PEMO3

This is something we will be drilling on and attempting to enhance in our department in the near future. Our goal is to completely eliminate the "unit on location / unit on location with nothing showing" and thats it transmission.
I along with pretty much everyone else would love to hear a full size up from the first arriving unit, however, a simple size up on arrival, and a detailed size up later on, if necessary, into the incident is the most appropriate form. This clears up air time for units signing on, calling on location, and other radio transmissions important to the function of the fire ground operation and pre-arrival assignment planning. Additionally, the simple size up also gives you generally a good idea of what type of building you'll be dealing with based on the location of the alarm. I know in my district, anything off of Gambelli Dr. we'll be dealing with multi million dollar McMansions, and anything off Yorkhill Rd / Hawthorne Dr be 2 story, wood frame, split level homes. Knowing your district is key to getting a fuzzy idea of what you might be shown at the time of dispatch.
I'll use my department as an example:
On dispatch to a residential alarm:
"Engine 273 is on location, establishing command. 2 story, wood frame single dwelling. Nothing showing at this time, out investigating."
"Engine 273 to 60-Control, burnt food on the stove, all units can return."
On dispatch to a MVA:
"Rescue 16 is on location establishing command one car over turned in the southbound lane, we'll be out investigating"
"Rescue 16 on an update, we have one car overturned, 1 patient pinned in the vehicle. Extrication will be commencing at this time, have EMS stage IFO the accident scene, have Engine 270 park behind the rescue and bring their portable unit and large spreaders to the drivers side of the involved car."
"Rescue 16 One (insert gender here) patient has been extricated at this time, in care of EMS, and will be transported ALS to the Medical Center"
On dispatch to a fire:
"Engine 271 is on location establishing command, give me my 10-75 assignment, I have fire showing on the first floor of a 2 story wood frame companies going to work."
"Car 2531 to 60-control, I am on location and assuming command. I have fire in a 2 story, 50x 20, occupied single family dwelling on the first floor, AB corner. Two 1.75 L/S/O, water is being place on the fire at this time, truck companies are preforming primary searches and opening up at this time. Have EMS stage at the corner of Kensington and Wellington and walk their equipment down."

George you make a great observation and point. If only half the effort was put into the more positive areas.

You want to know what a real kick in the nutz is? We have almost 50 comments, and 4 pages of replies in a topic about an immature fire chief who hung truck nutz on his rig and defied his boss the mayor when told to remove them.
When we try to get a topic moving on this site about elevator rescue techniques, fire fighting tactics, scenarios, "what would you do" types of discussions, we get......YAWNS.
When we get a photo set of a new rig, some of us go on and on about the rig; where's the hurst-tool, where's the water cooler, we'll get the 50 comments and the 4 pages again.
I'm not sure why, but it seems sometimes the topics that should be getting the comments and the pages of discussion go by the wayside; and the ones that should get a few replies, and move on down the board into category obscurity, seem to go on forever.
What's up with that? I'm not saying conversation about the truck nutz should be over. What I'm saying is the next time one of our truly knowledgeable members comes up with an idea for a good discussion, maybe some of us should make a little more of an effort to participate and keep the really informative discussions going....
Maybe that will start happening?
In the meantime, back to the nutz.

One of the best things about our job (volly, carreer, paid on call, whatever) is the blind admiration that the kids have for us. If you don't wave back shame on you. So that's why the addition of the balls was a bad move. The small interactions you have with the public when out and about can have great benifits down the road in budget or staffing battles.
Plenty of tricks still go on but PPE, apparatus, and equipment should be off limits.

You definitely have a point here. It seems like there was a power struggle or flexing of muscles on some level here. We will probably never know the whole story anyway.
I guess there are two lessons to be learned here. 1. Think before you act and 2. when the "boss" gives you an order to do something do it or it could turn around to bite you in the - - - .
We have all done things without thinking and I am sure that the chief in this case is going through the "could have, should have, would haves" right now and wondering how a simple pair of $25 rubber testicles became national news.

