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Power outage map from Con Ed: http://apps.coned.com/weboutageinfo/stormcenter/default.aspx

http://www.firefighterhourly.com/firefighter_hourly/2010/02/500-firefighters-police-officers-protest-in-buffalo.html

I KNEW this was going to happen here, that members were going to "take the bait" that the City of Buffalo threw out to see where it would stick. Well if you bit into this ALCOHOL arguement, you've been BUFFALOED. First, it is disgraceful that news organizations do not even do the DUE DLIGENCE to find out what happens after a LODD funeral; it's called a COLLATION, not a "reception", not a "party", nothing other than a collation, which is a religious term meaning "light meal." The term reception is reserved for happy occassions; like a wedding reception. THOUSANDS of firefighters, career and volunteer alike, some from as far away as Australia attended two LODD funerals. The Union did the right thing in providing those members with a Collation, where brother firefighters, law enforcement, ems, all came together to commiserate, after standing at attention for TWO LODD funerals. Ever been to a LODD funeral? Ever stand at attention for three or four hours? Then imagine this day, and doing it TWICE. Think you might want a bite and a brew, drink, soda, coffee afterward? Of course you would, so let's stop being ridiculous about this issue. This is a simple case of a CONTRACT VIOLATION. The union has an ironclad, protected by LAW agreement with the C.O.B. which states, the city will pay the union $12,500 for a LODD funeral for expenses incured. Period. It doesn't say, "well, we'll pay for this line item or that line item", it says will pay for expenses. The City has violated the contract, the union has probably grieved the issue, this will be mediated, arbitrated, wind up in court, and the city will LOSE...and THEN PAY. There are difficult and protracted contract negotiations between the city and the union right now. The firefighters and cops have marched on city hall, and many believe bringing ALCOHOL into the disscusion was merely an attempt to smear the union. Let's please not get into who drinks what and where with who's 2% money or fundraising, etc. If you engage in that, you have been Buffaloed in this case. No on-duty members imbibe at colations, period. The insinuation is thrown out to see where it will stick, and it landed right here on emtbravo, and you guys are missing the issue of a contract violation, and making judgements that you should not be making; whether "taxpayer's money" should be used for alcohol is a bogus disscusion. Corruption in gov't is rampant. Governors spend millions of dollars decorating their offices. Legislators are bought by lobbyists. Our tax money by the billions has been thrown at large corporations, who in turn have handed out RECORD BONUSES to their incompetent CEOs. YOUR money at work fellas. Where is the uproar about that? Let us remember what we are talking about here, and if some locals like INIT's pay for their own expenses for an LODD funeral, well they obviously don't have a LODD funeral expenses line in THEIR contract, or they'd be getting reimbursed for it. http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/84990367.html?video=YHI&t=a

.....When your name begins with a 6 and ends with a K. .....When you know what a "Box of Joe" is. .....When you answer your home phone with a "60-Control is on." .....When the letters KED don't automatically make you think of the "Kendrick Extrication Device."

Excellent photo essay. The FDNY sure has developed an amazing series of realistic training scenarios. "Let no man's ghost come back to say my training let me down." Thanks for sharing that.

Hey, y'all makin' fun of my newfound southern accent? lol In essence I was playing, and don't mind illustrating (I'm off the job now) the overwhelmed, undertrained, relying on "common sense" IC, and figuring things out on the fly and typing them here. Why? Because I was in that role for 8 years, and that's how it's done/ was done in the fire service. You want SOPs, when I worked in a combo-job that covered enough track to have two stops in our first response area of the Hudson Line, this was your SOP. Use your brain. We got FLSTPS, then we got the passenger seat. Then we met Spanky. Now keep in mind I'm out since 2006. I know the new Chiefs, working with the Captains have made strides in training since then. The mutual-aid plans have greatly improved. They are running two and two on full assignments; something I fought for for the entire time I was H&S chair. The FAST equipment is top of the line, running on the TL. Do they, or better yet, do all the career jobs in southern Westchester, then how about all the volunteer jobs in northen Westchester, that would be called to duty at an incident of this magnitude, or using the small plane crash incident in Austin, TX as another scenario, have a plan? Have the officers received the appropriate management courses to be able to scale up rapidly and efficiently, so it doesn't turn into the Avianca crash scene? Then we get to the second LE post from keepemcommincentral, and that gets into all the precautionary details, the not rushing in aspects of the new anti-terror approach adopted by FDNY, Police agencies, and others. We know the fire officer has his/her thing, the police officals have theirs, and the EMS people have theirs. This was one thing I noticed that went apparently very well in Austin at the plane crash. That female Division Chief had a very good handle on the situation, so did the Police chief and the Chief of EMS. That leads me to ask, what about all the town, village, and city police departments in lower and northern Westchester? What are their plans for Incident Management? Have they cross-trained and interacted with the other agencies? I always think in fire department terms. The Emergency Management people should be thinking in those larger terms of combined ops; but they are supposed to be support. They don't run the scene. So, how about them small PDs? Are ALL the emergency agencies in Westchester, and adjoining counties getting those Metro North drills? Are the agencies meshing and is the planning and training in place? I know the cops I worked with at jobs were proficient people, and their professionalism was always improving. If anyone has this incident, is it the officer-on-the-fly, or is it the cross-trained, pre-planned orchestra of cooperation and effectiveness of the emergency agencies?

