HFD23

wow, way to give any one who legally has red lights or blue lights a bad name. and same thing for EMT's who would have EMT on your plate's and pull cares over.. smart one..

i think this is a good move, not only is it safer to have 5 guys on the engine, but think of it from a coast stand point, doesn;t it coast more to send an addition 10-14 engine toa scence just because your short 1 FF. that takes atleast 4 men and a rig if not 5 out of their own responce area and requires an addition eng to cover or possibly relocate to their area, this increase's responce time and requires the moving of alot of man power and rigs... i seems safer and more worth the city's wild to just bring the staffing up and i guess some one finally got smart. i can only wish paid deparments in westchester county were running 4 man engine companieson all rigs let alonw have 5 not counting volunteer companies or personal on combination departments.

My Department would be Eng 270 Yorktown Eng 170 Hartsdale Eng 165 Ardsley's Rescue Eng Tower Ladder 57 Rescue 1 Yonkers Somers Tanker Mini Attack 9

I hear that it will not be a 24/7 company.. I hear it will be like New ro who has rescue 4 and if I am informed correctly, they have a swing type crew where certain on duty members switch to man the rescue when it is needed or the man power is available. I believe this is just in the initial phase and eventually it will receive a full time company.

i often hear these types of calls and i know fairview pretty well, but as a member of a neighboring department i wonder how they decide what responds to what alarms.. as you have said 33.96 give more information, but even still ems calls get the rescue and a engine while at times investigations get only the rescue, even on some occasions just the rescue responds to a automatic alarm, i understand its dangerious sending 2 engs a rescue and a truck to a store with common alarm activations. the danger is more trucks on the road responding lights and sierns and thus it can endanger more people, but i just hope one day the rescue doesn;t pull up alone to a working fire. As i know FFD's ladder is out of service and with the loaner mack having been returned HFD TL-15 is on standby and has been for close to 3 weeks and has yet to been called to respond yet, given FFD has few high rise structures wouldn;t it be safer to have the truck there just incase its needed, sources have told me TL15 would only be called if it was a confirmed 10-75 this would be a problem then to our mutual aid agreement would that be altered? has any one discussed it? normally HFD sends eng-170 3 ff's and 1 capt and GFD sends most often Ladder 4 on a 2nd alarm. should this be swithed or will this happen and leave the 3 towns with no ladder? if so that leave hartsdale sending 170 and tl 15.. leaving only 169. i think the department need to get on the same page be4 the incident happens, the normal plans are will pre planed, but the curve ball of No FFD ladder mix's things up alittle and i think it needs to be addressed any opinions or suggestions, do other department have 2ndary pre plans if a rig is out of service?

best buy hartsdale opened friday 11/21/03 and last nite Saturday 11/22/03 we had our first alarm their being a roof fire in a Ac unit. but this gave me time to work the roof and walk through the store. i found the stock to be alot better then yonkers, much better selection in movies cds and video games then yonkers, mabe because its new, but i guess we shall see in time, its certainly more convient for me then driving all the way up south central.

congrats, you seem really dedicated and i am sure you will be an asset to your department, with reguard to training, i suggest you do read the Ifsta manual, and spend as much time a the fire house as your can, talk to your fellow members, learn the equipment, what it is and where it is. in Hartsdale prior to being able to go to a fire ground we require whats called 10 hours of training, this includes SCBA, Ropes and knots, Ground ladders, hydrant hook ups, equipment location on our rigs, fire behavior videos, and personal protective equipment. try to learn some of this stuff, as the volunteer officer in charge of training i feel that this knowledge and have been told be fellow member who have recently gone though basic and intermediate find them selves way ahead of some of their class mates who may be putting on their gear for the 1st time at basic. well good luck

