M' Ave

It has no value. When you turn in ANY gear at the quartermaster, it goes from your hands to the clerks hands and into the garbage. How can you sell something that, apparently, has no value. Up until now, used helmets ended up at The Rock. They are used in the flash-over simulator, members do not wear their own helmets in there. However, if the helmet is no longer fit for use in the field, surely it can't be fit to be used in that simulator. Again, it has not value.

I understand that multiple agencies are represented, but It would be nice then to have the reasoning shared. I know that the FDNY offered to fund and conduct testing of helmets at 15 and 20 years to demonstrate the continued effectiveness. This NFPA mandate effectively doubles the income from helmet sales for the manufactures. Perhaps triple it in some cases. The strength of a helmet, important is it is, cannot protect your body from blows to the head that may do damage to the spine, ect. So again, I'd be curious to hear the reasoning. Is it thermal breakdown? Does the internal suspension breakdown? Does it's actual ability to absorb impact become reduced? It would be nice to hear a bit of an expanded explaination.

This whole issue is preposterous....just another way the NFPA helps line the pockets of Morning Pride and all the other gear manufacturers. The city pays about $225 for a helmet. Over a 10 year period they're going to buy about 1,000 helmets a year. That's almost a quarter of a million dollars a year on helmets...what a complete waste of money. Now....as for making guys pay $100 bucks to keep it; that B.S. too. I think we all DO get a little attached to our helmet and why shouldn't we be able to keep it? All the job is going to do with it is throw it in the garbage. Why bang a guy over the the head for $100?

We are short 650 firefighters, not 3000. About one and a half academy classes will most likely be drawn from the EMS promotional list. One class, beginning in January, is almost a certainty and will be comprised of all promos. As you can see in that top 1,100, there are many vets and children of deceased FDNY/NYPD members. While it is true that the physical has not yet been conducted....I can't imagine too many military vets will have trouble with the laughably easy CPAT. The city anticipates a 4:1 ratio or list numbers needed to fill each position. That number will probably be smaller in the beginning and then grow as the list ages. The city has said that they anticipate filling 2,400 positions over the life of the list and that will require reaching list numbers in the 8,000+ range after using the promotional list. These are all ballpark estimates the city has made.

Thanks for that summery. It's a complex problem and it's interesting to hear how it was mitigated. If you do have a moment to post some more specifics, I'm sure we'd like to read it.

Gotcha, I'm more curious as to what services were requested or offered. Were they looking to relay pump from Bronx hydrants? Did they want the satellite? They had a serious logistical issue and I'm wondering how they were thinking about solving it. Had Marine 1 stationed a boat on the yonkers waterfront, they could have provided 50,000 gpm to the west side. I know they carry huge spools of 5" and are intended to supplement the water system in the event of a similar emergency in NYC. How far can the new vessels pump inland before the pressure becomes ineffective? Perhaps someone with more marine company knowledge has the answer.

What for?

"No firehouses will be closed"?!?!?! That's the same line of crap that they tried on us in. New York City. "Back-up companies"? I haven't been around too long, but I've never heard of a "back-up company"....... .....oh, you mean the ladder company with an engine, or vice versa? Right...that's what I thought. There are many underhanded tactics, but this one is just plain lying. It preys upon the publics complete lack of knowledge of fire service practices. They never share that the two companies in a double house perform two separate and equally important functions. Why educate the electorate? Why when it's easier to keep them in the dark about what saves lives, whether it be the truck searching or the engine getting a line in place. I wish we could get a good campaign out there to help people understand how we work and what we need to operate effectively.

Some deputy mayor.....thanks for moving into city limits, finally! Hope you don't need the F.D.......what a zero.

He's certainly our loss. I hope that he has success in Yonkers and that the brothers in Yonkers find success in him.

I don't know.....at the risk of turning this into an aerial/ground ladder debate, I'm going to say that working off an aerial is ALWAYS safer. Look, I work on a job were we don't operate on peaked roofs, ever. Someone much wiser than me determined that risk vs. reward made operating on peaked roofs unnecessary. I'm sure we could debate that for ever, but if you DO have ego cut on, wouldn't you rather have a reliable ladder under you? I've never heard of a ladder burning through, but we've seen firemen fall through perfectly good looking roofs because all the joists are burned away. When aerial ladders fail, it's national news, ground ladder accidents happen all the time.

