JBE

I have used one. I swear by them myself, especially if you're trying to quit the real ones. They emit water vapor as stated earlier. I haven't seen any issues with the explosion danger. As far as my office goes, one of my chiefs has already stated she doesn't want me using it in the building. Which really bothered me. It's not smoke, it's not all the extra carcinogens and crap found in real cigarettes. But, I will follow orders. So, instead of me puffing on it once or twice during the course of a few hours,where I don't leave the building and can still be a "productive" member of the workforce, I am forced to leave the building and puff outside.

10570, from my experience dealing with your dispatchers, they, unfortunately also, don't seem to be allowed to use much in the way of that common sense thing. They don't seem to be allowed to dupe out incidents, or if they do, it's few and far between. Mind you, this is just my observation. They too, are also overworked and underpaid. You've got some really good ones over there, and then you've got some real doozies, to say the least. Light duty Cops dispatching?? Nope. The cops that are already there doing security don't seem like they wanna be there. Except for maybe this one Sergeant who has annointed himself Parking Czar. But that's another story for another time. One of the other situations I have noticed when it comes to the PD Dispatchers, meaning the Radio Operators, is that they are not assigned to a particular zone. They could be dispatching the 43 and 45 one night, then the next night they are doing what they call Beirut(the 73 and 75). The powers that be don't want them having a rapport with the cops out on the street, which to me is ludicrous. I understand the need for the well rounded dispatcher, etc. But, come on. You can't just drop someone in a borough they don't know and expect them to flourish. At least with my guys and the EMS folks, most of them tend to stay in the same area.

They still conference us in, but we still send the tickets out before, and give the rest of the info after we are done talking to the caller. It is part of the plan, get you guys out the door with half a$$ed information, in the false belief we are getting you out faster. This was started by the pre-release program in the end of 08/beginning of 09, and has morphed into what you got today. I am about to say something that may upset a few people. Firefighters are very simple creatures, all they need in NYC is a Box Number, and Address, Cross Streets, and what you're going to. Smoke 3rd Floor, Caller 3D. Stuck Elevator 19th Floor. They don't need Male Caller Ray CB 347-XXX-XXXX States he might be stuck in elevator and has asthma. Once again the difference between us and our NYPD Counterparts on the other side of 11 Metrotech. Oh yeah, CIDS helps too, but I'm sticking to the basics here.

And it's up in Circleville if my memory serves me right.

Yes, I did hear about that one recently. I think the sheer volume of calls, and what has to be learned to properly handle each is too much for one person. The system was fine the way it was. Just that now, many of the glaring mistakes that we all knew about are finally coming to light.

Amen!!! This is one of the biggest advantages FDNY Dispatchers have over PD. Although with the calltakers, we aren't as borough specific as we used to be, because of the new phone system. EG, it's not a cultural thing, trust me. You should come by sometime to 11MT when I'm working and I will show you some of the comments/text that PD puts in. They sometimes put in a novel, other times, they keep it very brief. More than anything, it's a lot of misspelling/bad grammar. I wouldn't recommend hanging around looking for trouble, Newports and coffee cups fly on a regular basis over there, and yes there have been fistfights between PD operators and EMS operators. Then, a few from PD beating each other up. Quite entertaining. A few have stepped to my guys, and the situations have been quickly defused. 10570, I don't know if you read the 911/CPR report that came out recently about the failures of the 911 system in the city. They did recommend a number of changes, and a few other things where most of us on all three sides of the equation said, "Well, no $%^&!!!" It's just a question of how long it takes to get implemented. FDNY Communications Management(The Idiots on the 7th Floor at 9MT) got raked over the coals for the way that training/continuing education is done on our end. Practically non-existent. Not to mention memorandums and directives so vaguely worded that it's easy to make a mistake because someone else disagrees with your actions.

grumpy, we've been getting that too. Just calls coming in with nothing but a location and a PD 10-Code. I will give one that I had to laugh about. Because, to PD, EVERYTHING is a haz mat job. Comes over as a haz mat incident. Strong smell coming from a dumpster. It's 85 degrees at 1030 in the morning with 53% humidity. HOT GARBAGE!!!! One I didn't laugh about, and actually made the papers. Water condition, basement apartment. Truck company comes in, "Get us an Engine and EMS, her water broke, she's having a baby."

And Rob, just to add. That article is a total sham. That system took years for them to get working. It's not as great as the city makes it out to be. It may work well at 60 Control, or at Putnam 911, but I personally don't like it. It only has a few advantages to it that I have seen in three years working it. The phone system is the only thing that all three agencies are using. And, I don't think the EMS Calltakers are using the new phone system. We aren't working on the same technology. It cost millions to develop a link that we could get stuff directly from PD. The Starfire CAD is pushing 40, the NYPD CAD is almost as old, and I think EMS CAD is maybe 10 or 15 years old. The phone mapping program is a nice touch. That's about it. Downtown has already used the phone system to stick it to my co workers, because we can see who is taking calls, and who is supposedly not answering. Yes, there are some advantages to us being on the same floor, like if I have an issue with something or someone over at EMS, or vice versa, I can go over and talk to them face to face. And it's not far for me to go if I have to deal with someone from PD, although that might get me in trouble. Don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of Bloomberg or the many people who shill for him. Including Commissioners Kelly and Cassano(who, btw, does not like dispatchers and lied to the City Council in 2009 that the unified call taker system worked.)

