JBE

There were a few that got painted white over red like we have today. E-4 was one of them. (Side note) E-4 was originally assigned to E-10.

Let's just hope that the committee comes to its senses later on this week. Paid, Vollie, whatever, these men are LODD and should be treated as such.

Looks like someone had a good time. Rassum frassum, having to work, grumble grumble.

That would be me.

The Home Depot is going up where the self storage place is(former Revlon factory)??

The high rise roof teams bring any victims to below. No roof extraction. We could use helicopters. But as far as suppression is concerned, brush fires only. I truly don't know of anything that could knockdown a fire from the outside of a building. That's really all I can say about it.

Not to be a killjoy or anything, but isn't that what the Communications section on here is for?? Unless, of course, you wanna have a forum where you complain about stuff.

There were the 55 and 56 Battalions in the Bronx back in the day. I believe they were disbanded in the mid 80's. The 55 came out of 73 and 42, and the 56 came out of 46 and 27. EMS Battalion 55 is stationed out of the old tin house that quartered Engine 85 and Ladder 59(prior to 59 moving up to Sedgwick Avenue, and 85 being disbanded to re-organize L-53 in 1986). Where are they planning to put EMS Bn 3??

I'm gonna drag out the dead horse for beating again. Folks, like em or not, this is not going to get anyone anywhere. I'm not defending or condemning anyone. Those of you who have an ax to grind should simply run an incident with these folks and if you see something that isn't kosher(no pun intended), you make the report through the proper channels. Just a friendly reminder, let's not turn this into a bashfest, because we all know what happens when we do that.

Must be a slow news day.

I saw him a few months ago at Jones Beach. He has to come up with some new stuff because he pretty much got booed off the stage.

OK, let's look at this from a different point of view. To the people in Oklahoma City, or Littleton, Colorado, the anniversaries of the attack on the Murrah Building and the murders at Columbine High School are solemn days where those affected take the time to remember. People who live in those cities may take a moment to remember, but they get on with life, especially if they didn't lose someone. I wasn't affected by either one of these events, and although neither was on the scale of the 11th, on those days, it's just another day for me. If people weren't directly affected, it is just another day for them. Oh yeah, someone may take a moment to say a silent prayer, but the world and lives can't stop. Those of us in our line of work have to strike a tough balance. We have to move on to get the job done, and to honor our friends and colleagues, yet we can never forget the sacrifices. Here's something to consider. A few months back, I went to pay my respects at my fathers grave on the 10th anniversary of his passing. I stayed there for a while, placed some flowers, said a prayer, and then I went on with my day. This may be going out on a limb, or this may ruffle some feathers here, but I don't think any of our loved ones, friends, colleagues who were lost that day would want us to stop everything, just as my father wouldn't want me to be sitting around moping every March 22nd. They would want us to remember them and honor them, and remember the good stuff. When it comes to holidays, and sales, and stuff like that, as much as I think it's in extremely poor taste, not only for this day, but Veterans Day and Memorial Day, and the 4th of July, I think it's eventually gonna happen. I hope I made sense with this little burst of conciousness.

