JAD622

In all my years in the Fire Service what continues to amaze me is how critical decisions of how to provide the best fire protection to the public always seems to be made by those least qualified. Can someone please tell me how this so called "Plan" is devised by a group of people headed by a retired baseball coach and a small group of volunteers? If this isn't an example of broken politics and self serving agenda's then I don't know what is. Unfortunately, it will probably get wide public support simply because it is prefaced by misleading promises of better fire protection and reduced cost to taxpayers. Sadly, in the years ahead, when all the political "dust" settles and the ramifications of decimating the Stamford Fire Department become more apparent, those responsible will probably be long gone and someone else will start this insane process all over again! Hopefully, no lives will be lost along the way.
The fire service is systematically being dismantled by Politicians all over the Country under the guise of the financial crisis this country faces due to the dismal and inept leadership of those who control it's finances. We are being used as pawns to bear the brunt of the blame and the public easily buys into it. This is only the beginning and I fear it will get much worse. I can only be thankful that I am at the tail end of my career and feel bad for those who have just begun theirs. It's going to be a very rough ride and this is just one example of how bad decisions and ill conceived plans will continue to plague the fire service.

In all my years in the Fire Service what continues to amaze me is how critical decisions of how to provide the best fire protection to the public always seems to be made by those least qualified. Can someone please tell me how this so called "Plan" is devised by a group of people headed by a retired baseball coach and a small group of volunteers? If this isn't an example of broken politics and self serving agenda's then I don't know what is. Unfortunately, it will probably get wide public support simply because it is prefaced by misleading promises of better fire protection and reduced cost to taxpayers. Sadly, in the years ahead, when all the political "dust" settles and the ramifications of decimating the Stamford Fire Department become more apparent, those responsible will probably be long gone and someone else will start this insane process all over again! Hopefully, no lives will be lost along the way.
The fire service is systematically being dismantled by Politicians all over the Country under the guise of the financial crisis this country faces due to the dismal and inept leadership of those who control it's finances. We are being used as pawns to bear the brunt of the blame and the public easily buys into it. This is only the beginning and I fear it will get much worse. I can only be thankful that I am at the tail end of my career and feel bad for those who have just begun theirs. It's going to be a very rough ride and this is just one example of how bad decisions and ill conceived plans will continue to plague the fire service.

You guys are hung up on the "Took a class on how to run a Fire Department" quote.
This quote originally appeared in the Journal noNews quite a while ago, and I believe it had a typographical error that was never retracted by the newspaper.
The misspelled word was "ruin"

I for one truly believe that the time has come in today's fire service to seriously consider "Regionalization and/or Consolidation".There are many driving factors that cannot be ignored any longer, with first and foremost being the economy driven cutbacks we see rolling across the country. Many cities and small towns are already sorely understaffed and now are looking to cut even further. It seems it's only a matter of time until the system becomes so insufficient that something will have to be done.
My question is; do we sit idle and wait to see if it happens? Or, do we try to start the momentum and get people to understand that this is a matter of survival. Should we push our governments to start taking a serious look at this option instead of cutting vital services further and putting ourselves and the public at greater risk? The time has come to step up and promote the idea and get people thinking in a proactive direction instead of waiting for the Sky to Fall.

I for one truly believe that the time has come in today's fire service to seriously consider "Regionalization and/or Consolidation".There are many driving factors that cannot be ignored any longer, with first and foremost being the economy driven cutbacks we see rolling across the country. Many cities and small towns are already sorely understaffed and now are looking to cut even further. It seems it's only a matter of time until the system becomes so insufficient that something will have to be done.
My question is; do we sit idle and wait to see if it happens? Or, do we try to start the momentum and get people to understand that this is a matter of survival. Should we push our governments to start taking a serious look at this option instead of cutting vital services further and putting ourselves and the public at greater risk? The time has come to step up and promote the idea and get people thinking in a proactive direction instead of waiting for the Sky to Fall.

"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately" - Benjamin Franklin (How ironic that he was a fire chief).
I think he was one of our MANY Chiefs!!!!!!!

I think that censorship would be the worst thing that could happen. It would probably cause more members to leave or be angered then any other reason. When we disagree, somebody, somewhere is not going to like what someone else's opinion is. Here on this site many times opinions, are not opinions, they are fact, as proven by recordings and records. By shining the light of truth on subjects that are not discussed anywhere else on the internet, everyone will better from it. I know when I ask questions I get answers here. I called my local FD and got a recording, A RECORDING.
I guess it comes down to
If you don't like it, don't read it.
If it is an opinion, voice your own.
Facts are discuss-able not disputable.
If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
If you cannot answer the questions, you should not be in a position to be asked.

I have learned much watching this site over the years and it is only because of truth and factual talk that I and everyone else has benefited.

Thanks Barry! The only question I have the energy to answer tonight is; In response to Chief Flynn and from what we found out through hands on with FDNY at the drills is; he is correct about the NY CORP & NYC 2 1/2 scenario. It isn't an exact match but it will work if needed. We hooked up to standpipe 2 1/2's during the drill and it is loose as you start to connect them but when you tighten them down they do "make up". Everyone involved in the drill felt it was do-able if necessary. Some of us use FDNY 1 1/2 couplings but it's kind of a moot (sp?) point as FDNY doesn't use 1 1/2" for most stretches (esp. standpipes) As far as the hydrant wrenches go, all the Dept's in the Mutual Aid Drill were issued the standard Hydrant Wrench and two 2 1/2" to 3" increaser's (sp?) from Div.7 to supply Tower Ladders & Siamese connections. Hydrants that use the Magnetic wrenches are becoming more common in the Bronx but Div.7 Chief could not get NYC to issue those to us due to $$$$. Some of the Dept's have them already (YFD,NRFD&FDMV) as you know. There is a request in from Batt.18 to try and acquire some but I do not know the progress on that as of this moment. Hope that helps. BTW, we need to get together about "The Book"!