lemonice

 
LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE !!!!
 

This afternoon Port Chester local turned in 4000 signatures from village citizens, with help from their brother and sisters from locals throughout Westchester. This is 1000 over amount needed to force a referendum , so village taxpayers have their say to bring back the professionals.This shows that you can't pull suprises that effect public safety. So the village board can eat their words and the chiefs can have a good cry tonite. Job welll done.....

This afternoon ,members of the Port Chester Firefighters Local paid a visit to village hall. Along with the members were signatures of approximately 4000  citizens. This forces the village of PC to have a referendum to bring back the union firefighters. Only 3000 were needed, went beyond and got 4000. Their brothers and sisters from locals across the tristate hit the pavement and helped reach their goal. All I could say is job well done..

Yes the majority of departments are volunteer.
 
5 are career or if they have volunteers, they no longer respond to calls.
9 are combination with the majority of responders being career ( in some cases the volunteers are exterior only and only have a handful left)
4 are combination with the majority of responders being volunteer.
and Port Chester.
 
So their are more volunteer departments. But what do they protect?
 
the population of Westchester County is 972,634
 
434,622 people live in communities with the 5 career depts. (approximately 45%).
 
177,397 people live in communities with the combination depts. with mostly career response (approximately 18%).
 
Thats 612,019 people (63%)
 
The communities with the majority being volunteer are hard to calculate as they include fire districts that do not have census data, but it is totaled at no more than 360,615. (37%).
 
 
 

 
"FD7807", I think you missed some of the questions.
 
  1) How would eliminating career firefighters NOT have an affect on public safety ?
 
  2) How does a group of union firefighters make this sound so risky and I assume you feel it shouldn't be ?
 
 Your latest response however is exactly the kind of response I would expect. A little self gratification by telling us you work 60 hours a week. Do you get paid for that time ? I would just guess that 20 of those hours are rated at time and a half.  I would hope you have enough to buy yourself that fresh new blue light. Yet you still make 100 FD calls and 100 training hours. I'm guessing again, that is in one year. Did you ever wonder how many FD calls the average career firefighter makes in one year ? Or did you ever think of the number of training hours those career firefighters spend in one year ? The same kind of career firefighters that you believe has no impact on the publics safety if taken away.
 
  "FD7807", I'm not talking about watching Chicago Fire on demand or Belly Bumps. What I am talking about is the reality of todays fire service. The one that so many of us tend to depend on.
 
 One more question from one of those "Keyboard Firefighters" if I may. Is it safe for us to assume that you NEVER took any exam for a career firefighter ? You never had any interest in doing that job at all. You are very happy as it is, working your 60 hours a week and doing your 100 FD calls and 100 training hours. Only you would know the real answer to that.
 
  But I bet you didn't know this. That as a little hobby of mine I spent time helping young volunteer firefighters that wanted to become career firefighters. And I wasn't the only career firefighter doing it. There was an entire group of us all from career departments in Connecticut. We helped them with the written, the oral etc. and because those young guys really pushed themselves and worked hard, most got on a career fire dept somewhere. Today they thank us. But "THEY" were the ones that really did it. And I must say that I think those career depts. got the best of the best.
 
Sorry for getting off track here, but I just thought it was a pretty good story to tell. And by the way, they were ALL UNION FIREFIGHTERS and they did it all for FREE. No charge at all.

You know who else has rights too?  Employees, even non-union ones.
 
I agree that the whole story needs to be told.  I read an article that stated the department had 150 interior and 150 non-interior members, but it failed to mention what the average volunteer turnout is for calls.  That number is more important than the first two.
 
You don't have to like the "union rhetoric", but the reality is the public does have a higher risk now.  When you eliminate on-duty, in-station staffing, the dispatch to arrival on scene time increases by at least a few minutes on average.  Minutes matter when your house is on fire. 

FD7807 - I don't have to claim anything......your hero (I mean zero) Fire Chief was the stooge that stood before his personnel and went on a tirade encouraging vandalism and other types of obscene conduct against a Union member. 
 
Care to comment on why a Fire Chief would behave so irrationally or irresponsibly?
 
Is his behavior acceptable to you? Do you find this normal? 
 
Rather than rant about Unions and demonstrate your personal animus or jealousy for career that you could next have, try and build a case to defend the actions of this Chief and his cohorts.
 
This discussion will work far better if you actually stay on the issues that are tangible.
 
Save the Ben Franklin and taxpayer mantra for your next XXXL T-shirt printing or belly-bumping amongst your pals in the beer garden. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
I had to read this a few times. Thought it may be an April Fool's joke, but I realized that was what, eight weeks ago ?
 
