Oswegowind

Date: 4/24/10
Time:1922
Location: 204 Elm St (Google Map Link)
Frequency: 484.7125
Units Operating: YFD Engines: 306, 303, 312, 309, 304; Ladders: 71, 75; Rescue 1, Safety Batt., Battalion 1; YPD 200, 310, 312, 302, 303, 305, 201, 402; Empress EMS
Weather Conditions: Nice
Description Of Incident: Working Fire, 3 story wood frame
Reporters: Numerous
Writer: O-Wind, Truck4 (o/s)
1922 - Numerous calls to 911, visible flames from window on 3rd floor.
1924 - B1 updated, requests 5th due (E304) as the FAS Team.
1924 - R1 has smoke showing.
1926 - E306 with a 3 story frame, 10-29 (working fire.
1928 - B1, signal 10-30 (all hands, 1st alarm).
1934 - B1: Size up; 3 story wood frame OMD, fire in rear of 3rd floor, 2 L/S/O, Co's ventilating and evacuating, Primary search complete.
1934 - B1: Exposure 1 is the street, exposure 2 1 story, exposure 3 is the rear yard, exposure 4 is a 3 story wood OMD with 3 foot separation.
1946 - B1: Fire is out, co's picking up.
*note* On the google map link, it is the brown 3 story that is hiding behind the tree on the street level view...
Building has burned before.

Interesting scenario.
1st off, I am sure we have a procedure for this, I don't recall seeing it since training when I started 5 years ago though. The calltaker is supposed to prioritize a missing person who is either under the age of 12, or has a mental incapacity of some sort; such as alzheimer's disease or autism. For situations like this we are supposed to send the initial car and a supervisor to the "scene" of where the person is missing from. We also alert the communications supervisor (or are supposed to) and the street lieutenant. Hoping that the calltaker did their due diligence when receiving the call, we transmit a description immediately and send additional cars to canvass for the missing. I have never dispatched the fire department to assist, but this is considering the jurisdiction I am employed in has a significant amount of patrols working. I personally make immediate calls to our ambulance service as they are an "on the street" unit and may come across the missing during their shift, our bus/mass transit service; Liberty Lines whom operates the BeeLine Bus System in southern Westchester (this has yielded results for me twice in the past 2 years!), and call our local emergency rooms because a "good Samaritan" may have picked up the missing and dropped them off at the hospital because maybe they were confused or looked as though they needed medical attention. The car should get photos of the missing for distribution to canvassing units and a copy should be brought to our Youth division which handles all missing person cases. YD provides a flier using picture and description which gets distributed more thoroughly a short time after the incident has originated.
In the case of the "bodies of water" issue, I know that we have utilized the Mt. Pleasant dive team in the past to recover a missing female from the Hudson River. I would recommend them in the future as well. If a K9 is used and tracks to the body of water, then it is imperative to call in experts that are trained in searching in the water. It would not be the first time that a person went missing and ended up in a body of water. Usually these cases end tragically, and considerations should be in place to handle that scenario. It is also important to consider a pool to be a body of water. Small children have been recovered in swimming pools after going missing in the past. While canvassing, some personnel should be deployed on foot to thoroughly canvass the immediate area and be sure to check even covered swimming pools which are even more dangerous than open ones.
As well, if a small child is missing from "home", someone should consult the parents as to where the child likes to hide, I can't count the number of times children are found inside of their home, hiding, thinking it is a game.
As for the persons of deteriorating mental capacity or those with illnesses such as autism, the County of Westchester participates in the "Project Lifesaver" program. If you have anyone in your family or even a neighbor, or a repeatedly missing person that suffers from one of those conditions, you should recommend this program. You can view the following links for more information:
Project Lifesaver homepage
Westchester County Page

Actually, my understanding is that one of the major reasons that Seth created EMTBravo was to create an information exchange amongst emergency service providers in Westchester County. In fact he and I used to talk extensively back then. There are a number of other members of this site that have been here since the beginning, and I am sure they remember that. There were lists of resources, etc. And one of the goals I believe was to allow people to ask questions, and those with definitive "inside" answers to provide the information. A company website may list employment opportunities on its home page, however that may not have been updated or may be a permanent stance so that they are always ready to hire people when needed. This forum gives you the ability to ask a possible insider. The answer may not always be provided in the public forum, however there are ways for someone to answer the question correctly without everyone including their boss avail to reading so. There are Empress supervisors and employees that visit this forum and may be able to provide insight, whether it be a posting in this thread or a quick direct message giving the person appropriate and necessary information. As Seth said, we have seen Empress go from glory to purgatory and back to glory over the years. I worked there, and although there were times I hated it, there were times I loved it. Many of the guys I go out with now-a-days all worked there at some point. We have all moved on, it is considered a stepping stone, but we all talk about our times at Empress. Well, not all of us have moved on...sorry Rich...lol I give them credit because it is hard to run a profit service while serving the poverty stricken...which barring Y-town and the upper east side of Yonkers, that is the majority!~

