Newtofire

At a recent parade, I sat directly opposite a NYSP Trooper on a traffic post.
EACH and EVERY time, the stars and stripes passed by, he saluted with the most crisp salute I have ever seen. Many of the bystanders commented on it as well...all were impressed by his actions.
Well Done Trooper, remain safe.

Does a FF NEED a degree?
To be an officer, probably, just for teaching/writing skills and the like. For someone who wants to get into the Hazmat field, a degree in chemistry would certainly be useful. But for a FF? I say maybe...maybe not.
This thread talked about Doctors, Lawyers, Bill Gates, and so on. Then there are Rocket Scientists, Neursurgeons, and other genuses out there. Could any of them be FFs? Who do they call when they are scared, sick, have a basement full of water, have a tree through their house, mixed some chemicals together and now they are choking, or their house is filling with smoke? Right, they call 911 because somebody will be there in five minutes and will have a solution to their problem.
Does he need a degree? No. A good FF needs the ability to stuff volumes upon volumes about everything into his back pocket. Then, at two o'clock in the morning, getting up out of a sound sleep be able to reach into that back pocket, pull out the correct solution for the caller's problem.
So, Chiefs, If you meet up with a guy that wants a job and has the ability I just described, don't ask him if he has a degree. Just hire him.

Hats off to the the members who stepped up and researched the issue, Another Hats off to NYS civil service who stepped in and ADVISED MOUNT VERNON TO AMEND ITS TEST ANNOUNCEMENT to delete the residence requirement. This whole issue is obvious where it all started from!!! More to follow.

Engine 21 is the "WORK HORSE" of the City

Engine 21 is the "WORK HORSE" of the City

If Buchanan was only called for their cascade unit, there is no reason those responding on it have to be strucutal firefighters, since that is not what they were called for. Other cascade units in Westchester respond staffed by non-firefighters (Greenburgh CD comes to mind).
If manpower is needed (this isn't specific to this call or to Montrose so don't jump down my throat) then an IC can and usually does call for it. Sounded like enough personnel were there to handle this fire, so stop the hating.
16fire5 - you're right, people have to right to ask about an incident to learn from it, but if people are on here just to "stir the pot," nobody benefits from that. And you are a smart enough guy to realize when that pot is being stirred. There are far fewer incident discussions, photos shared or even discussions of any kind on here anymore because everyone is a critic and a lot of these "critics" have personal agendas.
As far as I'm concerned, "all the chips fell into place" for this fire. I've been to a few fires caused in the same manner as this one, and they've resulted in the destruction of rooms and total homes. The homeowner was fortunate that someone drove by and saw the fire, got her out of the house, the FD had a quick response and the fire was mostly contained to the exterior of the home.
She's lucky and Montrose deserve's a pat on the back. Ignore the haters.

Tanker 10eng since you appear to be part of the county team and apparently in the know, maybe you could shed some light on the equipment that has created all the speculation here, specifically the Scene Support Trailers. What do they contain? What is their intended use aside from dust collection? and Who are they for? are some of the questions asked so far. It seems that the answers are classified and require the use of a secret decoder ring to obtain.

I found some awesome video from a link at Firehouse.com.

Chief Mauro is a class act and i personally witnessed it about 11 years ago.He went out of his way for me and i have him to thank for how my career has gone.He dedicated his life to the fire service and will be missed. ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT CHIEF YOU DESERVE IT!

We received a post- arrest the other night in the local ER. She (a dialysis pt who missed her rx due to the winter storm) called 911 saying she couldn't breathe and "was probably having a heart attack." 2 minutes later PD broke down her door and found her asystolic-- started CPR. 2 more minutes later ALS arrived and loaded a few rounds of Epi and Atropine into her. Got a pulse. Gave 1 more of Epi and 1 more of Atropine. Scrambled her to me in the local ER with a pulse of 40 (mostly ectopic, med-based beats). We immediatley began the hypothermia protocol (AKA Code Cool).
Fast forward: 2 days.
She was warmed back up in our ICU from 93 degrees to 98 degrees and was extubated the day after. 2 days later she was extubated and asked ME, the one who received her and wrote her off as non-viable, ""What the Hell was I thinking bothering you people with my medical problems??? I'm so sorry I bothered you all!"
WE broke her ribs, tore her lip tubing her, and jammed lines and tubes all over the place in her tiny body, and she's apologizing to ME. This is why I do this. Beyond words. Seriously. There's so rarely a save post-arrest, and if the person survives, he/she rarely comes out of it as much more than a plant on a window sill. And she thanked ME.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all. NEVER forget why you do what you do and NEVER assume your efforts are fruitless. This woman was proof to me to always the assume the outcome is going to be a GOOD ONE.