This is way off base. The point is not about nature but about the actions of the chief. I don't care if he was told to remove a set of rubber testicles or a bumper sticker or a sticker of that boy pissing on pissing on a symbol, he failed to follow an order by a superior and was disciplined for it. I think we are getting off base fast, exactly how this became a national story.

You definitely have a point here. It seems like there was a power struggle or flexing of muscles on some level here. We will probably never know the whole story anyway.
I guess there are two lessons to be learned here. 1. Think before you act and 2. when the "boss" gives you an order to do something do it or it could turn around to bite you in the - - - .
We have all done things without thinking and I am sure that the chief in this case is going through the "could have, should have, would haves" right now and wondering how a simple pair of $25 rubber testicles became national news.

OK, Chief, ya got me on the old days. Then it was Shenanigans, some were fun, some a bit dangerous, some bordered on the outrageous, and some, if done today would generate lawsuits. A sentence like the one I just wrote is normally followed by a "BUT" sentence and I'm not going to do that. The difference, and a big difference it is, is that none of the Tom Foolery was carried out in the public eye.
The water-in-the-boots and cupcake-in-the-helmet tricks are still carried out by today's FF's but what happens in quarters stays in quarters. We are not discussing the differences in the generations here. The person in question here is THE CHIEF!!! THE F%##$ CHIEF!!!
I also have as much respect for my younger Brothers as I did for the ones I worked with years ago. The job of a fire officer is to pass all your knowledge on to the young FF's and hopefully they will add it to their knowledge bank. After you leave, there should be left a corps of FF's that are smarter and safer than we ever were.
If that isn't the result of your career, then you have failed.

I agree total that you need to be well over the 30 min drive time mark or have extenuating circumstances to call for a bird. Unfortunately, with shows like the now defunct "Trauma" glorifying the fly them out concept and presenting a bird on patrol, dropping in at a moments notice and even in some case dispatched in place of a bus to a call it makes some think that by air is faster. EMSJunkie712 is on the money with his numbers and puts together the best visual argument for the 'driving is faster" statement. It is unfortunate that some still put the "bird on standby" before even rolling up on the scene based on dispatch data.

Unfortunately these politicians do not realize that the money saved by these types of service cut backs will be easily eclipsed by the award paid out from just one wrongful death suit when the cut back in manpower proves to be a mitigating factor in the loss of life and property. Just curious, how many council members did they lay off to save money.

Date: 11-21-2010
Time: 17:25 hrs
Location: JFK Airport
Frequency: FDNY Citywide, EMS Citywide, NYPD SOD F3
Units Operating: Multiple units enroute
Weather Conditions: Clear
Description Of Incident: Plane reporting engine fire enroute to JFK for emergency landing w/ 193 souls onboard, currently dumping fuel, FDNY &; EMS standing by. FDNY I/C reporting aircraft has "lost" engine. 25 miles out. Landing Runway 4
17:35 hrs- FDNY I/C reporting plane to be a "heavy 767" 74K of fuels on board and dumping.
17:45 hrs - NYPD Aviation reporting aircraft with 5 min ETA
17:53 hrs - FDNY reporting "Delta 30 heavy" on the ground rolling to a stop.
18:10 hrs - FDNY reporting "delta 30 heavy" landed safely. Fire is out. No injuries reported at this time.
Report has it as Delta Flight 30 - New York to Moscow. Flight records show the aircraft is a Boeing 767-300
20:12 hrs - Delta Airlines and FAA are issuing reports that there was never any fire. Reports state that the engine "flamed out" secondary to a bird strike similar to "Miracle on the Hudson" US Airways Flight 1549.
Reporters/Writer:PEMO 3

http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-news/244700-hows-this-for-a-hess-truck/

I just read the IA for the Croton incident regarding the subject stuck in the mud.
I just wanted to say awesome job to WCPD Aviation for an outstanding job! That is a large area and would be very tricky for any sort of rescue or other emergency. AIR-2's assistance undoubtedly played a large role in the positive outcome of this situation. Just another great example of why WCPD Aviation is such an outstanding resource for the County. Job well done lads!
Also, kudos to all the responders on the ground; FD, EMS and PD. Great heads-up thinking by the IC to call in Air-2 and in such a timely manner. From the IA, Air-2 was in the area within 10 minutes of being requested.

