FD7807

I usually do not respond to comments like this but I have to say it was uncalled for. I can assure you that this FASNY member does not want to see anyone lose jobs. 

well said sousgt......not what we need to hear.....all the best....

Are you some kind idiot? No one want to see someone lose their job.  If you are going to make stupid statements like that, please keep them to yourself. 

Actually between this and the other thread, we did not learn that 3 chiefs got together and hatched some nefarious plan to get rid of career firefighters. All that has been reported was that the village council voted to do this. There was some indication of a meeting with the Chiefs before this vote was taken but I doubt anyone who posts here was in that meeting.
 
What we did get was people immediately calling for the chiefs to be thrown out of office because they did not save the jobs. The problem with this line of reasoning is that politicians will do whatever they want, and no matter how loud a chief protests, they will generally not budge. It is the responsibility of a fire chief to run their fire departments and as any chief will tell you this is usually done with what you are given. Thus when the layoffs happened as much as it sucks there is still a fire department that needs to continue as best it can.
 
Layoffs are never a good option, but they do happen. If a major city suffered layoffs would you call for the career chief to be fired because he did not protect the manpower? I am not knowledgeable about the situation in PCFD prior to the council vote. I don't know who said what to who, who had a grudge against who, or who had what influence on the vote.
 
As for the public voting, this can be a double edged sword. The same public that wants more services from the government almost always wants to pay less taxes. One never knows just how the people will vote.
 
 

This is pointless. As many have said there are those will hate volunteers just for existing. On the river we are cowboys. On land we are XXXL berr guzzling belly bumpers who ride parade wagons. To those who you firefighters out yhere who continue to do the right thing for the right reason regardless kf career or volunteer then God bless. To the volunteers who automatically disregard the opinions of a career guy simply because he is a career guy then you need help.. To the career guys who volunteer bash  regardless of the topic as evidenced by some in this thread then you too need help. Peace out EMT Bravo. 

Not to nitpick but PortChester is a village within the Town of Rye, not a city. I bring this up only as a village has different requirements under the NYC constitution and the village board oversees the police and fire departments. Also the chief of the department lacks the legal authority to terminate anyone. The action to eliminate the 8 employee positions rests squarely on the village board. 

First off you know nothing about me. 1. My blue light reference was sarcasm. 2. You know nothing about my work ethic in life. 3. I personally have nothing career firefighters. What i do have a problem with is union grand standing. 4. If you think that the City of Port Chester is standing today because of 8 career firefighters then you are delusional. 5 Obviously you have an issue with the notion that people would do this job for nothing and when you say that we depend on the career fire service check your stats. The country as a whole is still volunteer as a majority because people have a love for their community which is something your hate spewing self cannot grasp. 

I do not know where to begin. I dont wear XXXL shirts but i might use that C note towards some new false teeth or a fresh new blue light. I dont drink but maybe you and I can belly bump at the FDIC when I go as a groupie. Seriously though do not ask me about my hero the PCFD chief. I dont know him nor do i care to. Its funny though how i never defended yet you assumed I did because we are both vollies. As much as i love to cruise on the parade wagon though i do have a 60 hour a week job and still make 100+ FD calls and  100+ training hours (not truck waxing or poker playing) and yet you and your brand of keyboard firefighters have problemsaccepting meand guys like me because im not in the union. And thank you to EMT Bravo for constantly reminding us volunteers we will never neasure up. That said I have to finish watching Chicago Fire on demand. Maybe someday I can be Kelly Severide right FDalumnus?  Belly bumps all around my brother

This is pointless. As many have said there are those will hate volunteers just for existing. On the river we are cowboys. On land we are XXXL berr guzzling belly bumpers who ride parade wagons. To those who you firefighters out yhere who continue to do the right thing for the right reason regardless kf career or volunteer then God bless. To the volunteers who automatically disregard the opinions of a career guy simply because he is a career guy then you need help.. To the career guys who volunteer bash  regardless of the topic as evidenced by some in this thread then you too need help. Peace out EMT Bravo. 

