lt411

Anytime we had the President stay in the city, there was a detail assigned to the hotel at night. Usually POTUS stayed at the Waldorf Astoria (not anymore, since a Chinese company bought the hotel recently) when he stayed in Manhattan (obviously Trump will stay at his "place"). We hired manpower for an engine and a ladder, and we staged in a hotel room one floor below POTUS, with standpipe "roll-ups" (hose) and truck tools and PPE/SCBA. Also there were 2 F/Fs stationed at the fire command station /alarm panel. It was an OT night tour, but not as nice as being in your own station. One night tour I worked the Presidential detail, we had a member of Ladder 2 on the crew. Since it was his company's administrative/building inspection district, he knew the fire safety director. He asked him to have the hotel staff bring up as many folding cots as could be fit into the room, so we could all have a "resting place" during the night. The beds filled the whole room- when there was a smoke detector activation at 0200, and the brothers at the alarm panel called up to us, it was chaos as 11 guys tried to find their bunker gear and Scotts under the beds! Also, the deputy chief was pissed several days later, when the Waldorf sent the dept. a bill for all the food/snacks ordered from room service and used from the mini-bar. Ah, the good old days!

If you are not being sarcastic, the drone goes to second alarms and above-is carried/operated by the Command Tactical Unit.

When you get hired on FDNY (or other NY city civil service public safety positions) you have to reside in the 5 boros of NYC or in the following counties: Putnam;Westchester;Rockland ;Orange; Nassau;Suffolk. As far as the NYC income tax- you pay it whether you live in the city or not. The PD and FD unions took this point to court, saying that it was unfair (taxation without representation). The city then changed the "income tax" label to a "condition of employment fee". Basically, if you want the job, you pay the city income tax whether you live in the city or not. As far as working as a firefighter in NYC, and living in the suburbs (Putnam, in my case) it was worth the payment of this "fee", even though it wasn't right.

Had many "Collyer's mansion " apt. fires over the years. I remember one in particular in an illegal basement apt. in the Bronx. The Deputy Chief assigned my squad company the task of doing a "secondary search" in that basement apartment. The bedroom was particularly stacked with debris/junk everywhere, and the queen size bed had 3-4 ft of clothes/junk piled on it. Ironically we had drilled earlier in the night tour on the proper way to do a thorough secondary search. As my guys moved the debris off the bed, we found a body - a rather obese male in his 30's with his throat slit open from ear to ear. The murdered victim was on the wrong end of a drug deal gone bad. Needless to say the Battalion chief and the Deputy chief were very happy that we had done a "good secondary". Nothing worse that the fire marshals or the detectives finding a DOA after the fire units have left the scene. If you are going to do a job, "do it right".

The hose reel apparatus has not seen much use, as all the engines carry a fair amount of 5" LDH, and when a working fire is encountered, the responding mutual aid companies utilize their LDH as well. So the calls that require very long lays of LDH are few and far between. The last time I remember the hose reel unit used was at the "Uncle Bob's storage facility" fire on Rt.22 several years ago. There are hydrants in the village area, and in the Home Depot shopping center area; and several other isolated areas, but no- there is no new addition of hydrants into the district boundaries.

The Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services (BOES) should purchase this vehicle from the Brewster-Southeast Fire District, and make it a regional asset. Maybe one of the county special team members could respond to the TOPS bldg and deliver it to the scene of an active emergency. S1720G is right about that idea. BOES had an idea for a county-wide foam unit, but it never happened, as far as I know. A trailer with lumber for a bldg collapse in the county would be another idea, as would a technical rescue team. Don't know if they will ever happen, as getting enough members to get trained and kept excited is hard to do (and money needed always rears its ugly head).

Back in the early 70's, the ghetto area companies (Harlem;south Bronx; Bed-Sty;Brownsville,etc) had manning as follows: the engine companies had 6 firefighters and an officer- but the city tried an experiment with "Rapid water engines", which had a slurry tank on top of the booster tank that added a "friction-reducing additive" to water being pumped out the 1-3/4" line. If the RW system was in-service, the manning was reduced to 5 firefighters (money-saving idea). But the only way to know if the system was operational was the "green light" on the pump panel. The brothers would (at times) unscrew the light bulb so it didn't show green. Hence the Battalion chief would hire the 6th firefighter back until the "shops" checked out the system. We really did need that 6th man, as we would routinely have "fire out the windows" at least once every tour, and the SCBA's were not readily available. The ladder companies ("trucks" had the standard 5 firefighters and an officer, EXCEPT- in certain high activity areas we had "adaptive response trucks". From 1500 hrs- 2400 hrs the dispatchers would send one truck instead of the standard two trucks (on a pulled street box ), but the AR truck would have 7 firefighters. The 2 "extra firefighters would act as the 2nd due truck, searching the floor above. On a phone alarm the dispatchers would send 2 trucks anyway, so the idea was not kept for long. In 1975 when thousands of us were laid-off in the NYC fiscal crisis, all these "ideas" and pilot programs went away. There were also "TCU " trucks that were operational from afternoon to after midnight, and also second section engines . Crazy times, but it was the greatest time to be a firefighter in the greatest city and the greatest dept in the world. I remember many tours where the Bronx dispatcher would plead for any available company to "free up for a working fire". There were several times where the deputy chief would order us on the dept radio to leave our hose in the street as we were "taking up" and respond to another job. Sometimes I feel that I know how Lou Gehrig of the NY Yankees felt, when he said how blessed he was to be able to "be on the team".

