JBE

I really want to laugh, and make some sarcastic comment, like try a higher building, or a bridge, but I will refrain. I truly hope this person realizes it's time to straighten up and find some reason to live. Ok flowery happy time over. Back to being a sarcastic person.

I don't think it has anything to do with who wrote the law, or their political affiliation. This guy won't get the needle. They can get him on Murder in the second degree, if you go by the NYS Penal Law. 2nd Degree Murder Read section 2 and 3 of that. They got him dead to rights. I have to admit, I am surprised they didn't throw Manslaughter or Criminally Negligent Homicide in as well.

Great find, dude.

Gotta love the locals. A constant source of entertainment.

Great shots, Bill. It's good to have you back.

Took Metro North yesterday, not a bad ride at all. NJ Transit was a good ride as well. I think for the most part, they did a pretty good job.

I thought these guys were elected by membership.

Got him. Paddy Brown. Front row, 4th from the right. The chief this collection belongs to is a legend in the job as well. Never met either he or, Paddy Brown, but their reputations definitely precede them. These were the good old days, when almost every rig in the job was a tiller, some had the plywood riot covers. Tower Ladders were in their infancy. I was lucky to have come around in the years of the second and third generation of the tower ladders and the third and fourth generations of the rearmounts. Some of the nicest looking rigs, ever.

If I could fit in my mothers old house, or convince my aunt into letting me move in, I'd join Somers. Nice quote from Adam, haven't seen him in years. I think he meant on drill days, like Sunday. What's the alternative to paid guys and higher taxes?? Volunteer 24/7 duty crews?? Volunteer duty crews on 8 hour shifts?? Enough to at least get one, maybe two fully manned rigs out? Combo departments like Port Chester?? With the taxes in Northern Westchester being what they are, I think the fire service up there will eventually evolve into any one of those scenarios. I'm more inclined to think of Combo departments more so than the duty crews, except maybe on weekends. Every time I head up that way, be it Somers, the Carmel area, or even up in Orange County, I see the signs up. Volunteers needed. I also think the reality of it is that people just take it for granted, or can't be bothered to help out.

457, and Radio Free Trinidad?? Thanks guys. I have to admit, I do miss the radio, a lot. It's more than just those guys on the radio, but I will say this. If it's going nuts in the office and there's a person on the radio with a good radio voice, you'd never know it. There could be nothing going on in the office, but if that person is shaky on the radio, the companies are gonna know it. I was looking, honestly, to see if anyone who worked for either 60, or Yonkers could chime in. Or anyone who has experience with another larger scale operation. Automatic mutual aid. We do have a plan in the works, haven't seen it yet. As it was related to me, when availablity citywide dips below a certain percentage, we're supposed to make phone calls and get the ball rolling. I don't know the details though. The day tour into night tour of the BIOPOD exercise, when just about every borough caught some work, I had worked part of the day tour in Brooklyn and the night tour in Manhattan. I joked with the Chief Dispatcher on duty that if the fire duty had kept up, we were gonna have E-307 from Yonkers sitting on Webster Avenue at 48's quarters and and engine and tiller from North Hudson sitting in Times Square, as I had a 3rd going up in the Heights. Needless to say, he didn't find that funny, so I threw in Ladder 30 from Rye Brook for added measure.

jc, the situation I was mentioning was simple. R-4 was assigned to this bus accident, and R-3 was requested as an additional Rescue company. They were released, and assigned to a 10-75 nearby. I am not sure of the specifics, but I wouldn't doubt it if they got in before, or with the second due companies. I understand your desire to have them up north where they may have to and will save your hide if you get in a jam, but believe it or not, R-4 and R-1 are the primary Rescue Companies to be covered in case it goes to poop out on the street. Now, as far as your post is concerned about having Firefighters as dispatchers, here's where you and I will politely agree to disagree. You don't have to have crawled down a number of hallways to be good at what I do. Does it help to have a little bit of knowledge of firefighting and fire operations?? Absolutely. I've said this a number of times over the course of my career, you don't have to know anything about what you guys do out on the street to be good at what I do, but it sure does help. Ask some of your brethren in LA City how that's working out for them. I think many of them, and I would fathom a guess that you would much rather be crawling down that hallway than relocating 93 Engine to 37 Engine at 2 in the morning. I have some firefighting experience from my years in the Vols(as we call them at work), and the military. Luckily, most of the guys I work with do as well. I also have the knowledge of geography and firehouse locations that make me good at what I do. Next time you see a car wreck on the highway in the city, don't call 911, call me. I'll get you what you need, and handle the knuckleheads on the 1st floor of 11MT. bc, I appreciate your candor. I am asking these questions because I think that those in charge have really lost sight of what's right. I try to follow the rulebook as best I can, but there are times when you can throw the book out the window and go seat of your pants.

