lt411

I have a question- can a local FD (specifically in Putnam county) request WCPD help to do a water drop with a "Bambi bucket"? What criteria is required? Can a local fire chief request it, or does the request have to come from a county coordinator or OEM?

Remember, truckies are " the real firefighters helpers"

I always thought that a tower ladder has the bucket/basket on the rear of the truck, and the ladder tower has the basket/bucket on the front. Years ago we had both in FDNY- there were several tower ladders (L14 and L163) that were Sutphen rigs w/ pumps, and all the other TL's were Mack/Baker aerialscopes. The Sutphens were 100 ft. and were often special-called for their longer reach. Maybe the present-day FDNY brothers can let us know what the current situation is?

CAD dispatch systems which will print out/show on MDT screens are great, but remember that you have to have someone who will input all the preplan bldg info; hydrant locations;FDC locations;etc into the system, after gathering it! In a career dept. the line companies can get the info while on bldg. inspection, or the fire prevention bureau can do some inp0.ut, but in a volunteer dept? I think its a rare volunteer dept that has the manpower/time/money/interest to do all the field work necessary (and keep it regularly updated

the companies were never closed (although Bloomberg DID close six companies during his reign). Every year he put the proposed closure of those 20 companies in his budget, and the city council ultimately funded them out of their budget lines. It was part of the annual Bloomberg charade. He also removed the fifth firefighter from the last 60 engine companies during his last term. All in all, he was not a friend of the FDNY. One positive thing I can say for him, he always showed support to the families of fallen firefighters and police officers; showing up at the hospitals, and attending the funerals.

Chief- I like the concept, but I would need to know more about all that goes with it. In my last career dept.,I could see the "bean counters" loving this concept. There would be no more overtime for the company officers, and many officer positions would be left unfilled, and "master F/Fs " put in their spot to save money. That is the only negative I see. Otherwise, the concept is great.

Washington,DC Fire Dept. has a Sgt. rank.

Excellent article! Be sure and read the several related articles about D.C. Laun and the rescue attempt he made. He gave total credit to the on-duty truck co. crew for making the "grab". The man is a true hero, at age 72, to be crawling into a flat to get to the victim, without gear or SCBA. The articles show that firefighters everywhere are a true brotherhood. All of us retired guys miss the job so much- you lucky ones that are still "active"- live the dream; stay safe; and never dishonor the profession.

To all the FDNY members on this site- you don't know how lucky we are/were, with the FDNY shops and radio repair,etc. The field crew (on-duty FDNY mechanics who respond to qtrs for app repairs) has always been top-notch. They try to repair whatever they can, to prevent you having to get a spare and change over the rig (PAIN in the ASS, esp. for the engine co., with all the hose to change over.The radio repair guys come to qtrs to fix any problems with the mobile data terminal (MDT) or siren or app radio; the tire repair guys respond to wherever you end up with a flat, and throw on a new tire. I dare say that most career depts. on this site aren't that lucky?! I recall many years ago, when I "vested/retired" from FDNY and got a job as a shift commander in a west coast Florida county FD. The rigs were in fairly poor condition, and anytime there was a problem with one of the pieces, we had to tow it/drive it to the county repair shop, where they repaired all county vehicles- there was no specific "fire apparatus mechanic". Needless to say, the rigs were not always repaired correctly. After 8 months there, I was lucky enough to get back on FDNY. It was quite an experience,looking back. One of the better firefighters on my shift (who grew up on LI) asked me one day-"Cap, why did you leave the "Yankees" to come play with the "Port charlotte RedHens"? I asked myself that question every day until I got back to the Big Apple. Nothing beats playing with the Big Guys!

Yes, all the probies will be assigned to engine companies. For many years this was the routine, as the thought was that you should learn engine company operations before being assigned to truck company. As all engine co. members (other than the MPO) stay with their officer, its safer to have "all the ducks with the mama". When probies work in the truck, they are usually assigned " the can" (2-1/2 gal water ext.) and 6ft. hook so they will be with the officer. Still, the officer may lose their probie during the search operation. I remember when the probie from Lad.24 was lost during a search for the seat of the fire at Macy's Dept. store in Herald Square (34st and Bdwy). Macy's has high ceilings, and the heat and smoke were building up "on high",while the co's were searching. All of a sudden the smoke and heat dropped like a stage curtain, and the scramble to escape began. The probie got caught behind a sales counter, which only has a small way out- like a mouse in a maze. Fire never would have happened if the auto sprinkler system had been turned back on by the plumber when the repairs were finished. Unfortunately it was Prob. Firefighter Walter Smith's last fire.

