SOlsonBFDL14

Talk about a misleading headline! Nowhere in the article is there ANY evidence of "rampant misuse of sick time" yet it IS mentioned SEVERAL times in the article that the concern was mainly about swapping of shifts. Commissioner Finn made it clear to us that his main goal with this pilot program, scheduled to run until the middle of August 2015, was to ensure crew continuity. Prior to the start of the program you had guys doing straight tours (10/14 off, 10/14 3 off), first day back (14 off, 10/24 4 off) & 24's (24 on 48 off, 24 on 96 off). This is designed to eliminate the variances. Swaps are still allowed, only now you cannot owe more than 70 hours or else your ability to swap will be halted until you go below that threshold. I've already swapped two of my 24's this month due to family obligations, I've also paid the tours back so I'm at 0 as far as owing hours. Since sick time will still be taken in either 10 or 14 hour increments, I'm not sure how there will be any reduction in the "rampant misuse of sick time". The Globe does NOT like us as has written MANY negative articles about us. As always, consider the source. And we DO go to work & not abuse the s*** out of the system. Do some research before you cast aspersions!

This is something we do on a regular basis, but I have a different perspective being in a large city. We still have running cards & for M/A abide by them. On Tuesday, for example, the City of Newton (adjacent to Boston to the west), transmitted a 3rd Alarm for a structure fire. Engine 51 & District Chief 11 responded directly to the fire while Ladder 11 covered in their city. While this incident was ongoing, a 2nd Alarm was transmitted for a second (unrelated) structure fire in another part of the city. Ladder 11 responded to the fire from their cover assignment as the First Due truck & District 11 responded again. At this time, Newton requested an additional Engine & Truck from us (Engine 3/Ladder 26) for station coverage because all they had was out of town/Mutual Aid companies operating at the 2nd Alarm. So even though it wasn't on the card, they Special Called us. Same thing goes for incidents in the city. There are certain companies that due to their location always have to be covered. For example, whenever Ladder 25 in West Roxbury goes to training or is out of service for any reason, their house MUST be covered by another truck from the city. When we (Ladder 14) are out though, we generally are not backfilled. Protocol in Boston is that each District should have at a minimum 2 Engines & 1 Truck in each District (Typically each District has 3/2) and if we fall below 2/1, for whatever reason, companies must be relocated to cover in that District. Typically out of town companies do NOT respond to fires in the city unless one occurs while they are covering at a city firehouse. Mutual Aid into the city, with a few exceptions, doesn't begin until we've transmitted at least a 5th Alarm (Or equillivant) in our city

At the present time, under the terms of our most recent CBA with the city, members are required to maintain residence in the City of Boston for a period of 10 years. Following that you may live anywhere you want to, provided you have a valid MA driver's licence. Neither EMT-B nor EMT-P grants you any preference in hiring for the city. The Consent Decree that held that for every Caucasian candidate hired a minority candidate must also be hired was thrown out as of November 1, 2002. My class (Appointed 10/31/02) was the last class to fall under both the consent decree & the lack of an upper age limit. Presently the age limit is 32, up to 36 if you have 4 years of active duty military service. Hiring preference for the Fire Department in MA is as follows: 1. Sons or daughters of members killed in the Line of Duty 2. Disabled Veterans 3. Sons or daughters of members permanently disabled in the Line of Duty (retired at least 1 year) 4. Veterans 5. Widows or widowed mothers of veterans killed in the line of duty 6. Everybody else Source: MGL Ch 31 Sec 26

Date:Tuesday September 4, 2012. Time: 2307hrs Location: 26 Cooper St, District 3. Box 1212 (Cooper St @ Endicott St) Units Operating: Engines 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 14, 17, 21, 22, 33, 39, 42, 50, 51 & 56; Ladders 1, 3, 11, 15, 17, 18, 24 & 26; W12, W25, H2 K6, K7, M5 & TCU; Districts H1, 1, 3, 4, & 6; C6 Deputy Chief Joseph Finn; W1a Acting Deputy Chief Kevin Brooks; K1 Deputy Chief Bartholomew Shea. Weather Conditions: 74F & overcast. Description Of Incident: 26 Cooper St, 3 story brick 20' x 40' OMD. FA was receiving calls on this prior to arrival. Heavy fire showing on arrival. Heavy fire all floors, through roof. Defensive operations for a time. Very tight, congested area of the city. 8 LSO. 1 F transported to MGH by BEMS in serious condition with severe burns, reportedly ran from flr 3 to street through flames. 2307 Box 1212 By FA E8 E4 E50 L1 L24 TL17 R1 D3 (Ops) C6 (IC) H1 (Safety) 2307 RIT & Rehab By FA E39* L18* W25 D6 (RIT) 2310 2nd Alarm By L1 E10 E7 E3 L3 W12 TCU D1 (ACT) D4 (2nd Alarm) H2 K6 K7 2316 3rd Alarm By C6 E22 E21 L15 X1a (Rehab) K1 (FIU) 2321 RIT Team By C6 E56 L21 2334 4th Alarm By C6 E42 E51 0113 Detail By C6 E33 E17 L26 0228 All Out By D3 0444 Detail By D3 E14 L11 0745 Detail By D3 E50 (Day Crew) 0914 Clear (Building turned over to ISD) Reporters: OLSON