Mr Wanamaker- worked with your Dad in Engine 92 in the Bronx- always a smile on his face, happy guy the whole tour (especially when we caught a "job"). One of the best firefighters I worked with. He headed to the "boats" after the bunker gear came in, and the EMS runs had us running around constantly. He just hated putting on/taking off 15-20 times per tour. He was a true role model for the younger guys who were studying to be a boss- they all knew they wanted to be a fire office like Harry-take care of your people;don't ask them to do anything you wouldn't/couldn't do; and always "do the right thing".

there is one Field Comm unit for FDNY,and in the past it was staffed by one dispatcher and one lieutenant. The officer reports to the command post and relays any orders/updates to the dispatcher in the Field Comm unit for further action.

Brewster FD in Putnam County is selling trees as of tomorrow!

After that fatal fire in 1987,at the Schomberg Plaza towers in east Harlem,there was a heavy-duty investigation done. Soon after the fire was under control, the FDNY fire marshals went to the quarters of the administrative fire company whose district the building was in (Engine company 91). They went right to the building inspection folder to see if there were any outstanding fire violations or recent issues with inspections. Luckily the company commander (who was my first lieutenant as a probie) was a very smart and diligent officer.He had documented all the issues with the building, and had sent reports "downtown" and to the NYC Building dept.,concerning problems with the compactor chute. BOTTOM LINE: When you do a fire prevention inspection on a building,and sign your name on the form, do it right. Cover your butt! You never know when there will be a fire or collapse or other emergency in that building in the future.

Have to agree with "16fire5" on the extinguishment of wind driven fires. Was 1st due engine at a high-rise MD fire on Broadway, opposite the Lincoln Center plaza. Fire was on the 20th(?) floor in an apt. facing the west (Hudson River), started by a halogen torchire lamp, that fell on the bed. The maid opened all the windows to "get the bad smoke out";called bldg. maintenance; and wheeled the occupant (Lionel Hampton, the jazz musician) out,leaving the apt door open.Eventually the concierge called 911. My engine company was across the street on an EMS run, in a hotel, babysitting a dead body awaiting PD,when my MPO reported fire out the windows across the street from us. We ended up 2nd due, and stretched a 2nd standpipe line down the hall. The truck tried to breach a wall from the adjoining apt., with no luck. Anyway, it went to 5 alarms, with the 1st alarm engines getting 2nd degree burns. The 4th and 5th alarm engines, down from Harlem, busted our chops about the ghetto guys putting out our fire, but truth be told- they could only advance their line as fast as the contents burned away. You cannot put out a wind-driven fire if you are coming at it from the downwind side. The KO curtain /fire blanket would have been put to good use at that fire, but it was not yet in our "toolbox" of equipment/tactics. Sorry for the long-winded tale from an old retired guy! Still miss "the job" every day!

FDNY: total of 519,798 runs for the Fire Suppression units, broken down as follows: structural fires- 26,531; non-structural fires-15,512; emergencies-226,724; medical emergencies- 231,122; malicious false alarms- 19,909. The EMS Bureau did well over a million calls in addition to these numbers. The year 2014 was the busiest year in terms of total alarms.

Brewster Fire Department (Putnam County) had 2,136 calls, between Fire-Rescue calls and EMS in 2014. Don't have the EMS vs Fire-Rescue calls breakdown.

You might want to check the last issue Of WNYF (With New York Firemen). It's the FDNY official quarterly magazine that gives a lot of great information. The latest issue listed all the companies in the FDNY and all the special response assignments they have ( command post co's; high-rise nozzle co's; foam co's;LDH hose co's; ventilation support trucks; SOC support ladder co's; Haz Mat Tech Units (Engine co's specially trained); marine (fire-rescue boats) co's;etc.). Anyone really interested in the FDNY should subscribe to this magazine- I think it's about $40 a year. Go the the FDNY website and you should find out how to subscribe.

I would love to see this, but I don't get HBO w/ my cable package. I asked my family member s if any of them get HBO (they don't). Is there any way that I can view this in the future?

Newark FD and Washington DC FD have also had fire companies patrol for crime and stage on street corners to "scare " criminals . These were companies based in the ghettos who were already busy on the "fire/ems" side, and then they were being asked to do police work. Don't know if these policies are still in effect, but they have proved relatively useless and demoralizing.