Jim was one of my Lieut.'s in Rescue 1 back in the 'late 80's. He always had a smile on his face; never got excited at a fire /emergency; he exuded confidence at all times, and made you feel very confident when we encountered some "hairy" situations. He was such a gentleman, that we sometimes (behind his back) called him "Father Jim". I remember when his son would ride with us on some weekend night tours- now he is Capt. of Rescue 3 in the Bronx. The tradition continues! Heaven now has another great officer for the Lord's Fire Brigade!

How about this situation? Take a volunteer dept. in the lower Hudson valley, that is running over 2,000 calls per year. The majority of those calls are EMS (approx 1,400). Now in this Fire district, there is a huge (and still expanding) medical group, which recently added a "Urgent Care" walk-in unit inside their building . There is also a large nursing home within the district.Both these facilities are for-profit businesses. (I won't mention the residential senior housing areas, which also generate numerous calls).These two faciities have put so much strain on the EMS side of the dept., that the commissioners have hired two EMTs from 0600-1800 Mon-Fri through a commercial service. Since this is a fire district, is there any way to bill for these calls, say over a certain amount of calls for service per year? How would splitting off the EMS component into a volunteer ambulance corps, and bill )is this what Mohegan FD did ?

Went through this many years ago. Stopped at my fathers house for breakfast, on the way into work for 9x6 tour. He said-"hey, your firehouse is on 43st.,right? I think it has been destroyed by a huge fire!" I hoped (selfishly) that it was the other company,Engine 65, also on 43 st., not Rescue 1. No, it was my firehouse- the 6-story (heavy timber) piano factory burned (arson) and collapsed onto our 3-story quarters. We spent 2 weeks digging through the pancake collapse, getting to our lockers and finding old photos and memorabila (sp?). One of the guys had many large coffee cans filled with quarters, and another had all the masts and sails and gear for his sailboat in the cellar, in addition to his three boys band equipment. (He told his boys that they could rehearse in the firehouse basement, as long as the Captain wasn't working). Well one day the Captain made a last minute mutual, and ending up working during a "rehearsal". Needless to say, he wasn't happy when he heard a huge racket going on in quarters! Anyway, we had to relocate for several years to E34/L21 on 38st. unil a new quarters was rebuilt on the site. Of course the wrought-iron circular staircase and the old kitchen and the wainscoting-all gone in the new "modern" station. Losing your firehouse to a fire is very painful even if it was an accident.

M'Ave can tell you what the FDNY current response policy is to various alarms. I know that most responses require the units other than 1st due engine or truck to go "non-emergency", unless the radio dispatcher has more information requiring "lights and sirens". (Obviously all units respond code 3 to reported structure fires,and life-threatening calls).

I covered a day tour at Eng 64 in the Bronx one day, and we had AM-BI (building inspection duty). The brothers were in a Parkchester bldg., and the MPO (chauffeur) and I were standing outside the rig on the sidewalk. Up walks a slightly disheveled fella in his mid 30's, and starts asking me questions (I can see the MPO smiling behind him). This fella was one of E64's buffs, and he was a "Rain man". He could tell me the fire alarm box number for any intersection in the Bronx; he asked what date I was appointed and he told me the dept. order number,and where I was assigned out of proby school; he told me what companies were disbanded since I was appointed- it was unreal. But yet when you asked him a simple current events question, he was clueless. He was one of E64's favorites. Firefighters seem to have a soft heart, everywhere. It's a nature of the beast, and a good one!

Don't get your hopes up. Obviously it would be nice for Putnam County to require automatic sprinklers, but the real estate industry will protest that they "build to code". I can guarantee you that the status quo will remain on this subject.Hope I'm wrong!

