spin_the_wheel

How critical are service repair facilites? I guess that would vary from one Dept. to another. How critical do they view down time for first line units? Do they have a replacement spare? Can members ride other rigs during alarms? Is there another Engine close to this companies first due areas? Does this company have first due area specific equipment other Engines in the Dept. do not have? If a rig has to be out of service even one day longer then it should, purely due to the distance of the repair shops, that alone can be a case to argue. Even more so to the members, if in fact during round 1, it was brought up to them that closer dealers exsisted to the village.

So they went with Crimson-Fire and the dealer in Suffolk County NY, Hendrickson Fire. Boy where is that Bayville - Rye bridge when you need it!

Pretty harsh statements "rigged a bid" (in another prior post), "advicate breaking state law". I thought the Company from day 1 stated you needed to be very careful with the size of the rig? Whats done is done, and to the taxpayers it looks like the village took control and screwed it up.

Political courage maybe so..but now they are the ones that have pie on their faces. Espeiclally if the voices of the FD went unheard or were disregarded.

Nice pics...what's interesting is there is not one Tower Ladder working that fire, all straight sticks.

This is a April Fools joke right?

I have used the search sleeve at close to a dozen jobs, and have not had a problem with it. It stays on your gear jacket forearm area, you dont put it on and off each alarm. It is a snug fit around your wrist when sliding your arm into your jaket, but once your arm is in the jacket it stays put on your forearm. I have not had a problem with it catching on anything, or a problem working/climbing/crawling. hey we have all blown money on other "toys", I think this is worth trying for anyone. Like others have stated, you can never have to many lights at your disposal.

I try to carry stuff that you will use alot of the time. A nice set of cable/wire cutters, extra cheap light, a decent knife, chocks, webbing, an etra set of clean cheap (hopefully dry)leather work gloves. I also carry a few bungee cords. IN a separate leg pocket alone so they dont hook on anything else when you pull them out. I find they come in handy when you need to keep a storm door open, (not rip it off). 1 out of 3 storm doors dont work right or are broken. I hate to see a "can" proped up against the door, you brought it for a reason dont use it as door stop. You can wrap the door handle with one end and then stretch off to almost anything, mailbox, under side of a piece of siding, railings, flower pots, bushes to keep the door wide open. It's important to also have "life saving" items, cutters, a knife, in pockets you can reach easily when needed, on your strong hand side of your gear.

Not sure but if I recall it was a show "special price" around $50 for the sleeve and the light. Well worth it. It's one of those things that comes in handy at every fire.

I picked up one of these in Harrisburg last May. Been using it almost a year now and have used it at a dozen jobs or so. Works fantastic and weighs next to nothing. easy to turn off/on with a gloved hand. http://www.searchsleeve.com/

What type of response does the Volunteer members play in the everyday runs? Are they only alerted for workers? I would have to say the most successful, and maybe the only consolidation in the area I have ever heard of are the towns that make up the North Hudson Regional FD in Jersey.

You are right my views come from what I see here and from the freinds I have made from Westchester ,due to this site. I am an outsider and I really dont know what is going on. But I do think it is eaiser for Rockland to unite more as one due to the fact it is all Volunteer. Sorry if I mispoke or pissed anyone off...really. be safe all.

2 things, Rockland is a much smaller County, it's easier to keep a finger on the "pulse" of whats going on, and the demand for classes needed. The other thing it is an all Volunteer County, members see it as ONE fire service. I have been on this site for years, forgot how or why I stumbled here, but there seems to be a lot of friction between career and Volunteer. Many in Westchester do not see it as one fire service. The posts speak for themselves at times.

Correct, but lets start at the top. School taxes.

The other thing everyone always does is compare to FDNY which you cant. If a career or combo Dept would form in a LI town it would be like the combo Depts already in Nassau of Garden City (which just cut its daytime career staff from 6 to 5) and Long Beach with 4 on duty, 2 of which spend almost all day running an ambulance. Or like the small combo's in Westchester. With manpower of 2 or 3 on an Engine 1 or 2 on a Ladder. Dont compare FDNY #'s. They are the only Dept, in the country running a 6 man Ladder and 5 man Engine. The Dept.s in my area get more manpower out to an alarm then if you made us a career Dept. Of course we are not the norm but it is what it is. The salary range would be that of existing area staff $80,000-$100,000 for a regular F/F. How many could you hire before you start wanting to lay off. Remember those #'s will never go down.

