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I stand corrected. It was Ladder 16 from Station 16 and Engine 7 from Station 7. Ladder 16 was only 6 months old, Engine 7 almost a year old. They were responding to smoke condition in an area where a planned smoke test of the sewer system. Reports say that area residents were notified with fliers, and the FD was notifed. Regardless, FD has to respond if they get a call. Houston is a pretty progressive department. There is a throrough investigation underway, and once the report comes out, I think they will come up with some new response concepts, and it highly likely that there will be some disciplinary penalties. On a side note, another multi-fire truck accident occurred in October 1957 in Houston. Two firefighters were injured when pumper units from Stations 7 and 16 collided while en route to a trash fire.

I had the oppurtunity to view the trucks this morning. Both the truck and engine are totalled, and that's putting it lightly. It is probaly one of the most scary sights I've ever seen. It really is a miracle all firefighters survived and are doing well, and thoughts and prayers are with the civilians who were seriously injured. On another note, Houston will be doing a comprehensive investigation, as well as NIOSH, obviously. Both apparatus involved were Ferrara on Ferrara Igniter Chasis, and the cabs seemed to have held up pretty well-given the severity of the impact. Also being looked at are the Opticom devices on the apparatus and on the traffic signal. Both apparatus were from the same station (7).

Congrats to Yonkers! They are always adding to their arsenal....and really adding to the entire emergency services community in the region. FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090328/NEWS02/903280352

I'd like to apologize to all the members who I offended or angered by my views on the NYS Pension system. I didn't express myself correctly. Firefighters deserve and earn their pensions. The only reason I brought Hartsdale into the discussion was because it was mentioned specifically in the article, and that's where I have my knowledge of the pension system to base my opinion on. I have a total of 6 years in the NYS Pension system, and am experiencing great difficulty in rolling my pension that I supposedly "earned" into a 401K plan. My first three years, with Westchester County, I had no problem with. However, my three years with Hartsdale seems to be "frozen" and the State is investigating, but they are so short handed it is taking forever. I am frustrated with the state and the department I used to work for, but I should know better then to get involved with it on this forum. I believe that the pension system is part of the compensation package for firefighters. However, it needs better management so that it is "economy proof". Tax money does pay for our pensions, after all- and a lot of it depends on the stock market and investments. In retrospect, I do understand why "senior guys" take steps to insure a secure retirement. As long as departments allow that, then that is fine. I stand by some of my opinions, including the fact that not everyone should have to have a civil service job in order to have a secure future. I hope those who were angered at me understand. For those who wondered what happened to the original thread, I caused it to go out of control and off topic, so I consulted with a staff member who agreed it should be removed. I was also recieving some viscious emails because of that thread. Many people have misconceptions of me and what happened to me, and it really bothers me that some people believe some of these rumors....but I digress. I guess it was the way I expressed my opinion, not my opinion itself.

lad12der12FF, I misunderstood but I now see and agree with you point.

Disturbing. http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/a...mp;sectionId=46

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/a...mp;sectionId=46

Let's not forget the plane that landed in the Hudson.....it could have easily been Yonkers. Also, a couple years ago, a small plane crashed into the Hudson in Yonkers. Additionally, if you read through the summer IA's, Yonkers PD and FD perform respond to a broad range of incidents on the Hudson, including assistance north and south of Yonkers.

So....the alternative was to burn to death? FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090328/NEWS/903280398

I'm just curious- I know the new Fairview (Greenburgh) Engine 176 is the first due Engine for Wood Ave. Were they for the multiple alarm there a few weeks back? Also, Fairview has a history of succesfully using CAFS/Class A Foam to quickly knock down fires, and was one of the first departments in the area to do so (Engine 174). Was CAFS used on this fire, and if so, was the new system on 176 used? I know Hartsdale was also on the scene with Engine 170, which is also equipped with CAFS- was this deployed?

Definetly an interesting use, and some pretty cool homes as well! http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_ne...ner-houses.html

Sounds like quite an incident....does anyone know who did the recovery? Taconic reopened N/B after truck crash http://www.lohud.com/article/20090316/NEWS04/903160354

According to a friend that works for ALF, he states that Larchmont has cancelled the engine they had on order from American Lafrance. Does anyone have details on this, and if they will be placing an order with another manufacturer? I know, a few years ago, they were having serious issues with their engine fleet. What are they currently running for engines?

