M' Ave

I remember that day. What an eye opener! The two most striking points to take away were 1) That Gene is walking and talking after his horrific ordeal. 2) After going through all of that terror and pain, Brendan is back at work in the firehouse. What does that say about him and what does that say about our job?
Any fire department with a single building over 2 stories should outfit every member with a bail-out device. Men had to die or suffer irreparably for us to have these devices. Leather helmets, buff sirens and LED lights should all be forgotten until every members has a personal bailout device. That's the business end. After that, as in individual, KNOW HOW TO USE IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu47dUuTwP8&feature=related

They are connected by walking through the housewatch, a walkway at the rear of the apparatus floors and a shared walkway to the kitchen. Upstairs has a pass-through between the old and the new as well. It is a single firehouse with an old side and a new side. It's a nice house, great companies, good guys.
There are a couple of other houses like this as well. 73 & 42 were at one time two separate houses built side to side, but they are now configured as one. 64 & 47 are similar except they are separated by a parking lot. At some point a kitchen was constructed in the rear that connects the two. However, they still have two housewatch offices and each company must man the watch and turn out their respective company from the appropriate side.

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's. Every single person with a pulse should be familiar with CPR and the use of an AED. Every engine co. in NYC has one. Perhaps every patrol car should have one as well. They should be in every single public gathering place and someone who knows how to use one should be within useful distance of it at all times.
It's so easy a child could use one. They're so cheap there's no budget excuse not to have one. They can and do mean the difference between life and death. If more people are trained in CPR and more AED's are available, perhaps they're mean life more often.

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's. Every single person with a pulse should be familiar with CPR and the use of an AED. Every engine co. in NYC has one. Perhaps every patrol car should have one as well. They should be in every single public gathering place and someone who knows how to use one should be within useful distance of it at all times.
It's so easy a child could use one. They're so cheap there's no budget excuse not to have one. They can and do mean the difference between life and death. If more people are trained in CPR and more AED's are available, perhaps they're mean life more often.

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's. Every single person with a pulse should be familiar with CPR and the use of an AED. Every engine co. in NYC has one. Perhaps every patrol car should have one as well. They should be in every single public gathering place and someone who knows how to use one should be within useful distance of it at all times.
It's so easy a child could use one. They're so cheap there's no budget excuse not to have one. They can and do mean the difference between life and death. If more people are trained in CPR and more AED's are available, perhaps they're mean life more often.

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's. Every single person with a pulse should be familiar with CPR and the use of an AED. Every engine co. in NYC has one. Perhaps every patrol car should have one as well. They should be in every single public gathering place and someone who knows how to use one should be within useful distance of it at all times.
It's so easy a child could use one. They're so cheap there's no budget excuse not to have one. They can and do mean the difference between life and death. If more people are trained in CPR and more AED's are available, perhaps they're mean life more often.

http://uvaldetx.com/content/safety
http://maps.google.c...234.27,,0,-0.03
4 blocks away from the fire, so deductive reasoning lets me assume that this is the correct department.
______
Being that there are full time employees with this department, as well as this article ( http://www.uvaldelea...1cc4c002e0.html ) listing them at the local country club for an awards banquet, I highly doubt that funding was an issue for a lack of turnout gear. In fact, there are pictures of turnout gear in the gear bags on the front lawn of the building.
It is unfortunate that this is occurring at this day in age in the fire service in America. I feel that someone needs to sit this chief down and just straight out ask him in a non threatening manor, 'What the hell is going on?" I'm sure that the negative press that this video is getting among the country's departments, will well alone be enough to make the department face it's embarrassment without need for outside questioning of their tactics. Who knows, maybe this video will be the best thing that happens to this department, their chief and officers get on everyone's rear end, and completely turn the department around 180 degrees. Unfortunately, sometimes you need something like this negative event to get people's rear in gear.
All I can say is that I wish Uvalde Fire Department the best of luck of trying to fix their problems, and that there is a wide world of knowledge out there for them to ask for help if they so choose. There is no shame in asking for assistance when you really need it most.

