fdalumnus

And this is one of the many reasons LA City FD is my favorite fire department.
 

It does stop with some Chiefs in this county! See the other article you posted about toxic leadership!

Here is a PDF version if anyone has trouble with the Google Doc HVCBWFDBBQ.pdf

Mack factory photo of Peekskill's 1929 Mack Model APDR Type 19 pumper.  This apparatus was delivered December 9th 1929 and was assigned to Washington Engine.  After many years of service, the truck served a second career at Camp Smith.  It was eventually sold to an individual in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Many regional protocols are moving away from requiring backboards except for extreme indicators... research found that the backboard didn't cause as much benefit as previously thought and more often than not, a patient is already moving around and had compromised C-Spine if there were an issue. With that being said, a lot of the protocols still require collars to be used, just not full immobilization.

Which was placed into the Pledge during the Communism scare, and replaced "E Pluribus Unum" as the Country's motto during the Communism scare as well. Prior that, the original pledge of allegiance never mentioned religion or God.

Harrison Seagrave.

What if certain firefighters don't place their trust in god. Maybe since the department and community is so heavily involved in religion, that they're terrified to speak their mind for fear of being shunned or mocked. Or what if they place their faith in Allah? This isn't about political correctness, but about what your department is now representing. Technically it's a government entity and it should not be endorsing ANY religion or lack there of. Could you imagine the uproar if the department placed "There is no God," or "Allah Akbar" on the side of their apparatus because someone donated their time and money to put it on?
 
I'm all for individual PEOPLE believing whatever they want to believe. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhist, Amish, Scientology, Atheism, Pastafarianisim Flying Spaghetti Monster, but leave it out of the organization of the Fire Department. Don't ram it down my throat, or try and convert me, and I won't ram my beliefs down yours and try and convert you. And before people think I'm bashing religion, or accuse me of being someone who think's religion is evil, if what you believe makes you happy, doesn't harm or hamper anyone else's happiness or way of life, I'm all for it.

I know for the most part, the home rule applies about who is on the "FAST" Team and what their training is. It is nice for everybody on a FAST Team to have the FAST class offered by NYS. However, we know that this isn't always the case. What's important then, is to have experienced and trained guys on that crew. That has to be determined by the officers of that department to keep everybody at a certain level. Also, you have to take into consideration that sometimes a FAST Team isn't available and you got to use an incoming unit as the FAST, whether it be a mutual aid engine or ladder. The fireground can be a tricky and fast-paced place, so being able to call a shot on a dime is important. Remember, FAST techniques are really just honing in on firefighter survival and truck operation skills. Throwing ladders, searching rooms, buddy drags, etc. It's nice to put that title as a "FAST" Team, but honestly, everybody should be ready to go if they get called from the bullpen. It's about being good with the skills that you have been trained to do and have been implementing for however long you've been in the fire service.  

Hope the new Mayor and Fire Commissioner work. on background checks, so as not to hire problems, Remember past actions are the best indicator of future actions. MVFD needs eleven new firefighters not eleven new problems.

NYPD now has a 2 year waiting list.  10 years ago you got in, in 2 months.  About 16 years ago Mayor Guiliani had the state change the law on NYPD lateral transfers.  Used to be if you were NYPD and wanted to work out east or north simply go to that department and submit your resume no need to take the towns and villages test.  Now of course you do.  NYPD was losing so many cops to the suburbs they had to do something so they did.  And now recently NYPD pushed the state to pass the law getting reimbursement from towns taking cops with 5years or less.  So to answer your question of better shot? not really.  Getting a job in the towns and villages is like getting the golden ticket in wildly Wonka. 

I can see why this is an issue for NYC, and I can sort of see how the individual may not be dealing with the first department completely ethically. However many people looking for a career take multiple tests. Very often you have no real idea when your are going to come up on someone's list. So a department calls you and offers you the job, you take it. Then a short time later another department offers you a better job and you take that. Outside of public safety we would just call that climbing the ladder of success. Here we call it poaching.

Here is a photo of the 1961 Mack C85 ladder. The phot was taken in 2014 while the truck was getting some work done to it. The truck is alive and well and should bee seen at some shows in the near future.

They always do a great job

Can't do the time, dont do the crime!!
Really?
"You were selling illegal hand guns out of MV Fire HQ and near a elementary school"
You will get nothing, except jail and like it.

