batt2

I was at Mohegan Sun Friday took in the Frankie Valli concert, won a little at the casino.
Saturday morning we drove over to Foxwoods, gamble a little at the slots and won alot
I was at the firehouse around 10::30am as the Captain knew I was coming. Just an FYI I am working on a department profile for Fire Apparatus Journal Magazine.
Joe

Barry and the rest of the career guys commenting on this are correct. A special operations rig (Squad or Rescue) should have a "ready reserve" rig to replace or back-fill it instantly. A standard engine company doesn't need a 1:1 ratio of front line to reserve because the chances of every front line engine being out of service at once is remote.
The need for fully equipped ready reserves is not a career vs. vollie thing as many will point the discussion towards.... It's a component of call volume, geography, potential fire load, potential extrication load, combined with bread and butter work. There are plenty of vollie departments in the Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland, Baltimore, Washington metro area who have ready reserves that get used regularly. There are also several career departments who don't that REALLY need them...
One final point about harping on why departments need one rig vs another.... A topic on this board was posted some time ago about a new Seagrave tandem axle heavy rescue that was purchased by a vollie department in nowheresville Delaware I believe. Some folks mentioned what a waste it was and how could they ever use it to it's potential.... To this, I say that specing apparatus should be done based on the criteria I listed above as well as the next nearest unit that can provide a similar service and what the load of similar criteria are for it (the next available unit). If a department in the middle of nowhere covers a 20 mile stretch of highway and the nearest heavy rescue is at least that far away OR doesn't have access to the highway in a timely matter, then they are justified in buying a piece of equipment that can handle an extensive call without immediate assistance..... The direct opposite of this is what has happened in Westchester with the number of aerial devices, let alone tower ladders are piled on top of each other which is something I've taken major issue with over the past few years. Cut the number of tower ladders in half AND reduce the overall number of aerial devices by 25-35% and everyone in northern Westchester benefits. The crews of the remaining truck companies get enough work to keep their skills up and you end up with more competent truck companies, AND the taxpayers save by reducing expenses.

Officer and 3 FF's = same as all YFD Units

There are a host of issues here.
1) In a large and busy dept. it is not uncommon for a rig (even a newer one) to be out of service 15-20% of the time. In a city the size of Yonkers, that would mean the squad would have to leave there quarters on the West side, drive across town to get the spare, then unload the primare rig and load the spare, then take the rig to the shop. All of this gets repeated when its done. This can take the company out of service for an hour or more. If the shop has a 2 hour job it means the crew may be out of service almost as long just switching rigs.
2) Our newest "standard" engines have been given additional equipment that we never use to carry (TIC's, gas detectors, FAST, Water rescue, more foam & foam equipment, more EMS equipment, etc.) It is very difficult to switch over to a spare and fit all the new equipment, since they have 1/2 the storage space. Much of the additional equipment gets left on the floor. Now add to that the squad equipment, YFD Squad 11 carries more rescue equipment than many of the large "heavy rescue" box units in Westchester. In Sq2 (NRFD E22) we carry all the equipment of a standard engine plus, Level A & B suits, Hazmat boots, reference materials, multiple gas detectors, radiation detectors, drager tubes, WMD agent detectors, Antidote Kits, 4 additional Hazmat SCBA's with 1 hour packs and 8 additional 1 hour bottles, PAPR's, Hazmat Skeds, 4 Hazmat tool kits, Extra foam and extra absorbant (plus a bunch of other stuff) if the rig goes out of service you need another rig with enough compartments to hold it all.
3) Most larger depts. have 2 different terms: Spare and Reserve. A spare is uniquipped and you switch over when a primary rig is out of service (particularly for long periods). Sometimes they do not even have hose, then that gets switched also. A reserve unit fills in as a spare, but also can be staffed with call back members to beef up the departmet during storms or other major emergencies. Most city's have fewer companies than they should and get away with that by beefing things up as needed. This is based on the city's wanting to base staffing on slow times and not busy times.
4) lastly in any larger department there is a greater chance the rig will be involved in an MVA than in a small village. I suspect Sq 11 response to 3 or 4 times the number of calls as your whole dept. plus its on the street everyday doing training and inspections. Plus driving in Yonkers can get very rough. There is a very good chance that it will get hit or hit something and go out of service for many months. In a busy dept you can not have critical equipment out of service for days or even hours, without a spare they could be out for months. And if the rig was ever distroyed it could take up to 2 years to get it replaced.
5) the finances in a big fleet will equill out as this spare will be used a little lighter than the other spares, it will require less maintenance, they may also be able to keep the front line rig without replacement for an extra year or two, because they have a good spare, and if its included as an "extra" spare, then the rest of the spares will also last a little longer.