Well, that is an answer. It could say simply that; "It is not necessary for a member who is not actively involved in firefighting to be in full PPE." Simple and an answer, not a rebuttal which was expressed almost immediately by the "don't even start..." post.
I believe it is understood that many volunteers respond to calls from their "work" and there are a number of jobs where it is inappropriate to wear clothing that reflects your out of work activities as was apparent. The "guy" at the back of the ladder is obviously in some "professional" or white collar type of work as evidenced by his clothing. To bystanders, of which there were many at this scene as the high school and local businesses were all open at the time, and to the person who asked the question, you cannot tell that that person is qualified based solely on their appearance; clothing.
And John, please don't utilize the "they don't do it, why should we" comparison. Each agency/organization has its own rules or guidelines. Some may be more proactive on fireground safety than others, as well some may be more inclined to provide constructive discipline in order to correct malevolent behavior from reoccurring. You have been doing this for probably half your life and from working with you in the past you always seemed to understand that the common way may not be the best way or the safest. And poop does happen, but that is no excuse now is it?
If we don't question things how do we find better solutions or guidelines? We asked, what is under our ground and discovered oil. We asked, what is beyond our atmosphere and now we fly satellites that provide us with everyday advanced quality of life. Never stop questioning. Find better ways. Almost every luxury we are afforded today began as a question somewhere.
So, I hereby pose a question to all that read and respond on these forums:
~Can we try to have intelligent, diverse, and constructive discussions about incidents so that all of
us can be afforded an opportunity to learn new ideas and theories without the constant defense and/or personal involvement?
~And can we bury terms such as "monday morning quaterback" and personal attacks so that as a community of skilled emergency
service workers whether paid or volunteer we can grow into the ideal system that many of us believe
we could have with proper leadership?
As a fellow bravoer whom has questioned me on occasion, and I hope he gets the answer he is looking for when he does, JFlynn consistently says: QTIP

You've all heard of the Detroit ladder getting struck by the Amtrak train a couple weeks back. Here are some videos relating to it.
Video from the train's perspective:
http://www.break.com/index/detroit-fire-truck-hit-by-train.html
Video of aftermath from a chopper:
http://statter911.com/2010/03/01/breaking-news-detroit-tv-station-reports-fire-truck-hit-by-amtrak-train/

Deja vu?
Yes, same address...the first one was deemed arson.

You took one part of my comment, adjusted it to serve your opportunity to criticize my comment and tried to make it look as though I am 100% against purchasing new equipment. I do and have paid taxes for some time. Part of that money is paid to the Buchanan FD by the village. And as it was years ago when some members thought it prudent to request adding a ladder truck to the fleet, it was brought to the village board meetings and open to public discussion. I said I can see both sides of the argument, replacement of a 35 year old piece of equipment may be necessary. I also support the fact that the employees of the village need a new contract. The only reason I cited the priority being the contracts of workers is that both Montrose and Peekskill have Rescue apparatus and the current piece is still in service. I have done nothing but support the fire department my entire life as a village resident, whether donating monies, buying raffle tickets, providing pictures that I have taken in my own personal time, etc. I am not a member of the fire department but did volunteer in my community for years. Now I have my own priorities and work responsibilities that make it virtually impossible for me to commit to being a member. As well, I have to say, I haven't been asked either. And I know that manpower to calls is a serious issue in our community. This is a public website, you should be careful saying that the village of Buchanan and its residents don't foot the bill, cause ultimately they do. They do when they pay their taxes, and they do when they donate money, and the do when they buy raffle tickets. Money to buy new appartus and equipment doesn't grow on a tree behind the firehouse.

Not so used to the 4:30pm calls for a building fire...Got a little nuts for a few. We actually had an extra dispatcher in the 911 center because of a regular schedule overlap. FD got there quick, so did PD cars that were in the area and saw the fire. Great job containing it, those buildings might as well be attached because they are about 2-3 feet separated but usually it isn't somewhere you wanna go in between. Resources were requested quickly and efficiently, and we utilized the entire 3rd pct for street closures and crowd control as well as 1 2nd pct car. We had been busy lately in the evening, however it wasn't so bad after the fire was at a holding pattern, the usual callers stayed off the phones (amazingly!). Glad that no one got hurt. Although I was on PD 2, I was using the County M/A Trunked Radio to listen to the Fireground. When they resumed interior ops, I heard them talking about 3 feet of water in apts on the top floor and the necessity to drain it. I have never seen this condition, but can imagine that would be one of the top reasons buildings collapse during fire. 3 feet is a small pool, unless it is in a 100 x 100 OMD's top floor no? I'm actually not sure of the dimensions of the building, but it seems it could be at least 75 x 75. Like I said, Good job to both departments and thanks for the help with the M/A 60. Happy Birthday Chief! And now, I gotta get going, taking my son Matt to see the YFD SOD stuff.

