16fire5

NYS Town Law does weigh in on the issue. The firefighters elect the chief (this includes the career firefighters if I remember an opinion correctly) then the Commisioners confirm the chief. If the commisioners do not confirm the chief it gets kicked back to the company. Commisioners can go career and hire a chief but thats a different discussion.

One engine? We just had a discussion about how important water supply is and the direct correlation between loss of water and firefighter fatalities in the City of NY. We are heading into the cold weather all it takes is one frozen hydrant and disaster will strike. The Volunteers should make it clear that the city must ensure their safety by keeping two engine companies open at all times. Why should the firefighters in Beacon accept the increased risk that would be incurred by these risky cuts?

From being a firefighter, chauffeur, and officer in engines I felt by far the most stressful job was an Engine Chauffeur. Being focused on getting water knowing the sucess of most fires was based on it and more importantly the lives of civillans and the members depend on it. Combine that with tight streets, double parked cars, drivers that could care less about us add to it all. While we worry if the Engine Chauffeur broke a law I wonder if the driver of the car could be charged with murder if a fatal fire could be attributed to a delay in getting water. Bottom line is the driver who chose to park illegally put the chauffeur in the situation of having to solve the problem that he did.

No one has shown any logical reason to switching back to the 10s and 14s. Many benifits of the 24s have been shown. It's obvious that a few politicians here are just trying to stick it to the union.

The chuffeur of 75 was presented with a bad situation and made a split second move to get water quickly. Most of the time the chauffeurs in the bronx will parallel park on the hydrant to allow the trucks to get good positioning and be able to pass by so even though the chauffeur got water the car on the hydrant can still have deadly consequences. Realize the building the apparatus is in front of is probably a 6 story non-fire proof (ordinary) construction building with no standpipe the most common building type in 75s response area. The members are faced with a difficult hand stretch to reach the fire apartment. Engine 75 is quartered with Ladder 33 which is probably entered the building to begin operations. The life hazard is serious with multiple apartments in a non fire proof building members operating before the line is in position and a long stretch. Taking the next hydrant down the street could be a deadly option. I'm sure the chauffeur had seconds to make the decision he did and in my opinion he made the right one. Bring on the lawyers let the city pay for the windows we didn't have to go to another funeral because like on of the other posters said water loss is a common contributing factor in many line of duty deaths in New York. e

The FDNY works a 25 group schedule where firefighters work 9 hour days and 15 hours night tours. Current practice pretty much allows unlimmited mutuals which can be used to work 24 hours shifts. Most of these 24s start at 1800 and end the next night. Having worked 24s both ways I am much more in favor of doing 24s that start on the night tour. Another major benifit to the municipality is less overtime because of half the amount of shift changes. When members of the off going shift respond to emergencies just prior to the end of their tour they incurr overtime having your firefighters work 24s cuts this in half. For the firefighters many of whom myself included live far from where we work get more time with our families. A great negotiation point in the green society we live in is cutting in half the number of vehicle trips your employees make. To often I've heard tales of Fire Commisioners, City Managers, and Mayors opposing 24s for stupid reasons of not wanting their firefighters showing up 8 times a month or just because of jealously in my opinion. Honestly I think lots of departments can be sucessful in the future if they push the environmental aspect.

Rest in peace brother. Thoughts and prayers for the injured members.

Information about the department found in an environmental impact statement. I saw them out last week at the U2 concert.

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority

The NJSEA Fire Department provides first response fire protection services for the Meadowlands

Sports Complex. The Department operates one station, which is situated slightly west of the

intersection of NJ Route 120 and Paterson Plank Road. The station has two pump trucks with

750-gallon water capacity, one truck with 500-gallon capacity and one truck with 90-gallon

capacity. The trucks also have foam capacity. The station has eight full time and nine part time

fire fighters and operates on 24 hours per day, seven days per week basis with a two-person crew

per shift that is expanded during events.

As a security precaution, during events at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, the Department

lines up its fire protection vehicles along the southern edge of the Meadowlands Racetrack so that

swift and unproblematic access to the various facilities is available.

I notice the Lieutenant was Fred Ill III fresh out of FLSTP. Son of Capt. Fred Ill Jr. Captain of Ladder 2 killed 9/11. Way to go Freddy and Ladder 47.

I don't think the citizens are safer under the new system. On the contrary we have rigs racing all over the place on total bs. I'm sure apparatus accidents will go up. The members are not safer going in blind.

"Size-up starts with reciept of the alarm" NOT ANYMORE.

No offense to any law enforcement officers but in the places I have worked and now work the PD does not provide the same quality of first response service as the fire department. Also having the PD respond to EMS calls does not always mean that they will administer care. The citizens of Lawrence will suffer and the EMS workers will work harder without the assistance of firefighters on scene.

What kind of camera does the photographer use? Aside from being a very good and comprehensive series of photos; covering overviews to up-close personel shots, I don't think I've seen better QUALITY photographs of ANYTHING maybe ever!

