Monty

I know some departments have Military leave - so that the members of those departments that have requirements for members to remain active can come back active and not lose time, or be kicked out if they are deployed. I don't think it was written anywhere, but the general thinking was that if you were on workers comp or medical leave that you should not be at the firehouse for a call as it could jeopardize your status.

Digressing from the topic of the post - which I think is very poignant and valid. In the spirit of equal time, I would say that one case where the IAFF is trying to look out for the best interest of its base membership and not the general public (at least in the short term) is the ban on members volunteering with Fire Departments. And I know there are people here in this category. I know there are lots of local's that don't pay much attention to this rule, but not so long ago it was a big thing in the Albany press where there are quite a few FF's that volunteer in their suburban communities that were being told not to. Maybe now we can get back to the real topic I did see that the form email was designed so that you couldn't change the text - I guess they didn't want people using their mechanism to send out email to legislators with a different viewpoint from the official one.

Good, informative post. The other thing that is out there I believe are Village Fire Departments. I think they are different from both the Fire District & Fire Protection District. Essentially the Village government (board?) have budgetary responsibility and is the checks & balance for the Chiefs' Office (vs Commissioners and Directors).

What exactly is termed a tax paying resident? It is one per household? One adult per household? Two? What is 50%? Of votes cast, or of eligible voters? Given typical turn out for local elections, school districts etc - I don't think turnout is anywhere near 50%. I've seen that this change is being driven from a couple of different areas. There was a statewide commission on local government, but then there was also the Gordon Heights Fire District in Long Island that they tried to get disbanded by the current process but have so far failed.

I haven't seen the bill - but I think they used the word 'official' to differentiate from 'Emergency'. Now interestingly, I don't know what would happen if you took the vehicle without authorization. Maybe they could throw that at you, but I suspect there are more severe charges that you'd end up getting.

Took a while to get through all the pics - very impressive. Cool to get such a good view of what was going on.

Assuming of course that a proper audit is undertaken.

I did misread the title! I was thinking 52 pounds was a bit on the light side .....

See the attachment for details: Flyer.pdf

Wow, so sad. RIP.

Trying a quick google search, there are some examples. One good one is http://www.mnfirecert.org/pdfs/FIREFIGHTER_ONE.pdf When I took it at Montour, I did a ladder raise, hit the hydrant, PPE donning, hose stretch / pack. There were a couple others that I forget (maybe knots??). Are there any details of the test / flyer? The Orange County site only has September 2008 training classes listed on it Are they doing testing for FF2?

From http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachus...fighters_in_us/? and http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_...bus_offici.html Interesting to see these figures. Just got my tax bill, fire is lumped with refuse and lighting (don't know what the reasoning is for that one) and costs 4 residents $511, EMS costs $52 for those 4 residents.

Only a minor point, but unemployment only pays $405 / week (maybe with an extra $25 now thanks to the feds). So that's about 20,000 / year. Bet there aren't many state workers making that amount - or less. From what I can see here, there are 199,400 employees. 8900 is about 4.5% of that number - a lot of people, but a relatively small amount of people compared to some places. The same article says that there's expect to be 1,342 from the corrections department. I did hear that as part of the budget that several corrections institutions were going to be shut down.

I received details about a seminar in Kingston NY that Chief Goldfeder is going to be presenting at. It looks like it might be similar to the presentation he gave at Elmsford a couple of years ago. Well, worth the trip - I'm sure it will be a great evening. Hosted by the Spring Lake Fire Department March 23, 2009 – 6:30pm – 10:30pm J. Watson Bailey Middle School Auditorium, Kingston NY Fee: $10 per person ( Please make checks to Spring Lake FD, District vouchers also accepted) SEATING IS LIMITED. PRE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!! Please call prior to sending in registration fee, first come first serve. Contact Jeremiah McDonough (845) 338-2173 leave message and we will get back to you. KingstonSeminarflyer.pdf

