Monty

I used to run with a department that ran a 102' ft tower. We didn't ahve assigned companies, but we did have qualified drivers and truck operators. We never kept track of the stats of when it was deployed. On a few occasions as the officer, I would have the driver fly the ladder - mostly if I felt the driver was rusty. We did have a policy there that every driver had to requalify on each piece every two years. Even with that it could be 2 years in between pumping or flynig the ladder for some drivers!

Congratualtions to the new FF's. On a side note, I saw that WP agility test was being held at the FTC this past Sunday. Semed that there were at least 30 people taking the class. Now I think about it - I don't recall seeing any women in those ranks of hopefuls.

My experience seems nothing compared to JBE, but I was on the 9th floor in a building at the corner of Broadway and Fulton - I had passed through the PATH station about 20 minutes earlier. I was actually on the phone with my Boss when there was a loud bang. I assumed that it was a manhole or transformer explosion or something. My work area faced the North out towards City Hall. A couple minutes later people came around and said the WTC was on fire. I watched for a few minutes, then called my wife at home in Orange County. I followed that at some point later calling my brother in England on his cell phone - who hadn't heard what had happened at that point - so it was making no sense to him, although after my call they heard it on the van radio. We had TV's on the floor as it was a small trading floor with Windows that faced North, West and South. At that point there were some people panicking about terrorists - I must admit that at that time I was like, no it was a corporate jet or something. I also remember thinknig that it was going to keep FDNY busy for quite a while. Another thing I noticed was all the civilian vehicles with red lights heading to the WTC. I then tried going back to work. Watching out the West Window, I remember seeing the fireball as the second plane hit. Our view was blocked because of the Hilton Millenium Hotel but of course we saw the replay on TV. We were being told to shelter in place, however quite a few people opted to leave at that time. By this point was work out of the question. I remember watching as the first tower started to move and people starting to scream as everyone ran from the windows. The windows held, but we were engulfed in complete darkness for minutes before the sun started to peak through the dust. One of my first thoughts was the comparison to a nuclear winter. I remember seeing stuff floating in the air, papers mostly. After that, those of us left regrouped to a lower floor, and I remember being in the center of the building and feeling that vibrate as the second tower came down. Somewhere in this time I did spare a thought and prayers for all those lost, Emergency workers and employees, and who I might know that had perished. In the end, the only person that I knew personally that lost their life was Rayu Downey. Later I went up to the higher floors and the canteen which was used as a staging area and seeing lots of Correction Officers waiting for their orders. I remember seeing WTC 5 start on fire and watching that grow until it was fully engulfed. At this point I was wondering how I was going to get out, then I heard of the ferries and walked to South Street Seaport, through the dust and it was when I was on the ferry to Jersey City that I heard of WTC 7 falling. I was technically still a part of the NYRRT-1 in Albany and expected to spend some time down at the WTC, but as I hadn't been active in a year I never made it down there with them. Although I did end up helping with logisitics back in Albany. I did make it to the site in the end, volunteering through work with the Red Cross. In some ways, it's hard to believe it's been 6 years - yet those memories are as fresh as a few months ago. I'd be lying if I said it was like yesterday. My thoughts and prayers go to those that lost loved ones at the WTC and subsequently as a result of it. Monty.

Westchester GIS has some of this information. There is a cool map of the County at the FTC that has all the Districts on it. The County GIS site has some interesting looking stuff on there. I tried reproducing the map of the County with Fire Districts but didn't have much luck - not a GIS expert! The County has some interesting forms on their Library Page, including Fire Station Locations The County also has a mailing list with Department Addresses and names of Chiefs.

Mmm, that lovely thing tradition - we still have those bells in my companies quarters. Personally, I can't tell 1-2-3 apart from 1-1-1-3 - but that's probably 'cos I have no rhythm I just listen to see whether our house siren goes off or not!

I feel your pain. In our engine, the seatbelts in the rear are mounted so high that the shoulder restraints rub on my neck. Personally, I often place the shoulder restraint under my arm - probably not as effective, but I'm sure it's better than no seatbelt. Anyone have any thoughts on a better solution?

Problem is, taking at Montour Falls, as originally mentioned is a lot more than $25. There's the hours of travel - board, food etc which is several times the actual cost of the course - hence I suspect the reason for trying to find a local class.

My understanding is that it is an anuual fee of $800 for one installation. If you wanted multiple, then apparently there is a discount.

mmm, which cheek are you talking about Or are you just turning the other cheek?

I may have missed it in the thread as I read through - but I believe it is only assumption that the PCR was given to the media by the VAC. Maybe it came from another source? Maybe the contents were paraphrased to the media, again by someone other than the VAC.

