SageVigiles

I normally use Simple Green, haven't seen any issues with that.

That's the only way volunteers are permitted to operate down here in Prince George's County. There is no such thing as home response here, except for Chief Officers who have take home vehicles from their companies or those who are assigned a vehicle by the County FD. Some stations are all career, most are combination, and a few are 100% volunteer. Your company requires you to do a certain number of hours of staffing (Its company specific, but for us its 32 hours a month for in-state volunteers, 8 a month for out-of-staters and 48 hours a week for live ins.) Most of the live-ins are college aged guys/gals going to school, typically for Fire Science at UMD or one of the community colleges, though an increasing number are going to Paramedic school. Given our station's proximity to Andrews AFB, we also get a lot of volunteers who have jobs on base and live in the area. Some volunteer companies are staffed 24/7 (typically the 100% volunteer ones) but most of them are combination and they get a shift together when there are people available. Each type of unit has a designated minimum staffing by County SOP. When your company is staffed you notify Communications and you're put into the CAD as an available unit. The CAD assigns the closest units to fill out the required assignment, no picking and choosing. The CAD also allows for cross staffing (example, most of the time we cross staff between an Engine and a Rescue Squad, so the CAD can pull either unit depending on what they need us for.) Also the hierarchy between career/volunteer members/officers is clearly defined by county law so there is minimal confusion. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of screwed up stuff about PG County, but by and large its a vast improvement from anything I've experienced in departments I was a part of in the northeast.

I agree, the article definitely has some flaws, and it also fails to acknowledge that so many fire departments are failing because they can't get with the times. If your idea of a recruitment plan consists of a signboard in front of the firehouse, you might want to consider getting some fresh blood into your recruitment committee. There ARE some volunteer departments out there who are growing AND managing to consistently put well-trained Firefighters and EMTs on the street. Unfortunately they seem to be the minority.

We'll see how long it lasts. Our Ambos get pretty beat up, the current A827 is up to 1,606 runs this year as of July 31st. It is 100% volunteer and staffed 24/7 unless it's OOS for mechanical reasons.

Morningside Volunteer Fire Department, Company 27 (Prince George's County, MD) - Ambulance 827 2014 Freightliner - I believe the box is a Wheeled Coach This is a county-owned piece that will be stationed/staffed BLS by our Members. Currently its still at the County radio shop getting some final work done before delivery. Cell phone photo used with permission from an MVFD Member.

Finally getting away from the Horrible Hortons. Good luck with the new bus Sue!

Date: 8/10/14 Time: Approximate 1400 Hours Location: 13000 Central Ave, Upper Marlboro, MD - Six Flags America District: Company 43's First Due (Bowie VFD), 2nd Battalion, North Division Units: Multiple PGFD Companies including Tech Rescue Team, Safety Officer, Battalion 2, Northern EMS Duty Officer Fairfax County (Mutual Aid for a Tower Ladder over 100') Andrews Air Force Base FD (Tower Ladder over 100') Howard County (Tower Ladder over 100') Description: Approximately 24 people stuck on the Jokers Jinx ride at Six Flags. This is on the North side of the county, but Rescue Ops are on the South side scanner. http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/16017 Twitter Photo from Company 18 (Glenn Dale): https://twitter.com/Glenn18Dale/status/498549021771038720/photo/1

Date: 8/7/14 Time: Dispatched 0648 Location: Bartlett x Katan (On the dead end) District: Confines of the 122nd Precinct Units: Patrol: 122nd Precinct, 123rd Precinct, Duty Captain SOD: SOD-2, Aviation 16, K9-38 ESU: Truck 5, Adam 5, Bearcat, U5 (ESU Duty Officer), Adam 6 Detectives: HNT, TARU FDNY*EMS Description: Suspect Keith Belajonas wanted for the murder of his wife in Upper Darby Township, PA last night. Amber Alert issued for the two children who were abducted by the suspect. Amber Alert extended all the way to Staten Island, where suspect was spotted robbing a CVS location. Precinct units located the vehicle and set up perimeter to await SOD units, HNT and TARU. 0738 - Units on scene requesting no further on this job, suspect apparently DOA in the car. No word on the condition of the children at this time. Children were found safe at the CVS location. Apparently the suspect attempted to rob one of his relatives who worked there.

New Fairfield has an ambulance that went out to bid. It will replace 91-2 (former Squantz Ambulance) If I'm not mistaken, I believe Cheshire got denied for the second aerial. Taxpayers decided they didn't need it. Connecticut Fire Academy just received an AFG grant for a brand new pumper.

Meriden, CT just fired one of their Officers after several videos surfaced of him beating handcuffed, minority suspects on multiple occasions. IAD tried investigating him, but being the Chief's son, it took a federal civil rights charge to finally get him gone. Is it annoying when people video the police? Absolutely. Does it get edited by those with an agenda? Sure does. Does it sometimes catch a good cop on a bad day? Without a doubt. Do we live in America, where people have a right to videotape in public? You're goddamned right we do.

