robert benz

the dispatcher had to have a lot of info to determine that response I would think I have been to dozens of "extrication needed " calls to find everybody out of the car. All our apparatus come with reverse, just send them home.

I have to ask, why this discussion about a term? is it for dispatch, or what? a pin job is a pin job, some are harder, some take more time, some pop a door go home. I cant see having this discussion except after about 10 beers lol

knowing your misses that is a very smart move

ok, Maybe in the writers area or mind the fire service is alive and vibrant. From what I see, the fire service is in deep trouble. Volunteer membership is declining, career depts. are being cut to the bone, or are stagnant. I believe todays firefighters are much better trained, and are more dedicated than previous generations. But there are not enough of them to fill the voids, at least in our area. Due to the increase in call volume, training, state and federal mandates, the fire service is finding itself hard pressed to keep up with todays conditions. We have too many Commissioners, Chiefs, and elected individuals, who are more worried about money and votes than fixing a broken system. A house fire today requires mutual aid. when there was more members in the dept. there was pride in taking care of your own business. State and federal mandates, Bailout systems, 2 in 2 out, fast, NFPA, have been enacted to create a safer fire ground, But no more ff's to do the job. The patch on your uniform says XYZ fire dept, yet the truth is XYZ plus 5 surrounding depts. is what is needed for your average house fire. The writer doesn't like the bashing, but what is actually being bashed? the truth? The public is fed up with high taxes. Police depts. are consolidating, At some point, somehow the laws will have to change to allow fire depts. to do the same. Then and only then, at least in this area, will fd's be as alive and vibrant as the writer states. This is just my opinion, let the bashing begin lol.

what do you use for supply lines?

why?

From my take on all of this banter about how to respond, are your drivers that bad? So out of control that you don't trust them to get from one location to another? If it is the driver that is reckless, and the officer doesn't have the balls to control him, that is the real problem. If it is the officer that is out of control, and the driver lets him get away with it, that is another problem. IT IS ONLY ANOTHER CALL WE ARE ASKED TO RESPOND TO.

My thinking is this about responding, just because you are r/l/s doesn't mean you have to drive any faster then "normal" there is a saying you don't make up time on the road you make it up in the firehouse getting ready. Traffic being what it is you will never get where you are supposed to if you don't make noise.

the way I see it if you get into an accident at anytime you have some questions that have to be answered. I sure the response to mutual aid it is easily answered in every dept's sop's.

Part of this is true, the candidate gets a second try a couple of weeks later. This new standard is for both career and volunteer ff's. What was explained to the chiefs was "this is not to get rid of potential firefighters, it is to have them in-house trained to expect this when they get to class. We (the fire service) do a disservice to volunteer recruits when we hand them all their gear and tell them to show at class night one, and they haven't even worn it yet. Several depts. in Westchester are way ahead of the curve by doing months of in-house training before sending anyone to class. AND IT SHOWS. I read one comment that stated each dept should be responsible for their own training. I agree. Who gets to over see this? With this new OFPC standard the instructor who trained the recruits is not the same evaluator for final skills.

so just a medical no physical abilities at all? while I am on the subject how strict is your (not specifically your) dept on facial hair. Sure I shaved the day I needed to pass the fit test, and then grew my beard back. I see plenty of that at the academy from chiefs on down, all calling themselves interior. HMMM and medicals are supposed to be the only reason someone shouldn't be interior. Why is it that everytime the fire service asks for a bare minimum standard it is looked at like we are being forced out of business?.

wow really!!! so I guess you have no problem being teamed up with someone who CANT do this and he/she is your interior partner. How did the instructors become the enemy in your mind?

although they proved their point, look at the kink of the ldh. as a boss I would question why they didn't use a side gate.

you got my interest, you have staffing for 4 pieces of apparatus, but the truck isn't a priority. If it is sometimes last, and sometimes not at all, you don't need water, you need firefighters.

I just came back from Detroit, I talked to guys who were at the Buhl building fire June 11 1982.(google) has a few pics of a 16 foot roof ladder lashed to the tip of a 100 stick, and the boys getting a 50 extension ladder to the tip of another 100 aerial to make multiple rescues.

why does he have to go outside the dept to find a good man???

nice pics thanks

As a fire instructor I had to again notice the push back from the chief who stated he only had to take a 60 hr course, and now it is 112 hrs. "Who wants to drive 2x a week to Carmel". It is thinking like that NY State is on the lower end of FF-1 course hours. And that always leads to the Career vs Volunteer debate. The last class of recruits traveled 5x a week, 8 hrs a day, for 16 weeks. That is 640 Hrs. With the constant threat of failing out due to poor grades, or not being able to pass CPAT. 19 out of 20 that started finished. It isn't a game, it isn't about how many members your dept has, it is about giving the customer the service that is expected from a group of people that raised their right hand a swore to protect to the best of their ability the life and property of the residents of their community. If we do nothing the fire will still go out. The ends don't justify the means. TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING AND DEDICATED MEMBERS.

isn't that a training issue?

because it is easier to operate! My 2cents I hate the give me more give me less pressure sh*t. The pump operator should know what he is pumping so that when the inside team asks for more pressure, the pump operator should know right away there is a problem somewhere between the pump and the nozzle, kink, burst length, clog, etc. jacking up the pressure till the wheels are bouncing off the ground is not gonna solve that problem. Driving is more that waving to the crowd. I am going back to my cave now.

I can just imagine how many people are wondering what the hell knock with your elbows mean lol

really!!! he didn't ask if they were dispatched, he asked if they were enroute or already on scene. We do have SOPS that state you are to ask this question. And I will back this up with a reported fire in a highrise, 4 police cars on scene prior to our arrival, 1 sitting on the hydrant we needed to make, 1 parked ifo Siamese connection. Good smoke from a pot on stove, no big deal. here is my point, 4 POLICE VEHICLES ARE NOW TIED UP AT A FIRE SCENE, THEY CANT GET OUT OF DUE TO THE WAY THEY PARKED, ALL BLOCKED IN. So the next call COULD have been a stabbing, domestic dispute / ems call. That is why we ask if they are enroute.

Ok that almost clears that up somebody from the fire dept gave her info, that she would not know about. Just something to think about in he future. And just for the record, so long as my name is not attached to any acquired structure live fire, you guys can do whatever you want. Have fun training and stay safe.

I did not jump to any conclusions, I asked a question as to who wrote the captions that used the words. Those words could have come back to bite the dept on the ass IF someone got hurt. NFPA 1403 2012 edition is more strict than the previous versions because of acquired structure live burns. Glad everything went well, but nobody's live burn exercise ever started out with the statement "we will kill or injure a firefighter today". For everybody reading this, Chiefs, commissioners, company officers, you HAVE to read the new standard to understand YOUR personal and dept. liability. The game has changed even for training facilities.