E106MKFD

Wasn't there a change in the state bid? They are not the only department around in the area that changed to a black and white color scheme.

Monitoring Westchester County PD hearing new units

11-Adam, 11-Boy, 11-Charlie, Etc.

They are Mount Kisco PD now dispatched by WCPD.

It seems like Mount Kisco PD is getting closer to the Westchester County Police merger.

They also patched the Mount Kisco PD Freq. 154.650 to the County PD Freq. If you look at the WCPD Hot line Roll Call MK is 11 hence the 11 Post numbers from WCPD.

To add to the list of agencies in the area using Narcan the MTA Police will also be operating with Naloxone Kits.

http://www.mta.info/news-mta-police-mta-pd/2014/05/13/mta-police-force-be-equipped-lifesaving-heroin-antidote

April 26 & 27th FASNY will again support fire departments around the state through the Recruit NY open house event. A great chance to open your doors to the community you serve as well as the opportunity to recruit new members. There are already a handful of departments from the Westchester area taking part and hopefully even more will participate as the date gets closer.

http://recruitny.org/opendoors.php

I guess no one in MKFD wants anyone to know they are a volunteer fire chief. Ghost graphics, slim line, and black???? Buff much? lol

Considering we have additional Chief's cars in the department that are lettered and marked as fire chief (one White and one maroon) I don't think the MKFD is going for the "Buff" lifestyle. The Mount Kisco FD Chief's cars and company apparatus are designed and purchased by each respective fire company. There is no MKFD department apparatus and therefore I don't know myself about the different specs for this new unit.

In any case Hudson Valley Fire Equipment has outdone themselves yet again and has provided another great vehicle for the fire service. The Rescue Co. is happy with their new vehicle and based on the command cabinets and additional specs I think this unit will serve them quite well. Job well done by Hudson Valley and I wish the Rescue Fire Police best of luck with their new rig.

Go where? You are implying that there was an underlying tone Chief Flynn's very valid questions. It seems to me, that you are the one putting a spin on his questions.

There are questions that have to be asked, like the origins of a fire. That's why we have Cause & Origin teams. There are details that inquiring minds want to know. Like if there was adequate manpower at a fire. Like if there may or may not have been some political issues at the firehouse. These are questions that Politicians AND Fire Chiefs answer EVERY DAY, many of them in front of the press(any large city FD).

So why are we not allowed to ask the same questions, just because it was a volunteer department involved?

I think the message people are trying to drive away here are that members have valid concerns and interesting questions to grasp a better understanding on what happened but we should let the dust settle for our brothers before we get into the nitty gritty. The event that we are trying to break apart only just happened a few days ago and the Brothers in Goldens Bridge are trying to piece together all of the events for themselves let alone providing the play by play of the fire in addition to all questions on previous matters of the company and its business. Information is still unfolding and as has been stated that an investigation is still at hand. We are all curious and time will tell. Let us just give everyone involved a break and let them come out on their own. This is no discourtesy to the posters or their questions they have. Like I said these are all valid questions and information we can all record and learn from but some members here just want to see better support for our brothers in their time of need.

On a side note do we seriously have to go down the road of insults and putting barriers between volunteers & Paid organizations? Seriously? members of our own family almost lost it all and you guys pull this card. Lets show everyone in this forum respect since we are "Brothers" in whatever sense that means nowadays. So lets get back on track, let the GBFD guys add info at their convenience and everyone stop being so sensitive!

Again like FireMedic049 pointed out without knowing the full extent of the article or incident it is hard to fully respond to a comment like that but many people forget the difficulties of fire operations in a non hydrant area. This time of year especially becomes a hassle to a non hydrant fire because you encounter some back roads that don't get the same plow attention as the main roads, noted water sources are now frozen over making some inaccessible for appropriate drafting, and as always you are at the mercy of your mutual aid and how quickly they mobilize to get the shuttle operation in motion.

Preplans are extremely helpful and when paired with SOP's and practice you can turn a shuttle ops to a bread and butter fire operation. Its easy for these incidents to get complicated due to the numerous variables involved and as we all know Murphy's law when crap hits the fan it all goes down hill. On top of that I think we would all agree the trade of firefighting is a complicated job in general. I think more then a few departments in this county find fires within hydrant areas complicated as well and they have plenty of water at their disposal. Complication of fires in non hydrant districts comes with the territory and you can break down the issues found at these incidents with drills, training, and overview of company/department SOP.

But as I said before its hard to really break this apart without the full view on the incident.

OK I'm takin the bait: I don't see how these fire parades can be justified when so few vollies have proper training. When you can say that your entire VFD is fully trained at same level as the career departments AND your entire VFD does its full in-service training then why not. But I don't see anything like that in this area. Not even close. But in this state nobody can make you train. Crazy!

