MH0109

This whole situation has me completely dumb founded. WTF is all I can think to say about this situation. I have served in this profession for 23 years to this point, both as a very active volunteer and now a very involved career member in my current department. I am appalled at what is taking place in Stamford with this career vs. volunteer nonsense. This has to be the final straw in the battle as far as I am concerned. This chief officer has gone too far and after a complete investigation on this fire, he should be removed from the fire department. We, in the fire service, took an oath to protect LIFE and PROPERTY. This officer violated that oath, and therefore should be removed. He returned auto aid career companies to a reported fire while not even on scene-GROSS Negligence. I also read that three members were hurt at the scene, as they successfully burned the roof off a seven thousand (7000) + square foot home because of EGO. No excuses necessary on this issue, period. He was wrong in returning any company before the arrival of units, period. This action is on tape-no one can hide the fact it happened. I can now see that the citizens in the north end of Stamford should be concerned for their safety. One destroyed home can be replaced, but what is next from the EGO ridden volunteers companies that return manpower? Stop the career vs. volunteer battling, before you kill someone…. He returned highly trained personnel, members were injured at this incident, and he should be held accountable for it. We in the service have heard that size-up starts long before the incident. Strategic and tactical decisions on the fireground are made on the FIREGROUND, not before arrival to the scene. Returning units before arrival of trained personnel goes against the basic fundamentals that the most junior member in the fire service are taught. The members of LRFCo should be ashamed of themselves over this incident. The other volunteer departments that continue to battle with the city departments need to take notice of this incident and this battle needs to stop. Someone needs to get these groups together and figure out how to work side by side. I want to emphasize that I am not bashing anyone personally. I will not take sides in the battle of whom or what service is best in Stamford, CT as I do not live there. They need to figure that out themselves, but this incident has shown a complete disregard for the mission of the fire service as a whole.

Our Policy states Hood on and ear-flaps down every time we operate at structural, dumpster, or vehicle fires period.

Hey all, anyone thinking of moving west here is a testing opportunity for you to look at. I only posted the FF/Paramedic position, you can view the FF/Emt posting by visiting http://www.crgov.com/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=25 . If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.

Posting Number: FFPM2008-01

Job Title: FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC

Closing date: 05/23/2008

Closing time: 05:00 PM

Job Class: Public Safety

Job Hours: Work Schedule Varies

Salary: Academy salary is $15.74/hr.

Upon successful completion of the Academy $54,399-$65,262/yr.

Description: The Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department (CRFD) is currently recruiting highly trained and motivated individuals with exceptional customer service skills who are interested in becoming a Firefighter/Paramedic with one of Colorado’s most progressive fire and rescue departments. The CRFD anticipates filling two (2) positions in addition to establishing an applicant pool.

The Town of Castle Rock is a growing, stand-alone community 10 miles south of the Denver metro area. CRFD responds to a variety of incidents in the Town of Castle Rock and our contracted areas. In 2007, the department answered over 3,600 calls for service.

Minimum qualifications for Firefighter/Paramedic are State of Colorado or National Registry-Paramedic, ACLS, PEPP or PALS. Successful candidates will be chosen through a competitive assessment process. A current CPAT is required. We will be administering a CPAT test on June 14-15, 2008.

Academy salary is $15.74 per hour at a 56-hour workweek. Upon successful completion of the 12-14 week Academy, salary range is: $54,399 - $65,262 per year. Applicants must possess a valid driver’s license and satisfactorily complete a background check. For further instruction, please check our website at www.crgov.com/fire. To apply please submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume, copies of all certifications, and a completed employment application. (Available from the website www.CRgov.com) to: Human Resources Job# FFPM2008-01, Town of Castle Rock, 100 N. Wilcox St., Castle Rock, CO 80104. Closing date May 23, 2008.

Our Department runs Fire and EMS. All Career members are a minimum of FFII and EMT or EMT/Paramedic certified. We run 2 Full time ALS ambulances and cross staff a third ambulance unit. We also have 3 Engine company’s and a Quint company that are ALS. We have at least one Medic on everything in the city. Our response is a Engine or Quint depending on district, and a ALS ambulance on all medical call’s except for calls at any of the walk in medical clinics in town that is a ambulance only response. We ran around 3,600 + calls as a Department last year. I would say about 80% of our calls are Ems related.