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?Jo...bNum=1&rc=7 SALARY RANGE: 42,837.00 - 55,689.00 USD per year OPEN PERIOD: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 to Monday, March 23, 2009 WORK SHIFT: 3 X 24 hour shifts. FIREFIGHTER CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRED: Firefighter I & II, EMT-D, HAZMAT Awareness, HAZMAT Operations, and HAZMAT Technician. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: 1. Must possess and maintain a valid state driver’s license. 2. Must successfully complete annual physical. 3. Must maintain appropriate certification as listed above. 4. Position is emergency essential for adverse weather. NOTE: In accordance with AR 600-85m this is a Testing Designated Position. As such, incumbent is subject to random drug testing and drug testing when there is a reasonable suspicion that the incumbent uses illegal drugs. PRE-EMPLOYMENT Drug Test and Physical are required. # Other Requirements: Click here for more information. # Personnel security investigation may be required. # Position may be designated as Emergency Essential. # A medical examination may be required. # This position may be required to comply with the Drug Abuse Testing Program. # Must possess and maintain a valid stateside driver's license. # Must be able to pass an initial and an annual physical agility test. # Maximum 37 years of age restriction. # Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration. # Direct Deposit of Pay is Required. # Position requires employee to wear a uniform and/or protective clothing. # You may claim Military Spouse Preference. # One year trial/probationary period may be required. Age restriction counts me out Good luck to anyone applying.

From Newsday: Seems to me like some people just don't learn ..... maybe its their way of stimulating the economy. Wonder what repercussions this may start in Albany this time around .....

From when I was involved, that sounds about the right sort of expectation. The commitment was to get the fully staffed team on the road within two hours of the call being received by OFPC - throw in the response time from Albany, 3 hours is about right. That team is made up from members from multiple upstate Counties. I don't know if anyone has any better information, but I suspect they do 1 or 2 calls a year. I know they were activated last year for a trench collapse (I think in East Greenbush).

Training is regularly held one Sunday morning a month, one Wednesday evening a month and at other additional times. This would seem to be a great approach. It might also help with some of the questions brought up here. One of the first responses for the Capital District team was to Rockland for Hurricane Floyd. I'm not sure that Rockland had their own tech rescue team at that time - but there was certainly a lot of resources working in a coordinated manner.

I don't know the reasoning for it, but I did hear that round here the tentative school budget was an increase of 1.5% - however, because of probable state aid reductions, reduced tax income (from property sales, or county?) - the estimate was that taxpayers would actually end up with about a 4% tax increase.

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29555882/: Sounds like this is a good learning situation - with no serious repercussions.

As I am not involved in the leadership of this team - I feel that I am not in a position to make definitive statements. I can only give my personal opinion. Looking at the memo, it was addressed to All Agencies and the Chiefs of those agencies - they may have more information that has not filtered down to others. Failing that as I stated, before you should contact the County. I can tell you about the 125+ hours training that I personally took in State / National classes last year, in addition to the previous training I've had. But as has already been posted, there are some members with more training, some with less. The best place to get the answers you (and probably others) are looking for is to go to the team leaders.

Posted below is a memo that was emailed out to those that are subscribed to the County fire email list: As to some of your questions, yes there are ID cards issued, PPE issued. Yes, there has to be certification that the team member is fit for duty (usually by the head of the primary agency that the team member belongs to). I'm not aware of a maximum age for the team, but most on the team have taken the series of state classes on structural collapse and trench operations as well as swift water rescue. I'd be surprised if anyone on the team is over the mandatory career FF retirement age. The team purchased two stocked technical rescue vehicles from Syosset FD on LI when they decided they could not adequately provide a technical rescue team. Since then various equipment has been added. I'd suggest that anyone who wants to find out more about the specifics of equipment available, planned response time & manpower levels, team structure etc contact the County. I imagine that they will be happy to show off the equipment and discuss the details. I'm sure that there will be some kinks initially, but a lot of effort has gone in to getting this far and I'm sure it will continue and the team's training, equipment procedures etc will only get better over time. Monty.

Stay safe out there. Hope it's not too long away from home.

Wow - old news but never the less quite something. Googling around I found this http://www.phoenix158.org/events/Oder/ - looks like the truck driver was doing OK. Must have been quite a ride - if he can remember it!

I remember the incident - but I wasn't there. To Chris' point, was the incident handled effectively? Yes, I know there were lots of resources - and the fire went out. But I'm sure there was at least some room for improvement. Was there a true ICS, span of control, responsibilities assigned, accountability? Or was it just you guys stop the fire over there, you guys set up a water source etc, you guys vent this area? Calls I've been to, other than sometimes hearing Incident Command (that seems to be happening more often), I don't hear other ICS positions (staging, safety, operations, division 1). I have been to incidents elsewhere, where they do use more of this - and it does help even a schmuck like me get a better picture of what's going on where.