How about the fact that they are spraying water INTO the structure.....
It hardly looks too far gone to begin an interior attack. Spraying water into the structure...especially with a automatic nozzle is a quick way to successfully save the cellar.
Of course, I suppose that interior attack tactics would first require firemen numbering more than 1. Also, what are they doing with that chainsaw?? The fire's vented, to some extent, just get in there and get some water on it.
This has disaster written all over it. Obviously, this is a case of extreme condition, however it highlights a need for some "back to basics" training. We all need to be rock solid on the basics of fire attack and fire-ground operations. This is especially important in the volunteer realm where tools aren't being handled and looked at everyday. In a situation with many more variables, including manpower, a great deal of emphasis needs to be placed on what to do at a fire in the first few seconds. What line would go where, who does what and where should I go with what tools in (_____) situation?
I know that, at work, we're trying to incorporate more basic drilling on a regular basis alongside keeping up with the new tech. that comes up. I also know of volunteer agencies keeping a good ratio of basic training mixed in with a hurst tool drill or bail-out practice. Sounds like good logic to me.

How about the fact that they are spraying water INTO the structure.....
It hardly looks too far gone to begin an interior attack. Spraying water into the structure...especially with a automatic nozzle is a quick way to successfully save the cellar.
Of course, I suppose that interior attack tactics would first require firemen numbering more than 1. Also, what are they doing with that chainsaw?? The fire's vented, to some extent, just get in there and get some water on it.
This has disaster written all over it. Obviously, this is a case of extreme condition, however it highlights a need for some "back to basics" training. We all need to be rock solid on the basics of fire attack and fire-ground operations. This is especially important in the volunteer realm where tools aren't being handled and looked at everyday. In a situation with many more variables, including manpower, a great deal of emphasis needs to be placed on what to do at a fire in the first few seconds. What line would go where, who does what and where should I go with what tools in (_____) situation?
I know that, at work, we're trying to incorporate more basic drilling on a regular basis alongside keeping up with the new tech. that comes up. I also know of volunteer agencies keeping a good ratio of basic training mixed in with a hurst tool drill or bail-out practice. Sounds like good logic to me.

This is a pretty stupid response. 1st, R3 does about 1700 runs, give or take. They have a few 1st due boxes in truck company form and that is part of their total response #s. The rest are made up with being additional unit on a 10-75 or specialized rescue runs.
Run #s are pretty meaningless. It's what you do when you respond that makes a difference. There are some company's around the city that top 4 and 5 thousand runs, but respond to far fewer fires than company's with half (or fewer) runs.
Runs and OSWs are the two silliest numbers to compare or rely on.

This is a pretty stupid response. 1st, R3 does about 1700 runs, give or take. They have a few 1st due boxes in truck company form and that is part of their total response #s. The rest are made up with being additional unit on a 10-75 or specialized rescue runs.
Run #s are pretty meaningless. It's what you do when you respond that makes a difference. There are some company's around the city that top 4 and 5 thousand runs, but respond to far fewer fires than company's with half (or fewer) runs.
Runs and OSWs are the two silliest numbers to compare or rely on.

I get it, what can possably happen in that extra 2 minutes....hmmmm since fire growth doubles every minute, lets take a 1,000 sq/ft apt. with an 10 x 12 bedroom fully involved at the 8 minute mark (thats 120 sq/ft or 12%). at 9 minutes its 240 square feet and at 10 minutes its 480 Square feet. So in 2 extra minutes it went from 12% to 48%. Want to give it a few more minutes, whats the harm? Boy I hope they closed the door on the way out or lots of other tenants will be in extreme danger.
There is a business model for the fire service, it was developed in 1910 by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. They base insurance premiums on fire coverage. Since most properties require insurance (for a morgage), and the FD is a fire insurance policy, a good dept reduces the price insurance companies charge for property insurance.
NFPA 1710 clearly states that this minimum standard is based on a 2,000 sq/ft single family dwelling without a basement (and minimal exposures). This does not discribe many properties in NYC.
This is refered to as doing more with less. Interesting that many medics call SSM (system status management) system sacrificing medics, because very few of those systems manage to retain personnel the way most municipal services do.
Actually FD's are an economic engine. Based on insurance cost reductions that range from 8 to 12 to 1. That means for every dollar of one persons taxes spent , $8 - $12 is reduced on there property insurance.
You never suggested doing things better, you suggested doing more with less.
If you think thats such a great response then you are use to a service level that is so poor, you do not know a good service from a poor one.

FDNY minus a few very isolated examples does need the same coverage at 0300 as they need at 1500. While in the overnight you have fewer workers and less traffic you have more sleeping residents and more delayed notification. Day time you're boxed in by traffic and more units are used chasing greater call volume. No neighborhood demonstrates extreme daily swings in population better than the financial district, but even here there is a substantial residential population and a bigger than I ever imagined workforce going on in the overnights.

