16fire5

The concept of mixing steel, masonry, and wood to make a structure is hardly new. The H types of the Bronx that probably started to be built about 100 years ago were able to surpass the size of their predecessors the old law tenements by using steel I beams both horizontally and vertically. The buildings consist of a masonry exterior, with steel I beams horizontally and vertically spaced supporting wood floor and roof joists. They are ordinary construction.
The difference is the new buildings is today's wood. Notice I didn't just single out lightweight components because today's dimensional lumber has been shown to fail much earlier than the traditional lumber of the past.
Dunn and Branigan implored us to realize the difference between a structure and a contents fire and calling all jobs a structure fire was incorrect. Once the fire is attacking the structural components we're on borrowed time. The operational window with today's lumber even dimensional is nil.
The only way we should tolerate those materials today is if they are protected behind fire rated drywall and the structure is protected with automatic sprinklers.
Seth's pictures illustrate a good and inexpensive drill. Take pictures of buildings under construction in your area and have a good discussion on how we will operate when it catches on fire. Many of today's recruits don't have the slightest idea what a building looks like underneath the sheathing and sheet rock.

UL has a free online course on the subject.
http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/offerings/industries/buildingmaterials/fire/fireresearch/pvsystems/

I think a lot of people have jumped to conclusion on a report done by Fairfax County Communications Section. The report was sent to their command staff for as a recommendation. Somewhere during this it got released to general public and people are treating it as a scientific study for the whole country. Were all bands and radio types tested? NO. There is a lot to learn and an honest discussion can be had but this report was in no way intended to recommend a nation best policy on where to place your portable radio.
What I'm surprised is that no one has mentioned is NFPA 1802 in the works.
NFPA 1802: Standard on Two-Way, Portable (Hand-held) Land Mobile Radios for Use by Emergency Services Personnel
Current Edition: Proposed Standard Next Edition: TBD

These boards must be full of KME stockholders.

I think a lot of people have jumped to conclusion on a report done by Fairfax County Communications Section. The report was sent to their command staff for as a recommendation. Somewhere during this it got released to general public and people are treating it as a scientific study for the whole country. Were all bands and radio types tested? NO. There is a lot to learn and an honest discussion can be had but this report was in no way intended to recommend a nation best policy on where to place your portable radio.
What I'm surprised is that no one has mentioned is NFPA 1802 in the works.
NFPA 1802: Standard on Two-Way, Portable (Hand-held) Land Mobile Radios for Use by Emergency Services Personnel
Current Edition: Proposed Standard Next Edition: TBD

Sad thing is it really does not have to be this way. Even if you have no money you can train on giving maydays. Teach your members to shut up when there is one and run command officers through scenarios. I think a squared away IC in today's environment should be using a tactical worksheet and on the back or on a separate sheet you should have a MAYDAY checklist. All you need is some people with radios and a simple MAYDAY scenario to run the IC through the procedure. In reality if you never ran through one there is little chance for you to run one smoothly during an emergency.

Yeah but this aint no small Dept. Approx 1600 guys, 52 Stations so im guessing maybe 300 per shift. There shouldnt have been any lack of personel. This seems to me to be just a total lack of preparation especially by the IC. But whos gunna tell him he needs to go through some serious Mayday procedure training.

Along the same lines is the active911 system where the dispatch generated email leads to navigation responding and on scene tracking, hydrants, and preplans which checking out their prices seems very affordable. Many of these systems are giving the functionality that previously came only with toughbooks, AVLs and expensive software at fractions of the price.

Sad thing is it really does not have to be this way. Even if you have no money you can train on giving maydays. Teach your members to shut up when there is one and run command officers through scenarios. I think a squared away IC in today's environment should be using a tactical worksheet and on the back or on a separate sheet you should have a MAYDAY checklist. All you need is some people with radios and a simple MAYDAY scenario to run the IC through the procedure. In reality if you never ran through one there is little chance for you to run one smoothly during an emergency.