With all due respect, neither Westport nor Danbury HAD to turn the SAFER Grant down, they both CHOSE to. BIG difference! And in the interest of full disclosure, Commissioner Fraser chose to do the same thing here.

GREAT Fire!!! We got a LOT of work at this one! Fire started in the basement, 4 story masonry OMD. Extended up through the walls & front staircase. Heavy fire on floors 3 & 4 through the roof. We were forced to withdraw from the building for a little bit when conditions on floor 4 became untenable. Mutual Aid was as follows: BOSTON: Engines 3, 37 & 51; Ladders 14 & 26; District 4. Engine 21 covered in town. CAMBRIDGE: Engine 2; Ladder 1; Squad 2; Air Supply Unit; Deputy Chief NEWTON: Engines 7 & 10; Ladder 2; C2. WATERTOWN: Engine 1 SOMERVILLE: Ladder 3 for coverage DEDHAM: Engine 1 for coverage MetroFire District 13 Air Supply Unit.

Firefighter James Rice of Peabody MA Engine Company 5 made the Supreme Sacrifice yesterday afternoon while operating at the 3rd Alarm at 5 Hancock Street. The building was a 3 story wdfrm 6 family OMD. The preliminary cause appears to be electrical in nature. He went into cardiac arrest between floors 1 & 2 and was removed & rushed to North Shore Medical Center in Salem MA where efforts to resisitate him were unsuccessful. Jimmy was an 11 year veteran of the department & leaves behind his wife & 3 children. Arrangements are pending at this time. FF Rice's passing comes on the heels of the LODD of FF Jon Davies of the Worcester MA FD just 15 days ago.

Date: Tuesday December 6, 2011 Time: 1921hrs Location: 197 Marlborough St, Back Bay. District 4. Box 1575 (Beacon St @ Dartmouth St) Units Operating: Engines 3, 4, 7, 10, 22, 33, 37, 39 & 52; Ladders 3, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24 & 26; Rescue 1; W12, W25, H2 & TCU; Districts H1, 3, 4a, 6 & 7; C6 Deputy Chief Richard DiBenedetto. Description Of Incident: 197 Marlborough St, 4 story brick OMD. Heavy fire basement rear, extended via walls to floors 1 & 2, Two civilians rescued over ladders. Both RIT Cos. put to work. 1921 AFA Alarm By FA E33 L15 1928 Box 1575 By L15 E7 E22 TL17 R1 D4a (Ops) 1929 RIT/Rehab By FA E3 L18 W25 D3 (RIT) 1935 2nd Alarm By D4a E4 E37 E39 L24 TL3 W12 H2 TCU H1 (Safety), D6 (2nd), D7 (Act) & C6 (IC) 1937 1 x RIT Team By D4a E10 L26 2046 Detail By C6 E52 L16 2056 All Out By C6 2224 Detail Terminated Reporters: OLSON

Date: Sunday December 4, 2011 Time: 2038hrs Location: 34 Clifton St, Dorchester. District 7. Box 1734 (East Cottage St @ Batchelder St) Units Operating: Engines 3, 7, 14, 17, 21, 22, 24 & 37; Ladders 2, 4, 7, 17, 18, 23 & 26; Rescue 2; W12, W25, H2 & TCU; Districts H1, 4, 7, 8 & 9; C7 Deputy Chief Robert Dunderdale. Description Of Incident: 34 Clifton St, 2.5 story wdfrm OMD. Heavy fire in basement, B side. Extended via walls to all floors. RIT Truck put to work, new RIT assigned. 2038 Box 1734 By FA E21 E14 E17 L4 L7 R2 D7 (Ops) 2040 RIT/Rehab By FA E37 L18 W25 D9 (RIT) 2041 2nd Alarm By E21 E24 E3 E22 L23 TL17 W12 H2 TCU H1 (Safety) D4 (2nd) D8 (Act) C7 (IC) 2049 1 x RIT Lad By C7 L26 2153 Detail By C7 E7 L2 2353 All Out 2353 Detail Terminated Reporters: OLSON

