ex-commish

It is a pathetic shame that these members have to operate using old and damaged equipment. The United States gives billions away to foreign countries many like Iran who have no use for us yet fire departments have to beg or compete for grants to get funding. And the same goes for EMS many VAC's operate with old equipment. I

How so? 

OK

Was some great times back then

Was the top on the cab added later on? I remember it being open

The year on the stone is 1957, but I think that is the year that the 75 Washington Avenue HQ was built. However, in the Commissioners Room, there is an architect's rendition of the firehouse remodeling that added the Ladder Bay.

Prayers for a speedy recovery for the injured member

When I joined Pleasantville FD in 1980 they had an American Lafrance ladder truck still in service I am not totally sure on the year but I believe it was a late 1940 open cab 75' stick.

RIP

RIP

Hi, sorry I'm a little late on this post. I am the new Captain of PVAC. We are working on correcting our problem. If you have any questions, please send me a private message.

Wear your mask

Wear your mask

Prayers for a speedy recovery

From what I read it's not a done deal the board just set aside money for next years budget in the event hiring a full time chief is warranted.

Hawthorne has a contract with Empress EMS for coverage 24/7. In my recent years on the board of fire commissioners I did not see any attempt to recruit people for EMS. They have however recruited a fair amount of firefighters. If I recall paid ems was supposed to be temporary until either we recruited more volunteers or sought other means of providing EMS coverage which I was a proponent unfortunately fell on deaf ears with some of my colleagues on the board. And GAW6 is absolutely on point when she says PVAC was bailing us out thanks to them our calls were being covered

Hawthorne has a contract with Empress EMS for coverage 24/7. In my recent years on the board of fire commissioners I did not see any attempt to recruit people for EMS. They have however recruited a fair amount of firefighters. If I recall paid ems was supposed to be temporary until either we recruited more volunteers or sought other means of providing EMS coverage which I was a proponent unfortunately fell on deaf ears with some of my colleagues on the board. And GAW6 is absolutely on point when she says PVAC was bailing us out thanks to them our calls were being covered

Hawthorne has a contract with Empress EMS for coverage 24/7. In my recent years on the board of fire commissioners I did not see any attempt to recruit people for EMS. They have however recruited a fair amount of firefighters. If I recall paid ems was supposed to be temporary until either we recruited more volunteers or sought other means of providing EMS coverage which I was a proponent unfortunately fell on deaf ears with some of my colleagues on the board. And GAW6 is absolutely on point when she says PVAC was bailing us out thanks to them our calls were being covered

RIP

No apologies needed you did express some great ideas

If you are looking for common sense, forget about it. I recently moved to an area covered by a volunteer department. I stopped by the station, 1/2 mile from my home on the same street, to inquire about membership. I was told that my NY credentials were not recognized in GA. One day an engine came up the street, responding, when it passed my house it was not the local dept, but the neighboring paid department. I have seen them responding into our area several other times.
So, I'm usually available 24/7, have lots of training, 30+ years of experience as an EMT, Officer, Driver, Interior Firefighter, but they can't use me and they also can't get their apparatus on the road 100% of the time either.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the declining of volunteer firefighters and how can we retain them I want to put out there an actual scenario ( I will leave the department name out of it) that has happened here in Westchester which as a member of the fire service as well as a taxpayer makes me scratch my head. We all know OSHA training is a considered safety training and I don't meant to demean the importance of it but those of us who have been around know there has never been actual measure of competency for OSHA ( I believe that has been changed now) all you have had to do is be present for the training and you were issued credit for the training.
Many departments incorporate OSHA with their regular drills or hold extra classes for OSHA. In the case I am referring to a member who was a former chief, daytime driver and held many state and national certs was dropped as a member for being non-compliant for OSHA. He was out of service for several months and missed drills and towards the end of the year he was short on his OSHA hours. He approached his chief and asked if there can be make up training for those who were short on OSHA ( he was not the only one short) and with the chief's approval a class was given by a competent and experienced instructor and the completed training was also approved. Make up training was a common practice in this department and the approval was always maintained at the chief's level with simply a meme to the board that the members were compliant.And to add the board adopted a resolution to allow members untill 12/31 of that year to be compliant.
At the January meeting of the board of fire commissioners they ( 3 out of 5 members of the board) chose not to accept the training that the chief approved and hence the member with almost 35 years in the fire service, certified instructor, hazmat tech, someone who has conducted hundreds of hours of training for his department and again a daytime driver was cut loose. Now there is a personal side to this story that I won't get into but in this day and age where you see signs all around town asking for people to volunteer, when at a time apparatus do not get out because of no drivers, and where it is hard today to keep members, why would any commissioner vote to drop someone in this case especially when the attorney representing the district rendered an opinion that the members who are short should be given ample time to "re-up" OSHA training perhaps put them in an in-active status until the do. Commissioners, of which I am one, are elected officials who are charged with the responsibility of making sure their districts are protected as well as represent the best interests of the taxpayer. Throwing someone out because they would not accept OSHA training approved by the chief in my opinion does not represent the best interests of the district and the residents of the district. It also undermines the chief's authority who runs the department and who has to rely on quality people to make the incidents work. We also have to maintain quality people especially those who want to volunteer and serve their community and are willing to take the necessary measure to do it. If you are not willing to see the quality in people than you might as well take down the " we need volunteers" signs because obviously you don't.

For those bleeding hearts including Obama who wants to take away this type of equipment from law enforcement I wonder how many cop's lives this piece of machine saved.

For those bleeding hearts including Obama who wants to take away this type of equipment from law enforcement I wonder how many cop's lives this piece of machine saved.

For those bleeding hearts including Obama who wants to take away this type of equipment from law enforcement I wonder how many cop's lives this piece of machine saved.