E106MKFD

One of the E-one's. Runs out of flushing Queens.

Date: 4/14/12
Time: 13:15 hours
Location: Van Nest Ave x Holland Ave
Description Of Incident: Heavy fire in a 3-story frame on arrival extended to exposures 2, 2A, 4, and 4A. Partial collapse resulting in multiple maydays and missing MOS.
Reporter: ryang
Additional Info:
Van Nest, the Bronx, NY, 4/14/12
Address: 726 Van Nest Ave between Holland and Hunt Aves
13:14 hours
Phone Box 3217 - Report of fire in a multiple dwelling
Engs 90, 45, 97
TL41, TL58
Battalion 20
13:15 hours
Now receiving multiple calls
Squad 61 (4th due Engine)
Rescue 3
10-75-3217 - 13:15 hours
E64*
L47 (FAST Truck)
Battalion 18
Division 7
*Squad 61 now going in as a Squad
13:17 hours
Battalion 20: We're delayed responding from the other end of our district, start out an extra engine and truck based on the volume of smoke.
E96, TL54 S/C
2-2-3217 - 13:19 hours
TL41: Transmit a 2nd Alarm, we've got a fire on the exposure 2 side.
Engs 88, 46, 48
E72 w/ Satellite 2
L38
Battalion 3 (Safety Officer)
Battalion 27 (Resource Unit Leader)
Rescue, Safety Battalions
Tactical Support 1
FieldCom 1, Command Tactical Unit
RAC3
13:20 hours
BC20: we have 2 3-story frames going, k.
13:25 hours
Tactical Support 1 is OOS, Tactical Support 2 assigned
13:30 hours
The staging area is Morris Park Ave and White Plains Rd
13:38 hours - Duration 26 minutes
DC7: 3217, we have heavy fire in a 3-story brownstone-type 25x50. Exposure 1 is a street, exposure 2 is a similar attached, 3 is a rear yard, 4 is a 3-story frame separated by an alley. We have fire in exposure 4, we have fire in the cockloft, we have 4 lines stretched in operation, and we are Doubtful.
13:39 hours
Car 4C (AC Ronald Spadafora, Chief of Logistics) is responding.
3-3-3217 - 13:40 hours
DC7: 3217, make it a 3rd alarm, we have fire in 3 buildings.
Engs 82, 94, 50, 66
L27, L56
Battalion 17
Battalion 19 (Staging Manager)
Battalion 33 (Air-Recon Chief)
Mask Service Unit
10-66-3217 (Automatic 4th Alarm) - 13:55 hours
DC7: 10-66, we have 3 Maydays given, 1 has been accounted for, we're still looking for the other 2, we've had a partial collapse between the fire building and exposure 4.
Engs 75, 89, 79
E73 (CFRD Engine)
E262 w/ IMT Unit
E233 w/ Mobile Command 1
L32, TL50, L37
L42 (SOC Support Truck) w/ Collapse Rescue 3
L116 w/ Collapse Rescue 4
Battalion 26 (FAST Group Supervisor)
Battalion 15 (Firefighter Locator Officer)
Battalion 10 (Planning Sections Chief)
HazMat Battalion
Division 6
Squad 41, Squad 1 w/ TRV
Rescue 4
SOC Compressor, SOC Logistics, SOC Dewatering
Car 1B (Commissioner's Liaison)
Car 23D (Press Duty Car)
Car 12 (DAC Stephen Raynis, Chief of Safety and Inspectional Services)
Car 4 (Chief of Fire Operations Robert Sweeney)
13:59 hours
Battalion 15: Box 3217, do we have EMS on the scene?
Bronx advises that EMS is on scene.
14:03 hours - Duration 51 min
FieldCom: Progress Report for Box 3217, Division 7 reports: all 3 Maydays have been accounted for and removed from the building. 1 additional member has been injured and also has been removed from the building. Going to an exterior operation, Doubtful Will Hold.
14:03 hours
Fallback Step III has been implemented in The Bronx.
14:06 hours
FC: Have all units responding on the 10-66 report to the staging area, by orders of Division 7.
14:10 hours
Car 1E (Commissioner's Liaison) is responding
14:15 hours - Duration 1 hour 3 minutes