Thank you guys, and that's what I would have been saying if this accident happened, and turned around and saw either of you standing there to help get this thing figured out! BTW: I posted early, drove to Miami Beach for the day (if you think traffic is bad in NY.....) then posted again after the long ride home. My Spanky pun was only intended as that. Bring that knowledge on brothers, because I'm here to learn.

I'm getting quite a spanking myself here....see I told you call Barry, and Chris is up there lookin' down, and yes I vote for Spanky.... Hey, this was the way it was when I was working. The brother asked a serious question, and what the heck, go for it. If it would have happened on my watch, that's pretty much what would have happened. When I said call everybody, I meant that in the figurative sense. A plan would evolve, but you have to start somewhere. And like the point was raised; if this happens on somebody's watch, right now, what's it going to be like for them? Have people thought about it? Good topic.

Good morning Mike, I'd call for Spanky if it was Metro North. Power shut-down, all tracks. Total rail traffic stoppage. Call for everybody, activate WSOTF, have Control notify every agency that they have a phone number for. Mass EMS mobilization, and hospitals, trauma-center notification. Control is going to be very busy. Call for some air-med transport and establish a triage and landing zone in an open area somewhere nearby; plan for an EMS ferry system for multi-victims to the triage site, get that Command Board set up and get all the agency heads together there. You're going to need rail-mounted cranes for stabilization, haevy duty air-bag system for some temp-stabilization, all portable stabilization systems available to the scene, maybe some tractor-trailer sized wreckers to spin out some cable and get a grip on something, even calling a few light duty Holmes wreckers might help. Very important to establish NIMS ICS, especially get a staging officer out there to organize all the help coming in, I'd assign a firefighter or LT immediately, no sense in blocking up the area we might need road access to the site. How about a drop off point as close to the scene as possible, where rigs can roll up and stage equipment, then roll out to a parking area? Depending on the time, you might need some heavy lighting systems, plus the generator-lights that we carried, portable 1000 watt lights. Get the hydraulic rescue tools (you're going to need at least 4-6 systems maybe more?) out to the site. Ground ladders, Back-boards, stretchers, EMS equipment, lines stretched. Tread VERY carefully. Make entry into the cars in a stable area, and work your way forward, after evacuation of the able bodied. Then get ready for some serious PTSD scenes, some very dangerous and strenuous work lay ahead. Then my superior officer would show up and change everything

