NoWestFF

Yes, Golden's Bridge decided to keep the 1988 Volvo/White tanker so the Department now has two tankers available for responses.

No argument from me about the order of #1 and #2, but putting gear that can be replaced above the safety/well-being of a patient who is in your care seems backwards.

Since water is as important as firefighters when extinguishing a fire and not all areas of the county have hydrants or are close to bodies of water for drafting operations, tankers in the northern part of the county are critical and will be called to the scene. You may consider the need for multiple tankers to respond to a fire as "stripping" a region, but I consider it a request by an IC for a necessary resource. Chiefs in the county who depend upon tanker shuttles are aware of the risk of pulling multiple tankers from a region, but they're as concerned with quickly establishing a water supply that will support containment and extinguishment as safely as possible. We've seen on EMT Bravo and in other fire service forums comments about the need to quickly "get water on the fire" and how "most problems go away when the fire is put out" so a mutual aid request or a pre-plan is likely going to pull the closest tankers to the scene of a fire. A good battalion coordinator or 60 Control dispatcher will recognize the impact of pulling multiple tankers from an area and compensate by backfilling some of the tankers or putting other departments on stand by.

In Westchester County, can information in the CAD system about a fire department's response area be updated by the fire department or does an employee at 60 Control have to make the update? For example if a department wants to list in the CAD the primary and secondary water sources for locations in an area without hydrants who can make the update?

Thanks for posting the photos. What's the purpose of the Hose Layer Module pod? Is it filled with larger diameter supply hose for use at incidents requiring high flows or with long stretches? If so, is there more than one such module and what is the response time? Do your front-line engines carry much hose?

The North Salem Central School District sent an email this evening:

I suggest you speak with representatives of the Somers and South Salem fire departments. Somers bought a new tanker on a commercial cab about five years ago and South Salem put a new tanker into service last year. Granted the South Salem tanker is on a custom chassis, but the thought process about speccing a tanker and any lessons learned from the procurement process (there definitely are some) should help you.

In a sad twist the little girl was in an MVA on I-684 the next morning as her mother drove her home from the hospital. The girl and her mother had minor injuries I believe, but it added to a very traumatic time for the girl.

Perth Amboy is a small town in a heavily populated area of New Jersey. It's south of Elizabeth and Newark, and across the water from the southern tip of Staten Island. Like the surrounding towns and cities, hydrants are the primary source of water for firefighting so I suspect the amount of damage was not the result of water supply issues. According to its web site the Perth Amboy Fire Department has career and volunteer divisions. There's no information about the strength of the volunteer division, but the following information is provided for the career division: "Today, the department is comprised of a Career Division of 55 full-time firefighters consisting of 41 Firefighters, 4 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, 1 Fire Chief, 1 Deputy Chief. The department responds to an average of 6,000 emergency incidents a year ranging from fires and emergency medical calls to rescue and other emergency type incidents." http://ci.perthamboy.nj.us/perth-amboy-fire-department.html

The newer turnout gear issued by my department does not have radio pockets so I carry my radio in a case on my left hip under my turnout coat with the strap over my right shoulder. This approach ensures: (1) I always know where my radio is; (2) the strap won't interfere with my SCBA or get snagged on debris; and (3) the radio doesn't become an obstacle should I ever need to use my PSS (my department issues a PSS that is carried in the right bellows pocket of the turnout pants).

I give the chief credit for recognizing a potential problem and wanting to address it. Too many firefighters are dying and getting injured each year responding to incidents in apparatus and POVs. The chief's plan is seriously flawed, however, and he should not put it into practice. If he wants to address speeding and possibly reckless driving by his firefighters there are better ways. He should start with a discussion of the plan with his assistant chiefs and company officers...what do they think? Are they part of the problem? They should be able to help enforce a safe response if they take their positions seriously and are respected by the firefighters. What about asking all members to sign a pledge to drive safely...similar to the pledge many firefighters have signed to wear a seat belt while responding to calls? One may say a pledge is only a piece of paper, but if the chief stood up at a meeting and asked all members to sign such a pledge he'd get their attention, maybe their signatures and hopefully their compliance. No need for me to comment further on the need for the chief to respond to the scene and fulfill his duties as it's been said plainly by previous posters. And I'm not a problem in my own department, I'm not a wacker and I don't have any blue lights. I'm a past chief and current officer who has his priorities in the right order.

This was a fire in San Bernardino, CA on February 28, 2012. Local reports said there were two occupants of the home: a woman who escaped the fire and a man who was trapped until rescued by the first-arriving engine crew. Unfortunately the man passed away according to local reports. The video was posted on Statter911 and there are quite a few comments about the rescue and the subsequent medical treatment. Nice job by the first arriving crew to make the grab regardless of the outcome. http://statter911.com/2012/03/27/helmet-cam-san-bernardino-firefighters-find-victim-in-house-fire/#comments

There was a similar accident over Putnam/Westchester just five years after the 1960 mid-air collision over NYC. One plane was able to make an emergency landing at JFK while the other plane crashed into a field in North Salem, NY. Thankfully far fewer lives were lost in the the second crash, only 4 as opposed to the 134 fatalities in the 1960 crash. There's a marker on a large stone on Hunt Lane in North Salem that acknowledges the accident and the local response. My Link

Given current events and this discussion thread, here's a timely article from today's New York Times about some of the difficulties Israel will have to overcome if it decides to launch an air attack on Iran's nuclear program: NYT: Iran Raid Seen as Huge Task for Israeli Jets While a U.S. led attack has a better chance of destroying Iran's technical pursuit of nuclear weapons, we can't lose sight of the difficulties our military would face and the many ramifications of an attack. Iran has prepared for an attack against its nuclear program by locating anti-aircraft systems near facilities, distributing the facilities across the country and hardening the facilities against an aerial assault. We have the best military in the world, but we should not under estimate the difficulty of knocking out the Iranian nuclear program. Don't take my word for it, listen to someone who knows a thing or two about such campaigns: “All the pundits who talk about ‘Oh, yeah, bomb Iran,’ it ain’t going to be that easy,” said Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, who retired last year as the Air Force’s top intelligence official and who planned the American air campaigns in 2001 in Afghanistan and in the 1991 Gulf War. I agree the time for an aerial assault against Iran's nuclear program will arrive one day, I just don't believe that day is today, tomorrow or later this week. I also don't think it's three years from now. As mentioned above "there's a different between patience and appeasement" and I think it's fair to say we're engaged in a multi-faceted campaign against Iran with a fair number of activities not even known to us.

Golden's Bridge has several locations which get an automatic response from Croton Falls depending on the nature of the call. For example, based on the life hazard the elementary school in Golden's Bridge gets a full response from both departments if there's a report of a fire or smoke in the building. Several commercial establishments also have a dual response for reports of a fire or smoke in the building (e.g., North County Shopping Center, Estate Motors, King Lumber). A fire or report of smoke in the building at the firehouse also triggers an automatic response in case the bad scenario of a fire in the firehouse is realized and apparatus or equipment can not be used for suppression. These arrangements were entered into 60 Control's CAD system several years ago with the agreement of the chiefs of the two departments. When Somers' Ladder 48 was put in service at the Somers firehouse it was added to the response for certain types of calls in Croton Falls and Golden's Bridge. A few calls over the past few years, and within the past few weeks, have triggered the above responses.