FC: Progress Report for your 4th Alarm Box 3217, at the address 730 Van Nest Ave, at this time Car 4C, AC Spadafora, reports: fire originated in a 3-story nonfireproof, started on 1st floor and communicated to the 2 and 3rd floors, and communicated to exposures 2 and 4. At this time rollcall is being conducted, the Maydays are accounted for. Operating with 2 tower ladder and multiple handlines, fire is darkening down, fire is Doubtful Will Hold.
14:17 hours
FC requests a mixer-off message.
14:23 hours Duration 1 hour 11 minutes
DC7: 4th Alarm, by orders of AC Spadafora, we have heavy fire in exposure 4A, outside wall. All units being removed, we're going to remain Doubtful.
14:25 hours
Car 14 (Chief Fire Marshal Robert Byrnes) is responding
14:27 hours
Car 36B (Department Chaplain) is responding
Car 33 (Duty Medical Officer) is 10-84
14:32 hours - Duration 1 hour 21 minutes
FC: By orders of Car 4C, AC Spadafora, make notification for Buildings and OEM to respond to the scene forthwith. Progress report for the 4th Alarm Box 3217, at the address 730 Van Nest Ave, at this time Car 4C, AC Spadafora, reports: we have fire in the top floor of exposure 4A which is a 2-story frame corner building. At this time going to an exterior operation on the original fire building, exposure 4 and exposure 4A. We have a handline stretched and operating into exposure 2. Searches delayed due to structural stability, fire is Doubtful Will Hold
14:33 hours
Car 16D (Communications) is responding
14:34 hours
FC: Additional info on the last progress report for the 4th, all units are being pulled from the interior and going to exterior operations.
14:45 hours - Duration 1 hour 34 minutes
FC: Progress Report for your 4th Alarm Box 3217, at the address 730 Van Nest Ave, at this time Car 4C, AC Spadafora, reports: we have gone to an exterior operation on all buildings involved, we have 3 tower ladders set up and operating, all units are out of the fire buildings, searches delayed due to heavy volume of fire and structural stability, fire is Doubtful Will Hold.
14:54 hours - Duration 1 hour 42 minutes
FC: Progress Report for your 4th Alarm Box 3217, at the address 730 Van Nest Ave, Chief of Operations Sweeney reports: we have a collapse of the original fire building and partial collapse of exposure 4A. We have fire in the original fire building, exposure 2, exposure 2A, exposure 4, and exposure 4A. At this time we have 3 handlines stretched in operation, 3 tower ladders setup, and he's placing the fire Probably Will Hold
15:08 hours - Duration 1 hour 56 minutes
FC: Progress Report for your 4th Alarm Box 3217, we have a corrected address for the original fire building of 726 Van Nest Ave, Chief of Operations Sweeney reports: continuing to operate with 3 tower ladders and 3 handlines stretched, this is an exterior operation, Fire Marshals are on scene checking with neighbors to see if any occupants are unaccounted for. Fire remains Probably Will Hold. Also as per Chief Sweeney, Air-Recon is going 10-8.
15:24 hours - Duration 2 hour 12 minutes
FC: Progress Report for your 4th Alarm Box 3217, at the address 726 Van Nest Ave, Chief of Operations Sweeney reports: still have fire in the main fire building and exposures 2 and 4. This remains an exterior operation and will be an extended operation. Main body of fire is knocked down, companies still continuing to knock down pockets, he places the fire Under Control.
Relocations:
Engines: 74/38, 306/45, 67/50, 297/64, 22/75, 259/79, 92/88, 80/94, 62/97
Ladders: 26/27, 151/37, 19/38, 51/41, 160/50, 144/54
Battalions: 11/17, 52/18, 49/27, 50/??

