fdalumnus

 
Was talking to a couple of the Kingston brothers a few weeks ago. They spec'd it for a Seagrave TDA about four years ago. City appropriated the money then sat on it for a few years and couldn't understand why they then didn't have enough money for it. Guess they didn't know about yearly price increases. Then they wanted FD to get a straight frame aerial citing cost difference of a TDA vs say, a rearmount. (one less operator needed, you know where they were going with that.) At least they're getting what the firefighters wanted. Kingston has so many tight streets, it's the logical and logistic way to go.

 
Was talking to a couple of the Kingston brothers a few weeks ago. They spec'd it for a Seagrave TDA about four years ago. City appropriated the money then sat on it for a few years and couldn't understand why they then didn't have enough money for it. Guess they didn't know about yearly price increases. Then they wanted FD to get a straight frame aerial citing cost difference of a TDA vs say, a rearmount. (one less operator needed, you know where they were going with that.) At least they're getting what the firefighters wanted. Kingston has so many tight streets, it's the logical and logistic way to go.

 
Was talking to a couple of the Kingston brothers a few weeks ago. They spec'd it for a Seagrave TDA about four years ago. City appropriated the money then sat on it for a few years and couldn't understand why they then didn't have enough money for it. Guess they didn't know about yearly price increases. Then they wanted FD to get a straight frame aerial citing cost difference of a TDA vs say, a rearmount. (one less operator needed, you know where they were going with that.) At least they're getting what the firefighters wanted. Kingston has so many tight streets, it's the logical and logistic way to go.

 
Not my pic, just sharing.

 Kingston,NY (Ulster County) has placed an order with New England Fire Equipment and Apparatus for a 2016 Smeal/LTC 105' Tractor Drawn Aerial. 

As stated, the petition lacked the signers voting district thereby invalidating the petition.  Also stated, the signers addresses were listed and could easily be added.  So add the voting districts and re-submit the petition.  It did not indicate that the signer needed to include the district at the time of signing so just do it now.
 
That said, the three trustees seeking to invalidate the petition are true politicians subverting the will of the people.

I read this second letter and here's my answer to it. You gotta produce to be heard. To date and to the best of my knowledge NONE of the VFDs produce fully.  BFD does make all their calls with a completely volunteer staff save a houseman, but the level of FFs responding is often in question. Long Ridge makes theirs due to paid drivers 24/7,  but they are often responding alone. As for the rest, well...anything under 100% response is not producing at even a marginal level.
Beyond that;
NONE of them can bring a quantifiable means of measuring the competency of their officers to the table.
NONE of them can produce training records for ALL of their active members that meet even a minimal standard.
NONE of them ensure all of their active members attend even one live burn annually per OSHA
NONE of them can say 100% of their active members are physically fit per NFPA 1582
NONE of them can guarantee a response 24/7 or try to even reach that goal
NONE of them can cooperate to meet the needs of the residents they are there to serve...NONE of them. All are too concerned with only themselves and there own agendas instead of the only agenda that they should be concerned with...SERVING IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF STAMFORD who have donated to all of them for decades.
 
I think you get the idea. 
 
As one who fought for years to build things up to meet the challenges listed above and many more beyond them, I can say this: I have absolutely no sympathy for their whining and foot stomping.  Boo hoo hoo, whaah whaah whaah, somebody call a Whaaahmbulance for these poor Chiefs. 
Look,  I sat with all of these Chiefs alone and as a group too many times to count to try to work out ways to meet the coming storm. Time after time I watched as heads nodded yes but actions said no to facing the realities of firefighting in Stamford in 2010,11,12, 13 14, 15. I bit my tongue then in the interest of keeping everyone together and trying to move forward. But no more. The whole "Pavia plan" and everything subsequent to it were a farce that even the Marx Brothers couldn't dream up...and to top it off they left Mike out to dry by not taking responsibility for the abortion of a plan it was that THEY THEMSELVES dreamed up.  No...no sympathy here, these Chiefs made the bed they all must now lie in because of their own arrogance.  ignorance, ineptitude and pettiness and frankly they deserve what they get, or don't I should say....I only wish the memberships had been better served by their "leaders".

The rig for sale is the "old" Eng 58. it was replaced in 2010 by a Pierce. It was used as a spare for the two "paid rigs" (E 58 & 59) and also as a fill in for R40.
 
