bmfd231

R.I.P. He was a great county executive. As a Pilot, we all felt he had our back and the vision and initiative to create the County Airport we have today. Otherwise we would still have those quanset huts from WWII. Thanks Andy for a great job!!!

You don't know what your are talking about! The only one to the rescue is Briarcliff saving OVAC's butt, and on regular basis. You don't want me to get into the details because I can document them all1 I might also add that OVAC does not run the Flycar which is a SEPARATE SERVICE. Maybe you should talk to your "Chief" and get your facts straight, because you can be dam sure I will be having a conversation with him about you.

These people are tearing us apart from within! We are all worried about the terrorist overseas, but maybe the real terrorist is our government and those people who are working to dismantle us piece by piece right here on our own soil. I hope this battle continues to the Supreme Court

Chemflex, which has been back on the market for a yearish works very well. You need to cover the top and fireplace opening of the chimney after you place the bomb in the flue. Another method (I have never tried at an actual chimney fire) is to us low power positive pressure fan and use a Dry Chem extingusher and intermittently shoot it up the chimney. The benefit for this method is no personnel needed on the roof, the negative is the pressure can force the fire thru cracks in the chimney. Must use a tic to look for extension.

In Briarcliff, we only dispatch on 46.26. We have our own uhf frequency (Channel 10) as well as a uhf crossband repeater into 46.26. All our apparatus are on Channel 10 and we have been supplying dual band uhf pagers for some time that has 46.26 thru our CB repeater for paging and the secondary frequency has our channel 10 so members can hear communications. It works very well, especially during storms when everyone is fighting for 46.26.

Anyone know the results of the Katonah Parade?

An operating department will ask a neighboring department to standby in quarters instead of coming to their community to provide coverage. The neighboring department will then respond to calls to the operating departments community but will also be available to respond in their own community as well. More importantly, if the neighboring department is needed to the scene of the operating department, the response is immediate, thus the reason for the standby. Hope that answers your question

We use the method most talking about using Chemfex. We learned a new method when the Chemfex company burned down years ago (Chemfex is now available again though) Here is the new method Clear the box Set up positive pressure fan (we have an electric one for this purpose) - use at a low to medium speed. Fan directed to fire place area Use dry chem extinguisher and spray in spurts up the chimney til out. Precautions with this procedure - The pressure of the fan can cause fire thru defects in the chimney into the structure, therefore you must make a thorough TIC inspection of the chimney to the attic. Advantages of the procedure, if roof is steep or snow covered, you do not need FF's on the roof.

We carry 300' of 5" storz attack for our ladder pipe and 200' of 3" We also carry a variety of adapters down from the 5" storz and different appliances to attach multiple hoses of various sizes.

We also use Chimfex but found out a few years ago that they are no longer made. Apparently the factory that made them burned down and was not rebuilt. While we have a supply of them, there are over 20 years old. I read a method in, it think, firehouse mag a couple of years ago where you use a positive pressure fan at a slow speed where you are pressurizing the chimney room. The fireplace needs to be cleaned out of logs, etc before using the fan then using a dri-chem extinguisher, you spray intermittently the chem up into the chimney. The fan pressure carries it up and puts out the fire. The drawback is the potential for extension from holes in the chimney so you must be checking each floor and attic with a TIC and be ready to deal with extension. I have never tried this method so do not know how well, if at all, it works. Anyone out there ever try it?

Hi TCD We had Robinson Roll ups installed in our KME Tower Ladder in 2005, all doors were painted. We have had no problems with the doors Scratching as a seal is placed around the door to prevent dirt from entering the compartment. I have noticed that there is some discoloration from those seals rubbing, but it is hardly noticable. Keep in mind that our truck is White and shows just about every partical of dirt that exists on the planet. Operationally, the doors are great because they don't stick out and we have not had to do anything regarding repairs to these doors. About the only negative I will say about roll ups are the amount of space they take up on the top of the cabinet, we loose about a foot of top space. Hope that helps

Our response protocal is East side first due - E93 & TL40 with E92 as second due. On West side calls E92 & TL40 are first due with E93 second due. TL40 is currently OOS for Maintenance, Ossining ladder was called for primary ladder. A 5" LDH supplied from the hydrant and a 2 1/2 was laid with a wye and two 1 3/4 attack. Fire gutted the kitchen on the first floor apartment.

Personal security is my primary concern when on the internet. If this site is willing to put that at risk, then this will be time to more on.

I do not believe the police should cancel responding units once the button is pushed for their response. Since the fire department would have a response proticol to follow, the FD should continue in regardless. The PD should contact the fire chief or officer in charge of the response, who would make the decision.

Unfortunately, having one agency work on separate channel is just not workable, we tried it. In Briarcliff, we have our own system, one for fire and one for ems. We had ems use there channel except when it was an mva, then they operated on fire. The reverse occurred when fire would go for an ems assist. It just became more confusing to many, where they just did not change channels. Now all operate on our fire channel and use the ems as a secondary or back up channel. Must better now

I thought the radios put in the buses were for emergency purposes only, not for their general business.