I knew Ben well. But I never had the privilage of working with him as I had retired earlier. Ben was in Great physical shape and he Loved the Job. I would see him working a few of those jobs and I could easily tell that he was into it.
I just recently saw Ben when I stopped down to the firehouse to visit my Brothers. In his style, Ben shook my hand in a firm grip and said "good to see ya Cap". He was a very respectful firefighter and he had the respect of every member in the dept.
Bens two children, ages 4 and 6 were also seriously injuried in that accident and taken to Childrens Hospital in Hartford. According to my Norwich Brothers, the Hartford Firefighters have been stopping by to give support to the family during this very tragic time. My Norwich Brothers are very Thankful for what these Hartford members are doing.
For me, I'll miss you my Brother Ben. You were taken away much too soon. Thank you for serving the citizens of Norwich, and may you Rest in Peace there Brother.

Happened to be in town...only had my iPhone so sorry about the quality. See I/A here.

That is correct 3 in 5 days.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/detail.sfly?sid=2AcsXDZm3bMWjf&imageIndex=0&fid=fb8fde2f7a755d9f
above is a link to some more shots that a friend of mine took.

It's not a complete trip to Arthur Ave without checking out the rigs or passing E88-L38 (Belmont btwn 182-183 Sts). Best Neighborhood in the city!

It's not a complete trip to Arthur Ave without checking out the rigs or passing E88-L38 (Belmont btwn 182-183 Sts). Best Neighborhood in the city!

It's not a complete trip to Arthur Ave without checking out the rigs or passing E88-L38 (Belmont btwn 182-183 Sts). Best Neighborhood in the city!

Imagine if something like this were to happen in Westchester County?? I can only imagine the hissy fits that would be thrown. Good for them,glad to see people stepped up to the plate and made things happen.
On a side note. How will RFD provide these FF's? do they plan on hiring new ones or just adding more hours to the current FF's?

Was in a cannoli mood, took my camera knowing there are always fdny rigs present on Arthur ave at that hour.

You got that right. Now I'm hungry.

Rep given for capturing a great Bronx company's rig in a great Bronx neighborhood.

How about just answering her question instead of giving her a hard time... is it really that big of a deal that you had to run on here to post tihs "horrible" experience you had? Did you ever consider maybe she was new?

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with TMC. I have called them with the same type of report and never had a problem. BTW that is NOT the Taconic and the BRP split. BRP doesnt start until way down by the Kensico Dam near Virginia Road. Lower Taconic Parkway is several miles south of the area of the TMC on the Sprain Brook Pkwy.
I do understand your frustration dispatchers should and can assist callers by knowing buildings ,, certainly the building she was sitting in lol.

Since the SEALS took out Bin Laden, and walked out of his compound with a treasure trove of computers and information, Al Qaeda leaders/bomb makers/planners are being picked off all over the world. I think it's only a matter of time before they get Al Zawahiri, the number two guy, the Egyptian doctor with the ugly birthmark on his forehead (makes a nice target for one of our sharp-shooters).
It took ten years to find Bin Laden, but what a gratifying feeling to learn our boys took him out. He was a crafty evil bastard, hiding in a Pakistani garrison town basically in plain sight, but in the end he wasn't able to outsmart the greatest military the world has ever known. And his over-confidence that he wouldn't be caught led to that mound of information he had in his possession about all of his lackeys, these sicko jihadis that multiplied like the cockroaches they are.
The one guy that I yearn for the news of his imminent departure from the world is one Adam Ghadan; the American mouthpiece traitor who's been trash talking our country since 9/11, making his videos about how evil America is. Can you believe this P.O.S. is a native Californian?
It's awesome to know how relentless our military has been in pursuing and bringing these terrorists to the ultimate justice they deserve; death at the hands of our soldiers.
It's been a tough price we've paid in blood. We've lost thousands of soldiers, and tens of thousands more have suffered horrific injuries.
But just like they initially named a camp early in the Iraq War after Ron Bucca, FDNY Fire Marshall K.I.A. on 9/11, the military has never wavered from the mission to get the miserable scum who attacked us; and took from us some of the greatest firemen and cops of our generation; and thousands of innocent people who just went to work on a bright sunny day in September, ten years ago.
The message is; you hit us hard, then ran and hid. But one by one, you're all going down.
It's hard to keep remembering year after year that our troops are still on the mission, and will not stop until the job is finished, and we get every last one of those responsible for attacking our country. Never Forget.

I love the "LoHud Lawyers". Especially the one who cites "probably cause". They're even better then all our "EMTBravo Lawyers"!

The WPFD vollie's do absolutely nothing but take 1% of the 2% money the city gets. it's a disgrace to even call the vollie's since they do nothing. All the 2% money the city gets should go to the real firefighters of the city, they use that money for their eyeglass and dental, which is ran by the union, and every penny can be accounted for. the vollies throw parties which was investigated years ago by the reporter dispatch. I CANNOT SAY IT ENOUGH THEY ARE A DISGRACE.
They provide NO SUPPORT, they do NOTHING, but rob money. To call them volunteer firefighters is a disgrace. They should be called a social club.
on a day to day basis, not sure but i know one thing........ HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF WHITE PLAINS

In our case, its only 150 years. The problem now is we have the highest demaned in our history and the fewest resources. While we will continue taking responsibility for other peoples stupidity we have reached the ceiling.