I do not know where to begin. I dont wear XXXL shirts but i might use that C note towards some new false teeth or a fresh new blue light. I dont drink but maybe you and I can belly bump at the FDIC when I go as a groupie. Seriously though do not ask me about my hero the PCFD chief. I dont know him nor do i care to. Its funny though how i never defended yet you assumed I did because we are both vollies. As much as i love to cruise on the parade wagon though i do have a 60 hour a week job and still make 100+ FD calls and  100+ training hours (not truck waxing or poker playing) and yet you and your brand of keyboard firefighters have problemsaccepting meand guys like me because im not in the union. And thank you to EMT Bravo for constantly reminding us volunteers we will never neasure up. That said I have to finish watching Chicago Fire on demand. Maybe someday I can be Kelly Severide right FDalumnus?  Belly bumps all around my brother

One of the things that keeps this sort of tension alive and well is the perception that all volunteer firefighters are just sitting waiting to get that career firefighter's position. That is why so many of the public ask if you ever wanted to be a real firefighter and so many career firefighters ask what tests you have taken. If there is any deep down feeling being harbored it is pure amazement that not every volunteer firefighter wants to be a career firefighter.
 
Still despite this there is a great deal of brotherhood to be found in the fire service, even across the payroll lines. I have often suspected that that brotherhood has a limit, and that limit is when one side is required to support the other side. In the other thread it was asked why the volunteers in PCFD did not immediately stop responding to calls in support of their paid brothers. I would ask this, not that I expect an honest answer, but if the village council had voted to eliminate the volunteer fire department, how many of those 8 career firefighters would have walked out until the volunteers were brought back? See there are, no matter how hard we try to deny it, limits to our brotherhood.
 
My first post here detailed what I thought about the remarks being attributed to the PCFD chief. Yet we are forgetting that these remarks were not seen as bad enough to come forward immediately. They were good enough to hold on until the moment is right. Nobody's windows were actually broken, so no firefighters followed any illegal orders. From the video I watched there was nothing worded as an order anyway.
 
This thread, like many others before it, has shown the lack of fraternity. A thread was posted to show how bad relations were and we respond by making relations with each other worse.
 
BMA!

I've been pretty silent on this issue for awhile, but this is getting pretty out of hand.  Just a a disclaimer, I am a Firefighter at a 100% volunteer house. Since our company made the decision to go 100% volunteer 2 1/2 years ago, we have been staffed with volunteers only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, averaging about 6 men on duty at a time. So nobody can claim that I drink any IAFF Kool-Aid... I'm simply going to make my point on the basis of public safety only.
 
Port Chester's decision to lay off the eight career Firefighters was just plain stupid. By PC's own admission, Port Chester has only 150 active, interior-qualified volunteers (though I've heard the actual number may be half that, but I'll take them at face value) to staff 7 companies. Dividing those evenly, we're looking at around 21 volunteers per company. I'd assume most of these people have day jobs, and to my knowledge PC volunteers do not have live-in members who provide daytime staffing, so realistically, how many guys get on the road during the day for a call? How can anyone argue that response times will NOT go up?  It's just simple math, folks. In most places, the volunteer model will not provide the same level of protection that a combination model will.
 
If the accusation that the Chief ordered his men to damage the house is true, the Chief (and any volunteers who followed that obviously illegal order) should be removed, and criminal charges should be considered. "Firefighters" who pull that kind of crap have no business wearing the uniform. People like that are the reason volunteers are treated like second-rate Firefighters in so much of the country.
 
The PCFD Volunteers need to make a decision regarding their leadership. I really hope they have some Line Officers who are considering running against the Chiefs and fixing this mess. It's not about career or volunteer, it's about the service you provide to the public.

You can claim the anti union card and that is your right. However unions were not formed so that Union leaders can stand on soap boxes country wide and cry. Employers have rights too. Taxpayers have rights too and before one more USFA study is quoted and before anymore union rhetoric is spread telling residents how their lives are at risk, tell them the whole story anx show them their tax savings and the amount of trained respondong vollies they have on the books.. 

It has nothing to do with career volunteer or public safety. Its a case of someone in life with an ax th o grind. But on that note if was was a career officer who got caught on tape you would not have a line of volunteers calling for his firing. FACT. Not everythibg in the fire service has to do with career vs. volunteer. For all the keyboard firefighters and pot stirrers out there go get a job get a life or get a hobby. Its a big world out there.

This gets old quick. Stop making others look bad to make yourself look good. I teach that to my 7 year old and she gets it. If you have a problem with layoffs and budget cuts take it up with City Hall. Your problem is with City Hall and not caused by the presence of Volunteers. The studies and scare tactics get old. GRKW UP.

