JBE

The reflective stripes (gold white gold) were brought in around 1991 with some of the chiefs cars and Haz Mats' second piece. 1992 for the engines, 1993 for the trucks. FDNY has never had a yellow ladder truck, EVER!!! We still have a few CF Tower Ladder spares out there. Most of them are in service with companies because the Seagrave ones are breaking down/falling apart.

The Mack CF engine was not 45. It was repainted to White over Red and after that I don't know. As for the Aerialscope, we didn't have any Tower Ladders in that color scheme. They may have repainted it Yellow.

Engine 73,85(disbanded and given to 263),236(totalled in wreck) Engine 65 had the ALF.

Just put a new one up at the new Firehouse. Maybe something like Carmels old horn that could wake the dead from 5 miles away. On a good night you could hear that thing from my old house on Towners clear as a bell.

These are the typical self important POS's that you're going to find out there. And heaven forbid you should really tell them what you want to say.

That is if they are open. Can't think of how many times I have been up there and the place is closed.

Mount Vernon operated in the City a few weeks back. Box came in about 5 minutes before we got it. There was another one about a week later where Pelham was operating.

Until the first unit arrives on scene, dispatch is Incident Command.

11-8-1 is a hose wagon. Not sure if it's still the old Ford with the reels. I haven't shot any apparatus up there in a while. 11-6-2 was at one time the Fire Police Van.

If I remember correctly, the Chief of the 15 Battalion would have dumped a 3rd on arrival if not for the fact it wasn't his job. Sometimes that Saw Mill gets a little tricky(thank you cell phones and silly people).

Get those chains and buckets ready kids!!!

One word, BULL$#@%!!!!! So what if the house was vacant??(Squatters!!!) So what if there were no exposure problems?? Ever heard of embers, or brands?? If it's one block or half a mile into Yonkers, I will get on the phone to Yonkers and tip them off. These chiefs should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm going. Who's coming with me?? I missed this test in 2001, (rassum frassum weddings)and don't intend to miss this one.

This was late '01 or early '02. I was still dispatching in Manhattan but I wasn't working that day. North Hudson had an arsonist running around one particular weekend. They were getting hammered with fires. I think we sent 3 Truck, an engine and a chief into Jersey. There are a couple of mutual aid boxes for Manhattan, one for the Holland Tunnel and one for the Lincoln Tunnel. I'm not sure if there is one for the GWB. This was probably a situation where 21 was either not available(remember we still had a pretty strong presence at the Trade Center at that time) or the dispatchers just lined up companies and said, "This is who is going", and 21 was not a good move. Any mutual aid request has to go through either the Chief of Department or the Citywide Command Chief. It usually takes up to 30 minutes before we get the ok. 9 times out of 10, the units end up operating at the fire, as opposed to relocating. I can only think of two or three times in the 8 plus years I've been in the job when we've sent more than an engine truck and chief. The first was in 1997 for a job in Pelham Manor in a big @$$ H-Type right off the Hutch, and in 03 when we send just about a Second Alarm Assignment up to Yonkers for a job on Bronx River Road.

Surprise, surprise. I didn't hear anything about this either, or the one that was run last week.

Come sit in at any major 911 call center. You'll see this sort of stuff is not uncommon. And, you will see first hand how the system is used properly, and ABUSED by people who are just flat out DUMB!!! Perfect example. I had some lady call up last weekend, afraid her O2 cylinder would rupture and explode because it was too hot in her apartment. After politely telling her it would probably have to be hotter than the broil setting on an oven to do much damage, she calmed down. Then she explained how her neighbor told her that would happen. I tried to figure out a way to tell her to tell her friend that they were full of it, politely. It's too bad we don't lock up more people for doing stupid crap like this. Especially the ones who lock themselves out and then lie about having a pot cooking on the stove. That's not a paragraph, that's a documentary.

Not to say the guy was right or wrong, but those rigs, if memory serves me, are not equipped with seat belts. The fact remains that the quality of rigs being produced by Seagrave for the FDNY lately has been substandard. If the original 1999 or 2000 TL that 13 Truck is normally assigned had not broken down, this accident could have been avoided. The spare pool is pretty much depleted, and a number of Tower Ladders have been operating with Rear Mounts because there are none left in the spare pool, and only one is in Reserve Status. If Seagrave loses its contract with FDNY, you're going to see them take a huge hit in the wallet.

The engines they had there were KME's I believe. This was also 1993 when I was stationed there. The Truck is a Pierce. One of the engines was transferred to the yards in Curtis Bay, Maryland, soon after the Coasties moved out. I don't know where that Lime Green one came from. Looks to be either a Pierce or an Amertek. Engine 2 does not exist in the FDNY numbering system. Engine 2 was disbanded in the 70's and its firehouse now quarters Rescue 1. The ALF is the demo model that was operating out of Engine 34 and Engine 257, before it went to GI. Since the rigs never left the island, they rarely came over on the Manhattan frequency unless they were requesting help. When they did it was always "Governors Island Fire to Manhattan, K."

Now that is a refreshing read. Although FDNY Fire and EMS dispatch are two separate entities, I can't think of how many times I got phone calls from people on the upper East Side and West Side complaining about a bus sitting on the corner. I should have thrown in this guys sentiment about knowing it's right there if you need it.

My how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that the Chief and his first assistant were a Captain and Lt, respectively, in the Explorer post. Best of luck to all of them.

That is a Bob Mitts Copyrighted photo. Whatever happened to his website, anyway??

The coverage gets spread out. Sometimes it is just easier to send the gang from Morris Park over there. Sometimes it's 58,31,51,54 and I have sent 17 up there a few times. I wouldn't necessarily call it getting stuck. And, we have sent rear mounts over there if there were no tower ladders we could move without causing a problem.

Just to clarify, Doubtful Probably will Hold Will Hold Under Control. How I explain it to those of the untrained ear, Doubtful means the IC doesn't think they will be able to hold it with what they have. In other words, there is DOUBT it will be placed under control.

I don't believe they are part of the 911 system. As for dispatching them, they may call us and give us an alarm or hit one of the ERS boxes in the neighborhood. That's about it. We really don't acknowledge their existence.

I wouldn't mind checking out my neighbors to the north either.