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"I would not want to see lay offs but to be honest I would take a job to support my family even if it meant someone from SFRD lost theirs." Thanks for the honesty Peter. It a nutshell, this is the type of attitude that many have suspected. I appreciate knowing where you really stand and where your support for this plan is coming from. I am sure that many members of the Stamford Fire and Rescue Department also appreciate seeing you own up to this belief.

Ok cool, I'll take it. Thanks for clearing it up, I hate being stepped-on for no good reason. By the way; much of the "union" scare is not valid. Having dealt with this issue first-hand, they are many people talking like experts on the subject and usually what they say is 100% false. What is impeding interoperability is not a contract, it is egos. Later-

Yes 585, the Long Ridge Assistant Fire Chief (Unit 7-12), cancelled the following units: City Engine 8 (3 personnel), City Engine 9 (3 personnel), City Truck 3 (4 personnel), City Deputy Chief and Aide (2 personnel). In addition, the Turn of River Fire Department had their Truck 67 (with at least 4 on board) and Engine 62 (with at least 4 on board). City Engines 8 and 9 were actually at Turn of River Station 1 for a drill and all Turn of River and City Engines responded on the initial alarm as a joint group. So to make it clear, the cowboy Assistant Chief cancelled paid and volunteer Fire Fighters responding to assist his department on the initial alarm. Long Ridge has attempted to explain this as that they only wanted to cancel the City (worthy of additional questioning on that line), but the Dispatcher could not have done a better job of making certain of their request and the Long Ridge Chief could not have been more concise in clearly stating that he only wanted to have Long Ridge respond. So, let the excuses begin......... PS - Alpine Runner: A point of concern: Doesn't the City already have 3 and 4 person staffed Companies in 3 of the 5 volunteer Districts? When the volunteers say they want 3 people on their rigs, aren't they really just saying "don't come here if you have a Stamford Fire Rescue patch on your sleeve..." If that is the position, I am pretty offended at that prejudice, as I worked hard to get where I am and have quite a bit of pride and respect for the Men and Women I work with. I would be troubled if that is truly their position. Hopefully, you can help me out on that one. Thanks-

Thanks for sharing Seth. Looks like a good example when all the players contribute to the project and produce a well-thought out and functional rig.

FireMedic: The proposal is nothing new and just another scam. It is the same garbage this guy has been proposing since the day he magically returned as Chief in 2002. He has had one agenda and one goal as Chief.......get rid of the City Fire Fighters in his Station and give jobs to himself and his handful of faithful minions. From unlawful transfers, to the barricading of apparatus from entering the building, to the attempted installation of illegal surveillance cameras in crew quarters, his entire tenure has been consumed with every conceivable attempt to harass the career staff working in his Station. Anyone from Stamford is well versed with this personality and his behavior and actions should make any Firefighter blush with embarrassment.

Alpine: Is this "Stamford" information coming from Stamford City Fire sources or is this scuttlebutt from people from outside Stamford Fire and Rescue who have like to start problems by manufacturing their own stories and history (there is quite a bit of that going around.....) I am pretty abreast of most SFRD and Union issues and I have NEVER heard about a concern whether SPD takes the old Mack R2 and makes it into an ESU truck.

Seth: Thanks for the support for the CFD article. As an avid Pierce fan, it was a nice article to write and an excellent fleet to share with others. From what I was told, the rear cab chevrons were a first of a kind for Pierce. The Truck Committee was tired of the issues with tread plate and wanted to do something different. Their entire fleet was in the process of having all rigs outfitted with front and rear chevrons and rear chevron hose covers, so the chevrons on the cab fit in nicely. I have heard criticism that it is "too much chevroning", but if you were to see the rig placed as to be used for traffic blocking, you would easily see the value of the added rear cab wall chevrons. Not sure if Pierce has done any others, but I would not be surprised to see similar examples at upcoming shows. The Snorkel shown on the cover is in as good condition as the picture portrays it. It is first-due for the southern end of town and will probably be around for a few more years. In light of recent economic issues and from the tone of the Town Boards, replacement money may be some time from now. I have my eye on a few other article ideas, but not sure if this will become a regular thing?