Not so used to the 4:30pm calls for a building fire...Got a little nuts for a few. We actually had an extra dispatcher in the 911 center because of a regular schedule overlap. FD got there quick, so did PD cars that were in the area and saw the fire. Great job containing it, those buildings might as well be attached because they are about 2-3 feet separated but usually it isn't somewhere you wanna go in between. Resources were requested quickly and efficiently, and we utilized the entire 3rd pct for street closures and crowd control as well as 1 2nd pct car. We had been busy lately in the evening, however it wasn't so bad after the fire was at a holding pattern, the usual callers stayed off the phones (amazingly!). Glad that no one got hurt. Although I was on PD 2, I was using the County M/A Trunked Radio to listen to the Fireground. When they resumed interior ops, I heard them talking about 3 feet of water in apts on the top floor and the necessity to drain it. I have never seen this condition, but can imagine that would be one of the top reasons buildings collapse during fire. 3 feet is a small pool, unless it is in a 100 x 100 OMD's top floor no? I'm actually not sure of the dimensions of the building, but it seems it could be at least 75 x 75. Like I said, Good job to both departments and thanks for the help with the M/A 60. Happy Birthday Chief! And now, I gotta get going, taking my son Matt to see the YFD SOD stuff.

Not so used to the 4:30pm calls for a building fire...Got a little nuts for a few. We actually had an extra dispatcher in the 911 center because of a regular schedule overlap. FD got there quick, so did PD cars that were in the area and saw the fire. Great job containing it, those buildings might as well be attached because they are about 2-3 feet separated but usually it isn't somewhere you wanna go in between. Resources were requested quickly and efficiently, and we utilized the entire 3rd pct for street closures and crowd control as well as 1 2nd pct car. We had been busy lately in the evening, however it wasn't so bad after the fire was at a holding pattern, the usual callers stayed off the phones (amazingly!). Glad that no one got hurt. Although I was on PD 2, I was using the County M/A Trunked Radio to listen to the Fireground. When they resumed interior ops, I heard them talking about 3 feet of water in apts on the top floor and the necessity to drain it. I have never seen this condition, but can imagine that would be one of the top reasons buildings collapse during fire. 3 feet is a small pool, unless it is in a 100 x 100 OMD's top floor no? I'm actually not sure of the dimensions of the building, but it seems it could be at least 75 x 75. Like I said, Good job to both departments and thanks for the help with the M/A 60. Happy Birthday Chief! And now, I gotta get going, taking my son Matt to see the YFD SOD stuff.

Cell phones aren't just for the nouveau riche any more. You'd be surprised how many "homeless" and "indigent" people seek public assistance from Social Services while on their cell phones...

No REP for Mods....?

Date: 12/24/2009
Time: 2131
Location: 87 Locust Hill Av, bet Cromwell Pl and Lafayette Pl (Google Map Link-still MFY exclusive)
Frequency: Tones: 46.50, Ops: 484.7125, Fireground: YFD 1
Units Operating: Eng: 306, 309, 308, 304; Lad: 71, 72, Batt: 1, Rescue 1 and Safety Battalion
Weather Conditions: Clear and damn cold!
Description Of Incident: Activated Fire Alarm in OMD, smoke and water flow on 4th floor, Fire in apt.
Reporters: ADT Alarm Systems
Writer: O-Wind
Note: Not a major structure fire, just a small room and contents but interesting case.
Size Up: 5 Story OMD, Ordinary Construction.
2131: ADT called in fire alarm.
2132: Units responding from previous alarm blocks away.
2134: E306 on scene checking
2142: Units advise on FG1 that they have a water flow alarm and sprinkler activation with smoke emitting from apt on
the 4th floor. Forcing entry.
2144: B1 advises that this is a 10-29 (structure fire) and that sprinklers have placed the fire under control,
search was negative for occupant.
2149: Fire is out, holding all co's checking for extension, picking up, requests Fire Investigation Unit (Car 6).
2209: Co's being released when ready to return.
2218: YPD requested to scene due to unsecure fire apartment.