When did they go back in business?? Past Time Hobbies out of Illinois is also a great place to pick stuff up from. Code 3 has the rights to produce for a few different places, but the quality of the product has gone down, while the price has gone up.

Nope, no atta boy for that boss. Believe me, if I could, without killing my career, I would tell the braintrust on the 7th floor what I think.

Best wishes. You earned it.

Must be something with those 95 footers. I can say with some certainty that 51's rig has been in the shops more than it's been in service.

51 Truck in the shops, what a surprise.

Feel better, pal. I had a run in with the bumper of another car, and a guardrail coming off the thruway. Jimmy 1, guardrail 0.

It's their site, they make the rules. Number 2, if it was not in the context of the discussion, they had every right to move it and branch out into another thread. I have been on this site for something like 6 years and I have had my issues with the people that run it. I don't agree with a lot of stuff that goes on here, but this one they got right. You got beef?? Bring it up in private.

Did he at least take out the mutt who shot him??

I'm with M in the sense that I'm split on this idea as well, for the same reasons. Let's see how long before this gets challenged in court. I give it a year before it's thrown out and the tax disappears.

One of the things that I heard got brought up was that companies who went out for Annual Education day, or company medical exams on the day tour would remain closed for the night tour. There's been an uproar about these companies being shut down at night, but where is the uproar when upwards of 20 companies are taken out of service during the day?? Either for a few hours, or for the entire day tour. You rarely hear of any community board, or activist, or pi$$ed off city council member talking about this. I've said this before, and I know my colleagues on the other side of the radio will probably flame the hell out of me for this. Could you shut certain companies down permanently and not make a dent in the level of service provided?? Yes. Do I want to see that happen?? Of course not. However, I would rather see companies get disbanded than seeing members get laid off. From my end of the operation, it's going to make life a little more difficult when it hits the fan. It's going to present a challenge providing adequate coverage when there's a couple of multiples going. Something to consider, though, back in the 70's, you had second sections, Tactical Control Units, and a probably 35-40 more companies than you do today. The fire duty was through the roof and the city still shut down a ton of companies, and they were never reopened. I could give you unit numbers in all 5 boroughs of companies that were disbanded, and only one in Staten Island(E154) and one in Queens(E-294) is back. Nobody likes to hear that saying "We have to do more with less". Unfortunately, it's a stark reality here. Two or three years ago was one of the busiest years in 30 plus years for just runs alone. We have been doing more with less for too long. It stinks, but we have to play the cards we're dealt. Between November 11th and November 14th, the FDNY operated at 43 working fires, all hands or greater. There were at least 10 multiples in there. This is not including the 2 and 2 fires that they were able to hold. I have never seen it that busy in all my years in the job. It got to a point where I joked with my chief dispatcher that we were going to have Yonkers Engine 307 sitting outside of 93 Engine's quarters, and we would have an engine and a tiller from North Hudson sitting in Times Square. He didn't find it funny, but it could be a possiblity that Spin_the_Wheel and Elmont 7-ZERO-8 is sitting out in front of 132 Truck. My one question to the guys out in the field, would it be feasible to refurb rigs and keep them as spares/reserves/or put them in slower houses as frontline rigs?? Hang on to your hats folks, it's gonna be a very bumpy ride. As always, y'all stay safe. Oh yeah, and Seth, with all due respect. I highly doubt you're ever going to see fire fighters in NYC staffing a bus, unless it gets jammed down the throats of the UFA if the city threatens layoffs, etc. That, and no way the EMS unions will stand for it either. Poor financial planning?? I've seen at least six new firehouses built in the past ten years, with 2 new houses for the Marine companies and a couple of new EMS stations in the mix. Like someone said here earlier, a lot of the new goodies were purchased with grant money. They've invested OVER A BILLION in renovating/modernizing Fire and EMS communications.(Personal opinion, a good chunk of that was wasted) Different money from different budgets.

I'm with wheel. But, I don't think you're going to see that option for a few more years.

Congrats and welcome back.

Last tour before I go on vacation. Sorry, gotta pass on this one.

I feel bad that there's been such animosity between family members. I do hope eventually those ties get restored. At the end of the day, that's all you got is your family. PS, met Vinnie last year at his shop. Hell of a guy.