We have a one of a kind Rosenbauer, europen cab and all. This was built by Central States fire apparatus. It is by far the worst fire truck I have ever seen. Its a POS to say the least. It is a 2001 apparatus that was out of service last year 198 day`s. If you need further info please PM me and I can tell you the mess the apparatus has caused us. We also have Central states HME Engines and they are not much better.

Stay safe

FTM PTB KTF EGH

Happy Holidays Brothers and sisters From The from the snowy west.

Been at work since Wednesday that is (3) 24hr shifts in a row.

Working Christmas Eve 24hrs

Working New Years eve 24hrs

A very healthy and happy New Year to you all

Stay Safe

Ps: Final snow total was 35" for us.

I want to thank alsfirefighter for his words of wisdom on this issue. I will restate what he already said in a minute. First I read the fire officers’ hand book of tactics, and he recommends the fog tip in conjunction with the smooth bore in a fire proof m/d. I will still have to ask why? If the fire is overpowering the first smooth bore and he wants to stretch a second line, why not use another smooth bore? At 286 gpm per line, depending on the tip, size why waste time with a nozzle that has no business being up there anyway? As mentioned before, stand pipes were never designed for the use of 100 psi fog nozzles. Now, for the Master stream question. Like Als said, Smooth bore for the application of copious amounts of water. The use of a fog nozzle as I stated in my above post offers no protection in, on or around a burning building. When fog is used as an exposure protection line, all you are achieving is an increase in the relative humidity on the fire ground. It is the job of the Engine Company to put water on the fire and on the Exposure, if that is what’s tactically needed to be addressed on the fire ground. You achieve this by using a smooth bore nozzle with the direct application of water on the object being protected.

Thank you all again for your time

Stay safe

FTM PTB DTRT EGH

Ok, guys, you got me. I am one of the lurkers on this board as Mr. Bravo would say. I have no choice but to speak on this issue. I have been in the fire service a few years now, and I have seen this issue from both sides. I joined the Volunteer service in the late 80`s and boy, was fog huge in my dept. I really love all the training that was provided to me as a new firefighter, because you learn how fire will behave in a burning building while training in a parking lot. After I took some classes and met the late Andrew Fredericks in the early 90`s, I was sold on the smooth bore and have been a advocate of the use of this nozzle and this nozzle alone inside burning buildings. I know what you will all say- the automatic nozzle will put out the fire, and you are right, it will eventually go out. All fire will, once the fuel is gone. I have heard all the theories, but I have seen what can go wrong when not used as intended. For example, I have seen members burned because the nozzle was set to fog instead of straight stream. It moved during the stretch to the fire. I have also seen first hand the air created by the narrow fog pattern move the fire from one room to another. This presents a problem when it is the job of nozzle team to protect the stairs and members operating above. You don’t want that fire moving around. I will also add that the maintenance required for the automatic nozzle is troublesome. Not many departments service them. Are you getting the desired flow from you fog nozzle? I highly doubt you are getting what you think you are. When we tested ours out here, we were surprised to see only 100 gpm when we thought it was going to be around 150 gpm. As for the high rise discussion, you must be kidding me if you are using a fog nozzle off of any stand pipe. They we never designed for the use of anything less than 2 ½” hose and the smooth bore nozzle, period. Any other combination in the high rise setting is flat out dangerous. In my Department we have spent the last 3 years changing our SOG`S to show the above changes in High rise Ops. Funny thing about that is that our tallest building currently is only 5 stories. We use 2 ½” hose with the peoples’ choice nozzle- “Smooth Bore” and the engine staffing is only 3. It can be done- we do it. I will have you reference Fire Engineering May 2005- “Engine Company Standpipe Operations: Tactical Use of the 2 ½” Hand Line, Part 1” by Chief David McGrail. Lastly, I leave you with a part of a presentation we just did as a committee to our Chief Officers for required fire flow in a burning structure. We have to be flowing 180 gpm inside a burning building, period. A true smooth bore will provide this flow with only 50 psi at the tip. A fog nozzle is not able to achieve this within a manageable pump discharge pressure. We have placed on our number 1 crosslay a true Smooth Bore, and the number 2 crosslay will have a automatic nozzle for that outside fire stuff that is a break apart nozzle with a 15/16” tip. The last 1 ¾” line we now have for interior structural firefighting is on a complex hose load. This is a static bed with 600’ 2 ½” gated wye down to 150’ of 1 ¾” with a smooth Bore Nozzle. I have spent a better part of the last 15 years of my life studying and trying new things out on the topic of Smooth vs fog, and I can say we have a lot of things to do on the fire ground. The best way I have found to do them safely is put a lot of water on the fire early, and most of your problems start to go away. Remember the old saying, “A hose line that is not moving, is losing.” The fog nozzle offers you very little in protection in, on or around a burning building regardless of what you have heard about that. Use the reach, penetration and knock down power of the Smooth Bore Nozzle and put the fire out. Now you can go to your favorite deli and grab that sandwich everyone has been talking about. Thank you all for your time.

