RICHEB126

Members
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    22

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by RICHEB126

  4. Posted

    Is Spring Valley Fire specifically prohibited form conducting their own hydrant pressure and flow tests?? And as far as where all the hydrants are. There has got to be someone on the FD that's been around long enough to know where the hydrants are. Sounds like the old days when competitve Fire Co's used to put barrels over the hydrant until their respective rigs showed up for first water.

    AFS1970 likes this

  10. Posted

    I agree Don....a super nice gesture....but my Family will never "stroll the park" and visit the memorial...it is inside the confines of Mansion Square Park....and while it is patrolled by some of the best cops in the County...it is still, as mentioned above...inside Ghetto Park.....

    I know and respect many of the Exempt's members, some good fireman are regulars there...but as mentioned, they are not MY voice....

    To all who have commented on the LODD memorial in the park. I respect your opinions as I hope you'll respect mine. For two years much labor and fund raising was done to put in place a fitting memorial to the FF of Dutchess County Fire Departments who made the the ultimate sacrifice. It is amazing just how many, over the years as career or volunteer who gave their lives for their communities. The cost of the project should be of no consiquence. How can you put a dollar value on a persons life who gave all for their community. This memorial will stand the test of time and man. Unfortunately there will always be politics to slant or muddy a project to honor the history of fire fighting which is all to fast being lost.

    I had the privilege of attending the service at St. Paul's as well as the unveiling of the stone after, it was extremely tastefully & professionally done. Taking no sides, honoring all.

    Each memorial stone should compliment the other to preserve the memory of all fallen firefighters. It should not matter where they are placed. It is unfortunate that the Mansion Street Park has the rep. that it has, but where the memorial is placed should be a safe haven for anyone who wants to stop by.

  19. Posted

    Unfortunately like many organizations, The Exempt Firemen's association has gone through many different periods in its history. At one point they even had their own fire station on Liberty Street where the mystery hand pumper was housed. the 5 years of active duty, career or volunteer did at one point offer the member a pass on jury duty etc. As time passed the club changed as many of the "real" members either moved on, lost interest or died. with in the last year there has been a serious effort to swing the emphasis back to the firematics side of the room. The current and last Presidents of the organization are active FF's in the county. A FF can still obtain his or her Exempt status and thus become "Exempt". Yes there is still a large number of "Social" members but they do work quite hard to make a nice place to go and have a drink, get a burger or some clams and just kick back.

    They are currently working very hard to co-host the Hudson valley Convention on '11. the down stairs of the club has been set up with a great deal of Poughkeepsie Volunteer and early Career History. the the Memorial being worked on as we speak will be a fitting tribute to any and all deceased FF both Vol & Career from the area in the park

    And for the record more than a few FF now take active part in functions at the Exempts and more are showing interest.

    To paraphrase on a movie quote "If you build on it, they will come"

  20. Posted

    To interested parties. the hand pumper currently in Pleasant Valley, is as far as I can tell, a piece of Pleasant Valley History. Unfortunately the oldest village records were destroyed by fire in the early 20's I believe. The one note of fact I found came from an article put out by the history of the post office which made mention of the village fire company accepting the membership of a young man in 1826. Everyone I have spoken too about the old tub says they always saw it around town. they even make mention of the kids in town playing with it at Don Robison's Saw Mill back in the day. It has seen several make overs and we are currently on the home stretch to make it pump water again. this was a class "C" hand tub with 4 1/2" pistons, typical of small villages. Poughkeepsie even came to the aid of the Valley back in the mid 1800's when the inn near the rail road station burned. I believe the"Niagara" steamer was loaded on a flat car and brought to the valley by the old Poughkeepsie and Eastern RR to help quell the blaze. :lol:

  21. Posted

    Don't even get me started on the "P" word. We were essentially told we couldn't "Afford" their product and this after we purchased a 2007 Contender. As far as I'm concerned, theee worst job of salesmanship by a dealer. Many Pierces have been built and serve their communities well but if the dealership doesn't step up then the apparatus, no matter how well built is doomed to failure!

  22. Posted

    Ahh yes our Ferraras. **THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY** I will say, they have nice cabs and drive very well. However, yes our rigs are too big, and yes our hosebeds are way too high. I wasnt in the dept when they were specing these trucks out so there isn't much I can say about why they turned out the way they did. Not to insult anybody who worked on the project at all, there are a few things I would have done differently. It really is true, you get what you spec. As far as quality is concerned, its not very good. It always seems like something is wrong with at least one of the trucks at any given time. These may not big problems all the time, but even so, it seems like its always something that shouldnt be an issue. All this aside, they still make a decent truck, however this is my warning to any dept considering purchasing a Ferrara. They like to gloat about how good their warranty is and their customer service is. With our experiences, in this respect they have been absolutely horrible. They didnt want to warranty things that should be, and they just havent been good to deal with. This is as I see it, if there is anybody else from my dept on here, please, correct me if anything I said is inaccurate. Personally, do I like the trucks? I have to say, I'm not the biggest fan.

    As a crusty old Vollie of too many years I have seen many changes. I have worked on several apparatus committees and helped design what I felt were functional apparatus for our fire dept. Form and function take up alot of design issues. In my department we have to take virtually all our water with us. This time of year it gets worse, central water for all in my town is eons off. So what do you take?, you take it ALL and there presents the size issues. The broader problem is dealing with all the initials. NFPA, EPA, Niosh, PESH, with subtitles like PPE, TPE,

    To vary from an apparatus MFG basic specifications whether it be Pumper, tanker, ETA, ladder,

    quint, what ever adds $$$$. Most municipalities have already started to rein in their 2008 spending because of budget short falls and or miscalculations, I know first hand because I help supply alot of items related to those initials mentioned above

    Boards want it kept as inexpensive as possible, we want it built to fit our needs and it is very tough to accomplish both these days. Affairs of warranty need to be scrutinized. Typically Engine, tranny, pump each are covered by their manufacturers. The apparatus itself should have a warranty which needs to be read very carefully.

    Unfortunately "Rock Solid" apparatus manufacturers are hard to come by and so is trust. In 1962 my department bought two class "A" Oren 750/750 pumpers for $32,000.00 In 68 we bought two front mount "Custom" Oren pumpers for approx $38,000.00 by the way that was the total cost for each purchase of two! My how times have changed!