I do have to say I'm happy to see nobody getting shut down at night. What may have gotten mentioned, but swept under the rug is how many companies are taken out of service citywide during the day. I would say an average of 15-25 per day. That includes companies out for all day training, partial day training classes like extrication, or rope training, or Medical exams while the rig is being sent in for routine maintenance. That's a gamble we take every day, and in a few cases I can think of in my experience, have led to fatal consequences.
Never mind when E-70, L-53, E-52, L-52, or one of the Midtown companies goes out, and they have to be filled. Anyone here from 92 Engine can relate to what I'm saying. 92 to 52 for the afternoon, and 92 misses a first due job that ended up going to a 3rd alarm. First due engine coming from a distance because 92 is up in Riverdale. Robbing one to pay the other.
NWFD, 8 minutes is a very long time. In my opinion, the city needs a few more firehouses built and opened, not less. Every time a company is taken out of service, regardless of time of day, a gamble is taken by the city. I could go on about other factors affecting response times, like companies being way out of their first due area doing Building Inspections. Fallback is where we modify responses to reported fires and emergencies because we're trying to conserve units. With the amount of fire duty the city has had over the past few months, we have gone to Fallback more times than I care to count, and, at least once or twice, we went to fallback citywide. Nighttime, statistically is when most fatal fires occur. I would rather have all my "toys in the toybox" ready to go at 0200, than be missing a first or second due company because they are out of service for the night. In places like Queens and Staten Island, where the companies are spread a little further apart, waiting for that second due company can be like an eternity because the run for them is sometimes 8 minutes, sometimes longer.

Pretty good on what planet? You may think a 10 minute response time is good but I don't. Not unlike most taxpayers I expect you there right after I hang up the phone (sarcasm). 10 minutes is not a good response time.
Relevance = 0.
If there's a firehouse that is closed because the city thinks it can play russian roulette with my life and my neighbors lives you're damn right that's a good argument. The FD isn't arguing to put a firehouse on every corner, they're just saying keep the ones they've got and keep them properly staffed.
FDNY routinely has to relocate companies from one COUNTY to another COUNTY (boroughs). They also have to reduce the response for some alarms because of the reduce availability. This all translates into greater exposure and in a business model exposure = liablity = a bad idea. Yet the city continues to gamble with our lives.
Thank you for the intelligent response. NOT.
Just an educated guess, the population shifts from the outerboroughs to Manhattan during the day and the opposite at night. Others have already told you about the bars, clubs, theaters, service industry, restaurants, etc. that keep a very high population even at night. While the location of the population density may shift a little bit, 8 million is still a stupid-high number of people.
I find it hard to believe that you're arguing about this issue.
Relevance = 0
Wow, where do you find the time to post here with that kind of work? You must be exhausted. One call every other day and you're telling guys that do 68 fires a day how they should be staffed? Come on now.
Eight minutes is a very long time, especially if your house is on fire. Yes it may be the national standard but nothing says you shouldn't strive for better. FDNY has a remarkable response time given the city demographics and they shouldn't be screwing with it before cutting the number of times ball fields get mowed or tennis courts get built. Life safety is expensive and you shouldn't screw with it.
I've agreed with you on many points in the past but I think you're way off base in this thread. Time to move on.

Being that your department does 200 calls a year and your not even from the metro area, your relevance seems to be 0...

THANK GOD(!!!!!) That you are not in any position of authority. A minute or two of quicker response isn't the difference between life and death, that's the difference between MANY lives and deaths! In my particular area of the city, we are fairly well covered. What I mean is, there are a lot of companies per square mile. However, with only one full assignment out 20 blocks north, we become second due engine to box locations 10 minutes away. Do you know what that does to overall response times? Forget the public, how about that truck company that arrives 2 or 3 minutes before an engine in some cases? Those guys need to get in there to begin searching and the longer they have to do this without the protection of a hose line, the better the chances of catastrophe become. Considering we are losing our 5th man on many engine co's, the second due engines role of backing up the first hose line becomes that much more essential.
One thing that I must completely refute is your assertion that the FDNY needs to be run more like a business. This is wrong, plain and simple. It needs to be run in a professional manner of productivity and accountability, but it is not a business. A fire department is a drain, an expense. It is a cost that the municipality must incur in order to provide safety to the public. What we have now is, just barely, the resources to perform this task. To reduce in the face of cost would be criminal. It may appear that we could reduce our resources, but we cannot. Only in comparison with poorly staffed fire departments does this appear so. The simple fact is that most FD's are not properly staffed. Not at all. Staffing and resource conditions are the most important aspect of proper fire protection. The level of staffing in many areas and the idea of reducing staffing in NYC is an insult to the single greatest resource that most fire departments have and that is an extremely dedicated work force. How about bolstering that with the tools and manpower needed to perform the task and stop trying to figure out how you can best stretch and abuse the personnel on the street.
In New York City, the FDNY uses about 3% of the annual operating budget. For that small change, the 8.5 million residents and numerous businesses the best insurence policy money can buy. That's what a fire department is to it's municipality. The biggest and most versatile Swiss Army knife you've ever seen.