I know I will not make many friends with this sentiment, but I am sure that their need for this type of articulating platform is almost as great as their need for 10 person cabs.

The Stamford Professional Fire Fighter's Association will be hosting our Annual Educational Seminar on Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 09:30 to 15:30 at the UCONN Stamford Campus. The featured speakers and topics are as follows: "Safety Always Matters" Presented by Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo of the North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire and Rescue Department. "Responding to Routine Emergencies" Presented by Batallion Chief Frank Montagna of the FDNY. The cost is only $25.00 per person. All proceeds will go to the Stamford Fire Fighters Burn Foundation and the Wounded Warrier Project. To register online or learn additional information about the seminar, please visit our web site by clicking below: My link This event sold out last year. Please do not wait until the last minute to register. We look forward to seeing everyone again for another successful year!

Last one:

Few more:

A few more pics:

M: The Truck was delivered from the manufacturer this way and is far from in service. The present tower has been equipped with both stream options for the past 14 years of use and this one will be equipped to do so as well. As with any new vehicle, it will take some time to get things outfitted prior to being placed into service.

Seth and all, thanks for the kinds words and props. I still keep in touch with the patient and I am happy to say that he is doing extremely well. Having done CPR on countless occasions in more than 20 years of EMS experience, this was one of the very small percentile of patients that literally comes back with little or no long-term effect from the arrest. It is nice to see such a positive outcome and to such a good guy. Getting an award is nice, but there are plenty of other people on my job that do great things every day that go unnoticed and are probably more deserving. The greatest acknowledgment that I did receive came from the family of the patient this past August. The family had a large family reunion weekend to celebrate their Dad's/Grandpa's second chance and during the reunion took a family photo that they all signed and sent to me in card saying "thanks for letting us have this weekend", there really is no award better than seeing something like that..... Thanks again- MTP

SVI does make a nice truck and appears to be really the only solid alternative to the former (Pre-Federal Signal) Saulsbury Line. Question: Are you guys opting out of the SVI type rear stairway? Or is that cross beam in the photos just a temporary support? Thanks and look forward to seeing its completion.

No doubt, a White Castle Franchise in CT would strike gold. Not sure why it has not happened? Izzy - Teds? nah, too much Travel Channel hype. Got to go with O'Rourkes in Middletown or Owens in Cheshire....

Would this be a good time to debate who has the best steamed cheeseburger?

Heard good things about BAR and will need to try. Eli's in Hamden has a fantastic bacon and mashed potato pizza as well......

You are both off-track, Wooster Street is good for long lines, tourists, and attitudes. The BEST pizza in New Haven is on State Street at MODERN Pizza! Extra well-done pepperoni with Foxon Park Birch, there is nothing better........

Why such cryptic language? If you folks (the Greenwich Police Department Explorer Post) are truly preparing "tomorrow's leaders, today" then perhaps you will try and start with direct conversation and some fact finding? This issue that you are trying to talk around involved the Greenwich Fire Department and has been widely discussed in this forum and elsewhere. Fortunately, the practice in the GFD was discontinued and I think they (the GFD) have moved on from it. Forgive me if I am wrong, but there appears to be an assertion in your post that Stamford should have learned from the Greenwich issue. If this is the case, it would have been hard considering that this drill occurred almost 3 years PRIOR to the recent Greenwich issue. I know within the vast experience that is contained in the Explorer Post there are plenty of answers to all issues, but it is possible that the operations of this drill were managed well beyond the scope of a video camera. Regards-