Thank you. I was going to just let this float off the board, what with this crazy day and the "big statement" this pilot had to make about his problems with the gov't. Anyway, since I have this shared moment in the "spotlight" with a suicidal bass player (ironic if you look at my photo holding a guitar for Chr*st sake, but that's how it goes right?) I want to talk a bit about the members you mentioned here, all of the members here are included in this sort of critique if you will, but I'm just going to wing it, and do the best I can with it. First, there's Seth. Here he is today, in the heart of the madness in the country for today, just like he mentioned being in NY for 9/11. Can't the big stuff just leave the guy alone? Seriously though, I'm here posting on a website that he created, and too often we take him for granted and some are critical because he shows his raw emotion at times. Seth, we know you've been through some tough sh*t in yor day, and you bounced back and gave us all a place to spend our time and share our thoughts. So thank you brother. I'm no shill but come on guys, this site is growing in popularity and activitiy, and professionalism, and technical advancement. You think this is all a freebee? Some of y'all need to man up and help the guy out with some finances.....kay 'nuff said. Chris192, flyin over all of us, keepin an eye and keepin it real. Stay safe up there bro. Then we get to Chief Raftery. Why first amongst the posters? Cause the man earned it, that's why. Deputy Chief, college degree in fire science, published in fire engineering, one of the wittiest b@st@rds to ever post here. I'm proud to say he's a legacy of the Eastchester fire Dept, his dad worked there, I know cause I looked at his picture often in our headquarters. And here he comes on this board, modestly at first, then blasting us with that witt and wisdom he has been famous for his whole career. Thank you chief, for continuing your service, even now. And you're right, you cant get a good loaf of bread south of Philly. Captain Nechis. Where does one start. I mean I'm old school, even though I'm still technically young. Then I meet Barry some years ago. And he starts going on about SEMO and FEMA and who the heck, and what the h*ll, and I'm like "this guy eats fire department". I'm telling you, now with this consolidation study out; you see who was involved big time right? Captain Nechis knows more in his sleep then I ever knew about the fire service. He even recerted my cpr, thanks Cap. Chief Flynn. I never met you sir, but I have to say if you were my boss you'd have my respect. I know alot of the volunteer members here get crawly skin when you bring things up. You do stir the pot and post provocative questions. Your last name should be Johnson cause you invented the QTIP. I have NEVER met a Yonkers firefighter who didn't have a very large heart inside that gruffness. Truly a great bunch of gentlemen, from Chief Fitz to Batt 2 (I met Dennis smith once and invited Batt 2 to come, but he dissed it, haha too bad I got his autograph Kieron!) to YFD910 MY BROTHER, YFD610 who has shut up ever since chief flynn told him too (good job probie lol) love ya. 16fire5, M'Ave, our brothers from NYCEMS, it's truly an honor to have FDNY members particpate in this forum imho. You are a great job, the greatest job, lucky b@stards, stay safe all of you. The volunterer members I communicate with in private and discuss training and fireground; gentlemen. Thank you for the respect, it comes right back at ya. ALSfirefighter (BNechis blood relative, he just don't know it) dude, 3,000+ posts? How are dem fingers holdin up? Chr*st, we even got a Canadian comin' down here with his "I pay for my own meals" thing goin' on, his extremely proud Class A photo. You GOTTA love that guy! Welcome Nova Scotia, the most beautiful Province. how's that medals count goin' for y'all? (just kiddin bro). A guy from England named after 10 house. I seen them guys at the funerals. Very cool. Wish I had a chance to get England and check out Big Ben and Parliament, and then hit the pubs for a straight 24..... All y'all. I don't wanta wind it out too far here. It's cool that I got 100 posts, but truly, if you want to look for the knowledge on this board, it's all of you combined. I'm just a knucklehead (ask ANYBODY from my job), it's good to be alive, f*** flyin a plane into a building it ain't that bad. And the lurkers out there, chiefhac and elvis, two guys that eat fire department and had the most amazing careers, if you guys ever start posting, the whole game is gonna change here. ~Firematically, Captain George Glover (ret) EFD

The note apparently left by the pilot, on the internet, before he supposedly crashed his plane into the IRS office in Austin: (apparently he also set his own home on fire before crashing his small aircraft into the building) http://embeddedart.com/ Joseph Andrew Stack

Great article Chief "Moses"!

It goes away from the dumpster explosion LODD, but it's a double LODD with a very comprehensive report. A very worthy direction for this thread imho. This added report from 16fire5 is a must read for all firefighters. Everytime I read one of these reports, it gives me knots in my stomach; but it is an absolute neccesity that all brothers read this report very carefully. From the read it seems to me HFD is extremely advanced in their technology (the GRACE system), fireground tactics weren't perfect but decent, the IC did things pretty well; but a couple of tragic easily made mistakes led to two dead firefighters; an experienced Captain, and a probie who did ten years in the military, and this was his first....and last fire. PLEASE READ: SFMO Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Case FY 09-01 Excellent addition to the thread; take the time and click that link bros.

Thanks for adding to, and bumping up this topic Lieu. I always thought since this LODD happened, we never paid enough attention to it.

These people have NO IDEA that they RUINED a GREAT LUNCH PLAN at the firehouse! Oh, so you have a bomb eh? http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=508_1266295805 Edit: Better put in this disclaimer, the video is graphic, and obviously NOT the way to handle "good samaratans" who bring bombs to firehouses.....unless you have a prime rib roast in the meat spinner....nah, don't do it anyway.

