Newburgher

Anyone wonder, maybe, just maybe its things like this that give the fire service a bad reputation?
 
A guy in a dinosaur suit, people wearing street clothes riding on the hose-bed and millions of dollars worth of  equipment miles from their districts sitting in the roadway spraying water from their tanks (effectively taking that rig out of service if they needed to respond back to their district).
 
Not to mention the engine lobbing water through power lines with their deck gun toward the end of this video.
 
 

The ladder has 3 also. The Assistant Chief is the tenth person on the shift. Currently, this is still our minimum. That fourth guy on each rig makes a huge difference.

The ladder has 3 also. The Assistant Chief is the tenth person on the shift. Currently, this is still our minimum. That fourth guy on each rig makes a huge difference.

The ladder has 3 also. The Assistant Chief is the tenth person on the shift. Currently, this is still our minimum. That fourth guy on each rig makes a huge difference.

Best of luck to the NFD. Happy to see the politicians are speaking up.
 
If my math is correct, that's 25% of the staff on the floor! I'd assume they'd keep 3 at the sub-station and then drop to 3 on the HQ engine, 2 on the ladder, plus the Assistant Chief. Totally unacceptable. Before looking it up, I figured a city of 28K in 5 square miles would be running 3 or 4 engines and would have about 17 or 18 per shift. How are they going to cover a CITY with 9 guys?

Here we are again, facing layoffs in the City of Newburgh FD.  TWELVE firemen are on the chopping block this time around. 
That amounts to (1) less fireman on each piece of apparatus on each tour. 
Anybody who has operated on a fire ground knows how detrimental that is. 
It angers me to see this happening yet again. I'm angry because several of the firemen facing layoffs are my friends.  What makes me more angry is that the City has done little to nothing to prevent this from happening. This should not have come as a surprise. Steps should have been taken in an attempt to avoid these layoffs at all costs. That did not happen. 
Ive said it before and I'll say it again. Hats off to these gentlemen, all of the NFD. They are some of the most aggressive firemen I have ever seen work and have had the pleasure of working with them. 
I truly hope for a miracle to keep these men on the job. They deserve it, their fellow members deserve it and the City deserves the proper protection. 
Once again, Senator Sean Patrick Maloney has impressed me. This man has continuously had the backs of the NFD and its members. He has faught for them before and continues to do so today. Let's hope he can help once again. 
 
Link to Times Herald Record video of news conference at NFD.
 
http://www.recordonline.com/news/20180201/maloney-newburgh-has-to-answer-for-firefighter-layoffs
 
Link to the Mid Hudson News;
 
https://midhudsonnews.com/News/2018/February/01/Nb_FF_layoffs-01Feb18.htm
 

Date:1/26/18
Time:10:39
Location:165 Broadway
District:
Battalion:3
Channel:Newburgh FG
Weather:Cold
Units:Newburgh Car 4 (Command) Truck 1,  Engine 1 & 3
2nd alarm: Newburgh Car 2&3, Truck 10, Engine 10, Fire Investigation.
Mutual Aid : West Point Truck, Stewart Engine 11, OC Car 13, MLSS
Stand-by Companies: Good Will Engine, Vails Gate Truck both to NFD HQ
Writer:  Newburgher

Description:3 story ordinary, fire in the basement.
10:41 Car 4 on scene, transmitting the 2nd alarm on arrival for a fire in the basement. Occupants in 2nd and 3rd floor evacuated safely. Fire confined to basement and extinguished by 1st line.  No extension to upper floors. Two dogs located in fire area and removed to sidewalk. Oxygen administrated, both survived. 
Under control at 11:15
Last Unit cleared at 12:30
**We do not have a Car 1, Car 5, or any Companies designated Ladder 2, Engine 2, or Engine 4**

Date:1/26/18
Time:10:39
Location:165 Broadway
District:
Battalion:3
Channel:Newburgh FG
Weather:Cold
Units:Newburgh Car 4 (Command) Truck 1,  Engine 1 & 3
2nd alarm: Newburgh Car 2&3, Truck 10, Engine 10, Fire Investigation.
Mutual Aid : West Point Truck, Stewart Engine 11, OC Car 13, MLSS
Stand-by Companies: Good Will Engine, Vails Gate Truck both to NFD HQ
Writer:  Newburgher