There's no doubt that in our collective neck of the woods, (i.e. NY, CT) the level of redundancy borders on the absurd and that this is a costly and unnecessary waste. But on the flip side there is also no doubt that volunteers are far less costly than an all paid service, even with all that waste. To that point, I would contend that this would be so even if stations were consolidated and staffed by paid FFs and property/insurance losses were reduced by having that staff able to effect more positive outcomes sooner (although there's no empirical evidence to support that claim to the best of my knowledge). There is also no doubt that a paid service would provide a higher degree of protection in terms of trained personnel and the availability of that personnel, but as I stated earlier that too comes with a trade off, as less stations means longer response times in getting those trained personnel to incidents. Bottom line here is that volunteers will almost always be cheaper (and that's not even counting the transitional costs of shifting from a volunteer to paid service) and since they are, Mr. John Q. Public will happily live with having them as his sole source of fire protection. He doesn't think he'll ever need the fire department in the first place so he see no need to pay more for it then he already does, and besides, that's how it's always been. And if God forbid he does have a fire, well then...when Blubbery Barney and One tooth Willie (as some see volunteers) show up in their big red shiny parade piece firetruck and squirt water in his window, he's ok with that because his friends and neighbors came to his aid in his time of need and he's got home owner's insurance.
Career FFs will never fully replace volunteers, nor could they. The cost is just too prohibitive and thus there is no political will to make it so. Unfortunately for far too long the volunteer fire service in general has lived off that fact and refused to take steps to provide the best possible protection to those we serve. Like most of the rest of America it seems settling for mediocrity instead of striving for excellence is the new normal.
​And one last point that although it's been said before it bears repeating. Many of our predecessors on both sides of the paid / volly divide worked tirelessly to make our service better for us and our communities. When we spend more time infighting or pushing this or that agenda then we do serving, I think we are all doing a great disservice to those who came before us and those who will come after. We are all in this together and we could accomplish so much more, for those we serve and for ourselves, by building each other up than we do by trying to tear each other down..and that is something we should all strive for, because in the end there's nobody looking out for us but us.

Another end of an era of a Mack/ aerialscope. I absolutely love these rigs. Why aren't they rechassising the boom to a new body ? That would awesome

"FireMedic049", I think we have worked together in the same place. Your story is so similar to mine.
As a Volunteer Firefighter for five years in a combination department, both the career and volunteer members got along great. In fact many of those career guys offered us their help in preparing for some of the upcoming test. Even a few on their off duty time.
Finally in 1975 I get the career firefighters job. But in a different city. It doesn't take me too long to find out that I entered into a War Zone. All because of the fact that I became a career firefighter.
I guess I fall into the category of a "Dinosaur Firefighter". So many things are different now.
I was able to see when females first entered into the fire service. That wasn't something that was welcomed by many members, including myself. Of course today we know that many females are doing a great job. Including some that are now Chiefs within some of our largest American cities.
I was able to see the time when the fire department responded to medical calls. Prior to that, our attitude was "We're Firefighters not Doctors". Today of course we know that the larger percentage of all calls are medical rather than fire related for most places. I have firefighter friends that are alive today because of the work that firefighter/medics did to keep them alive.
I was able to see a time when air packs were NOT a luxury or optional item, but one of mandatory equipment. We know today how important that is. But using an air pack years ago wasn't always available. And if you did get to wear one, they didn't have a warning bell telling you to leave the building. You try to suck in air and there is nothing left. Now you try to find your way out using NO AIR.
My point is that being a dinosaur of the fire service (which I am very proud of), I was able to see many improvements made. There has been many difficult hurdles conquered over the years within the fire service. But for some reason, we still just can't seem to get this career/volunteer thing figured out.

I've been a volunteer and career firefighter too. I often work along side of volunteers. I agree that we should be more united and respectful than we are.
From my experience and perspective, the volunteers oftentimes are more of an obstacle in getting to that place than the career folks. I often hear claims about how we're all doing the same job, have the same training, etc., but the fact is we aren't and we don't. Unfortunately, when you try to discuss this, the only thing too many on the volunteer side seem to take from it is that career guys are great and volunteers suck rather than understanding that career guys can be "better" by virtue of those differences in training and experience, but that doesn't mean that the volunteers are automatically inadequate. It's a lot like comparing pro athletes to college/high school athletes. The pros are typically better, which one would expect, but a lot of the non-pro athletes are pretty darn good, if not just as good in some cases. And in some cases, their best just isn't good enough.
We hear claims about how fires don't care if you're career or volunteer or that the person who's house is on fire doesn't care if you're career or volunteer, but who yells the most about training mandates or being held to any sort of standard? Who thinks it's perfectly ok to give a person a few dozen hours of basic introductory training (or none at all) and then turn that new person loose to respond and actively participate on calls? Who thinks it's appropriate to make a teenager with little actual experience a line officer?
IMO, these are the things that are at the very heart of the animosity between career and volunteer from the career side. Too many in the volunteer ranks want to be viewed as equal to the career guys without putting in the work necessary to truly be equal. Yes, there are places where truly providing services on the same level are not realistic (rural areas for one) and they do the best they can under tough circumstances, but there are others where the departments are just not being honest with themselves or their communities regarding the level of service they can realistically provide as a department or as an individual.
It's also frustrating to see comments about how career guys only care about the paycheck and don't have the pride in the job because we don't work fundraisers to pay the bills or in some cases don't live in the community that we work in. While there are career guys that are like that, the majority aren't and you'll find people like that in any career and you know there are plenty of volunteers that are all about the t-shirts and image rather than the work and service to the community.
Like you said, career and volunteer share a lot in common.
Personally, I try to be respectful of the volunteers in my area, but it's very hard at times to view some of them as peers when they do some of the stuff that they do and that includes burning down buildings that should not have burned to the extent that they did.