If we wanted free food we shoulda been cops

You always ask good questions. You should have taken the test, got on the job and maybe made a difference yourself.

Interesting discussion. I particularly enjoyed this narative of the course of events that occured in Mt. Vernon, although it's not entirely accurate. I happened to be tour commander in Eastchester that evening. We received the call from 60-Control and the dispatcher stated "I need an engine and a truck right away. We have multiple fires in Mt. Vernon and no units available. What can you give me?" Well, thinking as quickly as possible, I told them they could have AN engine AND A truck from us, right away. This was contrary to the standing dysfunctional mutual-aid policy that stated at the time words to the effect of a mutual aid call for an engine or truck shall be delivered by consolidating two companies (of two firefighters in each company) onto ONE requested piece of apparatus. In this case, we would send an engine or truck, with the consolidated crew from Ladder 16 w/a Lt (two guys) and Engine 29 with two guys. the two companies would meet at one firehouse, transfer over to a somewhat properly staffed rig (funny and ironic that we would give Mt. Vernon a 4 man rig, yet in Eastchester we only provide two man apparatus for the taxpayers footing the bill) and respond. But what if they got on scene and needed an aerial and an engine? I only went by the dispatchers request. The urgency in the dispatchers voice led me to do what I thought was the right thing, dysfunctional policy be damned, we'll sort it out later. The rigs were sent to the 133 Frankin Ave. job, and rerouted to the Union Ave. job enroute. The 18 Battalion Coordinator was in communication with me via Nextel, and I had to direct the responding Eastchester apparatus to Union Ave over our radio frequency. I did this by pulling a Westchester County map out of the desk, and Nextel-ing the 18 Batt, and Ladder 16 officer. Like the narrative says, it turns out it was a dryer fire, easily controlled by our units and I think Fairview. But take a look at the cluster this was just to get two fire trucks into the city of MV for three fires! Oh and by the way, I got called on the carpet by the chief at the time, next day, for sending two rigs. I got reamed. Total humiliation. NICE SYSTEM. People wonder why I'm retired from that former nuthouse of a job. I can only hope and pray things get better, have gotten better for mutal-aid requests. I know depts. are working better together, and training has improved, etc. It wasn't but a few years ago, we were still in the dark ages, and to pull that system out of those dark ages took years off of people's careers. Eastchester lost quite a few officers, in the primes of their careers, because they were sick and tired of the ridiculousness of the entire system, the incomeptency of some of the leadership, and the downright jealousy of others who begrudge members who are able to accomplish improvements, in spite of the resistance from those "keep the bar low" type of leaders. Keep rocking the boat fellas. It's the right thing to do if your goal is to improve delivery of service to the people you are sworn to protect.

Negative K. One photo per post. Good luck with the new apparatus.

A search turned up quite a bit of support for police officers involved in fatal shootings across the country. One that immediately came to mind, was an incident that occured last year in the Myrtle Beach area. A School Resource Officer was forced to shoot a student who it turns out was intent on committing suicide by cop. Officer cleared: http://www.thesunnews.com/living/education/story/1216220.html Here's a recent one in the Boston area. Officer cleared: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2010/02/09/nh_ag_says_keene_police_shooting_justified/ And Salt Lake City, Utah. Officer cleared: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14343459 The Chicago area. Officer cleared: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/authorities-deem-rockford-police-shooting-justified.html And Pennsylvania. Officer cleared: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/da-says-police-shooting-was-justified-1.65545 Just as a counter-point to what you are saying Sage, I think it's helpful for us to see there is still support for cops and the responsibility they have to shoulder to keep us safe.

The '86 Mack it will replace was purchased under Chief Reid, originally new as Engine 27, eventually moving down to Bronxville as E-29. The word back in that day was how the Mack was a "floor model" he bought at a trade show, built cheaply, won't last, etc. Well, 24 years as a frontline rig later, I'd say it's earned it's final rest, and Chief Reid's purchase turned out to have been a wise one. The three ALFs EFD are running do not carry hard suction either.

Can you explain this to us in 10 codes?

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100209/NEWS01/302090033

If Bobby Valentine can't get the job done, Stamford can bring in Art Howe. If Art can't do it Willie Randolph would be next in line......