Nice job.

Some of the best I've ever seen on this site. I especially like the photos of forcible entry and the initial attack. I think OFPC my be looking for photos for their manuals.

Has there been any thought to reducing the number of front line engine companies to better staff the apparatus?

I agree CO should be on everyone's mind and technology has helped us there. The advent of the personal size CO monitors allows departments to equip each company officer with one. In fact the FDNY equips each engine officer with one and ladder companies are issued 2. These newer generation monitors seem to be a lot more durable and smaller than the first ones issued. Having these monitors is essential for investigating CO alarms activations but enhances the officers ability to make decisions at so many other call types. The monitors at fires help the IC decide on evacuation in high rise fires, assure levels are safe after oil burner emergencies, and decide on SCBA removal just to name a few. Additionally FDNY Bureau of EMS units no carry the personal CO monitors because of an incident that came in as a medical call type that turned out to involve multipe unconscious patients due to a CO emergency in the building. Many symptoms of lower level CO posioning mimic flu like symptoms and in most places this is an EMS only response. Equipping EMS units protects the crew and can help undercover the true underlying cause.

One thing to remember is although most fire departments are getting real good at monitoring for CO we have yet to fully realize the scope of cyanide. Just because the atmosphere post fire is down to acceptable CO levels does not tell us what the cyanide levels are. I know lots of reasearch is now being dedicated to this topic and im sure in the future we will be able to monitor for it too but until then protect your self when in doubt wear your SCBA. When your vibra alert goes off take relief there's plenty of companies in the street standing by for something to do.

To answer some of the questions posed

Duct fires are extremely tricky.

An FDNY truck officer will probably always have a TIC, but many times the duct will be glowing from the fire. This can and frequently extend the fire to what ever the duct is touching like the woodend joists where is passes through a floor or roof.

Lots of trucks including the one I work in have positional assignments for duct fires.

Code in NYC requires a schematic be posted in the kitchen that shows the run of the duct. It's there half the time but compliance is getting better.

The FAST truck has a TIC since all FDNY trucks, rescues, squads, and HMC 1 are issued them (select battalions are using the old cameras as part of a pilot program).

2 lines minimum are usually stretched 1 to the kitchen and one to the duct termination point.

Alot of the complexity is because on the additions, and renovations to the buildings involved. Many time accessing the rear or sides of the building is difficult or impossible.

Within the last year we responded to a duct fire that went to a second alarm because the duct passed into the adjoining building and the fire venting from the duct spread fire to window frames in exposure 3.

Even with the hood system if the grease has built up in the duct the fire is past the hood system before the hood can extinguish it. Spinklers similar to those in the compactor would be a good idea but would need a high heat setting due to the fact that the duct is normally pretty hot.

17 truck had a spare for at least six months. The '06 they got was OOS with the rest of em' for a long time. Then the radiator went after that. Junk......

As for the conditions....so what if they stand up to harsh roads and weather. They run more than most and are put through the paces all the time......SO WHAT!? The PM program is excellent as are the mechanics with the emergency crew who come to fix the rigs in quarters. The shops are excellent.

There shouldn't be so many problems, especially right out of the box. Tough spec or not, if you can't meet it, don't bid the contract. NYC pays more than half a million for an engine and that's TON considering they buy over 70 rigs at once!

A brand new, custom built apparatus should function perfectly by the time any company in the field is using it. If it has to be repaired under warranty for any reason, it should happen inside of a week. There is NO reason whatsoever that any apparatus should sit idle for half a year waiting for warranty repair. It's just not acceptable.

If Ferrara or anyone else can build a rig with an aerialscope boom that meets all city spec, GREAT! I'm sure everyone's willing to work with any builder as long as it meets the specs and performs better than what's out in the field. The engines, transmissions, pumps, plumbing and other various parts will be exactly the same because that's what's spec'd. Maybe someone does a better job slapping it all together.

I'm with M on this what good is the 5 year warranty if we wait at least a month for the rig. Our 06 rear mount has been back to seagrave at least 3 times and the problems baffle me. The new engines seem even worse. One of the mechanics from the emergency crew has some sort of spead sheet going on the problems with the new pumpers (You know the engines that look like they belong upstate with 4 lenghts of suction) the one in my house has been back to seagrave twice in a year.

No offense to houston but I looked at some run numbers and from what I saw most trucks are doing less than 1000 runs a year which would probably coorespond to the slowest 10% of the FDNY companies. Winters don't help either. Suprising how many old cars in great condition you see in the south west.

WOW there's a lot of distance between the last axle and the bucket. Going to be a lot of swing making turns. Sharp looking.

Look for the 1997 and 1998's to go first.

There might even be some 96's out there.

As for Seagrave being the most rugged I think the newest gereration of rigs seem to be crap. I won't even go into the pumpers. What number of rigs in the last few years need new radiators? And when they go for service your not going to see the rig for a month minimum. You can't go to a box without seeing a spare that seems to have increased.

