JFLYNN

I wonder what percentage of Firefighters could have made the 2 moves that that tradesman did?

I do not understand all of your post. What do you mean by "wow come on really?" , "have some respect"and ..."even if they are volunteers"? Are you infering that I am being disrespectful? If so, please elaborate why you feel this way. To be clear to the objective and fair minded readers out there- I intend no disrespect. Is your comment "even if they are volunteers" meant to be demeaning or disrespectful of volunteer Firefighters? If so, I disavow that totally and would point out that disrespecting of any group or individual has no place on this forum. In answer to your question "what answers are you looking for?"...I am looking for (not demanding, simply inquiring) for answers to the questions that I asked. qtip

I would be curious to know how NFPA came up with a stat of 7.1% of departments serving 500,000 to 999,999 being "mostly volunteer", and 2.9% of departments serving populations of 250,000 to 499,999 as well being "mostly volunteer"...Barry???

Are you able to tell us more about the Chiefs vehicle that is being investigated? I had heard electrical was the cause.

I am very sorry for the damage that was done to this house and the apparatus and sending my best wishes to all members of the community who have been affected by this.Some questions: Is it true that one or two Chiefs (or ex-Chiefs) had very recently prior to this fire resigned, or were forced out? If true, why? If true, did this have any effect on the outcome of the firefight? Is Golden's Bridge currently having issues with having an adequate number of qualified interior Firefighters, Company and Chief Officers available to respond in a timely manner? I read that the cause of the fire was electrical? Is this true and if so, are there more specifics available? Thanks!

I have been out in California- coming home tonight and I will stop by to visit Sam on Friday. He is in WMC, correct? What are the visiting hours? Thanks!

I am really sorry to hear about Sam. He is a friend of mine, a true professional, and a credit to the communities that OVAC serves. I was just speaking with him last week- he was helping me with an Excel presentation. Sam, his family and friends are in my thouthts and prayers. I am really sorry to hear about Sam. He is a friend of mine, a true professional, and a credit to the communities that OVAC serves. I was just speaking with him last week- he was helping me with an Excel presentation. Sam, his family and friends are in my thouthts and prayers.

The reason this list was extended was because the Feds determined that normally another class would have been hired off of this list but that class did not initially happen due to a decision to avoid hiring that individual.. I can't prove it but I tend to agree with the Feds on this one.

Yes Barry but in the case of the two and a half year list the Justice Department trumped NYS Civil Service Law There was also a class hired in 1989 off of two lists- several people were hired from the already expired list and the remainder off of the new list. I was never quite sure how they were able to finagle that, LOL.

Over the last 24 years there have been 4 four year lists, 3 two year lists, and 1 two and a half year list.

I just re-read your original post. These buildings are definitely not fireproof. Actually, that term is a misnomer, despite its use by FDNY. However, using that term as it is used by FDNY, these buildings would not qualify.

I was not at this fire but I remember it and I know these buildings pretty well although I haven't been in them since I made Chief 8 years ago, so some of these details may be foggy. This is a u-shaped complex of 5 or 6 story ordinary constructed apartments with a large courtyard. They are set back from the street and almost a full story above grade. At one time these buildings must have been very beautiful. It has some ornate features like large lobby's and hallways with marble, cast iron decoration in places, and larger than normal apartments, but they have deteriorated over the years. There is a standpipe but it is a Class 2 with only inch and a half connections- intended for occupant use only. The cockloft is open throughout the entire complex as far as I know. I believe also that the roof is a "rain roof" or "inverted roof". Depending on which apartment(s) hose is being stretched to it would be anywhere from a 7 to maybe as much as a 15 length stretch I would estimate. AC Bill Webster (deceased) had this fire as the first due Battalion Chief. He was a very experienced and knowledgeable Chief and I knew him well. He was very happy with the outcome of the firefighting efforts. I don't remember which line of apartments this came in as but the fire had run the dumbwaiter from the basement to the cockloft prior to FD arrival. A long stretch of 2 and a half or maybe 3 and a half was made and connected to a water thief which fed 1 3/4" attack lines. Some companies went in from Groshon St. - a dead end on the south side of the building which was a good move. Holes were made over the fire and a succesful trench cut was made- this is quite rare. I think, but am not sure, that the fire was held to just one of the attached buildings, maybe 10 or so apartments? (the addresses are 100-110 I think? 6 separate buildings?) Someone on this forum from YFD from 303, 306, 304, 71 or 74 will know for certain I can't remember.I don't know if this fire was incendiary as you mentioned. There may have been rescues,- I do remember being told it was very hectic right from the get go and all involved were pleasantly surprised at the stop they were able to make.

