FD828

So sorry for your loss Lt. My prayers are with you and your family. We are all here if you need anything. Donnie

Any chance that you would like to run for Mayor of Stamford in a few years?????? Well said.

Bingo? Are you kidding me? Not even half of the BS that maroon wrote is true. For crying out loud... if the VFD's went along with the Maloy plan NO FIREFIGHTER would have been laid off. The VFD's did NOTHING for the paid guys who were laid off..give me a break. Their lawsuit did NOTHING to bring the laid off ff's back to work. You honestly think/believe that the union didn't fight or give concessions to get those guys back to work? Get your head out of the friggin sand. The UNION and its membership is what saved those guys. Ask any one of them what their former employer/VFD did for them. They did nothing. Now ask them what their union brothers did. You don't have a hair on your you know what to ask them. Because I saw first hand what was and wasn't done. So don't believe any of that crap that it was because of the VFD's that they got back to work. No way. This plan is garbage plain and simple. Are there some good things in it like merging the VFD's into 1 dept, standardizing training (like Glenbrook had been doing) yes. But for crying out loud look at the big picture. If you really believe what that ignorant volunteer wrote then you are hopeless. I am open for change. I am open to work alongside the dedicated volunteer firefighters who care about what they are doing and want to make sure the residents of their jurisdiction are getting the best possible service. As are most of the SFRD guys. And if you honestly believe that there will be no layoffs if this plan goes through then you are a maroon too. Politicians never lie or bend the truth right? Just for argument sake... If there are 16,000 less households that are paying for the SFRD fire coverage, does that mean that the residents of the downtown coverage area will have their taxes go up? I mean if there are going to be no layoffs, the cost of fire protection isn't going to change but the Northern residents won't be contributing to that anymore so who pays for it then? Or could it be that the mayor will in the end have to cut cut cut???? I understand, you don't like the way the first plan was "forced" upon you departments. But guess what? It wasn't the union's idea. None of this mess was. So stop holding a grudge and do what is right for your residents and firefighters alike. Safety is and should be the number 1 priority. Saving lives is the priority not getting a job.

I am not going to beat up everything here, other members have answered for me in regards to the math and law. But what I will say is this... You say that the volunteer force is strong. So why then is it a problem if the career staff only man 1 machine? I mean if the volunteers are there, then wouldn't they be able to take the other machines (Rescue, truck, tanker)? Or are you really saying that there aren't enough qualified volunteers and there would be a big delay in responding if it were set up this way? One other thing. Why do you suppose that the career FF's that used to be assigned to the VFD's wanted to merge into SFRD? It wasn't so that they could have a pay freeze was it? It wasn't so that they could work less overtime was it? Perhaps it was because they were constantly put in unsafe conditions responding to calls by themselves! Perhaps they felt that this would be better and safer for them and the residents which they serve?

It is a big deal because that system did NOT work. It is 2010 for God's sake. Time to get with the program. And as far as the paid personnel volunteering in their off time... IT IS ILLEGAL! (if at the same department they work for... or is that the plan.. we will call it "call back time" and pay them for it? Tax payers money wasted again) What is wrong with the plan is that you still will have INADEQUATE amount of personnel responding on an initial alarm, and if it is mid day say on a Wednesday...and the remaining volunteers are not able to respond... what then? Oh..call SFRD to put the fire out? Great plan. Houses burned down because of lack of manpower. You need firefighters to put out the fire. And sitting on scene with your thumb up your butt waiting for those additional resources to get there so you can start your fire attack all the while the fire is spreading is just insane. This plan solves nothing in regards to the manpower issue. You can tell yourself all you want that it does... but you have to be smarter then that. You said it yourself... this plan is taking things backwards. I honestly believe that the guys on the front lines would work well together if the "Chiefs" could stay out of it. It is proven day in and day out on the scenes of calls. And if you agree that the guys doing the work do work well together, then why would you believe that if the "career" staff were SFRD members, that it wouldn't work? Consolidate the VFD's, standardize training, have 1 unified department, but why on earth would you decrease the number of firefighters responding?????

