fdalumnus

Of course this hits home because of the intended purpose, however it is part of the much larger picture. One of the two things that I find the most myterious in regards to legislation is how earmarked money can be diverted away from the earmark and into something else. Then when they realize they still need to do the first project they raise taxes to pay for it and the public blames the governmetn wmployees and not those actually responsible.

I'ts New York state,what did you expect???

In the aviation world we have a term for this, "revenue diversion," where money generated by an airport is differed to another account to pay for other things.  It's actually illegal at the federal level, though almost every publicly owned airport is a victim of this crime, and eventually the federal government will catch you (it takes time because there are so many cases of it).  IMO there should be laws protecting all money that is supposed to be set aside for a greater good.  The money that NYS was supposed to dish out for better 911 coverage and system upgrades should be going to just that.  The money is appropriated for a specific reason, and that reason alone.  I would say this is akin to Congress stealing money from Social Security to fund anything and everything else other than Social Security.  It's just plain wrong!

Does anyone know how this will be deployed?  Brush unit, source pumper, line engine, etc etc?

Interesting.

What always bugged me about News 12 was that they're supposed to be the "local" news source, but they wouldn't cover as many stories as they could.  They simply record a 30 minute spot and rerun it for hours, then do an update spot and rerun it for hours, repeat!  There's so many more stories that people could have payed attention to, say if News 12 did a 2 hour spot and reran it 2 or 3 times before doing an update.  BUT, now that there will no longer be a specific local news channel, even more stories will go to the wayside.

Sorry for the job loss,but can't say i'am sorry to see news 12 go.more often then not they fail to get a story right.maybe the move will improve things....my opinion

 
Well, then I'll give you something different!
 
 
My hometown is a good example.  In 2001 the village decided to hire a paid driver/EMT.  That person (though it has changed hands throughout the years) works Monday through Friday, 0800 to 1600, to make sure the first due gets out the door.  This is the vary definition of a paid driver/chauffeur/MPO/etc.  This position never, EVER, goes inside of a burning building.  I give this example because there are MANY suburban and rural departments that have gone this route in recent times because of a shortage of volunteers during normal business hours (9 to 5 jobs).  The paid driver concept gets the rig out the door with at least a handful of volunteers to respond to alarms.  In essence, this is where a lot of people get the idea of paid firefighters being paid drivers rather than being called firefighters, and the general public thinks that this is normal (again, this is more in the outer suburbs and rural areas).
 
Now, let's move towards major cities, like NYC, Atlanta, Dallas, or Fargo.  The closer you get to major cities, the more paid firefighters you see.  Suburban firefighters tend to be in combination departments or small paid departments.  However, these guys and gals are working in the area that separates the major paid city departments and the outlaying volunteers with paid drivers.  So, now these firefighters, who have been through the academy and are fully certified, are thought of by the public as just drivers and not firefighters.  MAJOR misconception.
 
Here's the difference.  A paid DRIVER is a person who is hired by a department with the SOLE PURPOSE of driving and operating the apparatus.  A FIREFIGHTER is a person hired to drive/operate the apparatus AND conduct all other fireground activities.  Yes, this definition can be contested that a paid driver is in fact a firefighter, but the true definition will actually falls under the job title and job description as laid out by the hiring municipality.  THEREFORE, and technically speaking, every body that comments on the difference here is wrong because the difference falls on individual situations of individual municipalities hiring specifically detailed positions for individual situations.  Yes, we are all wrong on the definition issue, including myself (because my definition is based on my experience and no one elses').
 
As for the original content of the thread, Good Luck to Kingston with their new TDA!

 
Again,
 
The fire service has changed. What you were brought up with is not the way things are now.  Any engine drive or truck chauffer, paid or volunteer, knows the duties.( I hope) First and foremost,search and rescue. If there are plenty of able bodied responders, the chauffer, engineer, MPO, whatever you want to call them, stays and operates the rig with other responsibilities associated with his or her tasks. 
 
Back to the City of Kingston FD; theoretically a combination department, in reality, only five or six volunteers. That's the way things are, no fault implied on the vollies. Again, if you think otherwise, well, go with the "100 years of progress, held back by 100 years of tradition." I stated before, I'm not looking for a debate. I just think its incorrest to refer to someone a term that they are not.
 
Lets get back to original topic. The dept is getting the proper apparatus for their response area. In addition, they will now have a spare TDA, making things better when the new one goes out of service. 

 
Again,
 
The fire service has changed. What you were brought up with is not the way things are now.  Any engine drive or truck chauffer, paid or volunteer, knows the duties.( I hope) First and foremost,search and rescue. If there are plenty of able bodied responders, the chauffer, engineer, MPO, whatever you want to call them, stays and operates the rig with other responsibilities associated with his or her tasks. 
 
Back to the City of Kingston FD; theoretically a combination department, in reality, only five or six volunteers. That's the way things are, no fault implied on the vollies. Again, if you think otherwise, well, go with the "100 years of progress, held back by 100 years of tradition." I stated before, I'm not looking for a debate. I just think its incorrest to refer to someone a term that they are not.
 
Lets get back to original topic. The dept is getting the proper apparatus for their response area. In addition, they will now have a spare TDA, making things better when the new one goes out of service. 