No sprinkler system;no hydrants;one fire division cider block wall(floor level ,extending 2 feet above the roof,placed one third from the exp.3 side of fire bldg. The division fire wall did its job, and prevented the fire from extending past it. Would have been nice to have had the very long bldg. divided up w/ more than that one wall (sprinklers would have been great,too). No one was allowed on the roof, which was metal trusses, and light-weight Q-decking on top.This was a very challenging fire due to numerous factors: smoke showing from numerous storage units (all locked w/ no master key) upon arrival;delayed alarm due to workmen reportedly trying to extinguish it themselves;no hydrants;limited manpower due to being a daytime/weekday fire. If you have any of these type of occupancies in your district, definitely have a pre-plan,which includes heavy emphasis on forcible entry of many units ASAP,and LOTS of manpower to find;confine;extinguish. It is a very hard type of fire to "look good at". Bottom line- nobody hurt;fire stopped at fire wall;insurance will rebuild bldg- occupants loss, is another question- don't know if they needed "renters insurance". Stay safe!

Just got back from 3 weeks trekking in Nepal, going up to Mt Everest base camp and climbing Kala Pathhar, across the valley from Everest (went with REI, the outdoor equipment company). Great trip! Anyway, at the end of the trip we spent 2 days in the capital, Kathmandu. Almost one million people in the city. Fire protection comes out of ONE fire house, in Durbar square. Due to a language barrier, we didn't get too much info, but saw only 2 pieces of apparatus- an old British pumper, and a small rear-mount aerial ladder (I think they also have a tanker). These rigs had to be at least 20-30 yrs old, and were beat up and battered. There were 10 fireifghters on duty, none of them wearing the same clothing. Their turnout gear resembled 1960's style US gear, other than the British style helmets. No fire hydrants in the city; cows roaming the streets (Hindu religion believes cows are sacred); old,old bldgs that were out-of square and looked like any type of tremor would cause a massive collapse;narrow streets;phone/cable/electric wires ( by the hundreds )overhead; and add in the fact that power is cut off twice a day,every day, for 5 hours each time in the entire city Despite all this, the Nepali people were so friendly and welcoming, and always cheerful. As my grandfather always said: "In our country,we have much to be thankful for"!

Good advice, M'Ave! My thirty years on the job in the Bronx and Manhattan was the best times of my life. I truly wish that I had not retired nine years ago. If I could go back today, I'd RUN to 9 Metrotech to sign back up! Stay safe! And to the future FDNY probies, that are taking the test- listen to the above advice from M'Ave- you may be able to get on the "best job in the world"! Good luck!

Our department is looking to update our foam equipment, including eductors, application devices, and concentrate. We want to go to a single type of foam that will take care of most transportation/hydrocarbon fires. We are not looking at class A foam at this time, just foam for "B" fires. What type/brand of foam are your depts. using? What NFPA standard covers foam operations? Is there any shelf-life for concentrate? Does anyone carry/ever actually used "in anger" high-expansion foam? We 've had it in our inventory for 30 yrs-never used at an operation. Thanks for your replies! STAY SAFE!

In working on our budget for the next few years in the future, we are trying to come up with a replacement cycle for bunker gear. I can't find a "specific age to replace" gear in the NFPA standards. Are there any depts that replace their bunker gear at a specific age, or just when it fails yearly inspection? Thanks for your input, as always!

Just a quick story- one afternoon,when was a newly promoted captain,I was called by the OAD (officer assignment desk) and told to report to a S. Bronx engine company to do my 6x9 (night) tour. I got there plenty early (it was where I was assigned as a probie,24 yrs earlier,so I was somewhat excited). The day tour officer said-sorry,Cap-there must be a mistake- I'm working for the Captain tonite- he just went full-duty yesterday from medical leave. Ok, so I called OAD and they explained the situation. SO,they said go to Ozone Park, Queens, to Eng ?. After getting directions from the brothers in the Bronx, I headed there. After the toll over the Triboro, and an hour of driving, I got there. Of course they were out of quarter! When they got back I tracked down the engine officer- he said No, we don't need an officer- I'm working a mutual tonie for the captain. On the phone again to OAD- oh, sorry,they said- go to the Rockaways (Queens) to the "Big house" (only FDNY house w/ 2 engines and a truck). Another toll, and another 40 minutes of driving! Total of 4 tolls (there and back home) and who knows how much gas and driving! Get promoted and see the world! At least I caught a "job" in a PD, so it wasn't a total waste.

At a recent company officer's meeting, the subject of fire hose replacement came up. We use a private testing company to pressure-test all dept. hose inventory ever year. In looking at the list, we saw hose that passed, but was more than twenty (20) years old. I see that NFPA is updating their"1962" standard in November, but I'd like to move before that. What is your department's policy on how long hose should be inservice? Thanks for your help!

Brewster Fire Rescue - (Putnam County) 2118 runs, both Fire and EMS