THANK GOD(!!!!!) That you are not in any position of authority. A minute or two of quicker response isn't the difference between life and death, that's the difference between MANY lives and deaths! In my particular area of the city, we are fairly well covered. What I mean is, there are a lot of companies per square mile. However, with only one full assignment out 20 blocks north, we become second due engine to box locations 10 minutes away. Do you know what that does to overall response times? Forget the public, how about that truck company that arrives 2 or 3 minutes before an engine in some cases? Those guys need to get in there to begin searching and the longer they have to do this without the protection of a hose line, the better the chances of catastrophe become. Considering we are losing our 5th man on many engine co's, the second due engines role of backing up the first hose line becomes that much more essential.
One thing that I must completely refute is your assertion that the FDNY needs to be run more like a business. This is wrong, plain and simple. It needs to be run in a professional manner of productivity and accountability, but it is not a business. A fire department is a drain, an expense. It is a cost that the municipality must incur in order to provide safety to the public. What we have now is, just barely, the resources to perform this task. To reduce in the face of cost would be criminal. It may appear that we could reduce our resources, but we cannot. Only in comparison with poorly staffed fire departments does this appear so. The simple fact is that most FD's are not properly staffed. Not at all. Staffing and resource conditions are the most important aspect of proper fire protection. The level of staffing in many areas and the idea of reducing staffing in NYC is an insult to the single greatest resource that most fire departments have and that is an extremely dedicated work force. How about bolstering that with the tools and manpower needed to perform the task and stop trying to figure out how you can best stretch and abuse the personnel on the street.
In New York City, the FDNY uses about 3% of the annual operating budget. For that small change, the 8.5 million residents and numerous businesses the best insurence policy money can buy. That's what a fire department is to it's municipality. The biggest and most versatile Swiss Army knife you've ever seen.

I'm going to start by saying one thing; NFPA is a broad baseline that does not always apply well in large urban settings. Furthermore, their 8 minute response ideal is pathetically long. Second portion of your post about saving lives vs. the city's claim of cuts having no impact on response times. This is incorrect. The fire commissioner stated plainly that operations would be impacted if his cuts were in acted.
Going back a bit you asked how often we respond well outside of our area when multiple company's are tied up at once. The answer to that question is: Daily. That's right, every day companys are 40 and 50 blocks outside of their regular response area. Guess what that means? The response is longer due to distance, it is also longer because the chauffeur isn't familiar with that area. You are now dealing with a company that doesn't know the buildings or quirks that may exist there. This is also true during relocations. On average, every company is relocated due to a multiple alarm fire, approx. 8-12 times a month. Sometimes it's as high as 20 times. Now you're operating well outside of your area on unfamiliar streets. If that multiple is up to a 3rd alarm or higher, that can put us into fall-back step 3. This means 1 and 1 on structural responses. This is a bad thing, very bad. Two weeks ago my company was operating with one other company at a 10-75. Do you know how long it takes on engine company to stretch a line to the 5th floor of an old law tenement? Who was checking and venting the floor above the fire? NO ONE.
The simple fact is, you are speaking from a position of ignorance. You suggest that operations be curtailed or adjusted a night and that we might not need as many resources. You are simply wrong.
How would you respond if I stated that most of the time I see medics from EMS show up, they don't have a critical patient and it's a simple transport to the hospital. I think that we should probably drop down to 1 medic alone on every ambulance. Why do we need two? Strap the guy in the back and then get up there to drive!
Now, I don't agree with the above statement one bit. Nor do I feel there is anything wrong when 2 buses and a supervisor show up at a diff. breather. Who knows? Maybe that person is having a heart attack and the next minute you're going to be doing CPR and need all the help you can get. I'm simply pointing out that you're assessing an extremely sensitive situation from a disadvantaged position. You have no operational reference with regard to the FDNY, or any fire department for that matter.

