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Here is the latest on the city of Rye Fire Department http://www.ryecityreview.com/news/fd-to-add-career-deputy-chief-position-3-lieutenants/

Hello everyone it has been years since I used this log in name and that's because I resigned from the city of Rye Fire department 5 years ago. I chose to write a response to the above letter. The letter below was submitted to myrye.com as well this morning. And will be to any other media outlets in which Captain Millman sent his letter. The following is my statement and does not represent any former or current members of RFD. I am also not affiliated with any fire department at this time. From: Richard P Suarino Ex Captain Poningoe Hook & Ladder Company To: Letters to the editor, I am writing in response to a recent letter that was submitted by Fire Police Patrol Captain Lester Millman in regards to the recent changes that have taken place at the Rye Fire Department. I would like to start by stating that I was a combined 14 yearACTIVE member of the City of Rye Fire Department. I spent two years as part of explorer post 700 as a junior firefighter. Then 12 years as a member of the Poningoe Hook & Ladder Company, where I served as first & second Lieutenant and then as Captain before resigning from the department in 2012. I have a combined 17 years in the Emergency Services. The picture that Captain Millman has painted for the Rye citizens and would have one believe is that this change is a big surprise to the members of the department. It's not. Volunteer membership has been on the decline since probably the 1980’s,and since then the bleeding hasn't stopped, it’s only gottenworse. In the late 90’s, early 2000’s, the department voted in several new members and it helped a little to put a patch on the crack in the dam. In the 2000’s as an active volunteer firefighter, a lieutenant and then captain, there were several ideas that myself and other active volunteers proposed to make some much needed changes to the department structure to help with rapidly declining membership. Recommendations were brought to the attention of the Board Of Wardens, who at that time, controlled all decision making within the fire department. The problem was that the Board was consistently controlled by veteran members of the department who were not as active and ignored any and all input by young active members, to the point where some members were turned off and stopped showing up. Others resigned and some went to other departments. Rye’s changing demographics has had the biggest effect on membership. Gone are the blue collar families of Rye. Many of the old long time Rye names that were connected to the fire department making it generational are no longer in Rye, forced to move because Rye is unaffordable to those that would volunteer. For every one member gained three are lost. A member joining as a college kid at 19 has to resign by 23-24 because they are forced to move out of Rye. And it's not just Rye membership that is down, nation wide volunteer firefighters are declining. Being in emergency situations, dealing with and seeing the things a firefighter may see is not for everyone. It's a calling, and the hours of training involved will take most free nights away, not to mention the required alarm response. Turnout at alarms; even 10 years ago at the most recent height of active membership-. We had 25 interior qualified firefighters and still sometimes we only had 4 volunteers at an alarm. All working fires required mutual aid from our friends in Harrison and Mamaroneck. Leadership was and is non-existent under the Volunteer Chiefs of the department and when a chief did try to implement positive change he was quickly pushed out by older voting block. At Fire scenes, basic accountability of members was lax. Meaning,God forbid an explosion or collapse happened at a scene, the chiefs had no idea who had actually showed up at the scene. Some chiefs had nothing more than basic firefighting training. Most were being relied on because of their 30+ years in the department, yet they had taken no classes to sharpen their skills or update their knowledge. Any good leader in emergency service will tell you, you will never know everything and you are always learning something new until the day you retire. This business is always changing and evolving. The Rye Professional firefighters often find that they are the only ones on scene. Sometimes I was the only volunteer on scene with them. During the winter of 2002 I was the only volunteer on scene for an afternoon house fire. Three career firefighters and I, with one of those professionals manning twopump panels and one ladder. Commissioner Corcoran didn't just come in and decide to shake things up. He's a very educated man with years of experience and after speaking with numerous people connected to the fire department he saw there was a need for change. He has a job to lead the men and women of the Police and Fire Departments and the fire department problems are 20+ years in the making,ignored by past Board Of Wardens members and past chiefs of the department who kicked the can down the road. The public might be surprised that over 100 years of volunteer service are coming to an end but many of the current and past members are not. Regards Richard P Suarino Past member and Captain Poningoe Hook & Ladder Company

Grumpy, 74 jobs in the system in some busy Bronx pcts still holding at the end of 4x according to guys in my old pct. Im in Manhattan now and guys were waiting for a bus for over an hour on some serious aided jobs. Make things worse housing changed the way they go over the radio. No longer by RMP number. Its causing a lot of confusion at times.

that fire building is next to one of the old 7 Santini Brothers Moving and Storage warehouse. Can still see part of the old painted signage on side of the builing. grandfather worked for that company for over 50 years before they folded in early 90's. Another note some of my mothers side of the family lived right there on Jackson Ave back in the day up until the 70's after arriving from Italy. before they were tore down many many years ago. mostly new construction now on that section of block. my foot post until last year was Adams St Marys Project 1 block over. Great Shots

Goon I know its a spare its just surprising to me the condition of the spare. But as long as it gets the job done for now.

Really L34 is oldest? L40 looks like its about to fall apart that's a1994 Seagrave. If true, 34 might be older but looks a lot better

Been to the Rockaways and Broad Channel and SI. Going back to the Rockaways Sunday. They lost everything. Not just the fire department but most of the residents. Even if you guys can't donate fire equipment they need cleaning material, construction equipment, items to help with the clean up. Gloves, bleach, shovels etc.

Just a quick post that we updated and changed the look of our website. We invite you to take a look and leave us feedback or sign the guestbook. visit: http://ryefire.com Enjoy

Grumpy i love how you listed everything we should have in the RMP trunk. I am still searching the trunk for half of the items on the list. But honestly Grumpy hit the nail on the head in regards to the NYPD. All of the RMPs suck. my partner and I can barely ever fit our bags in the trunk. 4 bags + AED plus spare tire...good luck Impalas suck 2 years old and 3 of ours have no AC. Or doors don't lock- gangs love that. Crown Vic is/was my favorite. I hear the old Chevy Caprice was the best. plenty of room and was a tank!

Grumpy are you telling me the days of "Can I get a time check central" are coming to an end lol

And very often you will hear housing not available because most housing lately seems to be putting out 1 -2 cars. That leaves the pct in which housing is located covering the job.

JJB. 42/44. Most divisions have patrol/ housing and all the pct level special units on the air and impact post too. WCPD might be able to. Is it the right thing to do? idk. It's hard sometimes in the city to get over the air when 200 cops are sharing a division and jobs going and central is in backlog.

Wow please tell me this is a joke! Yeah because the last I checked, and personal experience, vehicle pursuits were not 20mph in a straight line path.

How many total people took the test? I am curious because I think the amount that passed MIGHT be surprising.

10 years ago after 9/11 he did a segment on NBC on fire departments across the country. I think for FDNY he picked Rescue 4? He did his commentary from the FD where he was a volunteer, and stated proudly that he was one prior to working in news,