I was sitting at the back Alarm Receipt Dispatcher position in the FDNY Manhattan/Citywide dispatchers office. The Supervisor had just sent the two radio (Manhattan and Citywide) operators out to get breakfast. Another dispatcher had asked me if I wanted to take over the radio(and anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoyed working the radio). He had just finished his training as a radio dispatcher, so I less than politely told him to take the radio and pay his dues. I'm cranky in the morning, what can I say. I had taken the call for that gas leak on Church and Lispenard Streets(the one you see in the French brothers video). I had my feet up and I was drinking ice water out of a washed out spaghetti sauce jar(a practice I continue to uphold to this day). Engine 6 came over the air screaming, "Engine 6 to Manhattan, transmit a second alarm, we just had a plane hit the Trade Center!!!" My feet dropped, and I said out loud "Bull droppings, somebody is fornicating with us". Then, the voice alarm, which is an intercom system between us and the firehouses started beeping from the Ten House. Box 8087, the alarm box from 2 WTC started coming in, and then the phone lines lit up. You guys know the rest. I don't talk about it too much these days, because many of you have heard my side of the story from the tapes that IMHO, were improperly released to the public last year. Most of the time, when I am pressed, I will simply tell people of one of the calls I took prior to the first collapse. We have a script that we follow when taking calls, as per Dispatchers Directive 96-01. Fire Department, Dispatcher number, what's the address of the fire?? Then you ask cross streets, the nature of the problem, where in the building if in a building, and then phone number of the caller and that the FD is responding. I barely got the words "Fire Department" out of my mouth when the lady said, "Never mind" when I asked her what she meant, her reply was, "He just jumped". I replied, "OK", hung up, and went to the next call. Usually, anyone with curiosity is satisfied right there. I can remember saying later on like Dante in Clerks, "I'm not even supposed to be here today!!!" Not entirely true, as I swapped out with someone. I worked her day tour and she was supposed to work my night tour that night. I was once told that I said to someone, "I kept telling these people help was coming, and it never got to them." I remember wanting to reach through the phone and throttle some moron who wanted me to send firemen to his Battery Park City apartment to check up on his dog, or driving up to Pathmark on 125th and Lex and seeing Verplanck sitting on the corner next to 35 Engine's quarters. Or Manhattan looking like a ghost town the following morning as I headed home to the Bronx. Time does heal, the scars remain, and they run deep. I am thankful for many things in my life that came out of that day. Being able to say my cousin survived, or that my brother had not been working that day, and for the friends that either survived the collapses or were somewhere else that morning. I am thankful for the friends I made in the months following, thankful that I had the opportunity to know the friends I lost. Thankful that I failed the firefighter physical the year before, because I could have been among the 343. Most of all, I am thankful for having my family, that supported me and loved me before, during, and after. About three years ago, I was one of eight recipients of the Chief O'Brien award for my efforts that day. It's one of the highest awards given out to civilian members of the FDNY. The only positive to come out of that award was the look of pride on the faces of my mother and brother when I walked on stage to receive it. To me, it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. It felt pretty hollow, and bittersweet. There weren't too many, if any happy endings to come from that day, and it didn't feel right to be honored for something so tragic. I'd rather be honored for efforts that were more rewarding. I hope that makes sense. I still have the award, it's framed, in a large manilla envelope and it is stashed in my closet. I doubt it will ever see the light of day again. It's not something I am particularly proud of. I take more pride in the work I did a few months later for the fire at St. John the Divine, or countless other incidents in the years since. PS, I was recently interviewed by the National Geographic Channel for a special on dispatchers from that morning. It should be airing in November. This took a lot for me to do, as I have been pretty reluctant to speak to the media about it. Most recently, telling a producer from AC 360 to pack sand, and to leave me and my family alone. I'm interested in seeing how this special turns out, as I have always been a casual reader of the magazine and I watch a lot of the specials they put on about other subjects. Finally, as I have asked in the years since, take a moment today to remember those we lost. Not at 846, or 1029, just anytime during the day. Give your spouse a kiss, hold your kids tight. Life is too short for the petty bull droppings of drama and what not. Maybe do a little research on someone who died that day, be it an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, or someone on one of those planes, to one of the MOS who responded and didn't come home. If you knew someone who was lost, honor them and what they sacrificed. Live your life as you would, but never, EVER forget. Soapbox 10-8, 10-9 in the Quarters of the Cavalier Rock Box.

Yeah, my heart goes out to this guy. I wasn't working for the NY Plaza fire(occured just about 2 months after the 11th) but I remember hearing that could have been a real tragedy when that explosion occured. God bless him for sticking with it.

All the best and I'm glad she earned it.

