wraftery

Even for big incidents, the CP shouldn't be remote but back far enough to see the whole box. Nowadays that can be done with the help of electronics. But if the incident is the Whole Mountain, the best CP might be the next mountain. In 1958, the Fireground Commander was the white hat in the street, and yes, the other chiefs I mentioned would be divisions today under ICS. Fried's book was Fireground Tactics, but Strategy and tactics are closely tied. Strategy being the major goals, tactics the steps to achieve those goals. If the strategy is helicopter water drops, you need pilots who can tactically fly the helo with the bucket dangling around. The FC or IC has to know tactical capabilities of his people before coming up with a strategy. So,helicopper, I think we are saying the same thing. Like you said, a couple of entry level ICS courses doesn't catch it. Then you have another group that take ICS courses all the way to 400 so they can say they are trained IC's, then never put what they learned to use. Their firegrounds are neither organized or commanded, but they throw out a few ICS "words" over the radio and are happy with their fiasco. Gotta stop. I feel like I'm working up to a rant.

Let me massage that a little bit. Fires come in boxes and boxes have six sides. The Fireground Commander should ordinarily be in the street in front of the building, but in larger incidents, far enough back (not remote) to be able to see the box. The second Chief is normally assigned the back of the building. Third Chief gets the most threatened exposure. Oh, by the way, that's not my idea or Ics's. I got it from Emmanuel Fried's book on tactics, 1958. Manny Fried was way before my time, but his book is well worth comparing to today's command structure. He was a FDNY BC who also taught at the Westchester Career Firemen's School in Mt.Vernon, the predecessor of college degrees in Fire Science.

It's Multiple Choice on a Scantron answer sheet!!! It could be corrected statewide in a week. They used to blame the time delay on the protest procedure. That ability to protest went away and the time delay got longer. You and I could correct Westchester's FF exams (only 800 or so) Manually...only working half days...only on weekends...and you're Jewish so weekends are only one day. And it would take us a lot less than Westchester's average time of about 5 months.

Everything in life is a liability issue.

Some Chiefs think most people under them are dumb. Other Chiefs think most people under them are smart.

As an add-on, not an answer to Jflynn's "seems like it's progressive" statement, I do know, Chief, that the University of New Haven offers a BS degree in Fire Science. It's got nothing officially to do with NHFD, but the way I see it, colleges have to have a magic number of students to offer a major. They have to make their money. Thus, they must be drawing a number of local students to make the major financially feasible. Whether or not the NHFD itself is progressive, my guess is that at least their people are seeking educatiion in their careers. It's logical to me, John.

Sorry, guys, there may be a catch. I've been out of touch with how the hiring process works for a while but here's how I think it goes: You could have a 95, for example, and be #10 on the list. But there could be 20 persons with the same mark and they are also # 10 on the list. There could then be 20 more persons with a 96, 5 persons with a 97, 3 persons with a 98, and so on. I suggest you talk to some FF's who were recently hired (not the old guys because things keep changing in the hiring process). If you don't know any, stop in a firehouse and ask. Most FF's will be glad to give you the straight skinny.

You are in a great position. Congratulations! Now, the only thing against you is your residency. Do some research on departments that do not hire residents first.

All in favor say AYE! If you and three others call Westchester HR on the same day with the same question, you will get three different people and get three different answers. This has been the case for many many years. One time we(some of the brothers and myself) took them to State Civil Service commission on a complaint about some shady moves on appointing someone to a position without a test, even though a list was in effect. The state commission said on record that Westchester has a reputation for "bruising the system, but not breaking it."

Even cheaper is Residential Sprinklers. Something else to ponder is how many mansion owners are participating (not just on-the-books) volunteer firefighters in their communities. Do the serfs do all the firefighting in some N Westchester communities?

I am not talking Georgetown TX here because I don't know anything about them. These comments are general comments and points. Fires come in boxes. The IC must have reliable information about all six sides of the box. If the Capt(IC) is inside behind the nozzleman or doing a search, he has very little knowledge of what happening to the box because he is inside the box. In the first few minutes it is necessary for him to command and attack at the same time but all efforts should be made to get a Chief officer on scene asap to establish proper overall command of the incident. As we all know, the first couple of minutes of an incident are possibly the most dangerous minutes of the entire incident. It's the time when things can go wrong very quickly. The BC should be on scene in the least possible time behind the first due. If the BC doesn't leave his quarters until an incident is confirmed, it is the equivalent of sending a police officer to "check it out" before notifying the FD. Automatic Fire alarms and reporting systems don't ask you lower your response. They tell you that THERE IS a fire. There are two things you can do on automatics. One is to go look and see assuming there is no fire. The other is to assume the alarm system is doing what it is supposed to do...reporting a fire. Don't ever get lulled into that "it's probably nothing" mindset. One day it will come back to haunt you. Go on every run lke it is going to be a worker. A BC should always run on automatics because those automatics are reporting a fire in a structure. Think about this hypothetical conversation: NIOSH:"(Battalion) Chief, the timeline of this incident shows you arriving 10 minutes after the initial 911 call. That puts you arriving on scene 2 minutes after flashover and subsequent mayday call. Why the delay?" Battalion Chief: "Well, sir, about a year or so ago, the Department changed the criteria for the BC's to respond. We no longer respond to a number of calls that we used to because we weren't getting time to get our paperwork done, and that's a major part of the BC's job." 'Nuff said?