Besides the call volume, the topography of Yonkers probably takes a heavy toll on the rigs as well. Many of those streets are literally paved mountain sides.

NOBODY has ever walked out of arbitration happy. That's the whole point...the arbitrator usually takes both agruements and meets in the middle. Have you met Feiner? One time he tried to close the Tappan Zee Bridge on Sundays and use it for bicycles and joggers.

A civil service hiring exam is given every 4 years. Of the total applicant pool, you need to be in the top 5-10% to achieve a position. In these uncertain times, it's not a good thing to bank on. By all means, study, train and try hard, but have something to fall back on.

Just watched the video, he gets hit by the taser, goes down to the ground, handcuffed, and is back on his feet and walking in less than 30 seconds. It doesn't appear anyone is injured, so why would you think this is excessive? Would tackling him have been better?
Scott
PS Yes, I'm a cop, so I'm a little biased

How many of you armchair quarterbacks who cry "excessive" have actually been in that Officer's shoes?

Make my way to Brooklyn this morning, came upon the Fire Scene Unit and the Fire Family Transport Unit 17
besides the couple of Engine Companies.

Hopefully you know the history of the METS colors. If not I will help you out!!
The colors are closely associated with the two old National League teams in NY. Blue and white is in remembrance of the Brooklyn Dodgers, while orange and black is in remembrance of the New York Giants. Blue white and orange are also the colors of the NYC flag, being another association. Their NY logo on the caps is also similar to the logo used by the Giants in the final years in NYC. It cannot be confirmed or denied that the pinstripes were in homage to the "Bombers" but many teams wore pinstripes for their home jerseys back in the day too.
Hope it helps you out, just wanted to pass it along!

It has been brought to my attention that my earlier post may have been misconstrued. What I meant, in a humorous but sarcastic sort of way, was to make light of the fact that a guy retired from the job and living in the Keys had no other worries than a bike stuck in the rocks, a set of circumstances for which I am envious. In fact, his predicament could sound like a Jimmy Buffet song in the making. What it may have been misinterpreted as, was a malicious jab at EFD Capt115. That was not the case.
If you take a look at EFD Capt115's profile, his "rep points", or read any of his posts, you can see that he is a valuable member of our little community and a valuable source of information on a variety of topics. My comments were not meant negatively, and I apologize publicly to EFD Capt115 and other readers of the original post if they were interpreted as such.

Catching up on recent FDNY & Westchester deliveries.

Here are pics of a typical fast-food restaurant under construction.

Here are pics of a typical fast-food restaurant under construction.

I agree, but I think the whole QTIP thing is a bit overused. Sure, there are some who take things to a degree higher than what was originally intended, but you'll find that everywhere. But, there are some who hide behind it. It's like cursing someone off and then when they get mad, saying "oh, QTIP." Just because QTIP is something that you see all over internet message boards such as this doesn't necessarily mean that it's a catch-all for statements made in poor taste.

как жаль

Thanks Chief Dunn for the Photographs of the New B1. [What - No Expresso Machine inside B1 ??? - Maybe they have something else within the New B1 for the Guys on the West Side? - LOL : ) ]

Absolutely Onthewheel.
Yonkers FD had a campaign in the late 90's to correct the block segments in our CAD Geofile and had violation sheets which we would give to homeowners when they didn't have visible or adequate address numbers. The sheets explained the reason PD/FD/EMS needed to see these numbers day and night and gave the code requirements.
It's definately a problem all over...

They could not have done this 500 posts ago?

I think that there is one just over the boarder in nearby Bronxville. Could it be that Chief Dunn might be an "Expresso Efficianto"? (Its not your every day Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts)

Wasn't the best morning for picture taking, but here it is in service
Yonkers, Battalion 2's 2009 Ford F-350. Great job on the graphics.
Thanks to Chief Fitz and Station 12.

You are correct. The "Fire engines are red" argument is one I lost.
And Barry, Looking closer at Batt2's vehicle it IS a coffeepot! Where have you gone, Joe DDiMaggio?

Here is the photo of the new Yonkers Safety Vehicle

I gotta agree with Seth and Chief Flynn here. I actually got stopped one day going into my apartment, one of the locals thought the city paid for the meals Firefighters and Dispatchers ate. I explained that it came out of our pockets. I was up in Boston last month, and my buddys' truck company was operating a spare that looked like it was at least late 80's vintage. Maybe Joe SH!#ForBrains should look into the lousy apparatus these guys have to work with.