i could not agree more that when purchasing a rig a department should look to its neighbors and take into account weither or not the neighboring department has a cascade sytem or a tower vs a stick. here in Hartsdale prior to 1994 we operatered ladder 47 which was a early 1950's American lafrance mid mount straight stick, and yes we had 2 of them With ladder 46 being a spare, keep in mind though there was only equipment to equip 1 thus the 2nd couldn't really be given though at a defensive or prolongedperation such as the multi alarm 68 East in 1993. but as hartsdale looked to replace these 2 rigs, the choice was made to go with a tower ladder after seein how well yonkers TL-75 operated at 68 east hartsdale as well as i believe was tower ladder 23 (dobbs Ferry). So we looked to our neighbors, greenville had converted from the mack tower ladder 4 to a stick just prior to 68east. and Fairview was operting the old ladder 1 a 100ft stick. thus the decession was a 2nd alarm gave u a eng from FFD and a stick with Ladder 4 so a tower ladder in the middle of the tri-district was deemed to be necessary. looking back i think this was a great decession by hartsdale, the tower has given alot at alarms, espically last night, it proviedes easy means to the roof with a load of equipment rather then being forced to climb sticks or ground ladders. further more one may wonder how other districts view looking to their neighbors with Fairview having just purchased a KME mid mount 100ft tower ladder, this still gives us ladder 4 with a straight stick. but don't be surprized if your see hartsdale with a worker and find TL-15, emlsfords TL and ladder 4 operating thinking to the next alarm options are White plains or Scarsdale both normally send towers Being WPFD TL-6, Or TL29 SFD, given a stick could be requested form WP i find most often TL-6 responseds cause Station 2 is so close to the edge of the district. the leaves me to wonder if the rumors of replacing Tl-15 with a stick may come true when it is deamed to need replacing. the facts are your neighbors rigs and whats on them are just as important as what your own are and contain on them.

hey, tuesday nite 11/18 and last thursday 11/13 at the WCFTC battalion 14 and 19 drilled together on fire attack, and truck company operations, stand pipe ops, and the use of straight sticks and tower ladders to enter search and rescue teams. Last thursday consisted of Ardsley, Fairview, Hartsdale, Dobbs ferry, Sleepy HalloW and Tarrytown, and tuesday was Hartsdale Fairview Hastings Dobbs Ferry Elmsford and irvington. tuesdays drill being the 2nd time around was much better organized and i felt alot was learned, both buildings were assigned at least 2 truck companies and a egnine company with a fast team and the remainder were kept in staging. it was a interesting site to see 3 aierals up to the training tower at once puttin search teams in on different cfloors all the while engine companies were attackin a fire on the lower floors witht he stand pipes, all the while the burn building had varrious crews doing search and rescue and fire attack, alot was learned form the differnet ways departments do things as well as how to get around the problems of different radio frequencies and this was the time to learn what needed to be corrected not on a actual fire ground where people are counting on you. i hope to see these types of drills continue in the future and hope that we can continue to take the trainig to the next level.

i'll get back to you guys on where the old CF is...

with the quint i can go both ways.. i agree small deparments like ardsley with very few high rise's the quint is the way to go.. this holds true with greenville ladder 4 , greenville now only has to run the quint and the engine..with 151 as the mutual aid rig or as a spare... the major thing you need to realize is just as a engine your quint only has in ardsleys case 400 gallons with a 2 1/2 like they used 2 weeks ago at the kitchen fire in the restaurant, thats not alot of flow time while your waiting for 164 to lay in... the quint shows the need for firefighter who man this rig to be crossed trained, the must act as either a engine or truck company, and somethines may have to do both. i think most of the quints like ladder 50 and ladder 4 don;t push the limits they are designed for small town departments i think these trucks save the districts alot of money from preventing them from running a truck and 2 engines the would normally be required with out a quint.. my personal opinion when choosing a ladder with a tank and pump is to keep it small like ladder 47, ladder 4 and ladder 50, the problem comes in when you go big like FFD ladder 1, its a beautiful rig, but i feel a pump and 800-1000 feet of 4 inch house and pre connects on a rig of that size is a waste of space... the truck has little compartment space due to the pump and hose bed, i feel more truck company equipment could be placed on the rig it the pump and hose were not included. The other side to this is that you give up some space and gain the ability to go mutual aid take up your own hydrant and lay your own supply line with out having to team up with a engine like when HFD TL-15 goes to white plains it requires them often to team up with eng 151 from greenville for water supply.. i guess it comes down to what your department requires most or feels is more important..