Description:3 story ordinary, fire in the basement.
10:41 Car 4 on scene, transmitting the 2nd alarm on arrival for a fire in the basement. Occupants in 2nd and 3rd floor evacuated safely. Fire confined to basement and extinguished by 1st line.  No extension to upper floors. Two dogs located in fire area and removed to sidewalk. Oxygen administrated, both survived. 
Under control at 11:15
Last Unit cleared at 12:30
**We do not have a Car 1, Car 5, or any Companies designated Ladder 2, Engine 2, or Engine 4**

Date:1/26/18
Time:10:39
Location:165 Broadway
District:
Battalion:3
Channel:Newburgh FG
Weather:Cold
Units:Newburgh Car 4 (Command) Truck 1,  Engine 1 & 3
2nd alarm: Newburgh Car 2&3, Truck 10, Engine 10, Fire Investigation.
Mutual Aid : West Point Truck, Stewart Engine 11, OC Car 13, MLSS
Stand-by Companies: Good Will Engine, Vails Gate Truck both to NFD HQ
Writer:  Newburgher

Description:3 story ordinary, fire in the basement.
10:41 Car 4 on scene, transmitting the 2nd alarm on arrival for a fire in the basement. Occupants in 2nd and 3rd floor evacuated safely. Fire confined to basement and extinguished by 1st line.  No extension to upper floors. Two dogs located in fire area and removed to sidewalk. Oxygen administrated, both survived. 
Under control at 11:15
Last Unit cleared at 12:30
**We do not have a Car 1, Car 5, or any Companies designated Ladder 2, Engine 2, or Engine 4**

Date: 11/10/17
Time: 1425hrs
Location: 205 Liberty St/Campbell St
District: City of Newburgh 
Battalion:
Channel: 
Weather: Cold/Windy 
Units: NFD C4 (IC), C3, E1, E3, T1, E10/T10 (call back), West Point (Truck), Air Guard (Engine), Castle Point (Engine)
Writer: BFD1054
Description: Working Fire 
1425hrs (approx)-OC911 alerting 2nd Alarm companies; West Point (Truck) & Air Guard (Engine) to the scene, Middlehope and Cronomer Valley to stand by Public Safety Building. 
 
1430hrs-Dispatch advising Command that E10 abd T10 have been re-hired, as well as an Assistant Chief.
 
1437hrs-Dispatch looking for a progress report. Command advising all hands working, (2) lines in operation, fire on the 3rd floor and into the cockloft, waiting for mutual aid to arrive with "plenty of work for them."
 
1448hrs-Command advising West Point and Air Guard working, companies checking exposures. 
 
1450hrs-E10 on scene.
 
1453hrs-Dispatch conducting status check. Command advising (1) line in the exposure building, crews still operating the 2nd and 3rd floor of the fire building.
 
1456hrs-West Point relieving T1's crew on the roof.
 
1457hrs-Command advising that the FAST is on scene. 
 
1459hrs-Command requesting Dispatch recall (1) member for Cause and Origin.
 
1505hrs-Command requesting Red Cross.
 
1510hrs-40 minute status check. Command advising interior fire in knocked down, crews working on exterior fire, all 2nd Alarm companies commited, 1st Alarm companies taking a breather.
 
1523hrs-Command placing the fire under control, all hands still working, holding all 1st & 2nd Alarm companies.
 
*All times are approximate 

Here's the million dollar question....
 
Who's going to staff it?  It is going to be a volunteer system, much like the Westchester Haz-mat team, which due to slow response times, has been skipped over many a time for a properly staffed rig?
 
Tech team responses require an immense amount of training, and if you get the cert once and never handle the equipment for months, you're gonna lose that skill...

If your staffed properly and everyone does their job you should be able to put the fire out and move before the ticket officer nabs you! Of course you'll have to leave all the overhaul to the truckies.

Just going to leave this here...