The village is considering selling the present 58 and 59. Sad part is, they'll get pennies on the dollar, especially in the case of E58. It's a well thought out rig, perfect for use as a squad. If sold, the taxpayers of Port Chester will be paying for it for a good many years to come. That $800k they saved is small compared to the amount of money it's costing them.

The rig for sale is the "old" Eng 58. it was replaced in 2010 by a Pierce. It was used as a spare for the two "paid rigs" (E 58 & 59) and also as a fill in for R40.
 
The village is considering selling the present 58 and 59. Sad part is, they'll get pennies on the dollar, especially in the case of E58. It's a well thought out rig, perfect for use as a squad. If sold, the taxpayers of Port Chester will be paying for it for a good many years to come. That $800k they saved is small compared to the amount of money it's costing them.

The rig for sale is the "old" Eng 58. it was replaced in 2010 by a Pierce. It was used as a spare for the two "paid rigs" (E 58 & 59) and also as a fill in for R40.
 
The village is considering selling the present 58 and 59. Sad part is, they'll get pennies on the dollar, especially in the case of E58. It's a well thought out rig, perfect for use as a squad. If sold, the taxpayers of Port Chester will be paying for it for a good many years to come. That $800k they saved is small compared to the amount of money it's costing them.

The rig for sale is the "old" Eng 58. it was replaced in 2010 by a Pierce. It was used as a spare for the two "paid rigs" (E 58 & 59) and also as a fill in for R40.
 
The village is considering selling the present 58 and 59. Sad part is, they'll get pennies on the dollar, especially in the case of E58. It's a well thought out rig, perfect for use as a squad. If sold, the taxpayers of Port Chester will be paying for it for a good many years to come. That $800k they saved is small compared to the amount of money it's costing them.

"Absolutely an attempt to stifle patriotism" or this is a labor management thing, where the board is flexing its muscles?
 
a lot of people have assumed the first and most are blind to any other possibility 
 

But the taxpayers have given the commissioners total control of them. The only say the taxpayers have is voting for one commissioner each year and an up or down bond vote to purchase.

You are correct, the commissioners are not driving the apparatus, but they are charged with setting department policy.
 
and even if the policies they set are improper or even outright wrong it is still their legal roll to do it.

Maybe some of us that live in the area and have friends in Arlington FD have a better picture as to what's actually going on there. If the chief as well as the chauffer's have no issues, why then the commissioners? Who better then them knows what's safe or not.  Remember, these people are in the public safety business. Last I knew commissioners weren't driving the apparatus. People are burning flags across the country and when our brothers answer their final call and there coffins are draped with them this flag ban stings even more. This is arbitrary and capricious. If the size of the flags were an issue then how about a smaller flag rather than an all out ban?

 
Do not try an introduce open-mindedness, common sense or any attempt to try to get to the bottom of this story. It will delay the mob mentality response, which must proceed unabated! Flying off the handle at the slightest slight, real, perceived or completely imagined, is the way to get things done!

I actually prefer smaller flags that are on the right bumper indicator posts.  Large flags off the rear or the rig are generally in the way, and like Barry said, tend to get filthy.
 

And I don't agree with outright banning them altogether.

We have small flags on the back of our engines. They are small enough that they do not interfere with any operation of the apparatus (hose deployment, lights, etc.). I agree with the comments above that maybe some people are getting a little carried away with the size of flags being used.

 
This also shows the proper times for flying the flag at half staff.  Something that is being done too often for inappropriate reasons.

While this obviously is a show of patriotic display, there are strict guidelines contained within the US Flag code for the proper display of the flag and displaying the flag as they have (and many other departments have as well) is considered in violation of the code.  I'm including a link which shows the proper way to display the American Flag.
 
http://www.legion.org/flag/code

The Company has been using Utility 153 (a past Chiefs Tahoe)  equipped with spill mitigation items, traffic control equipment, & the 4-gas meter. Additional equipment was placed on other apparatus and in the spill response trailer readily available to be towed by said utility. In response to other posts, Yes Engine 97 is equipped with a compliment of Extrication Equipment along with a PowerHawk Battery Powered Combi-tool on Engine 96. The Final Inspection trip for the Rescue is set for the coming week. Exact date for delivery is still unknown. 

 
 
 
 
 
What has the OFD been using in R14's place ?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Go the website http://fairchesterhosehaulers.org/ and fill in the blanks. I'll also let you know when the next meeting is, we can use a good man like you.