Why doesn't everyone just read the IG report instead of speculating based on limited information included in that very poorly written article?

Chris ,i don't believe i was criticizing anybody,but yet making a suggestion if you don't know the info ,don't start making up false numbers. This is half the reason the false bs is carried through to rags like lohud .Am i defensive ?you bet your A***. I'm tired of getting our balls wacked off and people right away fly off the cuff with false info.You want numbers ? i'll give you numbers.Our contract provides for 12 - 10 hr days of sick leave incentive, the same as every other agency in the city.Our members were out an average of 9.6 days. When you work a mutual into a 24, and you call in sick,you are being charged for 24 hrs against your sick incentive even though technically it was 1 day of being sick.So as quite the opposite of numbers being thrown around, i'll let the computation expert figure out how many 24 hrs tours it takes to accumulate 96 of sick time.

Just curious if this program has worked to reduce overall sick time use. I know a lot of people roll their eyes at the thought of paying for not using time but they fail to realize the savings involved can be quite large. If you look at an 8 hour shift that is covered with an O/T person the actual hourly rate paid is 2.5 hours (1 hr for the S/L and 1.5 for the O/T) and not usually even pay scales as a 20 year members at top pay may cover a 2 year members at base pay where that 1.5 hr rate the 20 yr member earns may actually be 2 times the 2 year members reg rate meaning that leave just cost 3.0x not 2.5x. If you pay the member for not using the time the rate paid becomes 2.0 hours (1 for the hour worked and 1 for the hour paid). Seems like this is actually a win-win scenario but as with everything involving public employees, John Q Public will see it as getting "free money" or a "bonus" and make it a scandal.

Our city pays us not to use sick leave, three times a year. Any employee who doesn't use any sick leave in the previous 4 months gets 18 hours of pay (not at 1.5x)and those who have used only 1 sick unit (hour or day) get 9 hours pay. In the past our sick leave accrual maxed out at 3168 hours and those hours in excess went into a "sick leave pool" for covering persons who were out longer than they had SL time for. This year, in an effort to help eliminate those hours in the future, we can enroll in retirement health saving plan, that buys out all maxed out sick time and vacation time beyond max allowable carryover and puts that money into an account to draw from after retirement. Though I'd say that while this seems like a benefit to us, it still was only offered to benefit the city somehow by eliminating unfunded hours or clearing them off the books.

After 9/11, security personnel were removed from fire brigade service. The reasoning was that a fire could be a diversionary tactic. When this transformer blew, it activated a deluge sprinkler system, and a fire alarm. IP has different alarms, which are heard throughout the site.
The next thing that occurs is the Control Room will announce what is happening and where, and the brigade; consisting of other personnel other than security will go to one of the two or three designated assembly points, where their turnout gear is stored.
They have various sizes of gear, so whoever is designated to respond can grab a generic set.
The first part of the brigade will usually be 6-7 members. They can be engineers, chemists, anything except security. They can muster 14-15 brigade members at a time.
Throughout IP there are hose stations with preconnected lines. The brigade will respond to the site of the emergency, and they have push-carts that contain various firefighting tools, extra hose, nozzles, etc.
The sprinkler system is well designed, and has very high volume. You can imagine this would handle most fire incidents at the site. The brigade will perform whatever they need to do. If the incident requires outside assistance, the responding departments would be utilized.

The only problem I have with this is that lethal injection is way too nice. Tie him to a bedpost, beat him,then douse him with gasoline - and let Mr. Petit light the match!

I volunteer to stick him...

Take a look at how Faux News tried to play this up that this skel was "the victim." The "credible witness" who took the video....well you decide:
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/witness-firefighters-punched-man-20101101#disqus_thread

The original:
(thanks KBR359)