BIGRED1

I kind of lump that stuff all together, along with the entitlement society. "You mean I actually have to do dirty, sweaty, grimy WORK, and go into hazardous situations, I just wanted the title and the blue lights for my car"

Or maybe our softer, gentler society has had some unintended consequences...

1) Yes but when the contract for sanitation ends in summer and they walk out in July. 3-5 weeks of garbage pilling up and the politicians cave on negotiations.
2) Seeing as your retired EMS.....I remember friends leaving NYC*EMS for NYC Sanitation and at the time we joked that both wore green uniforms, both drove white trucks with flashing lights, both had to pick up garbage, but sanitation limited the weight and it was already out on the curb.

If you are worried about the shirt under your gear melting, you have bigger things to worry about. Like your facepiece melting or inhalation burns.
Its also not just a comfort thing, its also the lubricity that the garment provides. Lubricity is the ease of motion when wearing the garment, directly relates to how silky the facecloth of the liner system is. Not all FD's gear have a ton of lubricity so an UA style garment makes up for where the TOG lacks.
I've been exercising wearing a UA style shirt and gym shorts when the tones go off and I don't think twice. You will be living in a world of S for the rest of your life even if you survive a fire that is so hot it will melt the shirt to your body.
As for the FR ones, they are out there. I was gifted one made by Lion which I like during the Summer. Not as silky as an UA style but it has the anti stink materials in the design. I know MSA use to carry ones, but I think they may have sold with their LE/Military division of ballistics. I have also seen Power Dry FR shirts on Wildland Warehouse's website.

I think that too many people are jumping on the under armor band wagon. The stuff works great for sports and the like. The 100% will melt fabric is not for firefighting. People think that since it wicks away sweat when playing football it will work when in a burning building. I am sure it is comfortable but it will melt if things get real bad. People have to remember that in a normal kitchen fire or something that is not real big you maybe be fine, but go into a real high heat environment and the stuff will melt to your skin and cause a real burn.
I don't wear the stuff at work but it has been brought up as a idea. As mentioned they might have a FR line but i have never seen it. Just stick with the stuff that works.

I think that too many people are jumping on the under armor band wagon. The stuff works great for sports and the like. The 100% will melt fabric is not for firefighting. People think that since it wicks away sweat when playing football it will work when in a burning building. I am sure it is comfortable but it will melt if things get real bad. People have to remember that in a normal kitchen fire or something that is not real big you maybe be fine, but go into a real high heat environment and the stuff will melt to your skin and cause a real burn.
I don't wear the stuff at work but it has been brought up as a idea. As mentioned they might have a FR line but i have never seen it. Just stick with the stuff that works.

I think that too many people are jumping on the under armor band wagon. The stuff works great for sports and the like. The 100% will melt fabric is not for firefighting. People think that since it wicks away sweat when playing football it will work when in a burning building. I am sure it is comfortable but it will melt if things get real bad. People have to remember that in a normal kitchen fire or something that is not real big you maybe be fine, but go into a real high heat environment and the stuff will melt to your skin and cause a real burn.
I don't wear the stuff at work but it has been brought up as a idea. As mentioned they might have a FR line but i have never seen it. Just stick with the stuff that works.

Hey y'all! Let's not lose focus about the REAL issue here. The real issue is not a vollie who is career somewhere else. The issue here is that there is a fully-functional firehouse run by volunteers who won't allow the city engine staffed by career FF to stay there and as a result, they have to live in a trailer down the road. THAT is a travesty and I'm surprised there isn't more outcry about it.
Pathetic little turf battle!

NO............ANY Combo FD where there are IAFF members!
And not to start a war here, but the DCFD members volunteering in those combo Departments are scabbing it also!

Great topic!
Coincidentally, Fairview FD (the one in the Town Of Greenburgh, Westchester County), has a fire district where over 60% is non taxable.
In 1996, there were plans to build a large new assisted living and skilled nursing facility near the WCC campus, which would be non-taxable. The not-for-profit donated Rescue 3 a at the time brand new International 4x4/KME as a trade off. I don't know, now that it is built and operating, if this facility contributes more towards operating expenses, because they sure-as-heck use those services, but I'm sure a FFD member could update us.
As far as colleges go, there's a trade off. Yes, there are increased responses, but at the same time, do these colleges contribute enough to the local economy to balance things out? Such as jobs, sales tax from local businesses generated by college students patronizing lose local businesses, etc.
I do think, even with the economic benefit most colleges provide to the surrounding communities, that these colleges should meet with local emergency services officials to discuss what is needed to provide the agencies who serve the college with their fair share.

Maybe he was just too dumb to sentance? I always wondered the same thing. You hear about these criminals who have 70 prior arrests. I would think that at some point a judge would say " ya, life in the real world is not working for you. Maybe a place where your bad decisions don't effect society is more your speed." It's funny cause good people never get a second strike let alone a 78. You make one mistake and then they throw the book at you. Lock you up and throw the key. I am not a lawyer but i would think that after they let you off because it's your first offence, its jail time each felony after that.

Thank you.