Correct, EMS operations runs parallel to fire operations. It gets weird where training and communications are concerned. In both cases EMS and Fire report to the same Chief, but the EMS side also falls under the command of the chief of EMS. Its potentially nightmare made functional by men like Chief Galvin who recognize the mess and don't force unnecessary involvement. Correct, EMS officers hold no more power over firefighters. Same for Fire officers over emt's and medics. Patient care we're in charge and scene safety/patient extrication you guys are in charge. As long as egos stay out it works well.
The mess with EMTs supervising medics is finally being addressed. For the last Lt exam and all future exams gotta be a medic to get promoted. Next in the pipe is actual time in the field as a medic. Here's one catch, doesn't matter what the training of the supervisor the person ultimately responsible is the highest medical authority that provides patient care. EMTs have gotten jammed up because a medic boss gave a bad order and the boss more or less skates because we operate under Dept rules and DOH/Remac rules.
EMS traditionally has been a very poorly supervised job. Back in the good ol days there would be one or two bosses patrolling an entire borough. Now you see the level of supervision we have. Its a growing process integrating the bosses into the work but little things like bosses documenting patient care when on scene before anyone else was never done and still can't be handled by our computers.

I'm going to start by saying one thing; NFPA is a broad baseline that does not always apply well in large urban settings. Furthermore, their 8 minute response ideal is pathetically long. Second portion of your post about saving lives vs. the city's claim of cuts having no impact on response times. This is incorrect. The fire commissioner stated plainly that operations would be impacted if his cuts were in acted.
Going back a bit you asked how often we respond well outside of our area when multiple company's are tied up at once. The answer to that question is: Daily. That's right, every day companys are 40 and 50 blocks outside of their regular response area. Guess what that means? The response is longer due to distance, it is also longer because the chauffeur isn't familiar with that area. You are now dealing with a company that doesn't know the buildings or quirks that may exist there. This is also true during relocations. On average, every company is relocated due to a multiple alarm fire, approx. 8-12 times a month. Sometimes it's as high as 20 times. Now you're operating well outside of your area on unfamiliar streets. If that multiple is up to a 3rd alarm or higher, that can put us into fall-back step 3. This means 1 and 1 on structural responses. This is a bad thing, very bad. Two weeks ago my company was operating with one other company at a 10-75. Do you know how long it takes on engine company to stretch a line to the 5th floor of an old law tenement? Who was checking and venting the floor above the fire? NO ONE.
The simple fact is, you are speaking from a position of ignorance. You suggest that operations be curtailed or adjusted a night and that we might not need as many resources. You are simply wrong.
How would you respond if I stated that most of the time I see medics from EMS show up, they don't have a critical patient and it's a simple transport to the hospital. I think that we should probably drop down to 1 medic alone on every ambulance. Why do we need two? Strap the guy in the back and then get up there to drive!
Now, I don't agree with the above statement one bit. Nor do I feel there is anything wrong when 2 buses and a supervisor show up at a diff. breather. Who knows? Maybe that person is having a heart attack and the next minute you're going to be doing CPR and need all the help you can get. I'm simply pointing out that you're assessing an extremely sensitive situation from a disadvantaged position. You have no operational reference with regard to the FDNY, or any fire department for that matter.

And what "business model" do you suggest?
I certainly don't disagree that analyzing your operation to see if changes are warranted is appropriate. However, an inherent problem with the "run it like a business" line of thinking is that FD deployment and working conditions are not like most business operations.
Probably one of the closest comparables is the food service industry. Typically, a restaurant will have a dynamic plan regarding their operation. Their staffing will typically peak around the "normal" meal times and then shrink back between meal times. This makes sense since you know when your highest demand periods will be each day and you can adjust for it. Now, there will be times when you get an off-peak rush, but you can generally handle it and the main consequence is generally a dining experience that isn't as efficient with the smaller staff. Additionally, if a meal period isn't as busy as predicted, some staff may be sent home early.
This type of planning doesn't lend itself well to the fire service. The main problem is the inherent unpredictability of the work and the varying levels of personnel needed to perform that work. You can look at call volume and see that "more" calls occur during the daytime than at night, but you'd be foolish to base staffing on just that. Most calls aren't going to be very labor intensive and require large sums of personnel, however some will and you will need those people in order to effectively and efficiently mitigate that problem. Another problem is that we also don't know where to problem will occur. The restaurant will always know that they will be feeding people in that one location. The fire service doesn't. Like call volume, we can identify areas that have historically had higher requests for service than others, but that doesn't provide enough information for deployment.
A large factor in FD deployment is response time. NFPA 1710's standard for the response of the first company is 4 minutes travel time and the full alarm in 8 minutes. If we knew where/when our calls were going to occur and what they would be in advance, then the fire service could reasonably tailor a dynamic deployment plan to match. Unfortunately, that's not possible, so the goal is to be able to provide a somewhat uniform response.
So, the inherent problem with closing fire companies at night, rolling brownouts, etc. is not so much with handling call volumes or handling "minor" calls, but rather for "serious" calls like building fires where the "extra" delay because those companies are closed becomes a big factor in terms of fire spread, civilian safety, etc.