Regarding soap boxes, you see an adversary, I see an individual exercising the right to free speech.
 
Taxpayers do have rights, most importantly the right to hear the truth about any manner. Tax savings ? A double edged sword. When was the last time (especially) in Westchester you saw a piece of fire apparatus that wasn't considered a "parade wagon," with all the bells and whistles, often duplicating what already exists in their own dept.
 
Back to the facts. Depts with career staff on duty 24/7/365 have a faster response time than those that don't.  In no way is this the fault of an all volunteer dept., Its just the way it is.
 
I got a job (now retired) and had and still have a life, one beyond my wildest drams, all because of my career as a firefighter. A career I attained by taking a written test with 4,000 to 5,000 other people, then scoring high enough to be in the roughly top 125 who were actually hired. The career academy. which wasn't a "show up and you pass" type of deal. Then 22 years putting up with, for the most part, know it all chiefs, AKA better known as the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. 
 
The situation in Port Chester has nothing to do with tax savings. Nothing. The facts truly spell that out. It's all about jealousy, ego, and, pure lunacy, all on the part of the chiefs of that dept. 

I like how some here will continue to try and sugar-coat what this story is about (very predictable).
 
It is also cute how one clown had such a "strong" defense of his fellow volunteers that he blurted out the "get a life, get a job" rebuttal (that kind of response could get you on the fast track for a Chief's position in Port Chester). 
 
Sorry folks...."it is what it is"..... and that is a poorly orchestrated plan to retaliate against Union firefighters for blowing the whistle about actual problems within someone's little kingdom. 
 
I know that many volunteers have traditionally cherished the "victim role" in the endless career vs. volunteer saga, but this piece of history should not be looked upon for anything more that exactly what it is = textbook anti-union animus . 
 
This story will not have a happy ending for those who had a hand in the release of these firefighters.
 
 

Wow, surprise?? 
 
Funny how the truth starts to trickle to the surface?
 
So much for the "financial" crisis spin??
 
Good old anti-union animus alive and well.
 
I am sure that the News12 story is only one of many to come. Careful, who you elect in your annual popularity contests, your vote may come back to embarrass you and your entire Department. 
 
In this case, your vote will undoubtably cost your Village and Department enough money that the next gold laced fire truck or grossly oversized ladder truck that you were dreaming about ends up being built by Mattel.
 
Hint...when these clowns wash out of another volunteer fire department, there is usually a good reason for it. Don't become the "Florida" of your local volunteer system and accept all of the trash that funnels down hill. 
 
And for all of those that like to cry how the IAFF is running around with false claims of pamphlets on how to eliminate volunteers, Port Chester FD Volunteer Leadership has just provided an epic historical blunder that will resonate for decades the facts about who is trying to eliminate who.
 
Nothing like the truth to ruin a good fantasy.
 
 
 
 

As a starting point.....Change the name of the thread to VOLUNTEER VS. CAREER. 
 
This entire issue was manufactured by a small group of completely incompetent volunteer fools wearing Fire Chief costumes from the Port Chester FD.
 
Sorry if the truth may hurt for some of the pro-volunteer carrot snappers on this board, but this story is going to sting for awhile (as it should).
 
Contrary to the claim of one "dinosaur" here......This has everything to do with career and volunteer relationships and the absolute jealousy that a few complete losers from PCFD attempted to enact upon 8 unionized firefighters who did not conform to their failing regime. 
 
Speaking out earned them being thrown out.
 
Except, the labor world is a bit harder to con than the archaic volunteer fiefdoms that these pieces of trash have matriculated through.
 
Open check book PCFD.
 
Elections have consequences. 
 
 

 
Why is this not about the firefighters also? People have lost their jobs. You seem to have forgotten where you came from and that is sad.

I feel for the volunteers but the company had 61 runs last year. Im sure a dept. like Pittsburgh can pick that up no problem. This will sting for a while but I'm sure its in the towns best interest , they could use the extra cash for law enforcement 

I hope it ain't what the paper was saying, that it was political retribution for the Mayor's brother not being reinstated into the department. Like come on, your brother messed up and was doing an act that eventually gets people killed in the long run. I know he's your family but it's not like it was some unpaid parking tickets to look the other way on, this is some serious weapons charges. The city needs to be revamped and honestly, I hope Mayor Thomas isn't that naive to be picking a fight like that for the wrong reason. The fire department needs good leadership and not this kind of foolishness going around. I would like to see who the new Commish will be. Hopefully, it is somebody who is gung ho and looking to make Mount Vernon a better place, and not some momo that is a political back-scratch.

there is always more then one side to a story, but at first if a chief orders you to do something as simple as to not use department issued equipment on your facebook page.  Would you go and cry to a news station about it? or take it down then meet with said chief and talk about whats going on? 
 