Seth: A new Rescue 1 is presently being constructed by HME. It will be very similar to the one delivered to the Turn of River Fire Department last year. The City unit should be slightly longer with slightly more rooftop compartment space than TORs. I do not know the delivery date, but I am sure one of the other Stamford regulars could provide that. The present Hackney is still in service as running as R1. The 1991 Mack MC that runs as Rescue 2 has been relocated to HQ due to space issues with the arrival of the 75' rear mount HME/Ahrens Fox running as Engine 5. The dive gear has been relocated to an older modified handi-van and will roll only for dive purposes. R2 is strictly a reserve rescue truck and no longer rolls with the dive gear. 2 new HME Engines are expected to be delivered very soon. One of the Engines in being delivered for the Glenbrook Fire Department and will replace their older Sutphen Engine (E34). The other Engine will be used by the City and should go to Engine 8. The Engines will be of same spec as the most recent HME Engines delivered to Stamford. Glenbrook's Engine will have an upgraded warning package installed by Whelen Engineering. Also of note: The City went out to bid last Monday for one 95 foot mid-mount tower ladder to replace the 1996 Sutphen Tower serving at Truck 2 (South End). It is believed that the new Tower will return to HQ as Truck 1 upon delivery and T1's present HME/RK rear mount will run as Truck 2. Stamford EMS has recently had their special operations unit completely rebuilt and remounted on a new Ford F550 chassis. Not sure who did the work, but they did a very nice job. No other transactions of the volunteer Companies that I have heard. The reorganization has been mostly confined to career staffing at this point. Contrary to what some are saying, the career and volunteer staff are doing just fine interacting and working with one another. If I have made any errors, I am sure one of the many other Stamford people in this forum will be able to assist and be glad to tell me where I am wrong. Hope that helps.

Brian is a Cheshire (CT) native and his family is still in the area (he was also a fairly good baseball player for the CHS Rams as well). A great player and a great guy, congrats. Your hometown is proud.

Steve: If you are in the process of purchasing a new rig, there are plenty of trucks to view. Most apparatus manufacturers will be represented, with some (Pierce) usually having between 8-10 various models on display. With the exception of the Tower Ladders, most of the event is indoors, so weather is usually not a factor. I would recommend going on Friday if possible, Saturday and Sunday are filled with lots of T-shirts and overall "out-standing" attendees....

Sorry Pete (I'll take the bait) but the old career system was (in fact) broken and needed to be fixed. I will speak solely for the career issue, the subsequent volunteer budgeting is another story. The fact is that career fire personnel (employed by volunteer Fire Departments) operating under the old staffing situation were costing (on average) $20,000 more than the same Fire Fighter working for SFRD. The reason for this is due to the "group overage" staffing situation that is used by SFRD and allowed under contract. The previous career contract with volunteer Departments ran personnel at only minimum strengths. This assured that whenever a vacancy occurred, overtime had to be paid. In addition, there was no limit on the number of personnel off at any time and less stringent (or non existent in certain locations) follow-up on sick and injured leave. The end-of-the-year salary numbers were clear and they consistently indicated a drastic cost increase between the two systems. It was also somewhat absurd that the SFRD often would have "overage" of 5 or 6 personnel per shift, yet other Fire Departments in the same City were hiring 5-6 overtime slots. Call it what you want, but find me any respected Fire Manager (career or volunteer) who would consider that to be sound or responsible management. It is interesting that Mr. Tarzia is now criticizing the same consolidated career system that he previously called for (check the media history). Mr. Tarzia repeatedly was critical of the two-tiered career system and was someone who would balk at the scenario that I had just described in the above paragraph. Now, he appears to change direction and question spending? (interesting). The year end salary numbers are not classified and available to anyone that should chose to review. When I ran the Union, we would extract this data at year's end and perform our own cost analysis. I find it hard to believe that a BOF member is having trouble obtaining the same info (or perhaps it is just media fodder?). One last point: Assistant Chief Brown is a smart guy and has been doing his job for well over a decade. I am pretty confident when he gives the City a projected overall salary number, it is accurate. If a City Finance Board then cuts the number hundreds of thousands of dollars below what was stated as needed, you are going to have a shortfall before the budget year is up. I think we are comparing apples to oranges when we try and look at the root of the budget shortfall. Rather than blame the career merger, perhaps it is the BOF (and the lack of required salary funding) who created the problem to begin with? Thanks- Matt P.

Pete: I will always believe that the rationale people will eventially prevail and perhaps there is hope for all of us? PJ: Nice to see you the other night and I always appreciate your input. I will refrain from further commentary for fear that JC will remind me that we are (once again) heading in a circular motion. Be well and thanks for sharing your thoughts- Matt P.