Fire 2141, the article is right on. Thanks for sharing it

I think I see the point you are concerned with. In our operations, we move to a county fireground frequency (1-8), which all departments have during a major incident. The reason we do this is to keep our private frequency clear for command (chief) use with our PD. Command normally notifies us of the change while we are responding, or shortly after we arrive. We do this early for the exact reason you are concerned, someone may not get the message. Officers normally make sure the change has been completed. Can it be confusing with your own frequecy, it was in the beginning. Once everyone settled down to the new procedure, they realized the advantage to it. For one and most important, we are not competing for space on 46.26, especially when departments lack consideration for others by not switching off it for there opertions. Secondly, It will also make it easier when 60 starts up the new system, because all will be doing the same as we do now...you will talk to 60 initially on one frequency (not 46.26) and then switch and stay on another for the duration. The biggest complaint people will make is they cannot hear what is going on anymore, and that will be true. We have, in part, solved this by moving to UHF pages with channel D set up as our private frequency, but it will take time to purchase enough for all FF's. I hope this answered your question

Current operations In Briarcliff, our operations will continue as they do now. As you know, we have our own UHF system. Once dispatched from PD on 46.26, we immediatly move to our operational frequency for the response and communication with PD. All our portables are set for the talk around on that frequency and if we have a job, we will move to one of the Fire ground frequencies. When 60 pages the call, we respond to them on 46.26 but will still use our private frequency to contact PD. In the event we need mutual aid, we use 46.26. This system works great because we are isolated from 46.26 and are not competing for air time. Trunked Systems We will continue to operate as I explained above except in mutual aid calls. One of your concerns above would be the inability to communicate (ie trapped firefighter, etc) with the outside world. This would not be the case. All units will continue to use the current fireground frequencies 1 thru 8 which is located on bank C of your mobile unit and your current UHF radios. No firefighters will be carrying the new trucked handheld radio (only three given to each department - go to the chiefs), therefore you will not be able to communicate with 60 from those radios. In a mutual aid situation, a chief or command officer would contact 60 on bank A for fire or bank B for ems. There is a home channel for each bank to make that connection. Once established, 60 can create a talk group for all mutal aid unit going to that operation. If Bedford or Mamaroneck is called to Briarcliff, they will be able to talk to the IC enroute, which is not always possible now. 60 would then monitor that group and respond to requests directly from an IC. What you need to remember is that all on the scene will continue to use the current uhf radios, using fireground 1 thru 8. All trucks and the chiefs will have the ability to communicate with 60 control Hope that helps

Felt I need to clarify this You really cannot do pretty much anything you want. First there were two VFR flight corridors for GA aircraft to use from ground to 1100 feet where you do not have to talk with ATC, the Hudson and East River corridors. The East river corridor was closed after the Lidle's crash into the building. He got into trouble because he did not judge the cross wind in the corridor resulting in to wide a turn. The East river corridor is not very wide and his Cirrus Sr20 is not a slow plane. The corridor is now permanantly closed to all aircraft except seaplanes and helicopters, which it should be. What did you mean by low level traing routes? If you are talking about military, most are off-shore or below Washington. These areas are restricted to all GA aircraft when they are active. Military a/c use them as you discuss. Any other area, all aircraft including military are restricted to 250knots below 18,000 feet. Nobody is doing 360 knots. Additionally, you are correct that aircraft can go as low as 500' if in uninhabited areas and sometimes over water, otherwise 1000 feet is the minimum

I do not disagree with most of what you have said, especially any volunteer touching a PD vehicle. POV's are not permitted on our calls on any highways, but there are one or two who sometimes do it anyway, I am against it. It is dangerous enought on these roadways with apparatus, PD vehicles, etc, we do not need a thousand more cars. Most PD officers deal with the chief or lead officer should they need a piece of apparatus moved. We have always worked closely with the police on scene and have never had any problems, we all work together very nicely. If the accident is one that was on the Taconic same day as the orginal post came out, I was at that call. It was a dual response call for Millwood and Briarcliff. Originally, the call came in as above Rt 134 so Yorktown was dispatched because it was there district. They continued south and eventually found the accident in Millwoods district, thus Millwood and Briarcliff were dispatched. State Police used a number of PD vehicles to close NB Taconic, not FD. Millwood had two units on scene and Briarcliff one. Briarcliff retired all apparatus once the ambulances left the scene, so I do not know when the remaining apparatus left. State PD kept the road closed for a photo investigation of the scene. Dispite comments made berating this scene, it was not as it was stated by the original writer, should this be the scene he witnessed. Yes, there was one or two POV's on the 100 foot wide dirt median that were volunteers who came SB and then a number of chiefs cars, also on the same median. None of them were situated to cause any interference with the roadway. The POV's should not have been there, period!!!

I have flown out of there both commercially and private. Its a great airport to go out of, with the exception that parking is terrible. When flying commercially, always take a car service. I would recommend that.

Actually it may only be temporary. I was able to get in and speak with one of the guys today and learned they lost there lease, and rather suddenly. They are currently looking for a new location, preferably in Elmsford. The store is pretty much cleared out and the phone has been placed on hold. All the materials have been put in storage Hopefully we will see them back soon

When N12 says local as local news gets, who would have known that it meant outside their building in Yonkers or Yorktown. Finally we will get news that may cover the other 90 percent of Westchester. Janine Rose has to go!!!

Braircliff has a Scottys trailer as well. Got it about 3 to 4 years ago and have found it to be a great tool in our community. We use it at schools and community events. More importantly, we make it available to surrounding departments such as Ossining, Millwood and Pleasantville for their events.