Recently there was some back an forth between the union and the director (chief) about closing companies and a fatal fire. While reading about it I came across the boss's resume. Appears pretty light in the experience category. How does this relate? If the boss really had no use for working in the field it's hard to believe he will take any interest in what goes on there.
http://www.memphistn.gov/Government/FireServices/Administration/AlvinDBenson.aspx

Sad thing is it really does not have to be this way. Even if you have no money you can train on giving maydays. Teach your members to shut up when there is one and run command officers through scenarios. I think a squared away IC in today's environment should be using a tactical worksheet and on the back or on a separate sheet you should have a MAYDAY checklist. All you need is some people with radios and a simple MAYDAY scenario to run the IC through the procedure. In reality if you never ran through one there is little chance for you to run one smoothly during an emergency.

Sad thing is it really does not have to be this way. Even if you have no money you can train on giving maydays. Teach your members to shut up when there is one and run command officers through scenarios. I think a squared away IC in today's environment should be using a tactical worksheet and on the back or on a separate sheet you should have a MAYDAY checklist. All you need is some people with radios and a simple MAYDAY scenario to run the IC through the procedure. In reality if you never ran through one there is little chance for you to run one smoothly during an emergency.

Recently there was some back an forth between the union and the director (chief) about closing companies and a fatal fire. While reading about it I came across the boss's resume. Appears pretty light in the experience category. How does this relate? If the boss really had no use for working in the field it's hard to believe he will take any interest in what goes on there.
http://www.memphistn.gov/Government/FireServices/Administration/AlvinDBenson.aspx

Sad to say that's more often the norm in way to many FD's.

I think it's good that they are striving to cut down on call processing time. I think all public safety agencies should have to give a report card on performace quarterly. Call processing time, turnout time, travel time, and total response time. With that you can have honest conversations about the real essentials. Do we need some paid staff? Is the dispatch entity performing as well as they can be? Closing that firehouse would have this effect.

I couldn't agree more. And with that we are teaching firefighters the wrong thing. We are teaching firefighters that the high heat environment is ok to operate in. In reality the we can get a concrete burn building much hotter than would be safe in a regular residential fire setting we are in real danger of flashover. With all we have learned in the last 15 years (Andy Fredericks and Black Fire to Mondern UL/NIST Research) we need to respect the voitility of todays fires. I'm not sure we're doing that with our current mehods. I'm not talking about throwing out the baby with the bath water here because live fire in a controlled environment is priceless. We just need to take a hard look at our methods.

I couldn't agree more. And with that we are teaching firefighters the wrong thing. We are teaching firefighters that the high heat environment is ok to operate in. In reality the we can get a concrete burn building much hotter than would be safe in a regular residential fire setting we are in real danger of flashover. With all we have learned in the last 15 years (Andy Fredericks and Black Fire to Mondern UL/NIST Research) we need to respect the voitility of todays fires. I'm not sure we're doing that with our current mehods. I'm not talking about throwing out the baby with the bath water here because live fire in a controlled environment is priceless. We just need to take a hard look at our methods.

Sorry, guys, I'll have to disagree. It's not Band-Aid repairs, it's. not an improper use of the bidding process. I was at the original dedication of the training center and it was one of the greatest things the county could do for the fire service.
So what happened to it? We wrecked it! Not once but over and over. Instead of following NFPA guidelines that allow for a maximum of 150lbs of Class A combustibles, we torched much more than that. We spalled the concrete and warped the steel doors and window shutters. All of this not for actual knowledge snd skills to be gained, but just to say {to no one who gives a crap) how macho we are because our fire was bigger than yours.
If you are not getting enough runs and want your helmet look salty, put in in your Barbecue grill and don't wreck a perfectly good Training Center again.

