ajsbear

Capt, Truck, you both hit it right on the head. Unfortunitly in some cases its a popularity contest. In some its a body to fill a position. I looked at the Putnam County website and it lists minimum requirements for the county there to recognize someone as an officer. Another addition is EVOC, driving as well as pump. On officer should also be experienced. 1 or 2 years as an interior does not do it. It should be a minumum of 5 years as a member with the required courses. I understand we all want to be officers but remember, in the absence of the Chief, these people are in command. Some 20 y.o. with 2 years and just came out of FF1 is far from qualified. In the case of a larger incident these kids can command a large number of firefighters from other departments. Are they qualified??While some departments have a Jr. program this does not qualify someone as an officer early. Experience counts. Maturity is another qualification. This all comes with time. Lets not rush some kids into becoming Chief.

Many of the other county's in NY use the dept. number sceme. Putnam, 13- is Cold Spring, 14- Continental Village, 15- is Garrison. The second set of numbers tells you what kind of rig it is. ??-1-? is someones chief. a 1-1 is the chief, 1-2 is first a**'t and so on. 2- is an engine. 2-1, 2-2- and so on. 3- is brush, 4- is Tanker, 5- ladder 6- is rescue. See where this goes? Its simple. Yes it may be confusing at first but you do get used to it. Having the dept number as part of the rig designation takes all the guess work out of it and having to memorize every number. If a department is given a designation of # 20, then 20-anything is from that department period. You don't have to worry about reserving numbers, running out or haveing an engine designated 89 and the next one 266 both from the same dept and no rime or reason behing the number.

To show how NY and Westchester gets screwed on Gas proces. I've been traveling in accross the country on Business, in California gas last week was between 2.50 and 2.60 and that was in San Francisco and also down in the LA area. I'm in Cincinatti and I bought gas today for 1.99, yes 1.99 and it was Shell and there were several stations at that price. No name gas was a few cents cheaper. The taxes we pay in NY and in Westchester on gas are the killer.

The days of the competition between companies, and the fighting dates back to the days of when people had the old fire plaques ontheir homes or businesses and the insurance company would pay the individual "fire company" for putting out the fire in that building. That dates back to Ben Franklin in old Philadelphia. Just an old piece of history of the fire service.

I've been in the Fire Service for a long time, since I was 18 and yep, back then we did have essentials and once you took that you were considered "trained enough to go in." Today we know so much more. The equipment is much better, more technical and does take time to maintaine. YOu have to constantly up your skills. Practice practice practice. That's the name of the game. The more times you practice someting the better the chances when it comes time to doing it you'll get it right. Training should be constant. Not just weekly or monthly drills on what you know, or think you know but learn new skills. Your never too old or experienced. One thing I have noticed is even though its in the state book, none of the counties in the area list any refresher courses. I took my first class 30 years ago and while I have taken many classes, drilled etc, I know some of my skills just may have a little rust. For you younger members, just soak up the classes, take whatever you can because you never know what will happen, what kind of alarm comes up and what to expect. I don't remember who said it in a post, ALS or Firecapt, but no 2 fires, no 2 auto accidents, Hazmat, spills etc are alike. Always try to keep one step ahead but the situations are always changing so the only thing you can do is train and like the Boy Scouts say "BE PREPAIRED."

I remember the Muster's at the Dam. fun day for all, always on a Saturday in June if I remember correctly.

I think you have way too much time if you can take so many pictures. Got to talk to the boss there when I get back to NY next week. Walter, you letting them slack off????????

We are all PROFESSIONALS, the difference is some are career (paid) and some are volunteer.

Just to add to what Tom said, I didn't know Jim personally but knew of him through the Bucca's. Eve's father said he was the best, knew what he wanted and did what needed to be done. May he rest in Peace.

And another applicant for the Darwin awards!!!

Post Office wall????

Just look at what you said here, "dirt shows up BETTER on tan." You should look at the manufacturers recomendations. Gear is dirty? Wash it. Dirty gear wears out sooner, contaminants can create safety problems, come on, This was said before that dirt on the gear is not a badge of experience or courage. Fight a fire, clean your gear just like you clean your rig and tools. PPE is a tool.

The only problem going to Boston for $25 by plane, it'll cost that much in gas and tolls and take you just as long to get to JFK

I think this shows how far and wide friendships go around here and that a department can have an dinner/event that they can enjoy knowing their brothers have their back and are covering their territory and they don;t have to worry about leaving the dinner for an alarm. Way to go!!!

You can get your local news, but it is harder to negotiate.

Firecapt and ALS are 100 % right, as someone who has had Black for over 20 years and now Tan I agree, the tradition here is Black, no dig on our brothers in the FDNY but they have had black gear for ages and its carried over to the adjoining counties. Look out in LA, they use Tan. Many big departments all over the US use tan today. The few degrees it saves in the heat index gives you a few more operating minutes and with all our departments who know the limited manpower we all have a few minutes from each of us goes a long way. Screw tradition, how many departments don't use LEATHER helmusts today. You say Black hides dirt, well for those of you who look at your gear and don’t see the buildup of dirt and grime, get new glasses, read your NFPA rules on PPE, read the tags that comes with your gear. You wash your clothes right? There’s more to maintaining your equipment that just your rigs, you must maintain your PPE, a little blood from the PIAA, “Biohazard” oil and grease from the accident are also a hazard. The dirt and dust from a recent structure fire are also going to limit the life of your gear. Stop wearing dirt as a badge of experience. Proper PPE maintenance calls for periodic cleaning. I think most of us like clean rigs, well gear is just as important. Go 6 months without cleaning your clothes and see who talks to you. And for those of you who think I don't have a sense of humor, Black and Tan goes great with a 25 year old scotch.

From one ex-Mt. Vernonitte to another, congrats on reaching the 20 year mark. Has it been 20 years? I guess since I don't age its hard to keep track.

In addition to Eng 1 & 2 on Oak St. 211 4th Ave where Eng 3 & 4 were, Truck 1 on 6th Ave between 1st and 2nd Street also had one. At one time the firehouse on Fulton that housed the Rescue had one as well. Don't remember how opperational it was since Rescue was an all Career company so the horn was out of service a lot.

My family and I plus speaking for all the members of the Garrison Volunteer Fire Co wish to convey our condolences, our thoughts and prayers to the entire Arena family and all those who’s lives were touched by Jimmyboy.

They only have the one boat, 16 ft Aluminum. They had a second for a while but it never went in service. No motor and finilly gave up on it.

But they are dispatched from a center in Bingimton NY

I'll bet if we all looked around within every department, every firehouse in Westchester, Putnam etc. We can all find extra equiptment, hose, gear, adapters, axes, and all to send down to departments who lost everything.

To bad I didn't know about this one sooner, I would have brought my cars there. '67 Mustang Conv. and while nowhere near done but drivable, Model "T"

Crowd and traffic if FEMA runs the emergancy.

I'm working from home today and have FOX NEWS Network on and they're showing a crew of what looks like mostly FDNY members with several other departments judging from the different gear fighting a fire in a industrial building using New Orleans equiptment. Maybe 30+ from the footage from the air. This is what Fire Fighters are, not PR people. I do have to agree that the request through FEMA's web site did say it was mostly administrative and PR, not operational but the borthers in N.O. are exhausted. Don't know what the brothers in that hotel in Ga. thought but the request was pretty plain and simple on what they wanted the 1,000 firefighters for.