Yea, i Agree that 57 Truck is one of the nicest.. i Tend also to like Fairviews new Ladder 1, but i am kinda taken back because its a KME, i am not a big fan of their rigs.

i think a rescue needs to have extrication equipment, lots of tools, Forcible entry equipment, saws, technical rescue equipment ranging from high angle to confined space equipment. Basicly a full complement of truck company equipment along with specialized rescue equipment. Also a cascade system, numerious air packs cribing, rescue rope, dive equipment, a light tower, a electric winch,.. i personally favor the walk in heave rescues similar to the FDNY rigs. i Happen to like Katonah's heave rescue (rescue 17) scarsdale and greenville have very similar light rescues... but i feel they serve little purpose if ur gettin a rescue go atleast medium, greenville could put the little equipment on rescue 29 in a chiefs car.. a walk around rescue i think would have to go to Fairview rescue 3

A Battalion Drill took place last thursday 11/13/03 at the WCFTC with battalions 14 and 19 Fairview FD, Hartsdale FD, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley. evolutions were conducted in the burn building and tower at the same time with crews assigned to both stations. it was a good opertunity to work together and learn from each other about how the ther does things. in total there were over 75 firefighters there and numerious rigs. Part 2 of this drill is slated for This tuesday at the WCFTC at 1900hrs with Hartsdale fairview, Greenville, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry and Hastings. This should be interesting with the ability of all companies to learn more and practice together. i will save my opinions on what good things were shown by this drill for after the tuesday session.

Best Buy in Hartsdale isn;t open yet, it is slated to open monday baring some issues with the remodleing that the fire department and building department have with expressed. Also it should be noted that the floors of a trust constructions are said to be very shakey, A HFD Captain told me that when he jumped u could feel the entire floor shake and move, this would be a concern to me being that this is with no comustimers in the store. what do u think it i will be liek around christmas? let alone under fire conditions? i think this spells out a defensive operation on our pre response planning what about you?

Yes, E-151 Greenville, E 31 Eastchester, and TL-3 Pelham Manor ran several alarms for FDMV while all FDMV units operated on sanford boulevard with New Ro FD. 151 and TL3 responded to atleast one automatic alarm and thus the malfunction. The Building on fire was a 3 story building with the entire roof burned off, FDMV's TL-3 ( not 60 controls designated number) along with New Ro ladder 12 and Fdmv ladder 2 operated master streams into the fire building and protected exposures in 30 mile per hour winds attempting to contain the fire. this fire is just 2 blocks away from the fire on 1st street about 3 weeks ago..

I deffinatly agree what it depends on the district, how ever i still stand by the fact it would be best to have both. in hartsdale we have many 2 and 3 story house's along with 2 or 3 story comercial buildings, how ever we also have east hartsdale ave with many 5 and 6 story appartment buildings which require a 95 foot tower ladder to reach the roof, i stand by the fact that a tower is alot safe to work from and better for prolonged operations with master streams, how ever i do wish we had a aerial platform like FFD's new ladder 1 which combines the stick with with bucket giving the ability to climb the ladder and change personel or bring up equipment or victims downt he ladder while the bucket remains up in operation.. While i stand by the Tower as the most effective means of master stream defensive operations.. i would love to have the luxury of a 75 foot quint in hartsdale, because lets face it Tl 15 serves little purpose at a small 2 story house fire that is on the same side of the street as the power lines serving basicly as a ground ladder rig, a quint could be backed under the lines being a rear mount and put to work with roof work where as the mid mount tower ladders would have a lot tougher time with the over head wires... the quint could also if necessary be placed thorugh the wires alot easyer. i have been tring to sell the idea of running TL-15 Eng 169 out of station 2 and buy a Quint to run out of station one in place of 170 and put 170 as the spare leaving 171 for training.. Option 2 would be leaving 169 and 170 in service one at station one and one at station 2 and making the tower ladder and the quit the swing ring where the crew would change rigs based on the structure type.. and the remaing truck would stay in quarters and be filled with off duty personal and respond to the scene at that point, or remain in quarters on standby rather then bring in mutual aid companies if they were not required to the scene... Just a few ideas to think about...Any one have any other suggestions?

yup, i heard jan also, we even had our department call over for the new list and they were told jan.. its reallly a joke that dutchess and putnam have theirs already.

Personally Hartsdale only Has A 95 Foot Tower Ladder, (TL-15) i feel that a tower is much better for prolonged master stream operations. i would also prefer the bucket when making a rescue, but lets face the fact a straight stick also has its advantages it is alot easyer to place a straight stick through over head power lines or in tighter spots. I find the major short fall of our Tower Ladder is the inability to get additional equipment or man power in or out of the Bucket once it is up in operation being we only have an escape ladder, it requires the bucket to be brough back down to the ground or into the bed of the truck. i think a department with both would be lucky because it all dpends what the situation is once you arrive on the scene.