I think you are slightly confused. The plan in which Truck 2 is decommissioned for an engine in Long Ridge was part of Chief Brown's plan. That plan is not being presented as the plan for the "new" fire service. The mayor's plan does NOT include ANY personnel or equipment from SFRD. Engines 7, 8, and 9 will leave their current locations and return downtown. Then they will hire 61 ff's for this new combination department. There will basically be a solid wall separating North Stamford from South Stamford. There will be 2 separate departments operating within the city of Stamford.

Talk about misinformation! Talk about not telling the truth! Unbelievable! First of all the CITY came up with the plan to merge the UNION firefighters that worked at the VFD's to save money (the career staff had such things as 1 for 1 OT) and provide more staffing then what was currently there, NOT the union. The union had to make a choice and they did what was best for EVERY member of the local. To make such a false statement as " since you aren't real union members we can't help you." is just completely unreal. Get the facts straight before you go and start blabbing about things you only think you know. The VFD's except Glenbrook faught this plan. The union did everything to keep those members from losing their jobs.... if the VFD's accepted the change, NO FIREFIGHTER would have been laid off, not a single one. They would have increased the career staff but because they would be SFRD personel that wasn't good enough, oh yeah they would of had their funding as well just like Glenbrook. Tough S**T! This whole mess would have been a thing of the past if the other departments went with the plan. Not saying the plan was perfect, but the VFD's would still be in charge at all calls (cause we all know that is on of the main fears of SFRD working up North), they would of INCREASED the amount of paid personel responding to all calls, their funding would of still been there, and we could of all trained together and the volunteers could still respond just as they have been!

I don't think you are missing anything. The VFD's want/need paid personnel but they don't want SFRD personnel. They rather decrease the number of career staff on duty then to let SFRD in their houses... no matter what the cost to the citizens

Very well thought out and written. If only it wasn't falling on deaf ears.

So lets just say there is a call in Springdale and the Springdale chief arrives on scene and takes command. Isn't he in "command"? The captain of engine 7 isn't over ruling his orders right? If there is a call in Glenbrook and the Glenbrook chief arrives and takes command isn't he also in command? Would this not be the case in TOR, Belltown, and Long Ridge? Isn't it up to the chief to turn over command if and only if he/she wants to? How can you make statements such as above when they are not accurate? I don't see volunteer captains trying to order around the paid captains or Lieutenants nor do I see the paid officers bossing around the volunteer officers. And the career captains are absolutely are not out ranking the volunteer chiefs. In fact I believe that they are working well together on calls. Everyone follows the chain of command. So, if the volunteer chief would still be in command at all calls (unless turned over), why would you want to decrease the number of fire fighters responding to your residences' emergencies? Right now there are 2 engines staffed with 6 personnel (8 when possible) 24/7 in TOR's district. You want to bring that number down to 4 total? Sprindale has 4 personnel 24/7 and you want that down to 2? How is that looking out for the best interest of the residents or the firefighter's(both volunteer and career) safety themselves? You know how much man power is needed to complete the necessary tasks, right? And you agree that time is of the essence? This plan will put lives in jeopardy. The volunteers are getting out, Belltown especially. Why decrease what they could have? Assign the career staff of 4 to the engine or truck(which ever the city and volunteer chief determine) and let the volunteers to continue doing what they are doing. They will continue to respond won't they? They aren't going to stop responding just because they have their own paid personnel... right? Why go backwards and decrease manpower responding?

So when all the volunteers or at least the active ones are hired... who is left to volunteer? As for hiring non-civil service firefighters.... Anyone remember the fiasco in Rye Brook?????? That was a GGGRRREEAATT success....NOT. I also wonder if the new SVFD will be calling SFRD for mutual aid when the 8000 sq ft mansion is burning to the ground.

I am sure that this could work in Stamford, problem is nobody wants to or is willing to give up the CONTROL! That is the one of the main sticking points. Every department has a chief/officers and nobody wants to give that up. The volunteer chief/officers do not want to take orders from a paid chief/officer in their district and visa versa. If the departments were willing to bend on that issue the Danbury model would most likely work. Quick question on that though. The volunteer companies in Danbury, do they have officers? And if so where do they fall in line when it comes to the paid staff?