I have ZERO sympathy for people who put drugs into their bodies. They know the risk... if you get a hot bag and thats the end of the line for you, tough s***.. you did it to yourself.
I would much rather see the time of EMS spent helping the victims of Emergencies who didn't cause the situation themselves.
Just my opinion

Now, now, Barry, you can't use this argument. The FD has been taking responsibility for other peoples stupidity for the past 200 yrs!

Well Yogi is not currently paying the highest property taxes in the nation! Hate to break it to Yogi.... it's broke and needs to be fixed!

Eliminate 10 fire commissioners?? unheard of. three departments in Greenburgh cant consolidate. hey wait lets have a study!! done that!! been there!! did that!! got no place fast.
until something happens it ain't happening--I think Yogi said that.

I see a lot of issues with our radio procedures as well. Lots of people use the "Be advised" line all the time here, I guess it just sounds cool to them or official. I also hear too many people say their department name before their identifier, but the identifier is designed to give all of the info the dispatcher needs. Take our engine for example, its designation is "2021". "20" is our dept designation, and "21" is the designation for engine, yet you hear it all the time "911 this is carlisle 2021 enroute." waste of air time if you ask me. Be advised though, I see too many issues with radio procedures but not enough effort to alleviate these issues at this time. (hehehe)

Is this a dig? If so, it's not particularly constructive... In fact, there is nothing funny about it, but it raises a real concern.
This is not to call into question the dedication of a particular organization's firemen, nor their professionalism and drive. Really, it doesn't need to be discussed in relation to ANY particular fire department. What an MCI such as this might highlight is a need for an MCI response plan that includes multiple agencies......or some kind of consolidation to form a larger agency with the means and necessity for more equipment.
I did not respond to this box yesterday, but I was at work and listening. There were an incredible amount of units on the scene to mitigate this disaster. Rescues 3 and 4 operated including, at least Collapse Rescue 3. That's 12 firemen, on top of an entire first alarm assignment. 39 pairs of hands. Add to that a few chief's and their aides, plus ESU and a FAST truck (Which sounds like a good idea to me when you have members working in a large, unstable and overturned bus). Top that off with 10+ EMS units, FDNY RAC 4 with temp. morgue set-up and Haz-Mat 1 to manage the fuel containment. That was all within the first few minutes. Many more followed. I'm sure you can up the tally with a great deal of DOT and Police units.
All of these resources and they had their hands full. These are people used to working together with a great deal of equipment at their disposal. More equipment than most Westchester Dept's. (outside of the bigger cities, Yonkers, NR, ect) have. So, what do you do? Who calls for what units and equipment? This seems like a perfect example of a need to utilize some kind of automatic response matrix with multiple F.D., P.D. and EMS agencies with a predetermined I.C. to maintain organization.
Clearly, and thankfully, this is an oddball event and no one knows exactly what to expect or how to perfectly handle each incident. However, it would be a good idea to consider what MIGHT be needed so that the proper personnel and apparatus are alerted quickly.

Tom, your faith in Pelham Manor is admirable but be realistic. What does Pelham Manor have on duty, one and one with two guys each? No rescue, no EMS but a contract bus. Mutual aid would get you more stuff but how fast and how organized and disciplined would it be? New Rochelle has a rescue, 3 more guys. FDMV has one (I think), 3 more guys. Call Yonkers and you'll get some real help but its at least 20-25 minutes away if the call was quick. Then what? You can piece together a response but you'll be spending more time figuring out who to call from where then you'll spend being the IC.
Look at what NYC sent to the scene (not counting PD that had at least four ESU trucks there or EMS):
By my rough count its about 120 firefighters including bosses. What would it take to muster that anywhere in Westchester or the rest of the Hudson Valley? Add to that the expertise and experience that the city guys have. Again not a knock on the guys from Westchester but NYC does more in a month than some jobs do in a year.
They had everyone extricated in a hour and I bet most of them transported in that time too. Have you ever been to an airport exercise in Westchester? They can't transport that many people in an hour during an exercise. Imagine reality.