We all know what this job is about. This is one place that tradition comes into play in a meaningful way, and I don't care to hear from the naysayers and that "200 years of tradition uninterrupted by progress. I'm not talking about tactics and strategy, fog vs. straight, PPA. Those things are not tradition. A firefighter''s helmet is a symbol of who he is or who he was. Whatever style of helmet he wore is not the operative here. The symbolism here is that it is HIS helmet. Wearing this helmet he has accomplished things that the average person could not ever fathom. He has seen life and he has seen death. He calls anyone who wears similar headgear his brother because he knows where that person has been. If a firefighter meets his death on the job, it is his helmet that leads him to his funeral service.
My father passed away, non-LODD, when I was 15 years old. His helmet was solemnly and ceremoniously presented to me by one of his brothers. When my first son got on the job, I presented him with that same helmet. When my second son got on the job, I presented him with my old helmet. Those helmets are kept in places of honor in their homes. Why? Because that helmet says "That's who we are."
Politicians, City Managers, the general public, and unfortunately, some firefighters don't understand the symbolism. As for the rest of us, "You can leave this job, but you can't leave this job behind"
So, then, is that stinky, strange-looking hat worth $100?

Being a neutral observer in this discussion I would like to add another thought on the matter. But first, let me get one thing straight; I believe the brothers/sisters in FDNY have EARNED the right to keep their lids based on the work they do day and night for the city, and shouldnt have to pay for them. So the following is just an additional thought to add to the discussion;
I feel its an accountability thing for the city. They probably want to allow their firefighters to keep the lids, but there is the chance the member will put their newly issued helmet on the shelf in the closet and continue to use their old ones. What happens to the city if that/those firefighter(s) get hurt while wearing the old helmet? I feel the city simply wants the paper trail to prove they have 1) Issued the new helmet to the member, and 2) Received cash payment for the old helmet with a receipt in hand and legal jargon plastered all over the page saying the member understands the old helmet they are purchasing is not to be used any more and the city will not be held responsible if they continue to use them and get hurt/killed.
That is the only logical explanation I can think of for the $100 fee to keep the old ones.

This article is an embarrassment to the job and more so to this disgrace of a firefighter. The article would have you believe that this is a dietary issue and that the other firefighters are making him feel like an outcast because of his dietary choices. I've never worked in that firehouse, but we all know what the firehouse kitchen is like. The kitchen is sacred in the firehouse. It's where a group of firefighters, working together for 24 hrs, come together as a unit, cook and eat. Everyone coming together is key to the cohesiveness of the firehouse. Not everyone likes what is put on the table every night and no one is forcing food down your throat. Plenty of people I work with don't eat shellfish or cheese and some guys ARE cutting down on their meat intake for health reasons. That's fine, but everyone still pays and everyone still cooks. If nothing else, it's a highly important symbolic activity. We have a rule, if you're "out on the meal" then that's it, you're out.
Don't be fooled by the NY Post rhetoric or this guys nonsense story. The trouble didn't start because one person decided to change their diet. It began when that one person decided that the whole firehouse and a sacred aspect of it's culture had to change for him. We drill together, we laugh together, we eat together and we put ourselves in harms way together. You can't shun one of those things and expect everyone to maintain the same level of respect for you.
If any serious credence is lent to this story, it will be one more slide down the tube for society.

I saw the movie with the guys from my station Monday night. BigRed1 is absolutely right. You will leave this movie deep in thought. The conditions these guys are expected to work in is nothing short of deplorable. Nobody should be expected to operate with what they have to work with, but they do it anyway. That city looks like a third world country but these guys fight harder than anyone to protect their hometown. Very well done.

Got my tickets for Sat. Been looking forward for this for a while. Look like a great documentary.

LA-LA-LA-LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!!! (Plugging my ears)

This thing looks massive. Even if it hits Delaware, it gonna dump a ton of rain and moisture into our path. I would expect a couple of days of the suck. Don't forget like 7 changes of clothing and dry socks if your working this weekend.
On the upside, if it hits Monday / Tuesday we will all have stocked up on emergency food consisting of snickers, milking way , M&M's , and Milk Duds

This drill is in its 8th year---FDNY has set the standard as to what IT wants for ANY mutual aid form ANY department. FDNY has desiginiated Westchester departments to cover the BRONX nothing more. Yonkers Raceway is the stageing area. OFPC with the help of WCDES Field Com checks the TRAINING RECORDS participents to make sure they meet the standard that FDNY has set. then they are given assigements and are escorted into the city.
Todays drill went off smoothly with the help of OEM and OFPC.
Citi Field is another staging area that uses Long Island companies that will cover Queens.
Is is my understanding that a third staging area is being developed on Staten Island for Coverage from NJ units. ALL participents must meet the FDNY standard.

Or All departments that meet the minimum training and staffing requirements as established by FDNY and OFPC. Since it is their drill to exersize their plan and the state mobilization plan.

Right, but the value isn't to the city, its too the firefighters. If the city takes them back just to throw them out, why not just give them away? You're going to pay to have them disposed of, etc.

Today I have my UnApproved NFPA/OSHA Leather helmet that I was wearing when I decided to fly like a bird off a ladder from the second story window. I landed in about a 3 foot wide alley and my head apparently struck a three foot high concrete wall. Came down with airpack and helmet on. Apparently, my head hit that wall when I came down. Thank God for that helmet I was wearing. But at the time it was NOT approved and had no inner shell molding. I ended up with a few injuries from the fall, but NO Head Injuries. That helmet had been about 15 years old at the time. Even though it was an UNapproved helmet according to the NFPA and OSHA, "it did its job well".
I still have that busted up "Battled helmet" to remind me of what a good job a 1970s leather helmet did for me.

I can ebay flooded with "authentic, seasoned, FDNY fire helmet" via NYC.gov................................
*see ebay flooded.

He prefers the title: "Top Dog"