I guess I have a couple of things to say:
1. There are so many typo's in this exam notice I lost count.
2. You DO NOT need a High School diploma OR a G.E.D. ( I guess you don't need one to write the exam either )
3. You can be a convicted criminal and/or a drug addict.
4. You need to lift a 14' roof ladder. ( Who's going to grab the 24' or the 28' for that matter ?)
I'm old school, I admit that. But it's hard to read the exam requirements and not shake my head. I'm starting my 24th year as a Captain. I have been asked many times "what makes a good firefighter?". The answer is: give me a person who played High School sports; who has common sense; and who has a working knowledge of the trades and I'll make you a good firefighter. And that's all I have to say about that.

If the town found reason that the ambulance service needed to be shut down either temporarilty or permanently then it would be entirely appropriate with them to meet with providers to ensure that coverage was continued in at least the interm. Mobile Life is a well established commercial service with a long track record. They have an continue to provide service like that Chester has secured. If I was a town in Orange County needing stop gap ambulance coverage they would be the top of my list. Meetings for professional services on the municipal level are rarely negotiated in open regular board meeting so that too is perfectly understandable. What has been refered to as secret can easily be looked at as proper "closed" door negotiations. I have personally been tasked with hiring professional services for a town and I met with companys in this format.
As for the shutting of the agency again it would appear that most reasons that would warrant this type of action would allow the board to deliberate and make such determinations in executive session.

If the town found reason that the ambulance service needed to be shut down either temporarilty or permanently then it would be entirely appropriate with them to meet with providers to ensure that coverage was continued in at least the interm. Mobile Life is a well established commercial service with a long track record. They have an continue to provide service like that Chester has secured. If I was a town in Orange County needing stop gap ambulance coverage they would be the top of my list. Meetings for professional services on the municipal level are rarely negotiated in open regular board meeting so that too is perfectly understandable. What has been refered to as secret can easily be looked at as proper "closed" door negotiations. I have personally been tasked with hiring professional services for a town and I met with companys in this format.
As for the shutting of the agency again it would appear that most reasons that would warrant this type of action would allow the board to deliberate and make such determinations in executive session.

As a non resident I don't believe you have any standing to say anything. It's likly that you wouldn't even be permitted to attend a Town of Chester meeting. And pardon me for saying, but it sounds like you have a real hard *n for this MLSS and an unrelistic/unsupported/unsupportable belief in CVAC simply because they happen to be a VAC! Please! Remember Corona VAC in Queens. I say lets wait and see how this develops. Maybe the leadership really knows what they are doing and didn't banrupt the organization. Anything is possible.

Show support...? Nothing has been said yet as far as reasons for the shutdown...but I think when something as drastic as this happens isn't a shutdown usually appropriate at least while allegations are sorted out? If the 100k debt is true then mismanagement would be part of the problem/cause. Hypothetically of course if this rumor turns out to be accurate I wouldnt want an organization like this in my community. I've been honored to learn while working alongside MLSS crews, how they manage their business contracts is irrelevant. MLSS is a professional organization that's been serving this area for a long time....and it's because they have a history and reputation for employing professionals.....plus they've held the same name since the beginning, I like that. :-). I like your enthusiasm but I'll wait to show my support until things have been aired and everyone publicly cleared.

If the town found reason that the ambulance service needed to be shut down either temporarilty or permanently then it would be entirely appropriate with them to meet with providers to ensure that coverage was continued in at least the interm. Mobile Life is a well established commercial service with a long track record. They have an continue to provide service like that Chester has secured. If I was a town in Orange County needing stop gap ambulance coverage they would be the top of my list. Meetings for professional services on the municipal level are rarely negotiated in open regular board meeting so that too is perfectly understandable. What has been refered to as secret can easily be looked at as proper "closed" door negotiations. I have personally been tasked with hiring professional services for a town and I met with companys in this format.
As for the shutting of the agency again it would appear that most reasons that would warrant this type of action would allow the board to deliberate and make such determinations in executive session.

One of the main things I think about when an engine company is designed is the hose bed. Our dept uses the rear or business end of the apparatus 99% of the time. I am much more concerned about getting the hose off rather than packing it, IE: low workable hose bed. I can take all day to repack the hose.