My boy, TL-2 summed it up quite nicely. You called 911 and got a civilian employee of the PD. To echo what was said here, if you had said 79th Street Boat Basin, you probably would not have had as big of a problem. In all fairness, most of these calltakers are overworked, underpaid, and aren't given the slightest bit of encouragement to learn outside of what they are taught. Not to mention, they do work in a pretty hostile work environment, where every minor screw up is given either a write up, or results in a loss of vacation time or pay. One other thing, depending on the name of the landmark, they can't put it in their system. Remember the shooting at City Hall a number of years back?? They couldn't put CITY HALL into their CAD. They can't put the bridges in for the most part. They need cross streets. If you had said, Hudson River and 79th Street that would have also helped. They weren't trained properly in taking fire calls, and still screw stuff up on a pretty consistent basis. When you call 911 in NYC, you get the PD Calltaker who enters the information, sends it to the FDNY CAD/EMS CAD through a link, then conference calls you in to either us, or EMS. We take the info, basically to make sure PD didn't screw it up, and update the incident. Now, here is the difference between us and them. They have folks who are nothing but professional call takers, who have it beaten into their heads to take calls at face value. They are not allowed to use common sense, and any inkling of common sense is quickly discouraged. Prior to UCT, you have no idea how many calls we disregarded, or told the caller the FDNY was not responding because it wasn't a fire department issue. Not so with UCT, they send us EVERYTHING!!!! I'm not going to give examples. One of the other disadvantages, is when you call 911 is that it isn't borough specific. They take calls for the whole city. I've worked most of my career between the Bronx and Manhattan, and I was born and kinda raised in Queens, and even I don't know all the streets. Although through out my experience, if I hear a street I am not familiar with, I can either ask my colleagues, or ask what borough it's in and have an idea of where it is. The way the building is set up, I spent sometime right in between EMS and PD, and overheard a lot of the operators. I remember one night recently, the calltaker kept repeating Bronx River Road and Nereid. I looked at her supervisor and said, Why don't you put in Webster Avenue and Nereid, or Webster and the City Line. I got ignored for a good two minutes. We are not allowed to have professional call takers. We train our dispatchers to do everything. This takes up to 10 weeks of training. If one of my guys on a call doesn't know where something is, there is a strong possibility someone on my platform does. If you need the FDNY or an Ambulance, the proper number to call in the boroughs are: Manhattan 212-999-2222 Bronx 718-999-3333 Brooklyn 718-999-4444 Queens 718-999-5555 SI 718-999-6666 One of my dispatchers will answer the phone, and we will get you what you need.

Yeah, I think I crossed paths with Sharon a few times during the course of the half hour or so I was on scene.

Thanks, I wasn't sure where Cuddebackville or Otisville figured in. I drove by yesterday morning, and the original fire building was gone, Exposure 4 looked like it was ready to be torn down. Exposure 3 had a lot of melted siding.

Here's the rear of the fire building, and you can see some damage to exposure 2. Milford, PA Engine 33-2 filling up the tankers out of the Delaware River. Slate Hill Tanker filling up the portable pond. Huguenot Tanker 813 dropping its load. Greenville Engine pumping. From what I could see, Port Jervis had all equipment except for Engine 5. Mutual aid was the Rescue and Truck from Matamoras, an Ambulance from Westfall, Middletown Truck 1, Slate Hill Tanker and Tower Ladder, Johnson and Unionville Tanker, Engine from Howells, Tanker from Montague, Engine and Tanker from Greenville, Engine and Rescue from Sparrowbush, Engine from Lumberland, Engine from Westbrookville, Engine and Tanker from Milford(Another Milford Engine was relocated to Engine 4), A few other tankers from Sussex County, NJ, and a ladder from Hardystown, NJ??? There was an OC Engine(602??) relocated into Engine 1, and as I was heading home, an Engine from New Hampton was passing me going the other way, and Silver Lakes new Tower Ladder was pulling in just as I made the turn onto Neversink to head home. Numerous EMS agencies and a large rehab area set up just past Greenvilles source engine.

I live 5 minutes from this scene, and I was in White Plains when I got the text. I was on my way home anyway, so I figured I would drop in and check things out. I got to the top of Greenville Mountain on 84, and could see the smoke, and a Truck from Circleville sitting in the rest area. I'm going to keep this quick. Photos taken by the cell phone. Apologies if the quality is poor. Here's my view walking up the block. For those of you who may be familiar with PJ, this is right up the road from Engine 1 and Truck 7. Banking down pretty good. Looking up the aerial of Middletown Truck 1. Yes that's right, Middletown Truck 1. That's a good 20 minute run, even with lights and sirens. Looks like it autoexposed to both exposure 2 and 4. Exposure 4 was trashed, while exposure 2 was moderately damaged. More coming.

I always wondered, what is with the flowers the chiefs carry??

HOORAH!!!!

See ya's there.

I'm with M on this one. At times of peak tourist activity on the island such as Easter, Mothers and Fathers Day, it isn't uncommon for us to put an extra engine and truck on the island because of the traffic. But, I digress. The author of this thread thought it was interesting that 53 had a Spartan. They originally had a 99 or 2000 Seagrave, which was sent to 45 Truck when a Seagrave replacement came in for 105. The belief, IIRR, was that since it was a one off, it was better to put it with a slow company as so not to have it out of service for long periods of time waiting for parts, etc.

It was CFC 121. 2 rigs, full crew, 1 boss. 70 also had a tele squrt.

Interesting concept. Let's see how it shakes out in practical application.

RIP Kid.

According to their website, they're done. Closed for good. "Due to Unwillingness by the FDNY to allow them to operate".

Fair Winds and Following Seas, from this former Coastie!!!

Please let me know when you plan on your next photo run. I'd like to join you.

It's 10 frontline, but like M said, some have gone on longer than 10. Then, I'm not sure how long in spare pool/reserve before it's disposed of. From what I've seen in the reserve pool, most of the reserve engines are late 90's/early 00's vintage. Apples and oranges, but I think the powers that be should ask LAFD and LA County FD how those KME's have been working out for them.

Amen!!!