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. You think the problems mostly have to do with the union?? Get real! The "union" did not ask for any of this mess, the CITY is the driving force behind all of the changes. The union did what it had to do to save jobs and ensure the firefighter's safety. If the CITY says we are putting an engine in TOR firehouse the guys assigned there will do their jobs to the best of their ability in a professional manner. The union has absolutely no say in day to day operations or where anyone is stationed. If you speak with the firefighters both career and volunteer that work with each other on a daily basis, they will tell you that they are working well together and even train some together. I am not saying that there are not some people on both sides that have negative feelings for the other side, or that there are no problems to be worked out, but for the most part the guys/gals that are doing the work are doing it professionally together. It is the "powers that be" that are making this harder then it should be. Stop making this out to be the big bad union vs the volunteers cause it is not. We are all just pawns in a big game that is putting everyones (residents and firefighter's) lives, property and livelihoods in jeapordy.

This comes down to one thing.... If all the other volunteer departments went with the city's initial plan like Glenbrook did, what would have happened? They would all have fully staffed machines 24/7, the Chief of that department would still be in charge of calls in his/her district, they would have their funding (not the $20K/station that they currently get), the volunteer firefighters could still respond to any and all calls they wanted to, volunteer firefighters could train side by side with the paid personnel stationed in the volunteer houses and or downtown with the rest of the career guys/gals at the training center, they could have a unified response/automatic mutual aid for all or certain calls, a gauranteed response from each department 24/7, and this whole mess would be a thing of the past. Tell me where the down side is for the volunteer departments???

This is a quote from the advocate "Whitbread said he was concerned that this plan would relegate volunteers to a secondary role at working fires because career firefighters could get to emergencies more quickly," Isn't this what the whole thing is about? Getting to the emergency (all emergency calls) quickly (with fully staffed crew)? Isn't public safety the main goal here? Apparently what's in the best interest for the residents of North Stamford is not the main concern of the X-Chief of TOR. How can you really say that you don't like a plan that will get emergency crews to a fire quicker then what your current crews can do just because they are CFF's?! I hope the public can see where their safety ranks on the priority list of this so called umbrella plan.

With past tests, you were sent a "study guide". ALL test questions came directly word for word from this guide. Not sure if it will be the same this time or not.

Most homeowners/ John Q Public have absolutely no idea about the fire service. Either they think that their house/family/property are adequately protected, or they are just hoping for the best if they have a clue.

Why not just move Engine 8 and Engine 9 into TOR fire stations? (or just the personnel) Why waste money on hiring more firefighters, or would they be in addition to E8/E9 crews? It would be nice to have an engine and a truck and/or rescue staffed 24/7, no?

I do believe that there are plans already in place to bring multiple tankers to the scene while the hose wagon is being deployed. So you will have the water on the first due engine and the water from how every many tankers show up. But lets be honest if you can't get the fire out with the first say 3-4,000 gallons of water, then you will have lots of time to get your water relay (and marshmellows) in service.

I believe that with the SAFER grant, the city has to agree to pick up the funding...not sure that Stamford is going to be willing to do that. I know the % of money decreases every year which means the municipality would have to cover the remaining cost, then eventually the whole cost. Also, I believe there already are 2 paid crews in TOR, covering every call, with more manpower then they used to ride with.

It sounds like if they were to move all the volunteer companies to one or two stations, some of the company "names" would cease to exist. But like others have said, they would increase the numbers of volunteers for one or two larger companies and get the machines out the door. It is a strange concept for me... lots of different companies all seem to be independent of the other. Where I volunteer we have 2 stations, all members respond and ride out on whatever machine is going... brush truck, rescue, engine..etc. I think that being that there isn't a Chief for each company, consolidating might be not be soo hard.

How do the volunteer companies operate? I mean are they all different departments or are they all the same department just different companies? Do they each have their own Chief or officers?

Isn't there some "guideline" recommending what kind of manpower must be on a quint to call it a quint? If you have 3 or 4 guys on the rig, that "quint" is either going to be an engine or a truck, but not both. If you have guys stretching in, you won't have the manpower to throw ladders and/or vent the structure or do primary searches. So unless you have a full compliment of firefighters trained for both engine and truck company operations, a quint is either going to be an engine or a truck, not both.

If I am not mistaken, there are not a lot of 95' mid-mounts available. I think they specifically wrote the specs that way when they put it out to bid. I think that would put the aerialscope as the "front runner" in the bid.

I also believe that Waterbury Fire is also doing this.