I would rather not answer any questions about myself on this thread. As gpeifer mentioned it was originally about a fantastic job our members did on a very busy and frigid night, surely saving multiple lives and mitigating property damage, and I would hope it might focus on its original intent. As far as 313- apparatus is not my division and I would rather not get into that, and as far as regionalization / consolidation- I am for it under the right circumstances but again, this is not the correct thread to discuss that. I will keep an eye on this site over the next week or so, and if a thread pops up with regionalization / consolidation as the topic I will consider chiming in. Same thing for the memorabilia / museum question- this is not the appropriate thread to discuss that. I would like to keep the attention on the great work that our members did on the night in question, as well as during numerous other working fires so far this winter (most of which were not reported on in the IA section here) . Notably, the skilled and dedicated firefighting operations that took place on the night of the 2 jobs that this thread initially focused on was done by a force comprised of 1 in 6 firefighters with only a week or so out of the academy, and another 30+ with less than a year on the job, and many of the bosses very new in their current rank, I was not at all involved with the operations on that night, but I am very proud of the excellent work that was done by our members and the attention should be on them in this thread.

No offense, Seth, but posts such as this one are a perfect example of why I rarely post here anymore and also why I recommend to our young guys that they use this site and other similar sites solely for entertainment and local incident alerts only. For the purpose of fire service education and intelligent discourse that is vetted and edited by credible experts, stick to the edited fire service journals and websites published by such entities as Fire Engineering, Fire Chief, Fire Rescue, Firehouse, WNYF, NFPA, NIOSH, NFA, FEMA, and fire service textbooks. There are many experienced, educated, intelligent, and reasonable individuals who post on here, however there is also an incredible amount of disinformation and outright falsehoods / nonsense. For our newer fire service membership (which we have very many of currently in YFD) who may not yet have learned which sources are credible and which are not, take what you read here with a healthy dose of skepticism. Oh, and QTIP....

I am very busy until next week. This is a good question and either I or someone else from YFD will respond as soon as time permits.

Yes this is true as you have described it. I was the picture somewhere once- it was a very large spool at the top of a very steep hill. Form what I was told by my father and others, Gary Keuner was a well liked guy with an excellent reputation as a Firefighter, who died after becoming separated from his crew while searching for trapped occupants at a mumtiple alarm fire in a large H-type building with fire on multiple floors on arrival and numerous trapped (and subsequently rescued) occupants.

Seth, Crossfit is fantastic. However, based on what you have written in this post, and knowing your previous injuries I would recommend buying the book, Body for Life, by Bill Phillips. It is an easy read. The book has great info on diet, cardio, and resistance training, as well as web support. Phillips recommends a 12 week program, with one "free" or cheat day per week. . If you stick with it for 12 weeks, it will change your life. Another great tool I found recently that would complement the Bill Phillips philosophy is "MyFitnessPal", a free, easy to use, on line, calorie and exercise tracker. Living a healthy lifestyle is quite difficult to begin, but if you devote yourself to 12 weeks learning new things and developing new habits, you will see great results and it will become very easy and natural to continue. After 12 weeks, try to work in the CrossFit, it's great. No charge for this, LOL.

