61MACKBR1

 
As well run an operation as Empress Ambulance is and has been, it would a make perfect sense to have NRFD bring back Ambulance Service/EMS Support within the fold of the New Rochelle Fire Department. As was mentioned before, Ambulances covering the City of New Rochelle have been quartered in Station 1 and Station 3 for decades. Look at the possibility of by having EMS directly under the NRFD, could allow NRFD EMS/Ambulance Personnel, to be able to utilize NRFD Rescue 4, when needed, without having to take Ladder 11 out of service.
 
My hope, as well, was that cities like New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains and even, yes, the City of Yonkers, to eventually bring EMS Services into the cities Fire Department Fold. Word is that the New Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon was looking at the possibility of running EMS Services thru the FDMV. Now with open discussions about NRFD taking on EMS Services, and who knows what Commissioner David Chong might be thinking on the same front, well who knows what the possibilities are.
 
Maybe Barry can add his thoughts and comments to this subject

Yonkers FD is rumored to be working on the specifications for a replacement to their 2007 American LaFrance Tandem Axel Rescue Truck. With the fact that Yonkers has been taking on Ferrara's for their recent apparatus acquisitions, one has to be interested in knowing whether or not Yonkers FD will look at who FDNY goes with as far as their New Rescue 1 rig is concerned.

Yonkers FD is rumored to be working on the specifications for a replacement to their 2007 American LaFrance Tandem Axel Rescue Truck. With the fact that Yonkers has been taking on Ferrara's for their recent apparatus acquisitions, one has to be interested in knowing whether or not Yonkers FD will look at who FDNY goes with as far as their New Rescue 1 rig is concerned.

Yonkers FD is rumored to be working on the specifications for a replacement to their 2007 American LaFrance Tandem Axel Rescue Truck. With the fact that Yonkers has been taking on Ferrara's for their recent apparatus acquisitions, one has to be interested in knowing whether or not Yonkers FD will look at who FDNY goes with as far as their New Rescue 1 rig is concerned.

Yonkers FD has 4 more Ferrara Ultra Pumpers on order (thru Neville Fire Apparatus), to replace 4 of the aging ALF Pumpers currently in service (not exactly sure, but most likely Engines 308, 306, 312, and 310), along with 1 additional Ferrara Inferno 85' Mid Mount Tower Ladder (to replace the current 2008 ALF Mid-Mount Tower Ladder 75) and 1 New Ferrara Inferno 100' Rear Mount Ladder Truck (to replace the current 2007 HME/Smeal 100' Rearmount Ladder 74)

At the Old Station 8 (Carriage House) that was located just north of their current quarters, along Warburton Avenue (This building was torn down about 2 years ago or so).

At the Old Station 8 (Carriage House) that was located just north of their current quarters, along Warburton Avenue (This building was torn down about 2 years ago or so).

Yes, I have also heard that there are issues with the Volunteer FF's in Eastchester, with allot of 'Smoke' (excuse the pun) coming from within the Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners concerning the Volunteers. Would be nice for these 2 factions (Volunteers and the EBOFC) within the Eastchester Fire Department, to be able to resolve their issues/disputes, to allow for the Volunteer Side of the Department, to once again, 'compliment' the Paid Side of the Department (as it was years ago), and then, possibly, the FDMV (Mount Vernon) could learn a thing or two on how to utilize a Volunteer Staff to suppliment the Paid Staff (instead of always calling on Mutual Aid).
Watching Winters and Lore go at it, each and every Board Meeting, on TV, is like watching a WWE Championship Wrestling Match - LOL : )

Yes, I have also heard that there are issues with the Volunteer FF's in Eastchester, with allot of 'Smoke' (excuse the pun) coming from within the Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners concerning the Volunteers. Would be nice for these 2 factions (Volunteers and the EBOFC) within the Eastchester Fire Department, to be able to resolve their issues/disputes, to allow for the Volunteer Side of the Department, to once again, 'compliment' the Paid Side of the Department (as it was years ago), and then, possibly, the FDMV (Mount Vernon) could learn a thing or two on how to utilize a Volunteer Staff to suppliment the Paid Staff (instead of always calling on Mutual Aid).
Watching Winters and Lore go at it, each and every Board Meeting, on TV, is like watching a WWE Championship Wrestling Match - LOL : )

Based upon the assignment of FDMV units at yesterdays' multiple alarm fire in the City of Mount Vernon, am I correct in reading that the FDMV is currently only running the following units as front line apparatus:
Engine 3
Engine 4
Engine 5
Engine 6
Ladder 1
Ladder 3
And that Rescue 1 is only manned by Engine 5/Ladder 3 staffing out of the Fulton Avenue Fire Station, on an "As Needed Basis" (which would put either Engine 5 or Ladder 3 out of service, should Rescue 1 be needed)?
And that Engine 2 and Ladder 2 are no longer part of the Front Line staffing (only manned by recalled personnel in the case of a major fire in the City of Mount Vernon.
If this is the case, for a city, whose infrastructure is as 'Old' as the City of Mount Vernon's is, and whose population is as large as it is, this is truly INSANE !!!