Date: Monday December 5, 2011 Time: 1056hrs Location: 161 Sydney St., Savin Hill section of Dorchester. Box 1841 (Dorchester Ave @ Victoria St) Units Operating: Engines 2, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24 & 39; Ladders 3, 4, 7, 17, 18, 19 & 23; Rescue 2; W12, W25, H2 & TCU; Districts H1, 4, 7, 8 & 9a; C7a Acting Deputy Chief Miller (District 9) & C2 Chief of Department Steve Abraira. Description Of Incident: 161 Sydney St, 2.5 story wdfrm OMD with 1 story wooden addition attached in the rear. Careless disposal of cigarettes into trash barrels adjacent to D side of 1 story part of building. 1 story part fully involved, extended to all floors rear, through roof. Extended to 159 & 163 Sydney St, siding melted by radiant heat. 1056 Box 1841 By FA E21 E17 E39 L7 L19 R2 D7 (Ops) 1058 RIT/Rehab By FA E2 L18 W25 D9a (RIT) 1059 2nd Alarm By E21 E14 E24 E18 L4 L23 TL3 W12 H2 TCU H1 (Safety) D4 (2nd) D8 (Act) C7a (IC) C2 1157 Detail By C7a E22 TL17 1246 All Out By D7 1246 Detail Terminated Reporter: OLSON

I am more than willing to give him a clean slate & wait and see what happens. His reputation is exceptional & he has a strong union background. I am concerned about the direction that we're headed in, but as I said I am willing to wait & see.

14 Foster Street, Cos. stilled for CO Detector activation with no reported illness. E8 detected elevated levels of CO in the building & requested L1, Car 3 & T12 for evacuation of the building. Great pics btw!

Blind shaft, several interconnected buildings, witnesses that weren't very helpful. It all adds up. Eventually the Tech Rescue team ended up breaching a wall to access the correct shaft & gain access to the woman.

I was down at the Marine Unit's quarters teaching EMS on Thursday & Friday this past week. The members are currently training on the John S. Damrell. It is unknown when it will go into service, hopefully by the end of the year as it is light years ahead of the Firefighter.

Just to clarify an important point, the Boston Fire Department mechanics did NOT perform the brake work on Ladder 26's truck, that work was done by an outside contractor. The men that worked down in Motor Squad for many years did the best that they could with the limited resources afforded them by the Administration. One specific example that I am aware of is that one of the mechanics found out that Pierce was have a class locally for mechanics. He was interested in learning more about doing his job. He researched the class, decided to go on his OWN time & made a request to have the tuition reimbursed. his request was DENIED! With an attitude like that, why should we expect the men down there to go above & beyond? The problems down there had more to do with the city trying to get too much time out of our vehicles than they should have. Can anyone explain to me why my company, which averages around 2,300 runs a year, had a front line piece in service for 18.5 years?!? Our current truck was manufactured in May of 1993. The fact that the city, and Mayor Tom Menino, got away from the Apparatus Replacement Plan, implimented by former Commissioner/Chief of Department Leo Stapleton, is not a reflection on Motor Squad. You need proper preventative maintenance, a realistic replacement plan, a sufficent budget & well-trained employees in order to run this division the way it should be run. Sadly it took FLT Kelley's passing to shine a light on this.

Nor should you be. Local 718 & the Boston Fire Department, at the Suffolk Superior Court's urging, reached a compromise agreement. The seven FFOP's will continue to be FFOP's for the next 6 months while they continue to study for & attempt to pass the Commonwealth of Massachusetts EMT-B exam. If they do not successfully do so within the six month period, they will be terminated with no cause to appeal per the agreement. The union's point was that the city never enforced this provision it seemed arbitrary to start now. Now precident has been set so that enforcement can begin with the next class. Seems to me that reasonable people reached a reasonable compromise agreement.

Told you Steve could help! Ha!

Steve McDonald is our PIO. He should be able to help. We are sending 6 members on Tuesday the 6th. They will be flying from Boston to Syracuse & then taking a van from there to Kingston. One of the six came by the firehouse on Wednesday night with the itinarary.

Fire was on the front porch, floor 2, of a 3 story wdfrm OMD (3 decker) located at 36 Mount Ida Road in District 7, Dorchester. Heavy fire was quickly knocked down, Car 7 requested a building inspector to the scene to assess structural stability of porch.