These fire parades unfortunately are little more than a drinking event. And from what I see many of these participants are not likely ever stretching lines or taking the roof!

Where I live it is a sad joke as they can barely get a rig out anymore but the boys are all lined up for the parade.

Just my opinion.

Though I believe you bring up some valid points on issues with training in the fire service I feel there are some added dimensions you miss. Obviously this won't apply to all in the fire service but for some of us we spend numerous hours maintaining equipment, responding on a regular basis as well as taking training courses. Parade season is a reward for those few of us who have been working and have been active all year and want to show off their pride for department, community, and equipment.

Sadly many within our local fire service take advantage and misrepresent departments or only come to the parades with no work into preparation, training or response. So just because a smaller average of the service truly puts in their time and effort we should all be penalized for the disservice presented by others?

Again I realize this doesn't pertain to every department and obviously the service is going through some tough times but there is more to parades then just a fool fest. To be honest fire department parades will sort themselves out anyway. Many members don't march and many are disinterested. I've seen the amount of parades attended from some departments go from 15 to 20 parades a year down to 5 to 7.

Not sure if your enquiry was all Field Coms in the county or just FD but Greenburgh Police operate a larger field com unit as well.

Wouldn't the Fire Chief would act as overall incident commander until the hazards on the scene are mitigated? Law Enforcement and EMS would sit in the command structure as liaisons to the IC and commanders of their respective branch such as triage and security.

After hazards have been mitigated the command structure shifts from rescue and recovery mode to investigation and Law Enforcement would transition to the overall IC. Once hazards are mitigated at any major transportation crash (Train/Bus) the scene becomes an investigation or crime scene for lack of a better term. Once the NTSB and or law enforcement deems it non criminal in nature scene command can be terminated and a clean up of the scene to commence.

It was never about space. We met with DES and the engineers when they were developing the current system and they told us the system would not work in our area and it clearly would not meet our needs. So we went out and developed our own system and they were correct it works better, even with mutual aid.

Thank you for the clarification. I didn't realize it was a coverage issues for some areas.

If the county has already decided what system they will be implementing there would have been studies as to why this new system would work well for Westchester. I have read some different posts about pros and cons between Digital as opposed to trunking. I am just curious if this would solve some of the coverage issues that some departments have with the current system? Could this really solve some of the issues we currently face with communications?

The CSP system you linked to is a Motorola Type II, which is the same as the current Westchester system. The new CSERN system is P25, however it's Phase I not Phase II.

Rockland's new 700 MHz system is P25 Phase II, which is what Westchester (and Orange) are looking to implement.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7128

Also here: http://info.uniden.com/NewScanners

Thanks so much for laying this out for us. Much easier to grasp the full context of the update.

Not to push the thread into any other direction but it would be nice to unify all the county departments under this new system. With more and more mutual aid occurring and some larger scale operations I think it causes more work for everyone to have departments that continue to operate their own systems. Plus if you look at the new system you can't even complain that there won't be room for a department with large call volume. More voice channels equals more space to fit practically all Westchester Depts.

I may be dreaming but I would want to have everyone using and practicing the new system whether North or South of I-287. Maybe someday we can work on the paging frequencies too.

Uniden has introduced ( available January 2014) two new scanners. The BCD536HP and BCD436HP that will be P25 Phase II TDMA capable.

I believe this may have been posted somewhere else but I think it is relevant to this thread as well. For those looking into the new scanners here is the product review from Uniden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGPEEGw5NzE

I didn't realize this system would be an APCO 25 system. I have knowledge of radio systems and scanning but get a little confused when it comes to the digital world. If the county switches to the new system would it be a similar system to what the Connecticut State Police and MTA Police is trying to implement? I thought the MTA PD would be trying to switch to an APCO 25 system and if so I believe they have already put up some transmitters with some other agencies currently operating in a test phase.

I hope so because it would be great to have more agencies using similar radio systems for redundancy and inter-operations.

Related article:

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=832&siteSort=county

The radio system is fine!!! If it works it is ok. Seth, I do remember them going to expand. Is the new roof on there yet?

Not really. Is it functional? Yes it is and it works relatively well on the day to day but during a prolonged operation or an incident with multiple jurisdictions operating it does not. Technology wise the trunked system in Westchester was already old technology by the time it was fully implemented. Radio systems take years to build as well as much research and development. The radio system may seem "fine" but it is growing old and to implement a new system will take years. Within the technology world, specifically radio systems, you need to keep updating systems before they do become antiquated and don't work.

Besides its functionality Westchester Dept's are doing more and more runs and are covering each other on the county's radio systems. This upgrade will allow more talk around on more channels. I think this is a needed upgrade and I am happy to see it in the budget. Hopefully they look into funding more for DES in the future. They need it!