City of Newburgh - Full Time Fire Dispatcher 
 
*Applications accepted thru July 25, 2017*
 
 
http://www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov/sites/newburghny/files/news/dispatcher.pdf

It's funny, some VFDs are better "staffed" and more adequately covered when they are OUT of town...

City of Newburgh put on additional staff and apparatus over the weekend. I would assume partially because they were on automatic response to some border departments, and they have been burned in the past with locals not being able to crew on Spring Break Weekend. 

I noticed the lake George convention is going on right now. At a time when volunteer fire departments seem to have an issue with staffing on a good day, does anyone find that having a great deal of the active membership several hours away negatively effect public safety ? What are some of the things your departments do during events like this (or other parades...) to alleviate staffing issues ? 

 
This is brought up EVERY parade season.  The answers never change, and neither does the inadequate level of response.

FDNY vented with the tip of the aerial as a matter of routine. It proved to be quick and effective and did not cause undue wear and tear on the ladder. Fire trucks are tools, unfortunately many departments treat them as parade pieces at the expense of sub-par performance on the fire-ground. BTW, FDNY did not spec their sticks with gizmo's and buff paraphernalia mounted on the working end, so there was no chance of creating additional airborne debris. 

I disagree with the conclusion that "the whole lower level is well involved" based on the fire showing from the garage and that the handline should have gone thru the garage first.  If you look at the beginning of the first video, just before and after that engine arrives, there is fire burning around the garage doors, but there is no fire at the front door and no visible fire and limited smoke from the downstairs window to the right.  The whole lower level is clearly not what I'd consider to be "well involved".
 
To me, based on that assessment, the area of origin is more than likely the garage and actual fire does not appear to spread much yet.  Smoke yes, fire not so much.  Conditions on the upper floor seem like they could still be survivable for any occupants (not sure what the occupancy information they had was).  Looking at the videos a few times, it kind of looked like the fire spread to the front door area may have been an exterior spread from the garage rather than the interior burning thru.  While the garage certainly needs addressed, getting thru the garage doors is likely going to take a few minutes to do anything other than flow water from the driveway.
 
As such, my first line would be hitting the visible fire from the garage and then attempting to make entry thru the front door in attempt to cut off the fire spread and protect the stairs for a quick search of the bedrooms over the garage.  As manpower would allow, other personnel would simultaneously get to work on removal of the garage doors while the 2nd line supports that work (Ideally, you create an opening large enough to flow water thru in the one door to hold the fire in check some while working on removal of the other door.).
 
Given how choppy the video editing is, it's hard to get a good sense of the timing of the obvious fire spread that occurs.  So, it's hard to tell for sure if conditions would allow for sustained interior operations, but it might be long enough to at least make a quick search.
 
 

I agree that there are times in which using the deck gun for a quick knockdown in order to perform interior operations is appropriate however, I don't think that tactic was appropriate for this particular fire being discussed.  Based on the initial view shown in these videos, the amount of fire showing on arrival appears to be manageable with a handline giving no true advantage to the use of the deck gun.
 
As the video progresses, one could make the argument for hitting it with the deck gun, but that need appears to be the direct result of what looks like insufficient action by the initial crews that allowed the fire to progress to that point.

Residents would never go for consolidating schools and having 1big school district. Why?  Because the towns with great schools like Edgemont, Rye, Scarsdale who are some of the best in the country wouldn't no longer be just that.   And because segregation would be part of it.  Kids would then be allowed to go to any school and bussed in. Some locations would have their schools closed.  No one is going to go for that.  Consolidation of fire and police is more realistic but won't happen.  Not as long you get a 70k Chiefs car and free fuel as incentive.  New rig every couple years to toy with.  Savings would be huge in consolidation just won't happen.  

It will NOT be green. 

I think Mr. Suarino's letter is excellent, and sheds light on the types of crap that has been going on for years in volunteer departments. Every department I've ever been a part of has had a select group of obstructionist old guys who haven't rode the rigs in 15 years that just love to make life difficult for officers and firefighters that are trying to get things done and move the agency forward.

 
http://www.myrye.com/my_weblog/2017/04/letter.html