JBE

AMEN!!!!

6-6 Preliminary for Manhattan and the Bronx 7-7 Brooklyn 8-8 SI 9-9 Queens The 5-5-5-5 was just to signify that there was a LODD and the flag should be lowered to half mast. There were no other signals transmitted over the bells for where it occurred that I know of. The whole thing with the bells can be summed up in three words for NYC, "What Where and Who" when it came to units. 5-1563-59 S/C Engine 59 to Box 1563. 15-273-64 Relocate Engine 64 to 273. Or "Where, What, Where" 99-22-1782 Queens 2nd Alarm, Box 1782. 3-Special building box, still used today for Private Fire Alarms. 4-S/C BC 5-S/C Engine 5-7-Engine and Truck Response 6-S/C Marine Co. 7-S/C Ladder 7-5-All Hands Operating 8-S/C Squad 9-S/C Special Unit they used to use other numbers for each special unit, but when we go manual now, we just write down the unit. 10-S/C Rescue 1-1-Transmit the Box(3 and 2 to respond with BC) 14,15,16,17 Relocate Chief,Engine, Boat, Truck.

I learned a lot from that certain Supervising Dispatcher. He retired about a year and a half after I got on the job.

Yes I did, but when I think tower ladder, I think anything with a bucket looking thingie on the end of the boom/ladder.

The 4th of July hasn't been busy in a long time. I mean you may get a couple of multiples over the course of the night, and that's citywide. I think 97 was the last year it was really busy. I worked in Brooklyn and we had 8 all hands during the course of the day tour, and think there was a multiple that night and SI had two multiples. There were procedures like setting up the computer into two sections to handle three boroughs on one computer server, and two on the other, firebases set up at certain firehouses, they would have like 4 Engines, 2 or 3 Trucks and a couple of Battalions staged there as needed. There's some reserve apparatus staffed in Manhattan for the Fireworks and a few other things, but not much else. It's gotten to the point where it's just another day at the office, although I will admit to trying to get the radio as much as I could when I worked the 4th.

Not that it matters much, but there are tower ladders in Long Beach and if LA County has any towers they are reserves or spares.

That's what it was, the KME Tiller.

Orlando, refresh my memory real quick, didn't LAFD try out a Simon/Duplex LTI quint and it didn't pan out?? PS Check your PM's.

The picture you see is about all you will see of it in action. The rig is transported by Engine 3, or High Rise 2 is transported by Engine 39 to the 10-76. When they arrive on scene, they check in with the IC and they are put to work. The only platform I can think of is maybe a hand truck or a drop down tailgate. Everything gets taken out and brought into the building directly.

The fans are for heavy ventilation. They have been used to clear out subway tunnels. The SCBA are one hour bottles. It does not have a cascade system. As far as a remote controlled unit is concerned, that's news to me. The PODS carry lumber, wood cutting tables, saws and other tools for shoring.

PS, LA County also has Light Forces, but not as many as LAFD.

The Light Force is a two piece unit. An engine(AKA Pump or Tender) and a truck, staffed by the truck company. It's a staff of 5 or 6. Here's an example. LAFD Station 27 has Engine 27, Engine 227(Pump) and Truck 27. (I know there are other units in the house, but I'm sticking with this) The Pump and Truck always respond together, and they are known as Light Force 27. As for what a Light Force would respond to by themselves, the LAFD Buffs would have to help me out here.

Somewhere along the way, I got scammed, or my computer got hacked. Somebody decided to clean out my checking account, all the way to the overdraft limit. I went to get some money last Sunday and my card was restricted. I still have some more business to attend to with the bank on Monday with some bounced checks that I have to go over. I decided to be safe and not only put a hold on that, but my credit card as well. So just watch how you operate out there. Hopefully I will know by Monday how they got their mitts on my money.

That sounds about right with the pad and paper. Nowadays it would be sit down, have a cup of coffee, enjoy the ballgame or movie, and let's talk $hit till things get interesting. Hey, you in on the meal?? Go pet Lucy(our dog) and make sure all your valuables are hidden and your car is locked, we had a few break ins recently and two guys lost combined about $7,000 worth of stuff. PS to all you buffs, I'm back to work next Monday (9-4) so the door is open in small groups of one or two. We're kinda cramped in the trailer.

