JFLYNN

This comes across more as an opinion to me than an actual question. And frankly, I would not normally dignify comments and opinions coming from an 18-20 year old (whether career or volunteer) with a response. It is basically impossible in my opinion for you to have adequate expertise in this area for anyone to take your opinions seriously. I do not mean this as an insult- it just is what it is...you have not had enough years as an adult on this planet to have accumulated adequate e or experience on this subject to engage in debate. If you were a career Firefighter it would already have been explained to you in no uncertain terms to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut (or in this case keep your fingers off the keyboard) until you have some time on the job. This is for your own good most of all...how can you ever learn if you can't humble yourself to just be quiet and listen for a while? That being said, since you raised the point and others out there may be wondering and it gives me another opportunity to get the message out (thanks for that, BTW)...the history of the existing career team is clear...I cannot speak for the various Fire Commissioners / Chiefs of Department of the various teams which make up the career task force but there is an established history of the Southern Westchester Career Depts. responding when requested to Northern Westchester. I have no doubt that if there were an incident anywhere in Westchester requiring the response of USAR assets, and if the Southern Westchester Career Task Force was requested, that they would arrive in force and be operational long before anything even approaching an adequate response from this other "team" showed up. The shane is that we would not be called immediately most likely...there would very likely be a delay while the other team is called and responds with a completely inadequate number of trained and capable personnel. But, you have apparently confused my posts on two different threads young man. I do not believe the Westchester Tech Rescue "team" is a duplication of resources...I believe they are an illusion and are not actually a viable resource at all. Further, many years ago, as I have stated previously, the Southern West Spec. Ops. Task Force had offered to have a squad or squads established in Northern Westchester which would include volunteers, however this effort was killed politically by the volunteers because they wanted their "own" team.... Thanks for throwing me the softball. I'm sure you are a great guy and have wonderful intentions but I would strongly advise you to stick witht the basics for a while...concentrate on hoses and ladders and all that stuff...

To properly answer your question would take a bit of time which I don't have right now. Perhaps Billfitz or Bnechis can lay it all out but if they don't I will do it as soon as possible. For now, suffice to say that: #1. I do not agree with your assessment that Yonkers "far surpasses most other career departments in the County" (but thanks for the compliment). many other departments in the Southern Westchester Special Operations Task Force have robust tech rescue capabilities. #2. There is a task force in place which is broken up into squads 9seceral differeent career departments and at one time a squad or two of volunteers were invirted to participate but declined) We have responded when requested into Northern parts (volunteer) of the County More specifics on that later. #3. As far as training levels as asked by another poster...the differences are immense and we can elaborate on that more later...hopefully billfitz or bnechis will take me off the hook and explain this better than i can.

As I stated in a previous thread, I had sent an email from my official Yonkers email account to the DES individual who is listed on their website as being the person, or one of the persons "in charge" of this "team". I had respectfully asked these same questions to him, explaining that as a Deputy Chief on the Yonkers Fire Department (and a former long time Captain of our Rescue Company as well as former NYS adjunct instructor teaching technical rescue), I felt that I should be aware of the capabilities (or lack thereof) of this team in the event that we might be working together at a large scale emergency. I received no response. I felt no need to pursue it further because in my opinion based on what I have seen and heard, the County Team is not a viable asset and should nort be taken seriously. I did however provide them the opportunity to begin a professional discourse and perhaps prove to me that my impression is incorrect. The only times I have posted on this website regarding the County Team is to express my opinion after a previous poster has touted the capabilities of this "team". I have never criticized a particular individual on this "team", nor did I get involved in criticizing any particular incidents, such as the one in Hastings. The simple fact is that by any reasonable measure, the Westchester Technical Rescue Team, or whatever they are calling themselves, is not viable as a technical rescue asset and to purport otherwise is a disservice to those we are sworn to protect and may in fact cause loss of life in the future.

And that's a bad thing why? Change never comes easy and some of us out here are very patient and committed.

OK, I'll correct you because I do believe you are wrong. The County "team" is not consolidation. It is an illusion. They can not do what they claim to be able to do, yet they spend valuable resources on equipment, take volunteers out of their communities most of which can not provide adequate basic fire protection, and get in the way politically of others in Westchester (as mentioned above by billfitz) who have established credible technical resources.

What does "operational" mean??? Are they able to respond to technical incidents in a certain amount of time with a certain number of trained personnel? What are the training standards for this team? How often do they train? Are there any medical qualifications? How many members are on the team??

I didn't see anyone lining up to bash the original poster, much less 10. If I'm wrong please correct me with some specific factual information. The original poster claimed that there are people who are allowed to "stir the pot in multiple threads", "bash", and to be "unprofessional and counterproductive", yet he has given no specifics. Where is the evidence of this??? Yet, no one has bashed him. Several members have made great, eloquent, FACT BASED responses which were respectful and did not in any way make a personal attack. His post was rebutted. He was not attacked personally. Why can't some of you see this? I know most of you do see this of course which is why I, and others, will continue to speak out on here or elsewhere as we see fit in order to, in my case, attempt to improve fire and EMS in this area of the country. (I'll leave law enforcement to the professionals in that area) It really is hard sometimes to believe that the members on this forum are all (or mostly all) in emergency services what with all thin skin. I really do believe the acronym QTIP is so applicable here...I often use it to remind myself to do the same...why not try it guys?

