well respected and liked among the people, even among the ones that did vote against him last night.
By the way. Do you have proof that the other candidate started any of those rumors, made any of those emails, or did any of those appalling things you say they did?
Or are you just as guilty of spreading vicious, outrageous and false claims as the person you so vehmently despise?

I see a lot of people talking here and from what i see all are anonymous, Well I am not i am an ex chief past commissioner of the Somers F.D., residents both member and non members of the F.D, felt it was time for a change. Unfortunately the petition time was missed so we had to do a write in which is 100% legal and a voters right. The people who backed the candidate are tired of the way the Somers Fire District is doing things , You can speculate all you want here but unless you are in the department and live it you don't know.To say the upcoming Chief is not qualified is a bunch of crap!!! The person next in line to be chief holds all of the qualifications required by the SFD and then some. He is also a certified fire inspector and holds the qualifications to be a building inspector. He is currently, and no disrespected intended to the other two chiefs, the ONLY qualified INTERIOR firefighter " bailout certified" in the chiefs office. The qualification he lacks is butt kissing 101 as he stands up for the members and what he believes. The fire district has done some very questionable unethical things recently. Which is why it was time to change the board the person elected id the first in a long time non member of the / a fire department. So a different and open minded perspective can be brought in. I wish her the best of luck and will happily support her.

You and I both know very well that we've been up and down that road with their admin...lol. Nothing will change.
From the FD side, we at one point started fining them every time we responded for avoidable automatic alarms and malicious pulls. As far as EMS, I seriously doubt they would ever contract a private service (and I'm sure Transcare/Empress/whoever won't want a contract there).
NWP is covered by Valhalla VAC for EMS calls. NWPFD only responds to ALS calls (essentially when the 37 Medic is also dispatched), and there are a handfull of members that are EMT's. Protocol is that an EMT must be present for E74 to respond to an EMS call.

In some rural areas, the major apparatus can be 15 or more minutes behind a chief officer responding directly to the scene. It may not put out a barn fire, but it may prevent a small fire from getting out of control or it may provide cover to effect a rescue.
It's not an answer to all things but a useful tool for some things.

It seems like Hawthorne goes to 226 Linda Ave (Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center) numerous times a day, for commercial alarms and mostly minor EMS calls. This has got to be taxing on their resources, yet not a tax paying property.
How do you prevent volunteer burnout with someplace like this? I would not want to be getting up at 3 in the morning every night for several nights in a row for the same repetitive bull.

I think it's a question of what New Rochelle is doing right and others are doing wrong.

It seems like Hawthorne goes to 226 Linda Ave (Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center) numerous times a day, for commercial alarms and mostly minor EMS calls. This has got to be taxing on their resources, yet not a tax paying property.
How do you prevent volunteer burnout with someplace like this? I would not want to be getting up at 3 in the morning every night for several nights in a row for the same repetitive bull.

This is kind of a rhetorical question, no? Reality is, New Rochelle FD should be able to handle more than an All-hands without outside assistance or coverage, but that's on the politicians who refuse to properly fund adequate staffing and coverage.
This is a "bigger picture" discussion. It's my opinion that, if a department must call MX aide upon every transmission of a "working fire", they are under-funded and thus, under staffed. The same applies to volunteer departments. Everything bread-and-butter (yes, this includes a 1 or 2 line fire) should be handled by the responsible department without help.

Anyone know why they chose the Inferno chassis as opposed to the Ultra they went with with the engines?

Larchmont has a cascade on their new rescue. Small one though don't know the specs or capability.

Anyone know why they chose the Inferno chassis as opposed to the Ultra they went with with the engines?

Larchmont has a cascade on their new rescue. Small one though don't know the specs or capability.

I think Larchmont just has the mentality "The Town Of Mamaroneck will cover us". What if they have their own calls to cover? I can't imagine the Town is OK with this.
What happens if somebody is trapped in a fire in Larchmont? How will they justify sending all their career firefighters, the only ones who can drive Larchmont apparatus, to cover a firehouse in Yonkers? In effect, they took the entire department out of service to go mutual aid to standby for another department that's not even nearby. How will they explain that to the residents? I hope Larchmont comes up with a better plan for next time.

Larchmont had 3 members in quarters. But volunteers cannot drive so their apparatus was useless. They did a callback of career staff but that didn't place an engine into service until 5AM, several hours after the TL left with all the career staff on duty to go to Yonkers to standb

I thought I had heard a while back that Pelham didn't have any more volunteers due to the lack of interest of the community, and that carrying the volunteers was too expensive for their insurance.

I think Larchmont just has the mentality "The Town Of Mamaroneck will cover us". What if they have their own calls to cover? I can't imagine the Town is OK with this.
What happens if somebody is trapped in a fire in Larchmont? How will they justify sending all their career firefighters, the only ones who can drive Larchmont apparatus, to cover a firehouse in Yonkers? In effect, they took the entire department out of service to go mutual aid to standby for another department that's not even nearby. How will they explain that to the residents? I hope Larchmont comes up with a better plan for next time.

I think Larchmont just has the mentality "The Town Of Mamaroneck will cover us". What if they have their own calls to cover? I can't imagine the Town is OK with this.
What happens if somebody is trapped in a fire in Larchmont? How will they justify sending all their career firefighters, the only ones who can drive Larchmont apparatus, to cover a firehouse in Yonkers? In effect, they took the entire department out of service to go mutual aid to standby for another department that's not even nearby. How will they explain that to the residents? I hope Larchmont comes up with a better plan for next time.

Larchmont had 3 members in quarters. But volunteers cannot drive so their apparatus was useless. They did a callback of career staff but that didn't place an engine into service until 5AM, several hours after the TL left with all the career staff on duty to go to Yonkers to standb

Larchmont had 3 members in quarters. But volunteers cannot drive so their apparatus was useless. They did a callback of career staff but that didn't place an engine into service until 5AM, several hours after the TL left with all the career staff on duty to go to Yonkers to standb

I think Larchmont just has the mentality "The Town Of Mamaroneck will cover us". What if they have their own calls to cover? I can't imagine the Town is OK with this.
What happens if somebody is trapped in a fire in Larchmont? How will they justify sending all their career firefighters, the only ones who can drive Larchmont apparatus, to cover a firehouse in Yonkers? In effect, they took the entire department out of service to go mutual aid to standby for another department that's not even nearby. How will they explain that to the residents? I hope Larchmont comes up with a better plan for next time.

Larchmont had 3 members in quarters. But volunteers cannot drive so their apparatus was useless. They did a callback of career staff but that didn't place an engine into service until 5AM, several hours after the TL left with all the career staff on duty to go to Yonkers to standb