Here's a very short video I shot...... The weather made shooting so difficult that I wasn't able to do much more than basic photography..... Click on the image and it should open in a new window...... I gives you an idea of what they were up against......

dont know what their SOP's are. depending on the location of the reported fire, and there are several ways to help locate it, visual on arrival, dispatch info, alarm panel info, etc. the elevators are most certainly used to gain access to the upper floors, (above 7). Our sops put the first due engine driver as the elevator operator.
We also have in our SOP's how to control the elevator, stopping at least once if you know where you are going, 2 floors below, checking the shaft for smoke or water, etc.
forcible entry tools for the elevator operator in case of...
think about time, you can arrive at the location in minutes, and spend up to 10 just getting into the building, getting an elevator, stopping at selected floors, getting out 2 floors below, walking up and then locating the fire
think how long the fire can spread if you have to walk up 20 flights.
and as a last note if the building is not equiped with firemans service then the elevator isnt used.

You want to know what a real kick in the nutz is? We have almost 50 comments, and 4 pages of replies in a topic about an immature fire chief who hung truck nutz on his rig and defied his boss the mayor when told to remove them.
When we try to get a topic moving on this site about elevator rescue techniques, fire fighting tactics, scenarios, "what would you do" types of discussions, we get......YAWNS.
When we get a photo set of a new rig, some of us go on and on about the rig; where's the hurst-tool, where's the water cooler, we'll get the 50 comments and the 4 pages again.
I'm not sure why, but it seems sometimes the topics that should be getting the comments and the pages of discussion go by the wayside; and the ones that should get a few replies, and move on down the board into category obscurity, seem to go on forever.
What's up with that? I'm not saying conversation about the truck nutz should be over. What I'm saying is the next time one of our truly knowledgeable members comes up with an idea for a good discussion, maybe some of us should make a little more of an effort to participate and keep the really informative discussions going....
Maybe that will start happening?
In the meantime, back to the nutz.

Sorry for jumping in so late in the discussion. but irish fire is right. I was on the job for 34 years and went to schools,seminars, etc. right up to the time I retired. Some of us go to these classes just to get certificates and unfortunately forget the course material in a week or two. On the other hand, you could have irishfire's attitude: Learn it from those who have been there> remember it> and put it in your back pocket because you might need it some time in the future when you least expect it. It should also come out of that back pocket every now and then for a review. Irishfire, Tommy Brennan would be proud of you.
And Barry: Mofire is young. Don't jump on him when he asks a question. All your information is absolutely correct, but as soon as you jumped on his case, you turned him off.
Cids (or whatever you may call buildings' info database) is a very time consuming effort and takes a lot of work by all members of a FD to initiate and then to keep current. Not a knock, but it is something that volunteer FDs just don't have the time or people to devote.
Everyone, paid or vol should find time to do company inspections, at least of your area's target hazards if nothing else. Wouldn't it be nice if your first time in a building is during a company inspection as opposed to 3an on your hands and knees?
And about that back pocket irishfire talked about...It's like a magic pocket. No matter how much "stuff" you put in it, it never gets full.
There...you got my two cents. Take it to heart and it may be worth a lot more to you

my education of the fire distict that i serve is not what was being asked.....what was being asked was a very simple question for people who were on scene.... could of gone with out someone being a kill joy and ruining the topic part of the reason WHY i STOPPED asking quesitons on this website

Im sorry but it is very difficult to be excited about this.Someone needs to inform the Dept of Homeland Security about what is really needed in New Rochelle and throughout Westchester MANPOWER!

OUTSTANDING JOB BARRY! Sharing of Government Grant Funds across several Westcheter Fire Districts is truly the way to go. Shared Resources will prove to be the cornerstone of things to come.

I've always wondered...when I see the apparatus parked out in front of the food store where I live and the volunteer firefighters are collecting donations and selling raffles, does any of that money go toward parties or functions / conventions where alcohol is served? What about the letter I receive in the mail asking for donations? Is any of that money used to purchase alcohol? What about the 2% monies? Is any of that money used to purchase alcohol? Keep in mind now, that if any of that money was used to purchase alcohol I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with it so long as the people who contributed the money were aware of where it was going and they are not led to believe, as most people are, that is going toward firefighting equipment.
At least in Buffalo they were up front about it. Serving and consuming alcohol is perfectly legal, as long as those doing so are of age and do not work or drive while impaired. Most of us would choose to serve alcohol to those people who come to a get together after a funeral for one of our family members. That is what the Buffalo Fire Department did- they offered food and drink to those who came to mourn their brothers. They have apparently interpreted that expense to be part of what should be covered as funeral expenses as per their contract. They obviously feel that they have nothing to be ashamed of and neither do I.

The money earned through paychecks is your salary, you worked hard for it, you have the right to do what you want with it... No argueement... and if everyone kicked in money from their salary, we would not be typing here. But they didn't...
In these economics times, when people are being laid off, work is slow, unemployment is high, and cities are being faced with having to cut back on employees, the union really did not think this through. Sure they have an agreement for funds to show honor to its fallen members, and the city had an unwritten rule against paying for alcohol. So use the funds for food and what ever services are needed. The union should of opted to pay for the alcohol from their own accounts. Then there would of been no problems.
Look at it from the eyes of someone who is on unemployment or food stamps, and can only get so much money each week to live on. That $ 11K or 7K is allot of money which could feed alot of hungry people.
and X635 - the last time I saw that much spent on alcohol was in college at a Frat Party, sorry, I do not get out that much anymore...