It was indeed "Our Ed"! I was Acting Lieutenant on the first due Company. We pulled up to a 2.5 story wdfrm SFD with nothing showing & about 4-6 people standing on the sidewalk acting like they were waiting for the bus. As I made my way to the front door with my Vent & Open-Up guys we were stunned to see Ed, in uniform, carrying a naked (or near naked) body out the front door, telling us as we passed, "The fire's in the attic!" Kudos to Senor Burke!

What Rod Fraser has tried to do to this department is contemptable. He only says what Mayor Menino tells him to & he talks out of both sides of his mouth. For example: 1. In the article he states, “We want someone who can stand up for the betterment of the department against the union,’’ Fraser said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s difficult for someone who’s been in the union for 30-plus years to take themselves out of that.’’ HOWEVER a couple of paragraphs later he says, "The dozens of deputy chiefs and district chiefs within Boston Fire will not be excluded from consideration, Fraser affirmed. He said he has sent letters to them inviting them to apply. So far, only one has, he said. OF COURSE ONLY ONE HAS! YOU'VE ALREADY TOLD THEM THAT THE "FIX IS IN"! THAT FOR ALL INTENTS & PURPOSES, THEY HAVE ZERO CHANCE! WHY WOULD ANY OF OUR DEPUTIES APPLY?!? 2. Taken from above, “It’s difficult for someone who’s been in the union for 30-plus years to take themselves out of that.’’ If that truly IS the case, why did you go before the CIty Council & attempt to keep Chief of Department Ronald Keating, a member of IAFF Local 718 for THIRTY-NINE years (1970-2009) for FIVE YEARS past the MANDATORY retirement age of 65? And when that failed, instead of acknowledging that the reason Local 718 opposed the measure is because it would set a precident that could be used again down the road to circumvent the MANDATORY retirement age, blather that the reason we opposed it was because, "Keating is a thorn in the side of the union - a rare example of a Boston firefighter who climbed the uniformed ranks only to break with the department’s insular culture and embrace his role as a no-nonsense, non-union manager." (Larry Harmon, Boston Globe 08/06/11) Again from the Harmon article, "In an April letter, Menino asked the city council to raise Keating’s retirement age to 70. “It is vital that the department be allowed to retain an experienced manager and operational specialist in order to preserve its morale and effectiveness,’’ wrote the mayor, who further described the department as at a “critical crossroads.’’" Chief Keating was 63 years old at the time of his appointment in 2009. The fact that he would be forced to retire in October 2011 when he turned 65 should have come as no shock to anybody. Harmon writes, "But given Keating’s capabilities, it makes plenty of sense to keep him in place for another six months or a year. That would allow Fraser to mount a thorough search for a replacement, preferably a candidate from outside the department." What has Mr. Fraser been DOING for the past TWO years?! Commissioner Fraser and Mayor Menino KNEW that Chief Keating HAD to retire in October 2011. Why did they not start the search sooner & have a replacement in place? If he hasn't managed to find a suitable candidate in the past two years, why should we believe that he would be able to with six additional months to do so? I'll get off my soapbox now, I KNOW that the Globe is a rag not suitable for wrapping fish in, yet somehow I STILL manage to get annoyed by their biased reporting.

Not Jefferson New Hampshire. Found this pic on John Galla's website, courtesy of Josh Nigro, which shows the NH piece has a different style body in the rear & different wheels. Also, the hood reads "Jefferson Township".

The crew of 1 Lieutenant & 4 pilots will be leaving Ontario on August 29th. They will take the boat from Kingston ON down Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, across the Erie Canal to the Hudson River, the Hudson River to New York Harbor, Long Island Sound to Block Island Sound, Buzzards Bay to the Cape Cod Canal, Cape Cod Bay to Boston Harbor. Apparently this route is shorter, and thus cheaper, than taking the Saint Lawrence Seaway up to the Maritimes & down. The city wants it in service prior to 9/11/11.

Very well said Cogs! VERY well said. You hit the nail on the head, at the end of the day it IS a dangerous job. We get hurt, injured & sometimes die. It is what it is. I was not there (obviously) so I don't know what happened, but if the IC made his decision based on the best available information that what happened is a tragedy & nothing more. "Carpenters bang their fingers, electricians get shocked, and firemen get f***ing burned!" Capt. Fred Gallagher, FDNY Rescue 2

He (the John S. Damrell) is scheduled to be delivered just after Labor Day. Final sea trials are currently underway. One of my former Lieutenants at L14 is now at the Marine Unit, as soon as I have a firm date I will advise. The Captain of the Marine Division, Paul Greene, just put in his papers to retire & the position is posted as of August 1.