THANK GOD(!!!!!) That you are not in any position of authority. A minute or two of quicker response isn't the difference between life and death, that's the difference between MANY lives and deaths! In my particular area of the city, we are fairly well covered. What I mean is, there are a lot of companies per square mile. However, with only one full assignment out 20 blocks north, we become second due engine to box locations 10 minutes away. Do you know what that does to overall response times? Forget the public, how about that truck company that arrives 2 or 3 minutes before an engine in some cases? Those guys need to get in there to begin searching and the longer they have to do this without the protection of a hose line, the better the chances of catastrophe become. Considering we are losing our 5th man on many engine co's, the second due engines role of backing up the first hose line becomes that much more essential.
One thing that I must completely refute is your assertion that the FDNY needs to be run more like a business. This is wrong, plain and simple. It needs to be run in a professional manner of productivity and accountability, but it is not a business. A fire department is a drain, an expense. It is a cost that the municipality must incur in order to provide safety to the public. What we have now is, just barely, the resources to perform this task. To reduce in the face of cost would be criminal. It may appear that we could reduce our resources, but we cannot. Only in comparison with poorly staffed fire departments does this appear so. The simple fact is that most FD's are not properly staffed. Not at all. Staffing and resource conditions are the most important aspect of proper fire protection. The level of staffing in many areas and the idea of reducing staffing in NYC is an insult to the single greatest resource that most fire departments have and that is an extremely dedicated work force. How about bolstering that with the tools and manpower needed to perform the task and stop trying to figure out how you can best stretch and abuse the personnel on the street.
In New York City, the FDNY uses about 3% of the annual operating budget. For that small change, the 8.5 million residents and numerous businesses the best insurence policy money can buy. That's what a fire department is to it's municipality. The biggest and most versatile Swiss Army knife you've ever seen.

THANK GOD(!!!!!) That you are not in any position of authority. A minute or two of quicker response isn't the difference between life and death, that's the difference between MANY lives and deaths! In my particular area of the city, we are fairly well covered. What I mean is, there are a lot of companies per square mile. However, with only one full assignment out 20 blocks north, we become second due engine to box locations 10 minutes away. Do you know what that does to overall response times? Forget the public, how about that truck company that arrives 2 or 3 minutes before an engine in some cases? Those guys need to get in there to begin searching and the longer they have to do this without the protection of a hose line, the better the chances of catastrophe become. Considering we are losing our 5th man on many engine co's, the second due engines role of backing up the first hose line becomes that much more essential.
One thing that I must completely refute is your assertion that the FDNY needs to be run more like a business. This is wrong, plain and simple. It needs to be run in a professional manner of productivity and accountability, but it is not a business. A fire department is a drain, an expense. It is a cost that the municipality must incur in order to provide safety to the public. What we have now is, just barely, the resources to perform this task. To reduce in the face of cost would be criminal. It may appear that we could reduce our resources, but we cannot. Only in comparison with poorly staffed fire departments does this appear so. The simple fact is that most FD's are not properly staffed. Not at all. Staffing and resource conditions are the most important aspect of proper fire protection. The level of staffing in many areas and the idea of reducing staffing in NYC is an insult to the single greatest resource that most fire departments have and that is an extremely dedicated work force. How about bolstering that with the tools and manpower needed to perform the task and stop trying to figure out how you can best stretch and abuse the personnel on the street.
In New York City, the FDNY uses about 3% of the annual operating budget. For that small change, the 8.5 million residents and numerous businesses the best insurence policy money can buy. That's what a fire department is to it's municipality. The biggest and most versatile Swiss Army knife you've ever seen.