FDNY has a dewatering unit assigned to Special Operations command (SOC). In the past it was a large rescue style box unit that had a hydraulic-powered large capacity pump (Stanley system), in addition to numerous sized gas powered "trash pumps". The unit would be driven to the scene of an incident by the SOC firefighter, and an engine company would meet him at the scene to provide hose and manpower. Many engine companies have trash pumps, especially in the shoreline and "flood prone areas". There is also a large capacity hydraulic pump(s) on a roll-off kept at SOC that has a several thousand GPM capacity. This was used to pump out the PATH train tubes between NJ and lower Manhattan. This was some of the inventory in FDNY in the past. Maybe the active FDNY brothers can add to this?

FDNY is working on a grant from the Feds to procure a drone for aerial observation at fires/emergencies, when NYPD aviation units are grounded due to weather. Who knows whether it will be approved or not, but they are pursuing the idea.

I believe the course is called "FLSTP" (first-line supervisor training program. It is run by FDNY but it is for any NYS career firefighter promoted to the next up supervisory rank (usually Lieutenant, but it could be Captain or Chief, depending on the size of the dept.). When I went years ago, we had officers from Yonkers to Syracuse to Cohoes to Johnson city to Albany and buffalo. It was 4 weeks long, and the lessons were all taught in a generic manner, meaning they were relevant to any career dept., not just FDNY (there were only 2 days where the FDNY lieutenants were separated from the rest to teach specific FDNY admin matters). It was really interesting when we had a tactics class- each student had to explain to the class how they would handle a fire on the 3rd floor of a 5 story multiple dwelling. The small departments really showed us "big city" guys how they attempted to "do more with less". We all got a lot out of the class, and had a lot of laughs.

I am unable to get to either of the websites mentioned in the 1st post, so I can't comment on that move by Gov. Christie. BUT, on another great move he made, he refused to pay the required amount into the Fire and Police pension funds this year, saying that NJ didn't have the money. This, after he and the unions signed an agreement several years ago that required the FD/PD ,members to pay more each paycheck into the pension, but also required the state to pay what they were obligated to pay into the fund. Governors in the past never paid in the required amounts, hence the big deficit in the pension fund. Gov Christie backed out of the agreement due to his fiscal mismanagement. He "got his cake and ate it too" (look at the size of him). God forbid he ever gets to be President.

This article is a long read, but it is very accurate and really tells a great story. Ladder Co. 105 where this probie is assigned is a well regarded company, and you can see that the brothers there have continued the tradition of training their new members the right way.It brought back a lot of good memories when I was in his shoes. Man, would I love to trade places with him.

Yesterday (Sat.5/31) the Brewster Fire Dept. (Putnam County) was dispatched to a reported trench collapse with worker trapped. Upon arrival of the BFD chief, a sizeup was completed, and the following conditions were noted: operator of a 5 ton skid steer machine was trapped in the cab, approx. 30 ft below grade, and unable to extricate himself due to the position that the machine was stuck in; one half of the excavation appeared stable, and the other half was comprised of disturbed soil. The operator was conscious and alert, complaining of general pain due to the accident. The machine was not covered in dirt- it just fell in the hole. The IC requested Lisi's towing to respond with their heavy-duty wrecker (20 ton capability, I believe), and also requested the West Co. Technical Rescue team. The tow truck slung the skid steer, and easily brought the machine to grade level, where the operator was rermoved and turned over to BFD ambulance and Medic 4. Croton Falls FD and Carmel ambulance were also on scene, and the operation went well. SO, if it was a true trench collapse, with a victim entrapped, my question is this- other than FDNY- Special Operations command units, and Yonkers FD, do any other career depts. have on-duty,fully staffed (more than 3 firefighters on-duty) companies available to respond out of their district? How far out of their immediate response area would they be able to respond? Do they have a second piece stocked with shoring materials? What is the procedure to get their response, and how long would it take for them to get permission to leave their municipality?

Disregarding the gift shop, the museum is very well done. My wife and I went on Sunday, and were impressed by the great job done by the curator in setting up all the exhibits and films,etc. Particularly gut-wrenching was Ladder Co. 3's rig. On the side of the aerial, with the company's name, is "Recon 3". That's the name the brothers came up with for the company, after Capt. Paddy Brown was assigned there. Paddy was in marine recon in Vietnam; a Golden Gloves boxing champ; and a super-fireman. He never talked about any of the medals he won over the years, and was one of the most humble guys you ever wanted to meet. He died at the WTC, along with all his men. They would have followed him anywhere- he was a super leader and a great human being. If you get a chance, visit this museum, despite the rip-off price of $24 starting this week. If you responded to the WTC in Sept. 2001, you can join the "rescue and recovery worker registry", and after signing up, you are allowed free entry.

As far as "knocking with your elbows" at the firehouse, it usually means an Entemann's cake;bagels;donuts;eggs and bacon to cook for breakfast (if you're coming in for a 9x6 tour), and The Daily News (or the Post, but not so much). Bring copious amounts if you have a pumpkin patch on your helmet (Probie)! That's why you have to "knock with your elbows", cause you're carrying.