I couldn't agree less. Is the point of this site to critique operations and procedures or is it just to talk about who's got a shiny new truck. (even though we all DO like shiny new trucks). There is no fire operation anywhere ever that is text book perfect. Anyone who feels thier operation requires no critique, comment or question is dangerously self confident. We Monday morning quarterback because that's how everyone learns! From the look of the smoke colum from those great aerial photos, it looks like they managed to make a great stop. From the video, it looks like that house will be perfectly sound for renovation. With today's interior furnishings and petroleum products, a saved structure is a good stop. Well done. Asking about positioning ect. is just that, a question. It invites debate and discussion and no one should take offense, as long as questioning parties act appropriately.

How far into the operation does that video begin?

What happened to the UCT folks conferencing in an FD dispatcher? That seemed to be a small ray of hope that we in the field might get some good information. I really do miss the days before UCT. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I hold Bloombergs plan to push us out the door faster as part of the problem. This whole idea of getting us out the door with little more than an addressand filling in the rest of the info while in route doesn't work all the time. Sometime we're already there....now we,ve arrived somewhere without knowing what all of the info is. Man, I hope people start calling your direct numbers more often.....

Mind as well keep this thread fresh. While this is good news, we'll probably be doing this dance again next spring....or even in the winter if some of these funds don't materialize. Stay tuned....

Okay, thanks. Now I won't suffer sleepless nights wondering who I am. Sadist, check. Now that we've covered that...yeah, I'm glad to see people, who do damage to society at large, get there's. If that lady car jacked your Camry at gunpoint, perhaps you'd be singing a different tune. Hey, maybe that minivan she crashed into could have been filled with your family. What if she slammed into a crowd of children headed home from school? Some people are just no good and when their transgressions get them killed, I don't shed a tear. Okay, I'm finished. If this was a bit too much reality, you can head back to NeverNever Land now.

I can't believe people are crying for this woman.... ...this is pretty simple, if u drive the car you stole at gunpoint through red lights, collide with a minivan, hit a cop with the car door and then try to drive away in reverse, you might get shot. Oh, and you're going to deserve it too. It's that simple, without bringing in that this animal was headed to court Friday to face multiple violent felony charges. All of this and people still cry and are quoted as saying, "she had her whole life ahead of her". I'm going to speak for society and say that I'm glad her life was snuffed out!

iDen still exists? .

You're right and you're wrong. The majority of fire runs are not EMS, not even close. It's not even 1/3. That said, city island should certainly have a bus. At the very least there should be one there at peak tourist times. Let's not play off each other here. We both need every resource we have and more. No one on our jobs is looking to buy into this "do more with less" B.S.

You're right about racism. There is no such thing as reverse.... Sad you didn't take he test....you're the one who loses there.... There may be some real B.S. at work here, but everyone still has a fair shot....just like they did in 1999 and 2002.

Shamefully....yes. However, let's all remember that this is currently before the second circuit court on appeal. No matter who wins, the other side will probably petition the Supreme Court and no one will be getting any money or any seniority for a long time, hopefully never.

Looks like a case of, "don't need it, won't buy it". I think this rig will make a trip to the graveyard of over-engineering.....

Thanks for mentioning this. Excellent idea....funny how Fire Hooks grabs all these good ideas from the field and then sells them back to us...such is business I guess. The method that "houlidsa" is talking about can be done at your quarters if you have a stick welder and a grinding wheel. I'll take a picture next and post it when I'm in for my next tour.

Our axes, like our hooks, come from "Fire Hooks Unlimited". Are they any different? Not that I know of....they're 8lbs and have a fiber glass and plastic handle. I will say this, in many areas of the city the sledge (or a maul as you'll hear us call it) is used instead of an axe. Generally, guys seem to prefer the heft of the maul for forcing doors alongside the Halligan.

It may be an '06, but either way, it's being replaced a little early for reasons such as fleet conformity, need for a better spare and the amount of miles that unit has racked up. The current Ferrara Inferno spends a lot of time OOS. Perhaps that chassis really isn't up to the heavy demands of the city. Speculation....