Posting Number:  FFPM2005-02  

Job Title:  FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC  

Closing date:  04/29/2005  

Closing time:  05:00 PM  

Job Class:  Public Safety  

Job Hours:  Salaried  

Salary:  $46,592 TO $55,889/yr  

 Depending on Qualifications and Experience  

Description:  The Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department is currently recruiting highly trained and motivated people with exceptional customer service skills who are interested in becoming Firefighter/Paramedics with one of Colorado’s most progressive fire and rescue departments. The Fire and Rescue Department anticipates filling one (1) positions and establishing an eligibility pool through this process.

The Town of Castle Rock is a rapidly growing, stand-alone community 10 miles south of the Denver metro area. Our community is the county seat of Douglas County, one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, and we continue to experience steady growth in population and commercial development. The Department responds to a variety of incidents in the Town of Castle Rock and our contracted areas. In 2003, the department answered over 3,300 calls for service. Distance to healthcare centers and the challenges presented by the areas we serve require that the department EMS system operate under progressive protocols with state-of-the-art equipment. Due to our location and terrain, a heavy emphasis is placed on wildland firefighting and technical rescue.

Minimum qualifications are State of Colorado or National Registry EMT-Paramedic certificate, IFSAC approved Firefighter I and Hazardous Materials – Awareness Level certification, (Colorado Division of Fire Safety Firefighter I certification and Colorado Division of Fire Safety Hazardous Materials - Awareness certification preferred) and current CPAT Certification. Preferred qualifications include ACLS, PEPP, PHTLS/BTLS, IFSAC approved Firefighter II, NWCG S130/190 Red Card, and college degree. Successful candidates will be chosen through a competitive assessment process.  

Hiring Range: $46,592 - $55,889 per year. Applicants must possess a valid driver’s license, and shall submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume, copies of all certifications, and a completed employment application and supplemental questionnaire (available from the website www.crgov.com) to: Human Resources Job# FFPM2005-02, Town of Castle Rock, 100 N. Wilcox St., Castle Rock, CO 80104, by April 29, 2005. Testing will be conducted on June 1,2,3, 2005. Please note: applications must be complete (letter of interest, a detailed resume, copies of all certifications along with a completed employment application and supplemental questionnaire). Visit our website at www.crgov.com, for a detailed brochure. EOE. The Town reserves the rights to hire qualified candidates from outside the hiring pool at any time.  

If anyone has questions about this job please Pm I will do my best to answer them for you.

Mike H

Engineer/Paramedic

Castle Rock Fire Rescue

"B" Shift Engine Company 154

 

In response to CommandChief. I think the First response system works better in the aboved mentioned departments as well as my dept in Colorado because we are all crosstrained in fire supression. We are Firefighter/Emt`s or Firefighter/Paramedics.We are all one agency not envolved it what some might call a hostile takeover like the FDNY system. In My Dept we have Medics on our fire supression rigs Engines/Quint and staff ambulance with medics also. I know a couple of guy`s from LA and they too are firefigters. My dept guidline is ALS first response and we staff our rigs to meet this as much as staffing permits. I think this is why it works. We have two stations that have the ambulance in house and we train all together. I am not sure what other people think but I think this is why it works in some places and not others. I hope for all involved it get`s better for the citizens we are all sworn to protect. This is a sad thing and it seems that there was a death on both responses the medical and the fire.

I think it would be a great Idea to stream 46.26. I know Scanct.com has the county repeater channel but they also have a bunch of busy CT Departments on the same scanner. I say if you have the ability to do it just give it a shot and see how it works out

Mike .

Hello all, my name is Mike I live out here in Colorado. I am a full time Engineer/Paramedic. I am still somewhat active back East with PCFD (17 years) thats when I take my month long trips home to see my family and of course the guys. I am glad I found this site I do miss all the action back East it`s nice to finally be informed again. Thanks to all involved with this site.

PS: if there are any PCFD members on this site please send a message I would like to catch up on recent events.

PSS: any information on Westchester County Live audio I miss all the Radio traffic.

Thanks again to all involved

Be Safe

Mike