I would agree it would be a while before we see this in a public arena in our area but possibly more feasible for a private transport company. I could see this pop up in the states for interstate transport type situations or to transport children long distances to see their doctor.

Came across this in Irish news. A private company has built an ambulance designed to distract children from their injuries or medical condition and provide a calming effect while en-route to the hospital. Based off customer portrayals it seems to be more of an ambulette service then a priority EMS unit. It helps transport those from far out counties into the medical establishments of Dublin for long term treatments for diseases and conditions.

An interesting concept and a great way to assist families with special needs.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/little-amber-2-delights-in-temple-streets-bumbleance-29748299.html

I'd like to see the plans regarding the meeting room space in each smoke stack. That should lead to some interesting conversations including building code enforcement.

I had been interning for a County Fire Office in Western NY and their Hazmat team can bill for Hazmat material used at an incident. They have a similar team and setup as WCDES and they as well do it to free. They do or can however bill parties involved in the spill for the cost of equipment used (ex. Absorbent pads, hand tools, etc.).

I am not sure of specifics or any standard guidelines for governments to charge other then I know it is possible.

This is a national hazardous materials clean up company. They are transporting HM from a hazmat site. Even with the best documentation & instramentation you will never know what might be involved because its waste. any number of items could have mixed.

The amount that is leaking is very minor and based on 55gal drums, thats the most that could be released. The truck is in a location that is easy to isolate.

Maybe instead of using local hazmat resources, let clean waters send a team, it is their truck, their responsability and what they actually do everyday.

If it was joes hauling...Sage is right on.

I think it would be a larger waste of time waiting for Clean Waters to send another team or cleanup unit. If such a small isolated incident as this one I believe it would be smarter to isolate and mitigate as the Hazmat did in this scenario. SInce the Hazmat quickly isolated the issue now all units can be released and the Park and Ride can be reopened. Its not even a waste since Clean Waters can be billed for the equipment used at a Hazmat scene which was caused by their own company.

I would agree to have them respond if a larger incident took place where you would need be deploying larger resources. They would be an asset to have on scene and would provide better knowledge of their chemical storage. But to have them respond to a BS leak like this one in BH seems silly. You will only keep responders on scene longer, area shutdown longer then need be, and waisting time as a result.

Similar to what MFC2257 posted about more noted practices my fire department in Niagara County follows a relative approach. Maybe not the best approach but much easier to denote each unit over the air without having to list a full name (Ex. Millwood Engine 1) on each radio transmission. Each department is given a number and then they have the following layout: http://www.niagaracounty.com/fire/AboutUs.aspx

_ M 7 Fire Chief
_ M 7A First Asst.
_ M 7B Second Asst.
_ M 7C Third Asst.

E = Engine/Pumper

A=Aerial
R=Rescue/Ambulance
M=Misc.
T=Tanker

Upper Mountain Fire Company, Lewiston, NY

Station # 26

Chief: 26 M7 (All chief's in the county are listed M7)

Asst. Chief: 26 M7A

2nd Asst. Chief: 26 M7B

Engine 1: 26 E1

Engine 2: 26 E2

Ladder: 26 A8

Fly Car: 26 M1 (M for Miscellaneous unit not Medic)

Ambulance 1: 26 R9

Ambulance 2: 26 R9A

Looking at this web page http://arffwg.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ARFF-Professional-Designation-Program.pdf, Airport Fire Officer seems to be a new designation for ARFF operations.

"Airport Fire Officer 259x", "AFO 259x", "Fire 259x", "Duty Officer 259x" could be some suggestions.

I like Steve's idea. What’s the issue with having one designation for both even if it may have Airport Fire Officer or AFO in front of a four digit number? It is simple to have just one identifier that satisfies each requirement. Occasionally you will hear nontraditional units on 60 Control Channels give agency and identifier (Ex. WCPD Marine 3). I don't see the issue with transmitting with 60 Control as example Airport Fire Officer 2591.

In addition I think for a four digit number you should go for the 2591. If he is considered the chief of the brigade why not go for 2591?

New Photos of E-105 2013 Seagrave -Photos by E106MKFD

The channel on your brother's scanner may be listed as a priority in the bank. Though you have the same frequencies in your respective scanners are they programed channel for channel?

Fairview, Hartsdale, Somers, Dobbs Ferry, Ossining (by OPD) White Plains, North White Plains, Empress. Most likely a couple more.

Care1 and Transcare operate in Westchester but last time I checked their dispatchers were in a different county.

Doesn't North White Plains get dispatched by 60 Control? I think they just retone from their quarters.

In addition I can only think of the obvious Yonkers & Mount Vernon