Actually, I think he may be talking about images of the planes, not the bus I've seen this before in the C-130 of the RAF. So far I've found a private company, Air Ambulance Technoloy This is more of what I was thinking of Katrina Archive

You lost one to the toilet - Must have been some stronger stuff in there than the time mine ended up in there! It was a quick grab - then copius amounts of soap and water. We both survived that one! My problem with the current pager is that it goes off for no apparent reason - most annoying in the middle of the night and I just hear static. Now, it's not as sensitive as the old pager or scanner either. So much for progress of technology. Maybe the Minitor 9 will fix it all?

In the UK, you hear very little about tradition or brother hood. My grandfather was a firefighter in WW2 and stayed on until the mid 70's when he retired and my brother is an airport firefighter and a retained (paid on call) firefighter. AFAIK, the 'rules' are set by central government and county government. Also, the majority, if not all stations belong to a Country Brigade. Some interesting items on ebay This is the type of helmet in the 70's and 80's. Here's more like the helmet they use in the UK now: Here's a real old one ..... and while we're at it ....

I'm sure Politics is the answer to yuor first question. Regarding the second, if the contractor that fixed I-580 in California is involved in either - that's the one that will win. They rebuilt the burnt out bridge in 25 days instead of the 70 or so predicted by the state. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNG6EQ1IDG1.DTL

Maybe the unwritten policy, should have been made in to a written one? Or a memo on the training required or lack of training. In this day and age, unfortunate as it is - CYA. A lot of stuff is fine until the nasty stuff hits the fan.

Sounds like a real mess to me.

I think this kind of attitude ties in to what the Dr. was saying - albeit a different slant. Given the machismo / tradition etc of the service how reluctant are people to ask for help. We need to change that attitude - find out why we need help and then work to avoid that situation. It's obviously very early, and a lot more information to come, but from reading below the Jakes tragically lost in Boston are reported to have been disoriented. How agressive were they? How concerned were they about calling a mayday or for RIT / FAST? I'm certainly not looking to knock or put down these guys, and maybe they did call immediately for help and there were other issues - but I'm sure there are plenty of FF's out there that would be very reluctant to admit there's even possibly a problem and ask for help.

You may have hit the nail on the head there - certainly a significant issue. Should we be so concerned about saving structures? Isn't that our third incident priority? I'm currently thinking of two multi-LODD incidents, in commercial buildings - actually you can probably add the Boston multi-LODD to that as well. The life hazard at 130 Liberty St was very low. Personally, I think the life hazard in South Carolina was very low. Obviously I wasn't at either so I don't know for sure what was happening on the ground. Yes, I feel bad for the people involved when they pretty much lose everything - but I'd feel a lot worse if we lost a life or lives. Maybe the point is we are too agressive. How agressive are you going to be to save a lightweight construction building? A bowling alley? A strip mall? Maybe we should better educate every one, especially with regards to construction, life safety etc. To some extent, maybe a large extent, every one on the board here has that desire. As other's have indicated - and contrary to some others - I don't want to die doing my job. I want to live happily ever after and enjoy my kids and eventually their kids and so on. Also, I don't want to see anyone else die doing their job either. Monty.

I'm not sure that all career departments have physical tests - I know 10 years ago that wasn't the case. Also, saying one drill night a month be Physical Education is assuming that you have at least one drill night a month!!!! I think that ties in to the 'volunteer' aspect - there are many departments that do not want to reduce the ranks - either through age, discipline, training or anything else. Now on the other hand, I do know from firefighters in our department, that there are departments that will take you from the active list if you do not meet the requirements.

Thanks for that. I've added reading 1403 to my list of things to do when I'm bored Or if I get involved with live fire training - not sure which will come first ....

I assume they follow 1403. I don't know the ins and outs but I understand that in training there's not supposed to be multiple burns. I'll also assume this was just for illustration - or exterior training or something. Got to agree though - looks nice. It's been a loooonnnng time since I've been able to do interior live burn training.

I think you hit the naiul on the head - this summarizes it up very well in my opinion.

The report is available at here. I haven't had a chance to read through all of it (it is 100+ pages) - but it does seem very thorough. As is often the case, it is a chain of events - if something different had happened at any one place it could have been a very different outcome. But that didn't happen and it showcased a lot of problems. The interesting thing is to see how the Chief reacts to this, and then in turn the Mayor. Certainly seems like a lot needs to change.

Nahhh, (way) too much tradition

I saved this from PC World, AVS Video Converter - haven't used it but might be worth looking at.