It has nothing to do with career volunteer or public safety. Its a case of someone in life with an ax th o grind. But on that note if was was a career officer who got caught on tape you would not have a line of volunteers calling for his firing. FACT. Not everythibg in the fire service has to do with career vs. volunteer. For all the keyboard firefighters and pot stirrers out there go get a job get a life or get a hobby. Its a big world out there.

I beg to differ regarding if a career person made these statements whether there would be a line of volunteers calling for his (her) head. 
 
Did you ever work (or serve) in a combo dept. ? If you did, then you know the correct answer. 
 
Lets not beat this thing to death. Hopefully everything will come out in the wash.
 

It has nothing to do with career volunteer or public safety. Its a case of someone in life with an ax th o grind. But on that note if was was a career officer who got caught on tape you would not have a line of volunteers calling for his firing. FACT. Not everythibg in the fire service has to do with career vs. volunteer. For all the keyboard firefighters and pot stirrers out there go get a job get a life or get a hobby. Its a big world out there.

In respect to the amount of channels used marine incidents i contend it is the same as any multi jurisdictional incident. Each individual department signs on with its own dispatcher thensoeaks to WC then uses marine channels to issue securites then uses other WCFG firegrounds or a marine worming channel to speak boat to boat so yeah thats a lot of channels but each serves its own purpose. 

I'm going to hopefully just have to say something once and this nonsense is going to end on this topic. It is not right that certain people here are bashing certain organizations that are involved in conducting fire/rescue on the Hudson River. Everybody tries their best with what they have, whether it be manpower and resource wise. Some departments should know what they have and use them wisely. Some should know whether to go out or call in and say the resource isn't available at this time and then get the right resources out there. But, everybody has a role in trying to get good communication going and honestly certain groups don't like to play in the same sandbox with others for certain reasons that more than likely are ridiculous. I didn't hear anybody complain almost a month ago when a fatal tug accident occurred and the initial response was conducted in such an exceptional manor. The first responders got there within minutes of the accident and were able to conduct a rescue attempt that was absolutely textbook. Care was given and the guys went back out there to keep the operation going. No one said anything then. But, that's not always the case and sometimes people need to realize that and get a grip and not put blame on other people. What needs to start happening is working together than trying to work apart. If everybody knows that there is an incident on the River, maybe have a specific Marine Radio Channel open, designated for that traffic. Marine Radio is open to all and all you need is that Marine Radio. You don't need to have to relay traffic from one department to another then. Just have it put out there that this is the standard when an incident occurs. And everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, needs to be involved and know that. Trust me, no one is freelancing out on the River. 60 Control dispatches and units respond. And ultimately, no one can say anything if they haven't experienced it before or have been involved in the operations that occur on the Hudson River. It's just like the fireground, Stop Monday Morning Quaterbacking and stick to whatever you really know. There are guys putting themselves out there, on the line, and all some of you want to do is dog them...shame on you guys for that! We are all out here to do a service for our communities and to help save lives and property, remember the fundamentals sometimes guys!

The volunteer model is not perfect but it continues to work

The volunteer model is not perfect but it continues to work

Both P.G. County and Fairfax County are combination volunteer/career FDs. I have two friends that are volunteer firefighters in Fairfax County. As I understand it the officer in the firehouse will assign one volunteer firefighter to each manned piece of apparatus. Not to replace firefighters but to supplement them. In one volunteer firehouse assigned, there is one Engine Co., one Truck Co., and two Medic Units. Therefore at any given time, there could be four volunteer firefighters riding from that firehouse.
Of course the volunteer firefighters often have their fund raisers as well and they usually buy needed fire equipment with it. Even pieces of fire apparatus are bought. If it is a piece of fire apparatus they buy, the only thing that the volunteer firefighters ask for in return is that the word "VOLUNTEER" be put on the truck. That is to indicate to the taxpayers of that county that this truck was purchased through fund raisers run by the volunteer firefighters. I think in this particular station, both Medic Units were purchased using these funds.
When the taxpayers see that not only are these firefighters willing to ride and donate their time, but also donate the money raised to buy equipment, it is a win/win for those volunteer firefighters. One of those volunteer firefighters I am talking about is a retired U.S. Army Colonel. Yet he has no problem doing what the boss in the firehouse tells him to do. Just like those career guys.
The system has been in place for a long time and seems to be working well.
On the scene the career officer is the boss as well.

Good for Sleepy. Hope it all works out for them

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