A YFD member walked into my office this morning and expressed concern about this post. Allegations such as this need to be investigated and dealt with appropriately. As the first step of my investigation I sent a private message to this poster providing my cell number and asking for elaboration on any problems which were experienced. This poster, who identified himself as Ken stated..."Good morning Chief, One bad encounter is nothing new to me. You guys are awesome! They do an awesome job."......As for the negative comments. I miss (sic) typed. I ment (sic) to have time comments in there. However, as we all know working 28 hours in yonkers can take a toll on your mind. Stay safe, Ken"I messaged Ken back and asked him to post a clarification but so far he has apparently been away from his computer. I imagine that he will post a clarification soon but I wanted to get this info up asap. The best way to counter the negative effects of rumors / the grapevine is a timely flow of accurate and relevant information. I left the middle part of Ken's message out because it was just friendly banter. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind me posting parts of his private message based on the content. Thank you Ken, for owning up to your mistake and I hope you can get that clarification posted asap.

There are contractual issues at play between the unions and the administration. I am unable to elaborate further on a public forum. However, if you PM me I will provide my telephone number and will be happy to explain it to you as I understand it.

If this in fact is happening please report it through the proper channels. The Public Safety Dispatchers are a dedicated group. They are civilians and they are supervised by the Yonkers Police Department. The YFD administration is unaware of this and frankly, I doubt it is happening, but if you have knowledge of such occurences please report it rather than make allegations on here.

An emergency medical SYSTEM encompasses BLS First Responder, and both BLS and ALS transport, as well as ALS Medics in fly cars as support. YFD has never and is not now going after the ALS or transport portions of this SYSTEM. All we want is to keep the work we have had for 22 plus years, which has saved many lives, and cannot be replaced by what I have seen proposes. These are solely my own opinions and are being shared in a non-official capacity. These comments do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Yonkers Fire Department but are factually true as I understand them.

EMS encompasses BLS First Responder, BLS Transport, and ALS response as well as transport - terminology expressed in my non-expert opinion / language. YFD was never going after ALS or transport, or in fact, "going after" anything. Just trying to keep the work it has had for over 22 years. But nobody from YFD is trying to take a job from anyone at Empress....

I rarely comment on this guys posts because they are usually so incredibly off base, incorrect, disrespectful, and inflamatory when it comes to YFD. However, I can assure all that this has never been discussed at any time during the last 7 years that I have been a member of senior management and to be absolutely clear, it is not being discussed now, and I do not anticipate it will be discussed or considered at any time in the foreseeable future.

All of the 18 Fire Companies with the current manning are necessary for fire and emergency protection, regardless of the existence of a First Responder Program. There is no certainly as far as I can tell that "several" companies would be eliminated if the First Responder Program were eliminated. In my educated opinion YFD manning levels are not excessive in relation to similar sized Northeast Departments. It should be noted that many who post on here, including occasionally YFD members, engage in speculation and do not necessarily have an adequate understanding of the "big picture". I would like to emphasize that in this post as well as in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the city of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department. And yes, I realize it would be safer to express myself anonymously, but that is not my style and never will be.

Helicopper pretty much summed this up. Many people don't realize that 1st Amendment rights (freedom of speech) don't apply to speech, on or off duty, made pursuant to official duties- that is, it owes its existence to the member's or employee's professional duties and responsibilities. Therefore department members may be disciplined for speaking out against department policies in certain situations. Certainly, a Fire Commissioner, who serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and has no contract or union protection, cannot reasonably be expected to openly disagree with the city administration. There may be very many statements which have been made in the press that many members of senior management disagree with very strongly, but to openly criticize the policies of the department would possibly subject that individual to discipline. Union Officials, however, have very broad latitude in what they are able to say, which is why serious criticisms of policies, etc. generally come from union leaders, and not the rank and file, or senior leadership. Silence should not be taken as approval however. I would like to emphasize that in this post and in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the City of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department.