spin_the_wheel

Can a visiting fireman/dispatcher from out of county schedule a tour with 60 control? And yes we will bring the donuts.

Thanks for the info.....that is a very unique situation in westchester, did they have a gamewell firealarm system at one time. Their box system is typical of a department who once ha one but still uses them as map grids.

Don't know if this was posted before but an excellent photo site...apparatus, all stations, district maps ect..... http://ocnyfire.com

I stopped by the old HQ a few years back and there was an older gentleman dispatching, he told me that they have someone at the radio full time during the day 8-4 Mon-Fri and then evenings 7-11 or something like that, when the pd is at a busy period, is it still working that way? I had thoght they might go full time with the new radio room. Thanks for the insight.

You have a great site, keep up the good work.

I have posted a few times on various threads as a LI firefighter.....the bottom line is the Newsdays attack should be against the commisioners who are doing the crazy spending.....the rank and file back step firefighter really has nothing to do with it....we play within the rules that are set......the guys who have been around along time have seen the spending in someplaces get out of hand, and the new guys, well they just think this is the way it is. When you go and start a truck committe and the Board of fire commisioners tells you you have a 600,000 budget for a truck, why not spec out a 6000,000 truck, wouldnt you? We should not be brought down in a blaket statement. The problems with Newsday stem back many many years...its not just this article. There are close to 200 departments on LI. Newsday has sited only a handfull that are way out of bounds with examples that get even LI firefighters disgsusted. Again I invite any questions you may have. also a good link to LI fire chat http://www.fireemsli.proboards26.com

I believe all the Volli companies in the city have a budget line in the city charter for $$ from the city, but it's a silly amount something like $1000 a year. The rest they get from donations, and fundraising.

This is true, like some houses in Westchester Im sure, many on LI are owned by the companies themselves. My company does an annual Easter Plant sale, sells chance tickets 2 times a year, and does a third activity of something new during the year, we last tried a murder mystery dinner/show. We as a company buy that large screen tv, or a playstation system. Company jackets were last bought half the members $$ and half from the company who we bought our truck from..they include money for a "wet down" in the contract. We do our own work to decorate our clubroom .... we dont have a tiki bar theme but if we wanted to decorate it that way who cares? Our Bar B Q is donated from a member and so on.... Newsdays Beef should be with the Fire District Commisioners...the 5 elected officials who choose to spend in a ridiculas way....my problem with this whole series is that they are making a blanket statement which make the rank and file back step Fireman look like he is guilty of the crazy spending. Not so at all.

Ladder 626 is a 1998 Pierce 100ft. rearmount 10 man cab...it replaced a 1986 seagrave 6 man cab rig......12 years for replacement. Also at the time 626 was one of the only trucks in the department to not have a full 10 man cab rig. They were not able to ride the back step and wanted more room for manpower which they do get. Also the seagrave was a single axel truck with alot of wear and tear on it.

Again this depends what time......Uniondale FDs procedure for certain alarms...like a report of an alarm ringing without a second source for fire is handled by Hofstra security and the Uniondale fire inspector during the day and a Chiefs call. So if you were looking for apparatus they may not have been alerted.

All I will say is the Departments that have done the crazy spending are the minority, but to sell papers they must make that the headlines. Also some of the Firehouses they mention with pools and what not, are owned by the companies, they do all the upkeep and have to take care of the bills. If the members want to build a bar b que pit or put in a pool on their property whats wrong with that? The article is blowing it way out of proportion. You mean to tell me no Westchester Vollie houses have a club room or bar? Pool table, horseshoe pits? Large screen tv, gym, expensive ladder trucks that dont fit into exsiting firehouses? Be carful before you throw rocks. Dont get me wrong.....Im all in favor of the gross sepnding being controled better...but dont label all of LI like that.

Not true.....I worked for 3 years as a paid Dispatcher full time in Levittown, I have never heard anyone say that they have 2 ladders for mutual aid to Bethpage. They have more then 1 building over 2 stories...in fact they have a few 4 or 5 story buildings, multiple garden apartments, shopping malls, car dealerships ect... The police station fire was more then several...maybe 15 0r 20 years...that is true but around 98 or 99 they entered into an automatic mutual aide procedure with Bethpage, where the closest stations will be alerted....a first on long island I admit and way over due.........they have 3 stations, and if i may say so...their "drill" team for competition was never that good....they did it for fun, and did not spend more time doing that. Their drill policy was more then most departments when I was there 4 sunday drills and 4 night drills during the week and u had to make 4 a month. Your info was way off.