The "SMART MOVE" would be to do what a very large percentage of COUNTIES do throughout this country. And that is to have a COUNTY RUN EMS and FIRE SERVICE (Consolidated) and everything run by the County, with the Operations 100% controlled out of Valhalla (60 Control) and the heck with all of the City/Town/Village Run Fire and EMS Services. Until such time as everyone in Westchester County wakes up and realizes that the HOME RUN and BACK ROOM POLITICS (tied to individual UNIONS) are causing 99.99% of the headaches in each and every municipality here in Westchester County, all of this "Yo-Yo'ing" of quality of service, complaints about Mutual Aid and other nonsense, will continue to happen.
ONE SYSTEM, ONE OPERATION, ONE EMERGENCY SERVICE OPERATION (County Run), ONE SET OF UNIFORM TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL FIREFIGHTERS, EMT's and PARAMEDICS, AND ONE COUNTY RUN OPERATION (with one 'set' of Officers and Command Personnel, overseeing all Fire and EMS Operations throughout the County)
Until then, this county will continue to be in CHAOS

Answer? Consolidation. Mount Pleasant EMS (Hawthorne, Valhalla, Sleepy Hollow, and Pleasantville)

So, by your argument, county run systems like those in Maryland, Virginia, Florida and California are failures due to costs and subsidies of smaller communities. Hmmm. Really?
You wouldn't be paying for larchmont to have fire protection equal to that of Yonkers, you would be paying to have your fire protection. All pay the same for the same coverage. That's like saying one neighborhood in Boston should pull out of the BFD because they don't like that from time to time their engine leaves to cover calls in another district.
That's why the mess that exists now, exists. If you consolidate all the resources, the system becomes more efficient. Is it THAT hard to see? It's managed and run as a SYSTEM, not a bunch of independent entities.
If you live on the border of say Yonkers and what used to be a volunteer town, you may just get your second engine or ladder WAY faster than you used to, because it's not coming from the other side of Yonkers, but from the next CLOSEST fire house.
How exactly is this bad? Uniform training, uniform standards and staffed fire stations. None of those are bad.

Per a reliable source, Yonkers has ordered the following from Ferrara Fire Apparatus under an existing HGAC cooperative purchasing contract:
-4 New Ferrara Ultra Engines, with stainless steel bodies, built to the same spec as the current Engine 303 and Engine 304, assignments pending to replace 2005/2006 American LaFrance Eagles
-1 New Ferrara Inferno Tower Ladder 75' Midmount, built to the same spec as Tower Ladder 71, for assignment to Tower Ladder 75
-1 New Ferrara Inferno 100' HD Rearmount, for assignment to Ladder 74. Ferrara's Aerials are produced by Smeal, and will include the same custom jacking and leveling capabilities of Yonkers current fleet of HME/Smeals.
All assignments are tentative and subject to change.
A new Rescue is also on the drawing board.

Until the New York State "Home Rule" is totally abolished (and we all know that the UNIONS will 'Never' allow this to happen), the concept of either a Regional or Consolidated Fire Service in the County of Westcehster will NOT happen and this MADNESS of a CRIPPLED Mutual Aid System (specifically tied to the City of Mount Vernon) will continue to happen

Gotta bring the unwilling together as well! Can't approach this in the same way we have approached everything else in emergency services for the past quarter century!

SIMPLE AND SOUND ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS - CREATE AND ESTABLISH A "COUNTY RUN FIRE DEPARTMENT" THAT IS MANNED BY CAREER (AND STATE CERTIFIED TRAINED) FIREFIGHTERS. THIS WAY, IF YOU HAVE A MAJOR FIRE, BE IT IN YONKERS, MOUNT VERNON, NEW ROCHELLE, WHITE PLAINS, LARCHMONT, DOBBS FERRY, ARDSLEY, NORTH SALEM, YORKTOWN, OR PEEKSKILL, YOU WOULD ALWAYS HAVE A CAREER 'COUNTY' FIRE COMPANY WHO COULD/WOULD FILL IN. THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS 'MUTUAL AID' AS WITH THE COUNTY RUNNING THE ENTIRE FIRE SERVICES, THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO GO AND HELP