Part of the problem goes way back. It's the history of the development of the Volunteer FD's in this area. 100 years ago multiple companies would form in a community, sometimes stations were built in close proximity's to each other, usual built up around the "town center", where most of the "action" and population would be. The companies would be more then community oriented they would be rivals, and fight each other to get the first water on a fire. "Dont join Engine 1", "Lets start our own company", and it was cheap to do so. How many Depts have a Engine 1, Hose 1, ladder 1, even a Steamer co. 1, no one wanted to be #2. Back in the day when things were cheap, what community would not want to be protected by their own well equipped FD.. 3 to 5 Engines 1- 2 Ladders ect... These Depts would be running a fraction of what we do today. The next town over would want the same well equipped FD as their neighbor, and why not. Fast forward 50 years and the money is now way out of whack, so the answer is to cut companies to save money. The way we look at our past history must be adjusted. Like other have stated, its better to make the changes on our terms, or at least close to them rather then having someone else come in and really screw it up.

This is not true, in some cases maybe a few career members would help, but to switch to a an all paid service, no way. As I said, the outrageous tax bill, that started this whole thing, is a single case. This is not the case in most places. Fact is the neighbors in Gordon Heights want taxes like the surrounding districts. Those taxes are the norm for LI. They would be happy with the tax base of the other districts.

This has never had anything to do with making a career Dept. Consolidation in fact would make the volunteer system stronger. You cant compare FDNY to LI its Apples and Oranges, I guess you are a FDNY guy with the name FDNY 10-75?

I agree on the rescue trucks. Unless you run a specialized unit, for TRT incidents you do not need a Box rescue rig. Back in the day you needed these rigs to carry alot of the equipment you couldnt fit on Engines and Ladders of the day. Now the rigs are much bigger and offer a much larger array of cabinet space. Today's rescue pumpers and ladders now can accommodate any sort of extrication tools needed plus generator and lighting systems the older rigs could not. Very rare nowadays to see dedicated Flood light rigs anymore, specialty lighting has been designed into the new apparatus. Alot of the problem comes down to the companies that run these rigs in many Depts are a separate "Rescue Company" or "Patrol" in your neck of the woods. Get rid of the rig, you get rid of the company and all the history that goes with it. I know times are different and things need to change, trust me I GET IT, but its not that easy to just disband an 100 year old company just like that. Believe it or not there are a few Depts in Nassau County that have "taken" the Rescue rig away from the Rescue Company because of declining memberships and other reasons, or have spec'd out rescue pumpers to replace box trucks.

Fact is almost all the taxes for FD service on LI are one of the lowest tax line on the tax bill. The Gordon Heights bill is 2 to 3 times higher then everyone else. It is THE highest on LI. Don't use them as an example.

I would think you would have to be very qualified to have jurisdiction over the plant "Chief" or IC. Is this a government run site? There are alot of special sites where the local FD's are "stopped" at the gates so to speak. Jails for one, just because you are the local Chief of the area the structure sits in does not always mean you will be calling the shots.

When do the local FD's respond into the plant? Is there a multiple alarm procedure in palce at 60 control? thanks guys be safe.

Does Indian Point maintain any fire apparatus or special units designed for the plant? What would, say an odor of smoke in one of the office buildings, bring for an alarm response? Would that be handled in house or would local FD's come in. I am sure 60 control has a multiple alarm procedure in effect for large scale alarms. Thanks all Be safe!!

Thanks Dude!

Like you said in the Chiefs car post...this has been discussed before. Consolidation is going to come to certain Depts. on LI in the future. The smaller Dept.s running under 300 alarms a year I would think in time will be merged with their larger neighbors. Gordon Heights is one that something must be done about. The tax is way out of line. What is not mentioned is that in the long run it will not hurt response time, because whoever takes over the district will probably leave an Engine and ambulance in the station. The members would merge with the "other" Dept., membership would just wear a different patch on their class "A"'s. The firehouse would now say "XYZ Fire District" "Gordon Heights Fire Company". My Dept. borders 2 very small Depts. If we were to "take over" those areas, in one case, we would keep the station and house an Engine and ambulance in it. The members would stay in their respective station or have an option to transfer to one of our other companies. The big problem would be for those Dept.s to loose Officers and Chiefs. But in the long run, they would be given a chance to advance in a larger Dept.. For a young kid just getting involved in the fire service who wouldnt want to be a part of a Dept. doing 1700 runs a year instead of 80-300 runs? It would be the older membership that would fight this tooth and nail.