Anybody have any thoughts or insight into this?

Make sure you quickly read the paper to find out what you didn't say to the journal news reporter. Mangia bene, mi fratelli pompieri.

Battalion(s) – The city currently has one Battalion. This is usually made up of 4 to 5 stations and the companies that are quartered there. These companies and personnel are supervised by a Battalion Chief. There is a Battalion Chief (BC) assigned to each of the three shifts. Battalion Chiefs also are assigned to staff positions, such as Training & Safety What does "usually made up of 4 to 5 stations and the companies that are quartered there" mean? Are there 4 Stations or 5 stations? Are they operating with stations being browned out? And what about the"unusual" days? What does that mean? This description of a Battalion seems to be carefully and purposely worded the way it is. I perceive there is something between the lines but I cant read what it is.

Tell your friend to keep writing. So far he only covered about the first half hour he spent after walking in the firehouse door. Even if he was lucky enough to grab a cup of coffee before walking to his (and the other BC's) office, it got cold sitting on his desk while he straightened out the manning problems. Next paragraph should be what the offgoing BC is going to tell him. It will wreck all the plans he had for the day for training, etc. Now the phone rings and Engine 2 was to be at the city garage a half hour ago. Where are they? Oh, wait... we got a run...6-Story ordinary...multiple calls...smoke on 4, 5, and 6. Thank God, a fire...I needed the break.

My understanding of trunked systems, be they digital OR analog, is thst they operate on a system similar to your cell phone. It is shared use of a system. It is like eight people living in a house with five beds. The system works as long as no more than five people want to sleep at the same time. Otherwise it fails. Did your cell phone work on 9/11/01? No! Why? All 9 people wanted to use the beds. OK, it was a major event, andd a surprise so EVERYBODY wanted to check on loved ones, so cell lockout was expected. How about that teeny-weenie earthquake we had on the East Coast a month ago? You guessed it...all nine people wanted to use the beds, so your cell phone got locked out. I am not a communications expert, but I do know a little about Baseball. Three strikes and you are out. I am afraid, my brothers, that we will go down swinging.

Amen for the stupid people out there! Sometimes you go out on runs, sometimes they come to you.

Yes. It wasn't my fire but it was a 2-story, 75x30 Dinette place with offices also on floor 2. Offices had their entrance on the rear side. Heavy fire on floor 2, (many dinette displays). All glass front allowed the Tower Ladder to make a quick outside knock down. In fact, the TL was able to blow thru the sheet rock walls and penetrate their stream all the way to the back of the building. For those who want to try this tactic, Take the glass first with hand tools, then use your smallest tip and crank up the pressure. It may not work at first, but once the sheetrock softens a little, it should penetrate the wall. Jesse's Hot Dogs had a little burn too. He sold some HOT onions for his dogs!

The GFD guys know better than I, but I think it was a block building, virtually windowless, with a concrete roof...tough to gain access. Before Newmark and Lewis, I think it was a Discount Lumber and hardware store. They used to sell things like warped 2x4's and scratched up wood paneling. One of my favorites of all time: you could get a very good deal on Levels marked as "seconds." GFD senior guys- was it Weber's Lumber?

Uniforms, pink fire engines or whatever. I think we are into too many causes without doing any research into the cause. How much money does the charity already have? What are their CEO's making, and what percentage actually gets to the cause? Did we look or did we just jump on the bandwagon? You could be very surprised! And,yes, I am wearing a pink T-shirt...my wife washed my whites with a red golf shirt.

This row of apartments appears to be ordinary as reported above,, but New England is chock full of similar buildings that are of balloon frame construction. They are known as "Triple Deckers," (pronounced deck-aaahs) and usually don't abut eachother but are only separated by an alley that a tall guy can extend his arms and touch both buildings. The are often sided with asphalt shingles that we refer to as gasoline siding, and even when the building is upgraded to vinyl siding, the asphalt is underneath. They usually have a rear deck on all three floors, sometimes with wood stairs. The buildings at this 6-alarmer probably had firewalls every so often. This era building usually has brick for firewalls, but the top of the wall doesn't go higher than the roof, and one can expect to find brick nogging which can often allow the fire th get through the wall. Thanks for the post, Cap. I would guess you climbed a tall tree there in the Florida Keys, thus getting an unobstructed view of Boston. Thanks for the inof, DWC295

He who laughs last took longer to get it.

We should bring back the Bangor Ladder because it takes 6 men to raise it and that would mean we would need 6-man Ladder Companies. The Detroit Door Opener will make a comeback, too. It will be renamed the Motown Doorknob Remover and Terrazzo Cracker.

Sorry, Bnechis. I agree with you. I was trying to keep it uncomplicated and missed a step. I was trying to make the point that FAST can have no gaps. It must be continuous...start to finish.

I perceive some common misconceptions among members of the Fire Service in NY State that should probably be cleared up: FAST (RIT or MAT) is not a NY State rule, it is an OSHA regulation, hence, Federal law. You are not allowed to enter a structure on fire beyond the incipient stage without SCBA, training in its operation, and a qualified rescue team in place. The rescue team must remain in place as long as anyone in SCBA is in the building. NY State is not responsible for training you. It is the responsibility of your employer, that is, your department. If you are a volunteer, you are considered an employee of your department under this regulation.