SIMPLE AND SOUND ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS - CREATE AND ESTABLISH A "COUNTY RUN FIRE DEPARTMENT" THAT IS MANNED BY CAREER (AND STATE CERTIFIED TRAINED) FIREFIGHTERS. THIS WAY, IF YOU HAVE A MAJOR FIRE, BE IT IN YONKERS, MOUNT VERNON, NEW ROCHELLE, WHITE PLAINS, LARCHMONT, DOBBS FERRY, ARDSLEY, NORTH SALEM, YORKTOWN, OR PEEKSKILL, YOU WOULD ALWAYS HAVE A CAREER 'COUNTY' FIRE COMPANY WHO COULD/WOULD FILL IN. THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS 'MUTUAL AID' AS WITH THE COUNTY RUNNING THE ENTIRE FIRE SERVICES, THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO GO AND HELP

SIMPLE AND SOUND ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS - CREATE AND ESTABLISH A "COUNTY RUN FIRE DEPARTMENT" THAT IS MANNED BY CAREER (AND STATE CERTIFIED TRAINED) FIREFIGHTERS. THIS WAY, IF YOU HAVE A MAJOR FIRE, BE IT IN YONKERS, MOUNT VERNON, NEW ROCHELLE, WHITE PLAINS, LARCHMONT, DOBBS FERRY, ARDSLEY, NORTH SALEM, YORKTOWN, OR PEEKSKILL, YOU WOULD ALWAYS HAVE A CAREER 'COUNTY' FIRE COMPANY WHO COULD/WOULD FILL IN. THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS 'MUTUAL AID' AS WITH THE COUNTY RUNNING THE ENTIRE FIRE SERVICES, THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO GO AND HELP

SIMPLE AND SOUND ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS - CREATE AND ESTABLISH A "COUNTY RUN FIRE DEPARTMENT" THAT IS MANNED BY CAREER (AND STATE CERTIFIED TRAINED) FIREFIGHTERS. THIS WAY, IF YOU HAVE A MAJOR FIRE, BE IT IN YONKERS, MOUNT VERNON, NEW ROCHELLE, WHITE PLAINS, LARCHMONT, DOBBS FERRY, ARDSLEY, NORTH SALEM, YORKTOWN, OR PEEKSKILL, YOU WOULD ALWAYS HAVE A CAREER 'COUNTY' FIRE COMPANY WHO COULD/WOULD FILL IN. THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS 'MUTUAL AID' AS WITH THE COUNTY RUNNING THE ENTIRE FIRE SERVICES, THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO GO AND HELP

Happy Birthday Seth !

Any updates on when the Yonkers Fire Department is expected to take delivery of their 3 New Ferrara Fire Apparatus rigs (2 - Ferrara Ultra Pumpers and 1 - Ferrara Inferno Tower Ladder) that will for Engines 303 and 313 as well as for Tower Ladder 71)?
Will all 3 rigs be delivered to the City of Yonkers for inspection, review, driver training, and ultimately to be placed into service, all at the same time, or will they be delivered in phases by Ferrara?

Like Lad45der said above, i suspect, despite how much history is within this building, that the cost to renovate and repair the building 100% (and not just a "Patch Job", which makes no sense at all) will be far greater than to tear it down and build a new Fire Headquarters (Station 1). I am sure that given the emotions of the late Patrick Joyce having worked out of this building, as part of Rescue 1 and the memory of FF Joyce being memorialized within this building, will play heavily in the hearts of those attending the rally this evening. But, I feel that it will eventually come down to what will make more financial sense to the city. (Some might say that there was historical sentiments and reasoning why the city should not have condemned and closed Station 2 on Vineyard Avenue back in the 1980's or when they condemned and closed the Old Station 8 on Warburton Avenue back in the 1970's, or when they condemned and closed Station 3 on Riverdale Avenue back in the late 1960's, but I presume that it made sense financially to build new firehouses for Station 3 and Station 8 rather than renovate the existing structures).
Sadly, all of these years of neglect by the City's Building Department, has resulted in what everyone is facing today. If the City had allocated funding, as far back as the late 1970's to help preserve this grand old building, then we would not be in the position that the city is in today.

Another argument for a complete consolidation of all Emergency Services (Fire and EMS [and eventually Police]) into 1 "Consolidated and Unified" Westchester County Department of Emergency Services Operation (Thus, as I have posted countless times on EMTBRAVO.net, you would be able to ensure ample coverage, elliminate redundancy and waste, and get rid of all of the buracratic political red tape.
I just would take a few prominent individuals within both the County and the State of New York to have the "balls" to say enough with the HOME RULE, enough with Union Interference, and enough with Local Municipality Political Holdings and Egos.

Another argument for a complete consolidation of all Emergency Services (Fire and EMS [and eventually Police]) into 1 "Consolidated and Unified" Westchester County Department of Emergency Services Operation (Thus, as I have posted countless times on EMTBRAVO.net, you would be able to ensure ample coverage, elliminate redundancy and waste, and get rid of all of the buracratic political red tape.
I just would take a few prominent individuals within both the County and the State of New York to have the "balls" to say enough with the HOME RULE, enough with Union Interference, and enough with Local Municipality Political Holdings and Egos.