Although this guy is probably one of those buffs that went way over the line, the whole "accused of" thing is just the legal formality. Innocent till proven guilty. Gotta admit, if he runs a business that sells safety equipment, how hard could it be for him to get his hands on some of that stuff??

While it's a great idea for the Nepalese, I'm not sure our mostly monotheistic society, combined with animal lovers everywhere would be too pleased with this idea.

That's just it, in this wonderful day and age of people in cars with more insulation and soundproofing than a recording studio, you need something to wake em up. Sometimes the old Q, or whatever you're packing may not do the job.

This past weekend, I trekked down to Virginia to watch my wife's stepbrother take the plunge into holy matrimony. After a sweat soaked ceremony and realizing I should really try on my old suits before I take them to the cleaners, I had a day planned to hit Kings' Dominion. Unfortunately, this fizzled, so what's a guy to do?? It's out and about time!!! First stop, Leesburg, VA. This is Loudoun County Station 20/Leesburg Station 1. They are staffed by paid members during the day, and vollies at night. Interesting set up. Here's the chiefs car, I am presuming this is a paid position. Tanker 1 If anyone was wondering what became of those 2005 Seagrave Concorde RMA's that Baltimore gave back, wonder no more. Here's the spare Truck 1, which was Baltimore City Truck 15, and is being used by Leesburg till the new Seagrave tiller comes in. PS ,BC Truck 15 has a nice new Seagrave Tiller. Leesburg also has a 1988 Seagrave Tiller that they use as a training rig. It belonged to DC, and Richmond, VA. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to shoot it. Engine 1 I then headed over to the EMS Station. It appears that like Jersey, a lot of heavy rescue/extrication is done by EMS down there. Here's Squad 613, a 1989 or 90 E-One. Next stop Ashburn..

After a little bit, and a few wrong turns, I made it over to Ashburn, Loudoun County Station 6. These guys run a paid medic, a couple of buses, two engines(one referred to as a wagon) a Tower Ladder and a Quint. Plus a utility rig. Here's Wagon 6. Engine 6 was out at the time and by the time they got back, it was too late for me to stop them and ask for a picture. Truck 6. And no, I don't like Roto-Rays. Quint 6. They were OOS, but the guys were nice enough to pull it out of the repair shed for me. Engine 23 stopped by as well, And finally the Assistant Chiefs car, I am presuming by the markings, this guy is a vollie. And since it is pretty hard, not to mention dangerous to yank out the camera doing 60 on I-695, Baltimore County Engines 1, 64, 101, Truck 13, and Rescue 101 were also sighted, but not shot. As always, Enjoy...

From someone who has 10 tattoos and planning at least one or two more. Be sure you know what you want before you go looking. Check out places that are known and reputable. SOBER!!!!! Although I haven't had any work done there, Seen on Tremont Avenue does some great work. There is also another place down Tremont by Coddington on the other side of the street(I think it's Enigma). I had a piece done at Mc Kenzies in Carmel in 1998. I was very happy with the results. I may go back to them or to Seen for my next piece.

For all the chaos that was going on in that office, the probie with 6 months on the job did an extremely admirable bit of work there. That's the key to a good radio dispatcher. It could be going to Heck in a handbasket in that office and the folks in the field would never know it because the person on the radio doesn't let it show.

I'll echo Duanes comment, and, isn't that always the way?? The guys working out in the field are always the last ones to know. It's gonna be a VERY tight fit with 36, 236 and the Squad. Since I'm not too knowledgable about what this rig can do, I really can't comment on the feasibility of its use in the area.

I hadn't had a chance to post these photos because I had only shot one department and it wasn't worth it to just post those. You guys deserve better than that from me. I was out in Jersey a while back and on a fluke, I wandered upon the Springfield FD. Here's an antique, along with three of their engines, the truck and a Special Hazards rig. Engine 1 Engine 2 Engine 3 Another E-One Truck 1

I can't tell.