ajsbear

You mean a Tiller?

I have been down there both before and after, my wife is from the Breezy/Roxbury area and there are several issues in rebuilding. Most of the area has been grandfathered in because they do not meet current building codes. If they tare down completely they cannot rebuild by the rules. Temporay housing can be set in Floyd Bennett Field which is by Roxbury. Many of the homes have either been destroyed, burned down, or washed away. Where do you start. 3/4 of the homes have damage. Then take Long Beach. 100% lost power and much still is not back. With flooding, putting the wires underground is not an option.

Flag people get $40/hour? Where do I sign up?

Hire flagers

Hire flagers

Many departments make arrangements to move families into the fire house during the stand by. If your family is at the firehouse, you know they are safe. That is most important. The house can be repaired or even replaced if need be. The families physical well being is more important. If you know they are safe, you can concentrate on the job at hand.

It's all about taxes and the all mighty dollar. adding 1 man per shift is actually adding 4 men to the department. Add 1 per rig and you get the drift. Now figure each at a salary, benefits plus training costs etc. No one wants to see a raise in taxes. Its simple. Raise taxes and you will get a revolt. People are having trouble paying the bills already. No tell them their tax bill is going up $500 a year. Look at the other costs, gas, heating, food, insurance, health care and its never ending. My school district is looking for a 2 3/4% raise. I don't think that will pass unanimously. I just filled my gas tank. Only a 18 gallon tank and it was $70. I just cut channels out on cable and now I am looking at cutting my cell costs as well. Everyone is looking to save money so as bad as it is, you're not going to see manning go up soon. b**** all you want, no town, village or city official will listen.

At least this time they are getting something for one of their old trucks. Not like the old Rescue.

Barry I agree with you. There is way too much equipment in Westchester and Putnam. More than anyplace else except maybe LI. Look at per square mile or by population. Each town, Look at all the departments in the town of Ossining, Greenburg, Cortlandt, North Castle or any of the other towns. Why does each department in a given town need a ladder and a rescue? At 1/2 million plus each why are we replacing many of them? I see a whole new argument starting.

This thread has become a sound off for Career vs Volunteer. Many communities just cannot afford a career department and the amount of runs just cannot justify the cost. A department with under 200 runs a year just cannot justify 50 career members plus officers. The further north you go into the rural areas the poorer some of hte departments are and some barely keep up with keeping equipment running, and have no where near the latest and greatest. A lot is a mater of economics. Yes if it was a perfect world, everyone would have the same training, same equipment etc. We all have to make due and the faster some people accept that the better. I for one do not want to pay any more taxes and have thought many times to pack it in and leave NY. Look at what the average home owner pays in taxes. Not just property but sales tax but every other little tax. Home heating oil. 3% more that Putnam just in a tax, the list goes on. So where does it end...Economics.

The senior man concept was a great thing. Many of the career departments still use it when paring up who works with whom on a shift. In the volunteer service you never know who's coming to an alarm. Many of the chiefs don't look at their senior people helping train the newer members, but some do. Some of the chiefs just ignore their senior guys who have been there and done that as they don't want to be shown up. Lot of personality issues.

If I remember correctly, the day after the fire several pet cats that lived in the building were found alive in several apartments back then. Many were amazed at the way the cats hid during the fire.

When FIOS became available in my area I was one of the first to switch. Cablevison claims it pays Disney a fortune already, that's for the several Disney Channels, ESPN which they own and several other channels they own as well. It's all spelled out in their contracts. Remember it was Cablevision and Charles Dolan who spent $10 Million on an ad campaign to stop the "west side stadium" because it would have effected revenue from Madison Square Garden which they also own. If you look at your cable bill you will see a charge for "basic" which includes CBS, ABC and NBC. If you get charded for it then it is right for them to get a piece of it. Cablevision has been making money giving you the basic "free" channels for years, so if the networks are asking Dolan for pay up its only right.