I've read the stories, and I work with a few people who worked through those years. Second sections of 88(went on to become 72 Engine),41,50 Engine. Second sections of 17 Truck, 27 Truck(went on to become 58 Truck). I don't remember if there were any TCU Engines, but there was at least one TCU Truck 712(later became Ladder 59) that ran out of 82 Engine with 85 Engine, 31 Truck and two sections of the 27 BN. BN 14-2 went on to become the 26 BN. I think the 27-2 became either the 55 or the 56 BN. It wasn't uncommon to ask if there were any companies available in certain neighborhoods, or below a certain street. It was also pretty common to hear a 3rd going on this block, a 2nd a few blocks away and a 5th a little further away. Interchanges were also pretty common. Slower companies going up into the Bronx while the Bronx companies went to Queens or the Rockaways. A few favorites that come to mind from the tapes I've heard. 2 Truck coming first due to a job near Trinity Avenue up in the Bronx. Police Escorts for SI companies to get up to the Bronx. 51 Truck going into a job as a tower ladder down into the 150's or something like that. I honestly don't know how we could do it if we had the same type of activity today. PS, the status board with the chips is still there and we still use it when the computer crashes. I use it whenever we have a job to keep track of who worked and who relocated. It's still a pretty important part of the operation.

And how many neighborhoods in NO have been rebuilt?? I would ask one question of this JO pi$$ poor excuse for a mayor, "WTF would you have done in a situation like that, where the devastation was not anticipated??" You saw Katrina coming and you did nothing but complain instead of getting out there and helping. Spineless POS. I feel sorry for the residents of NO to a point, didn't they vote this JO back into office?? PS, Giuliani is a few levels better than this guy, but not by much.

oops..

Bottom line, this jerk in Arizona committed a crime by calling in a false alarm, and then committed another one by having target practice with the firefighters. I stand by my statements.

Agreed. Next time I am up there on one of my photo hunts, I'll shoot the rigs so you guys can have some better pictures. When were all those additions built to the firehouse?? I don't remember it ever being that big.

This guy is living proof of one of my examples in the "You know you're a buff when..." thread. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree with you more. I can only presume you're a cat owner or a cat lover. This gentleman not only called in a false alarm, but he abused the 911 system, which by your handle tells me you're a dispatcher who should know that already. To many people out there, a cat in a tree is an emergency, for those of us in the emergency services, it's not an emergency. Is it good public relations for the Fire/Police Department when they go out and do something like this?? Of course, but heaven forbid a fire broke out and these guys were first due, and they missed a job because they were up in a tree, or a cop missed pulling over a drunk driver who goes off and wipes out a family of four, the public outcry would be much worse. When I got calls like this, I referred them to Animal Control, or gave them the cat food, can of tuna advice. If they persisted, I asked if they had ever seen the skeleton of a cat in a tree. The cat got up there, it'll get down. Yes, he pays taxes like the rest of us do, but being a responsible taxpayer does not relieve that person from using common sense. The public needs to be further educated about when to call 911 for a true emergency, and when to call a non emergency number for the proper guidance. Not for nothing, but I guess it couldn't have been too much of an inconvenience for this guy to maybe go and get a ladder and take the cat out of the tree himself. My sister owned a cat who liked to climb everything, and my brother God bless him, went up the 40 or so feet to get the cat down, his reward?? A face and clothing soaked with cat pee. We are a public service, but stuff like felines, or any animal in distress should be handled by the ASPCA or Animal Control. We, as members of public service have a responsibility to the preservation of property and human life, and animal life if it's a fire in a pet store or residence. And by your last statement about picking and choosing, that's not only out of line, but that's an insult to the members of this board. Think before you type.

Won't be able to attend but you're all in my prayers. God Bless from the Blue Eyed Weirdo.

Unfortunately, I can't make it, but somebody set me aside an XL shirt.(Jeeper, hook me up buddy!!) Personally, a wetdown with no water just doesn't seem like much of a wetdown to me. I distinctly remember one a number of years back with Mahopac driving 18-3-1 with the little twirling brush sprinkler off the back of the rig, through the back yard of the firehouse, with someone humming the flight of the Valkyries over the PA. Ahh good times.

PS, I'm in the preliminary stages of writing my book.

I look forward to reading this one. It probably won't make the author too popular with their colleagues, but most books don't. If it opens the eyes of the public to seeing that the 911 system can be pretty flawed in a lot of places, it can't be a bad thing. Secondly, it will definitely give the reader an idea of what sometimes goes on over on the other side of the radio.