OK, from what I'm told- and anyone on here can feel free to correct me- is that the order was cancelled and Larchmont has no plans to go with another manufacturer anytime soon.

I got this book last week. As expected, full of awesome photos and information. A must-have book for any collector. It's also available from an EMTBravo Sponsor (if you order from them, please put in the comments uyou found them through EMTBravo!) http://www.fire-police-ems.com/books/ba8665.shtml

Wow! Beautiful truck, and awesome photos! I love the Scania chasis. When I was in Ireland in October, there were a ton of them. They are HUGE! I guess travel height isn't too much of an issue. And, if I'm not mistaken, an aerial device is considered a "special operations" type apparatus....not the typical truck company we are used to having here in the US......Rogue, can you clarify?

I love reading stories like this. It should serve as a reminder ALL of us in emergency services that we're ALL in this together, whether you're in PD, FD or EMS. FULL STORY: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...001&sc=1000 (I know this was posted in another thread, but I felt this action deserved it's own thread)

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a Round Rock, TX PD Special Detail car. All Round Rock PD officers are assigned their own "take home" marked car, and these cars are reserved for supervisors, detectives, and special details. When a new officer is hired, a new cruiser is budgeted for that officer. Also, the officer's name is on the car. The shops are constantly receiving and outputting new cruisers onto the street, and a marked one is also reflected in this photo feature. Round Rock is a city just north of Austin. I-35, a major from-Mexico drug route, runs right through the middle of the fast-growing city. It is also where Dell Computer was founded and they have their huge corporate headquarter campus here. Also home to the Dell Diamond, the home of the Nolan Ryan's Round Rock Express minor league baseball team. The city also has a growing residential and commercial poppulation, as well as industrial and other diverse sectors of the city. The PD recently moved into a beautiful, spacious $24 million state-of-the-art headquarters in the northern part of the City. It is one of the most beautiful and modern facilities I've ever been in. This was an upgrade for them from a cramped, segregated medical office building that kind of evolved into a Police station. Some features include a huge training room, which doubles as a public briefing room, etc. A forensics lab, defensive tatics training room, gym, loading dock and huge evidence warehouse for offloading evidence from a tractor trailer, booking facility, state of the art dispatch center, gated parking, indoor parking for all official vehicles, and many other impressive features make up their new facility on a 70 acre campus. Thanks to all the officers involved in this photo session of this vehicle.

They have a PDA-type device that has a printer built in for tickets. You're correct. One of the features is that they can playback footage from the camera instantly.

There is an excellent article in this month's (March 2009) "Fire Engineering" regarding fire escapes by our own JFLYNN. It is definetly worth a read, and a very well done article. I'm not sure what page, but it's entitled "Operating Safely On Fire Escapes" Also some great photos to accompany the article. Strong work and congrats on getting published in one of the best journals out there, Chief Flynn!

I worked with Grady briefly...he is an awesome guy, I hope he pulls through this quickly. He is a very hard worker. Thoughts and prayers are with him

They look awesome....sure will see some heavy duty use. The body doesn't seem too much different then their previous KME engines. I also like how they're nice and compact.

That was the ALF that was due, which was already a year late. I wanted to know if another manufacturer will be building them an engine, or will they be purchasing from a stock or demo program?

The lastest addition to the Stiloski's aresenal: Stiloski's Automotive Corp. Heavy Recovery Division 2008 Kenworth/Jerr-Dan 85 ton Steering 2nd Axle Wrecker MORE SPECS: http://www.jerr-dan.com/wreckers/rotator/index.asp?pCatID=4 (Note that Jerr-Dan is owned by the Oshkosh corporation, which also owns Pierce Fire Apparatus) (Photo submitted by Stiltow, posted with permission)

More info and a photo of the apparatus MVA in Philadelphia. Officials at the scene are reporting none of the injuries are life threatening, however they did have to extricate firefighters pinned inside the cab of the ladder truck, which looks to be one of their new tillers. http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_updat...enter_City.html