Hey Thomas, I think it's great that you are a fan of keeping things clean and respectful and not bashing your brothers and sisters...me too! I haven't really noticed that happening on this forum other than a few posts which did slip through and then were quickly deleted by our very professional moderators. I'm curious, would you be willing to share with us which specific posts you feel have not been "clean and respectful" and / or have been "bashing our brothers and sisters"...maybe the rest of us are missing something here? Thanks!

I'm curious...are there any black or hispanic FDNY Firefighters who are EMT Bravo members? What is your opinion on this? From what I have seen, there is no racism or discrimination against minority groups attempting to become FDNY Firefighters. Please correct me if I am wrong. Why would an active FDNY member who is black or hispanic support the position the Vulcans have taken on this? It seems to me that if this came to pass, it would be very harmful to ALL members of FDNY for a number of reasons, no?

John, nice post. It's a shame more volunteer Firefighters don't look at these issues as you do. That's a great thing about sites such as this though...little by little the information can get out and maybe we can wake people up to the realities and perhaps accomplish some positive change.

No I would not.

Correction to above, maybe?? And I may really be confusing the issue here, so please will some savvy Engine dude clarify? Anyway, I seem to remember that NYC CORP thread (what Yonkers uses) has 11 threads per inch on 2 1/2 and FDNY thread has 8 threads per inch and National Standard has 7 1/2 threads per inch, so maybe it is the National Standard thread that can be jammed on the FDNY hydrant and it will maybe work???

Sorry Barry, I called you Bob again...I think I had one too many wines with dinner tonight...

I've been watching this topic but I don't have the energy to post on it really...the whole thing brings back too many bad memories for me. I will say that I agree with most of the posts made here, surprisingly...I will reserve the right to jump in later if I feel the need to rebut any misinformation but happily, I haven't seen any really nonsensical posts on this topic yet. I do want to reply to your post though. Bob...Engine work is definitely not my forte, however, I believe there is a difference between "NYC CORP" thread and "NYC" thread....Yonkers has, I believe "NYC CORP" thread, which I believe, is close to, but not exactly, "NYC" (FDNY) thread...if you jam it on, it usually will make up but no guarantees...we do have adaptors and we've had them forever but I have no idea about other Westchester departments. Is this the FDNY threads which you refer to 40% of Westchester having because I believe there is actually a slight difference? Of course, the other thread we have not mentioned is National Standard which most of Westchester has so would need adaptors for NYC, Yonkers, and many other Westchester departments that are not on National Standard. Also, FDNY hydrants open and close "backwards" from ours...ours open counterclockwise, FDNY opens clockwise The high security hydrant wrench you speak of...is that the magna lock?? Or a speaker from a boom box??? Correct me if I am wrong on any of the above...until I became a Chief, I could really care less about this hose and water stuff and I didn't pay much attention for many years, but suddenly it became a lot more important...

That's not my office. That is the office where the camera was set up...

For what it's worth, the girl who calls from down South to sell that stuff has a sexy voice and she's a bit hard to resist...but I was strong....

Little Buddy, I think the "eyes and ears open and mouth shut" advice needs to be updated now that we are living in the digital age...maybe, "eyes and ears open, mouth shut and no posting on-line"???? At least until you're off Probation??

Thanks for the info. No, I wasn't referring to the original poster specifically. His post just made me think of this issue. So, if NYS law only allows for one blue light, how come I see so many vehicles with numerous blue lights mounted all over the place??

Hey Guys, what is the NYS law regarding these courtesy lights? I was told that it might have changed but I think in the past you were only allowed one blue light of under a certain candlepower and no strobes??? Has this changed because I have been noticing a lot of personal vehicles with a whole heck of a lot of blue lights on them??

Fair enough.

Respectfully, from reading your post, and noticing your age,do you think that maybe you are a little overconfident about your own "situational awareness"?

Some excellent points have been made in this thread. A few I would add: 1. When you can't see where you are placing your foot, CRAWL! (Possible exception to this would be the nozzle man and backup man who, while advancing the line, may do the duckwalk technique previoulsy discussed) 2. The idea of a 360 recon is nice, but is often impractical...aim to get a look at at least 3 sides of the building before entering...the time you take to get an immediate look at the 4th side of the building when it is not readily accessible could allow the fire to grow exponentially and could mean the difference between life and death for anyone still inside. 3. CRAWL!! 4. Incident Commander should assign members early on to get a look at the back of the building and communicate findings to everyone on the fireground (again, this may not be practical to assign to first due Engine or Ladder Companies). 5. CRAWL!!! 6. Develop a mindset of constantly sizing up the building from a six-sided perspective. This doesn't mean you need to actually see all six-sides (all four "sides" plus what is above you and what is below you), but rather that you are "situationally aware" of there being six sides the building and that all members on the fireground are continually assessing and communicating to one another fire and smoke location, structural integrity, etc. The biggestmistake we make is not knowing what exacctly is going on below us and getting caught above the fire sometimes. 7. CRAWL!!!!

P.S. Smoke Showing doesn't resent being called "uneducated"...he knows he's uneducated, and I'll bet he's getting a good laugh out of all this right now...

...qtip...

Ah, I found them...darn, my hopes for a conspiracy/ cover up were dashed...