So some of you know I've moved down to Virginia for a new job, and I've started volunteering with Company 27 in Prince George's County, MD. I just wanted to share an "interesting" rescue we had yesterday. Probably not a big deal to a lot of the more experienced people on here, but for me, as someone very inexperienced in technical rescue, I thought it might be worth sharing. Engine 829 (Silver Hills), Rescue-Engine 827 (Morningside), Medic 829, Ambulance 829, Battalion Chief 883 and the Southern EMS Duty Officer were dispatched to the 3400 block of Curtis drive for a reported PIA with entrapment. E829 was first due and confirmed that a minivan had driven into a guard shack and that the security guard was pinned under the van. RE-827 arrived as the first due special service. Rescue Squad 842 was also requested as part of the County Technical Rescue Team. Our initial plan (not being able to see the scene) was to use a Hurst spreader plate to lift the car off the guard and drag him out (this worked for the company a few months ago when a PGPD Officer was trapped under a car on the highway.) Upon arriving we realized the security guard was not completely pinned by the car, an air conditioning unit and filing cabinet had created a small void space that held the car up and protected him from being completely crushed. We also realized we had no room to use the spreaders and our plan became to turn the windows into doors on the "B" and "D" sides of the shack (assuming the van entered in side "A") and then use airbags to lift the vehicle off the patient and let the medics drag him out of the "C" side that was non-load bearing. RS442 arrived and shored the "D" side with the Rescue-42 jack system, and then ultimately it was decided to use another Rescue-42 jack to lift the car off the patient. Patient transported with serious but non-life threatening injuries. Again, for those of you more well versed in technical rescue, this is probably a pretty minor incident, but for for it was a pretty interesting experience and a good intro to how things are done in PG County. Despite all the company rivalry that's present down here, when things like this happen everyone (career, volunteer, PD, different companies, etc) all worked and communicated extremely well together. The way it should be. Some photos from the scene: (Note: All photos are from the Morningside Volunteer Fire Department and/or the Prince George's County Police PIO's social media pages) View from the D-Side View from the C-Side View of the void space created by the A/C unit and the filing cabinet. NBC Washington: Security Guard Rescued After Van Plows into Booth

Date: 7/28/14 Time: Approximately 1340 Location: W 4th St x Jones St District: Confines of the 6th PCT, if I'm not mistaken Units: NYPD, US Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force Description: 1 NYPD MOS and 2 Deputy United States Marshals wounded exchanged fire with a sexual assault suspect in Greenwich Villiage. All MOS were transported with non-life threatening injuries. The scumbag was killed. Best wishes to the injured Detective and Deputies for a full and speedy recovery. Nice shooting. *Please reply to this thread with any corrections or updates*

Very true! Given that all the LEOs involved (including the NYPD Detective) were Deputy US Marshals, they should all be able to shoot the gun out of the suspect's hand like Wyatt Earp, right??? Now that I think about it, the guy was wanted for sexual assault, I can think of somewhere else they could aim to disarm him...

"Nothing showing" is fine, as long as we're including the building construction, whether or not the building appears to be evacuated, etc, as a part of our sizeup. The point of the sizeup is to paint an initial snapshot in the minds of those on incoming units, not to make a definitive prognosis of what's going on at the call. If an officer really that concept explained to them, maybe they don't belong in the front seat... I do have to say though, its my favorite when people say "nothing showing" on a CO call.

No problem Alan, if you need anymore info PM me and I'll see if I can find what you're looking for.

Exactly, its not the Mayor or the City Council whose going to be hurt when something goes wrong at a fire, it'll be fellow Firefighters or innocent civilians.

Date: 7/13/14 Time: Approximately 0400 Location: JFK Blvd W & Communipaw Ave Units: JCPD, Port Authority Police (including ESU), Hudson County Sheriff SWAT, FDJC, JCMC EMS ***Updated after Mayor's press conference*** Description: Jersey City Police MOS exchanged gunfire with a suspect inside a Walgreens at JFK and Communipaw. The suspect took a weapon from a Walgreens security guard. Officer was hit and transported to JCMC where he succumbed to his injuries. The Officer's murderer was also killed. ESU/SWAT elements conducted thorough search of the store and surrounding areas. The Fallen Member has been identified as Police Officer Melvin Santiago. Rest in Peace Officer.

Sue, it's probably a little early to speculate as to whether or not face piece failures were a factor in either of these LODDs. If there was some kind of issue I'm sure the FDNY Safety Battalion or NIOSH will note that when the investigations conclude. Trying to nail down a trend right now would be premature, in my opinion.

I resisted watching this for awhile, but since its now got national attention all I'll say is this... Huffington Post is probably a good place for it...

Rest East Lieutenant, thank you for your service. My thoughts and prayer go out to his family, friends and his fellow members of the FDNY. RFB.

Thanks Seth, I submitted a help ticket last week and haven't heard back.

Don't worry, there's no secret clubhouse or discount card that comes with being a "Hall of Famer," that and 2 bucks will get me a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. Besides, apparently being in the top 10 means you don't get Private Messaging abilities anymore...

Unfortunately I felt the same way in CT. Fortunately I've relocated to Virginia and I'm joining a company in Prince George's County, MD that, in opinion so far, doesn't seem to play those games. Not every house down here is as dedicated, but you can definitely see that there are some companies that strive to ensure their members have the best training and equipment to get the mission done, and expect professionalism from those members as a result. Its a shame that those types of places are so hard to find though...

They suspended him, but what happened to the LT that didn't respond to the medical across the street from quarters?