In most places conditions are so much different.
1) Buildings, exposures, population etc are generally much different.
2) Training requirements are much different. In most places today career firefighters are required to attend a fulltime 16-18 week recruit school before riding on any fire trucks. Usually, during each shift, some form of training or building surveys are done in order to keep their required skills proficient.
3) Career firefighters operate under a semi military environment. There is a chain of command that must be followed. If rules or policy is not followed, some form of discipline can be taken against that individual.
4) To become a career firefighter there is a written and oral testing process, along with a very intense medical and a difficult CPAT agility test to successfully pass. Later comes a character investigation done by most police departments. As we know, the numbers are very high for those that apply, yet few are chosen.
5) Promotions within the career fire service are very difficult as well. Many individuals spent many years studying for the test day. In addition there is usually an oral interview with a score rating. When it is finely over, few are chosen over the number of individuals testing. Sometimes, there is also special school requirements that must be completed within a period of time to maintain that officer level.
The end result is that in most cases, only the very best candidates are chosen. For that, the people who pay for these firefighters expect the very best of service. And rightfully so. Those people have every right to expect their firefighters to help them in their time of need. And for those firefighters to thrown themselves into danger if necessary. That is the trade off. And if you happen to be one of those career firefighters, because of that, you must fully understand, that you are held to a higher standard than most individuals. You drop the ball and every other career firefighter gets dragged through the mud because of your foolish actions. The public trust you to go into their homes and apartments when no one is home. They will even hand you over their sick baby because they trust you. There's no other job like it.
Does the public appreciate what VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS do. Of course they do. Those guys are out there doing a job to help the public in their most desperate moments. No matter what the weather is, they are out there. They give up a nights sleep and still are expected to go to their fulltime jobs to support their families the next morning. Some come from outstanding careers or backgrounds. They have even helped me too.
I was a career firefighter. I was a volunteer firefighter as well. A career for 30 years and volunteer for 5 years prior to that. During my years as a career firefighter, on a few occasions I worked with volunteer firefighters. They depended on me and I depended on them. Yet when it was over, "you stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on mine". That's pretty sad actually. Just a few hours before, we were cold and wet together. We might have had a few pretty hectic moments together. I'm sure their family members worried about them, just like my family members worried about me. We attended LODD funerals together for volunteer firefighters and career firefighters. The fact is that the smoke and heat was always the same. Career Firefighters and Volunteer Firefighters share a lot in common. They share things that no other groups share.
If you were to visit my home town you would find a Civil War going on. Between career and volunteer firefighters. Should I try to hide it ? No. Although I am not at all proud of what goes on here, "I know we are NOT alone". The reality is this, we should respect each other for what you do. "Instead of Fighting, We should be Uniting". Maybe it's time to think that over a bit. Remember, there are no promises made of going home in this fire service business. Over the years I learned that because I attended so many firefighter LODD funerals.

I don't think there is a perfect model for a fire department.

Well, the reality is that the cancer threat is pretty real if you see regular fire duty.

Lt. Andy Fredericks, FDNY, Memorial Seminar & Exhibits

Hosted by the Elmsford Fire Department

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Registration, refreshments and exhibits begin at 7:30 AM

Program: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

The Art of "Go/No-Go" on the Fireground
Decision making: Interior attack vs. exterior operations.

Presented by
Captain Mike Gagliano
Seattle Fire Department

Proceeds donated to
Lt. Andy Fredericks Scholarship Fund
Lt. Tyler Rush Memorial Scholarship Fund
Burncare Everywhere www.burncarefoundation.org
New York Firemen's Home, Hudson, NY www.fasny.com

Pre-registration: $35 At the door: $40
www.regonline.com/seminar16

Westchester Marriott Hotel
670 White Plains Road (Route 119), Tarrytown, NY 10591

For overnight accommodations, please call Marriott Hotel reservations @ 800 882-1042.
Ask for the Elmsford Fire Dept seminar rate.

For additional information, please contact:
Syd Henry @ 914 490-1981 or shenry@elmsfordfd.com
Joe Dorio @ 914 536-2235 or jdorio@elmsfordfd.com

Website: www.elmsfordfd.com/seminar

That was Ladder 39 a 1947 American LaFrance Its stick was 65ft. originally it was an open cab. If memory serves me correctly the cab was added in the late 80's and the beacon light also, to meet the standard of a warning light visible 360 degrees. the siren light used to be mounted up top in the center. The tower ladder was a 1973 - 74 (not sure, Greenville also had one), which was purchased to replace L-39 but when it arrived or while being built it wouldn't fit in the firehouse, so the tower bay was added and then it was decided to keep L-39. the tower in fact responded out of Pocantico Hills firehouse till the addition was done. I remember the old mutual aid run card at County Control having a note to specify aerial or tower ladder when Pleasantville was requested. If you pass Fire Headquarters on Washington Ave. there is a corner stone on the tower bay that will tell you the year.
L-39 was retired in the early 90's.
Don't hold me to all these facts but I'm pretty sure I got it straight Its been a long time

Pleasantville's Pioneer Hook and Ladder in Mamaroneck's annual fire parade in 1988.