If i was the chief and this happened. I would expect to meet with them or set up a meeting about having pictures of department equipment posted on a personal facebook page.  to me it sounds like there was an issue in the past that brought this about, im guessing it was bad media.  
 
if i was getting married and wanted to announce something like that using the fire department equipment i would put it past the chief and fire commisioners before i would post a single thing.  
 
Image is everything theses days, cops going out and doing acts of kindness and recording it, i that most of the cops doing good videos, that are recorded by there partners or themselves is given department permission before its posted on line.  What the public posts is out the any and all departments control.   just look at any of the numerous videos people post about police.   I only mention police because well they are a hot topic in social media.  I admire cops, some days i wish i was one.  
 
this is also a good read about millionals 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/taitran/2016/02/21/a-millennial-response-to-an-open-letter-to-yelp-ceo-takeaways-for-millennials-and-companies/#7672fae433a6

The abuse of "assisted living" complexes in calling for 911 response for falls and other minor occurances has taken its toll on the system.  In the case of Croton and Briarcliff the contract for ALS requires response by the Tri Village fly car on every call.  Many of those calls are then deferred to OVAC ambulance 2 BLS unit because not all shifts are covered by per diems in those villages.  It is an overload.  In years gone by it was not uncommon for an entire 12 hour tour to go call free...now in a 12 hour tour there can be 12 or more calls.  Abuse of the system?  It's going to catch up with us and there will be a real problem one day.
 

 
 
Illegal?  What law is being broken? 

Can you describe what conduct is illegal if they do go through with this?
 

the chief made a policy.  chain of command.  it may be stupid but its something they should have talked to the chief and powers to be prior to bringing it to the media, now they will have a bigger issue. 
 

I would agree up to the point that the firefighter defiantly adds that there will be future FB photos with apparatus and gear, at which point, if there is a policy, then it goes from something easily addressed to insubordination. 
 
Often the issue isn't the photo of the gear, but that it establishes the poster as an employee/member and all other posts are now linked/associated with the department. Someone who sees other things undesirable of that member or that members friends, now sees the kind of people the FD hires/allows as members. Those die-hard social media fans often fail to realize that in the public sector: perception is the peoples reality.  

"In January the Town refused to pay Harrison EMS until we showed them our financials (they have no right to look at our financial, HEMS is private not-for-profit org not a town entity)."
This quote, if true, is troubling.
I have to back the town on this.
If that is the attitude of the management of an agency that receives town money, the town can probably do better looking elsewhere.
If this statement is true, it is a signal that this is much more than a pizzing match between the town and a few EMS members.
If they are taking town money, then they are answerable to the town.
This makes it look like HEMS is hiding something.
Anyone looking at this is going to come to this conclusion.

...and, not to mention the obvious, but wasn't there a few agencies up bit up the road who are now going through some rather complicated, embarrassing and possible criminal investigations regarding questionable use of public money?

 

Social Media policies are a big thing and it does not take much online content to make a dept or company look stupid. While it wouldn't seem this was the type of posting that a policy was implemented for, if its a violation of the policy, it must be treated as such. Picking and choosing how and when to apply policy is, well, very bad policy. And I'm not sure as we're not nearly as "Firematic" as a whole up this way, but "traditional Fire Dept. Wedding"? 30 years this month and I have never heard of or seen anything speaking to fire service wedding traditions. I've seen antique fire trucks as limo's but I didn't realize this was a thing.

There's a Fallen Firefighters Memorial.  That's the hall of fame for the fire service.
 
 

So the town is actually investigating options for EMS.  They should be commended for that!  Most towns rely on the provider, whether VAC, VFD, commercial, mixed, or whatever, and provide no insight or guidance whatsoever.  Let's face it, any municipal service should have oversight, even EMS.
 

So is anyone aware of any truth to this?  Besides a Facebook rant and copied email from a HEMS insider, have there been any news reports, statements from the town or anything that suggests this is accurate?

It's the town's prerogative to contact for services within their borders so the notion that they don't have any right to review HEMS financial statements or discuss service(s) provided is nuts.  They provided $550,000 to the "VAC" this year so it's clear the town has a stake in it. 
 

The outside of your helmet may not have skin contact, but if you look in the bowl, there is cloth padding that will absorb toxins (and sweat and skin oils and whatnot).  Whenever you wash your gear, these pieces should be removed and laundered as well. Those pieces have contact with your hood or your skin.  A quick rinse of the outside of your helmet will clean it up some and you may actually be able to tell if that burnt food smell is coming from the locked apartment or your own head.