 
I like the folks at 60 control.  They're just like you and me.  the only difference is that they are not at the scene.  They have to put together a picture of what's going on through your words, and piece together the information of what's going on.  It's a difficult and thankless job, and I'm glad they're there to do it!
 
Praise to thee, dispatchers.  Your are the ones that are sh@t upon when things are going sour, but you are the ones that can get us the sh!t we need when the tough gets going!  Keep up the good work!

Never looked down at the dispatchers at 60 Control. Bickered with some at times, but everybody has a difference of opinion now and then. I also always considered them my co-workers, just like the firefighters riding with me. We would many times invite them to our firehouse for a meal or coffee. To me, they did a great job. Of course, some in my profession treated them, lets just say, differently.  

Kingston's new TDA Spec Drawings 

Why did they say Middletown's tiller got "scrapped"?   It is still very much alive and well (privately owned).....and they still don't have enough manpower to keep all seven rigs in service 24/7, but that's another story for another time.  
 
How hard would it have been to put a picture of the actual Kingston rig that's being replaced, rather than a stock photo of an unmarked Philadelphia rig?    Gotta love the media.   

Never looked down at the dispatchers at 60 Control. Bickered with some at times, but everybody has a difference of opinion now and then. I also always considered them my co-workers, just like the firefighters riding with me. We would many times invite them to our firehouse for a meal or coffee. To me, they did a great job. Of course, some in my profession treated them, lets just say, differently.  

We had a mayor publicly call us "A bunch of glorified truck drivers" when we were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. He also stated in the newspaper article that we "just drive the trucks to the fire, the volunteers fight the fire." We kicked his butt in arbitration. His motives (I think) were to divide the career and volunteer members. Didn't work.  But the public, unfortunately, thought otherwise till we educated them on how our department worked. But that's ancient history.

Never looked down at the dispatchers at 60 Control. Bickered with some at times, but everybody has a difference of opinion now and then. I also always considered them my co-workers, just like the firefighters riding with me. We would many times invite them to our firehouse for a meal or coffee. To me, they did a great job. Of course, some in my profession treated them, lets just say, differently.  

 
First you have to get the apparatus to the scene quickly and efficiently. Position it properly, secure your water source, feed numerous lines at different pressures and volumes, proportion foam additives, continually monitor all those lines, communications, equipment leaving the truck, some with electrical or hydraulic lines connected to the truck, etc. etc.  That 'glorified driver' is like a conductor for a Philharmonic Orchestra.

We had a mayor publicly call us "A bunch of glorified truck drivers" when we were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. He also stated in the newspaper article that we "just drive the trucks to the fire, the volunteers fight the fire." We kicked his butt in arbitration. His motives (I think) were to divide the career and volunteer members. Didn't work.  But the public, unfortunately, thought otherwise till we educated them on how our department worked. But that's ancient history.

 
Just going by the word of some ex-chiefs.
 
Alan,
In the career sector, its taken as an insult, like calling a volunteer a volunqueer. I'm not looking for a debate on this, do anybody really think a so called paid driver just drives a rig to a call ?
Enough said.

Some departments still refer to the driver as a chauffeur or an engineer though neither is driving a limo or a train.  No need to be insulted, its just terminology.  The people you want to know the difference, do.

Never looked down at the dispatchers at 60 Control. Bickered with some at times, but everybody has a difference of opinion now and then. I also always considered them my co-workers, just like the firefighters riding with me. We would many times invite them to our firehouse for a meal or coffee. To me, they did a great job. Of course, some in my profession treated them, lets just say, differently.  

reporters should get their facts straight before writing an article. 
 
paid driver ? want one, go to the cab stand. its an archaic term, used by, heck, don't want to even go there.
 
glad the brothers got the rig they wanted and needed. regarding middletown, the volunteers stormed the city council meeting wanting another tiller. the city fathers went the rear mount route, citing cost differences, and the real reason, to be able to cut four jobs. most of the volunteers were against that also. 
 
give me a tda anytime.

reporters should get their facts straight before writing an article. 
 
paid driver ? want one, go to the cab stand. its an archaic term, used by, heck, don't want to even go there.
 
glad the brothers got the rig they wanted and needed. regarding middletown, the volunteers stormed the city council meeting wanting another tiller. the city fathers went the rear mount route, citing cost differences, and the real reason, to be able to cut four jobs. most of the volunteers were against that also. 
 
give me a tda anytime.

In honor of Rockland County native and FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy who was tragically killed yesterday in an explosion of an illegal drug lab in the Bronx, our department vehicles will be displaying a red line across the rear windows of our patrol vehicles in his memory. This was the idea of PO Andrew Yorke and he was assisted by PO Mike Careswell, K-9 Officer Lou Venturini, Sgt. Rick Marsh and Sgt. Dave Tarantino. We greatly appreciate Chief Fahy's as well as all firefighters service to their communities. - Chief Osborn
 
In honor of FDNY Battalion Chief Fahy, we at the Suffern PD would like to extend our condolences and support to Firefighters everywhere. Thin Red Line's have been placed on the rear window of our cruisers to show our love. It's the least we could do after Suffern FD has been flying Thin Blue Line flags from their apparatus to support us in trying times. 
- In this brotherhood, nobody fights alone - Police Officer Andrew Yorke