As a 20+ year member in a Nassau LI Dept. I can tell you that this report was in the works prior to 9-11, with that tragic day Newsday it seems decided to hault the reporting for this article. I guess someone wised up at Newsday and figured it was a bad time to bash the LI fire service...so here it is now. Another point I would like to make is that Newsday has always wanted to be more like Newsweek and Time Magazines then a newspaper, most days the front page is about world events...never about soemthing on the island. Fire coverage for NYC is always put foward in the front pages in the Post or the News, in Newsday a small article on page 32. I myself wrote to Newsday about 14 years ago making a complaint about the coverage of a line of duty death of a senior fire police member in a Dept., he was hit by a car while directing traffic at an alarm. His article was on page 2o something...no picture, just a paragraph or 2. At the same time the front page had a photo and story about an old ku klux klan trophy that was found in some departments trophy case, donated to the dept. for a parade or some other silly thing. The trophy dated back to the early 1900's, and no doubt sat tarnished and dusty for decades before soemone spotted it and made a big deal about it. Newsday ran story after story about this, and the line of duty death got no coverage. This is true, and is only one example of how this paper has overlooked the fire service in Nassau and Suffolk. I am interested in seeing the letters to the editor that will follow...I may even be sending one once I read the whole series. I welcome any LI fire service questions from the members on this board.

This site is a forum somewhat like this one...and as you read some of the topics, dispatch, firehouse placement, apparatus....you will find we all have the same problems......just the names change....... http://www.fireemsli.proboard26.com

oops it should be... http://www.fireemsli.proboards26.com

I read awhile back on another thread somewhere of a truck committee in place to spec out a new ladder for Hastings...are they still looking at a new tiller?? any info out there???

Port Chester's Yellow Maxim engine just went out of service a year ago I think.

www.longislandfirealarm.com www.firenews.com www.nassaufirepages.com

Is anyone aware of a Rockland County fire board in operation like this one?? Whats the link? Thanks all.

I'm from Nassau on Long Island, and for the most part this topic has been talked about for decades...in fact I have a 5 part article run in Newsday from the late 70's speaking of the same stuff. I do agree it may have gotten a bit worse, but on the EMS level. Many Departments in Nassau and Suffolk have paid AMT's on duty during the day, as well as some overnight in Suffolk. Nassau County PD run an ambulance division which takes a load off the Volunteers, but in Suffolk ems is run by FD's and Ambulance corps. with a few private ems firms in the loop. The techs are classified as part time in most departments and get an hourly wage. As for the Fire side what will happen is more automatic mutual aide systems being put in place. Levittown, Bethpage and East Meadow have some areas where on the first alarm a station from another district is alerted, but this is in place more for the fact that the district lines are drawn so crazy that another districts station is a block from the border of another. When it comes to working fires the system still works. Anyone having any LI questions feel free to drop me a line on the board.

Before you all laugh at me...I am from out of county so please excuse this question.....Sleepy Hollow is/was North Tarrytown?? When did the Department change it's name...anyone with a bit of history about this?

Hastings Hook and Ladder Co. has a nice old looking building.......when was it built?

As long as one of the covering companies knows the area....Rye I'm assuming...then I see no problem with some far off standby units...all the companies are leaving at the same time from one house, correct?

Not counting the "big city" departments....who in Westchester has the most runs, working fires? If ems/ambulance call are part of a Departments total #, try and break down between fire and ambulance. I'm not from Westchester, and from checking out the archive photos...I see Tower Ladder 57 at alot of working fires.

Date: 10-4-05 Time:08:32 Location:281 Biltmore Ave. Frequency: 484.9625 Units Operating: Elmont FD, 4 engines, 2 ladders, heavy rescue, ambulance, rehab unit, Franklin Sq. fast team, Floral Park Ladder, Malverne Engine. Valley Stream ladder, West Hempstead Engine standby at Elmont HQ. Description Of Incident: Heavy Fire in 2 1/2 story p/d. Writer: Ladder47