Cribbing is another option for making a wider base or for uneven surfaces IE jack falling half on/off a curb and you make up the difference. As Izzy said before the fan is always rotating it's just waiting for the next guy to throw the brown stuff. Your training and experience determine where it lands.

There are times when putting the tormentors down on pavement is not in the cards. While the 15 degrees away from the building is prefered on solid ground when setting up in lots and other softer ground its probably best to place the rig as close to perpendicular to the building as possible. Backing in is best because you don't have to operate over the cab. The sidewalk is never a guarantee either. Know your response area many buildings in the city and I'm sure elsewhere the basement or parking garage or utility vaults extend from the building under the sidewalk.

Did White Plains recently revieve an ISO class 1 rating? Prior to this I thought Syracuse was NY's only ISO class 1.

Why is the the supervisor having the chief of police look into this? This really seems out of the realm of a police chief's responsibility. Also why is this reasearch being done on the web? The info could be old and inaccurate. All of this info can easily and legally be obtained through a FOIL request. All this seems a little odd to me. If anyone really wants this to happen they should bring at least some of the players of the 3 Fire Districts in question into the conversation. I don't know much about the dynamics of Greenburgh but from the outside a self started study by the Town Supervisor and Police Chief about Fire District consolidation seems odd and even makes me question the motives of the two individuals behind this so far.

I thought this was a discussion of the proposed bill to consolidate municipal services in NYS, not another firefighter training conversation?! (Not that I care...)

We live in the heaviest taxed area of the USA. Each municipality feels it needs to have "one of everything," even though their neighbors have them too. Fire districts, fire departments, EMS, Police, DPW, etc. are all going to face a harsh wake up call whether this gets approved or not. Let's face it, you can pretty much drive through any community in Westchester County and see repeated services over and over and over again. Does every Village DPW need a bucket truck? Does every PD need it's own ESU? Does every FD really need a Rescue truck? Nope.

Take my area for example. We're part of the Town of Cortlandt although we're in a Village. Us lucky residents get to pay taxes to both the Village and Town. WHY? I get nothing, NOTHING AT ALL, from the Town. I do not use their parks or participate in their recreation programs or have my street sweeped, plowed or repaired by the TOC. All of my basic needs are handled by Croton DPW, if I need the cops I get Croton PD and the fire and EMS is handled by CFD and CEMS. What does my paying taxes to the Town do for me? If the Village and Town consolidated their DPWs then we could save a little money, no? It's all too much to me, and if it means all of us hiding in our own little kingdoms have to give up a couple of little things to decrease the cost of living and possibly increase the capabilities of our services then I say why not. Heck, even if it all meant some paid firefighters in our stations to guarantee coverage, so be it. Hopefully some of my members could benefit and land those jobs, who knows...

PS - the politicians are all a joke, talking about reducing taxes but how much have they given up? Exactly...

I'm sure you do pay too much in taxes but I'm sure if you check your Town taxes are based on the town services that serve you if not you should complain because you should not be paying for services handled by your village. There are different rates for town residents that live in villages and those that don't. That being said it's obvious that towns like to spread out the tax burden and it's hard to totally calculate and seperate the expenses to fairly set the rates.

It's been stated FASNY, the Association of Fire Districts, and Nassau County's Association of Fire Districts are opposing this for one reason some of their fifedoms are in danger. I can't see how this is bad for the taxpayer. Places like Nassau and Westchester have tons of duplication and more apparatus they they can staff in many departments. For the dedicated volunteer this will be good also. I would still like to see volunteers banned from being commisioners in the department where they volunteer. Teachers can't be on the school board where they work and career firefighters can't be commisioners where they work. I think if you had community people seeing the facts and not fighting change or making decisions based on the based on volunteer morale as opposed to protecting the community which they are sworn to do you would see career chiefs in many of these departments (Most communities in New England especially Mass. have career chiefs) and daytime staffing.

I have a hard time believing that this was the proper way to address alleged failure to yield righ of way. As with all the other posters I have had bad experiences with "hot headed" cops. But I would venture to guess this is less than 1% of the interactions I have had with law enforcement. The vast majority of my and I'm sure most law abiding citizens interactions with law enforcement are good. Unfortunatly people only remember the bad. I always advise the firefighters I work with when we run into a disagreement not to fight because in the end the guy with the handcuffs wins no matter who's right.

The video shows conclusivly the Paramedic resisted arrest and that is never appropriate.

One recomended venting tactic if you are in or above the explosive range (most meters its impossible to know once you reach the UEL) is to went from the top on your way out so hopefully you are out side by the time the area passes through the Explosive range. As said Matty Palmer is great. His cousin BC Orio Palmer was killed LOD on 9/11.

Take these runs for real practice good habits on the minor leaks so when it's for real it's second nature.

Turn on your handlight before you go inside.

Don't turn on lights or ring the door bell.

Leave the TIC on the rig none of them are intrinsically safe.

Wear SCBA in a gas environment.

Get on a hydrant and test it.