mfc2257

This is a copy and paste from a post I made about a year ago when I was still Captain in Millwood before moving to Florida. The description of the apparatus describes its foam capacity. Until a about a year ago with the exception of the airport, Millwood had the largest "ready to respond" foam capacity north of white plains. This may have changed with folks taking delivery of new apparatus. With a water source, running as a "taskforce" these apparatus can flow over 2000gal of foam product per minute.... Probably more under the right conditions and if you included the in line bucket eductors that are available too. Engine 247 - 1998 Spartan/3D 1000/750. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: FAST UNIT. First Due (East of Taconic State Parkway) General Alarms, Motor vehicle Fire, Mutual Aid. Special Equipment: CAFS Pump A/B foam. 1200+ft 5in hose. FAST Equip. Thermal Imaging Camera. AED. K-12 and Chain Saw. Diesel generator. Misc other. No less than 40 gallons of each (A/:lol: foam on board. Engine 248 - 2004 Spartan/Sutphan 1500/750. Location: Station 2. Assignment: First Due (West of Taconic State Parkway) General Alarms, Motor vehicle fire, Mutual Aid. Special Equipment: 1200+ft 5in hose. Class A/B foam (no CAFS) Lukas Combi Tool, Gas Detector, K-12 Saw. Hydraulic Generator. Misc other. No Less than 40 gallons of each (A/:P foam on board. Mini Attack 10 - 1989 Ford F-350/Saulsbury 750/150. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: First Due Brush fire, wires down, water rescue. Special Call Source pumper, narrow driveway, class B foam. Special Equipment: Zodiac rescue boat, chain saw, winch, class B foam system. 1000+ft 4in hose. Utlity 44 - 2002 Chevrolet 2500 Pickup. Location: Headquarters. Assignment: Special call to complement all Fire Department Operations. Available to transport our 80 gallon foam reserve OR 3 portable gas generators, OR 400gpm gas portable pump.

Preference... Just about any rig made from the mid 30's on could be purchased with a roof of some sort. The "B" model Mack that I own originally was built with a roof. When the apparatus committee arrived in Allentown for final inspection in 1957, they told Mack to cut the roof off and replace it with a removable metal frame covered in canvas.

This is unbelievable... Why didn't the dispatcher simply send a RMP and a Bus to the house. If the cops arrived and there was no body in distress, send the EMS crew to their next job and scold the kid.... Two calls, no response, one person dead. Not good. http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4739612

In my extraordinarily unimportant opinion...... In a online forum such as this, where nobody's life is placed in danger by the information that is exchanged, you shouldn't be able to hide behind an anonymous screen name. If you've got something to say, then you should be able to stand behind your statements, opinions, praise, and criticism with your real identity. That's why my signature includes my real name. This eliminates confusion of people's identity. For example, my screen name is mfc2257 because when I opened an AOL account 5 years ago I was Millwood Fire Company's 3rd Lt. with a County Identifier of 2257. That was the name I used to open my EMTBravo account. Since then I held the office of Captain 2254 until Feb of 2005, now I'm merely a FF living out of state, and by April of 2007 I'll have to drop to Associate Member because I won't have accrued the points needed to remain active. WELL what does all this mean... It means that my comments can easily be confused with those of the current 3rd Lt. in Millwood if I didn't have my real name listed on my signature. Just my thoughts...

The ad from the link indicates "new" composit struts... After some further reading, it looks like that use a fiberglass reinforced polymer for the struts... Interesting insofar as they'll be light, but I would wonder what their resistive characteristics towards chemicals, gas, and heat are?

I've never seen that particular brand in use, but I've used modified high lift jacks for years in the same capacity. There are other manufacturers that make various similar types of ratchet or hydraulic lift/stabilization devices. I can't say that I've seen one made out of composit materials like that yet. I'd be curious to know that it is... Carbon Fiber? Carbon Kevlar? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's a ton lighter than a cast iron high lift jack.

Just my opinion... But wouldn't this sound a little more logical... Give or take a company here or there.... I'm sure I've missed or duped one or two but I think everyone gets the point... Briarcliff, Ossining, Archville, Croton, Millwood, Yorktown, Mohegan, Somers Montrose, Buchannan, Verplanck, VA Hospital, Peekskill, Continental Village Pleasantville, Hawthorne, Valhalla, Grasslands, Thornwood, North White Plains Chappaqua, Mt. Kisco, Bedford Hills, Bedford, Katonah, Armonk Banksville, Vista, Pound Ridge, Goldens Bridge, South Salem, Croton Falls Sleepy Hollow, Pocantico Hills, Tarrytown, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Ardsley Larchmont, Mamaroneck Village, Town of Mamaroneck, Purchase, Airport, Port Chester, West Harrison, Harrison, Rye Fairview, Greenville, Hartsdale, Scarsdale, Eastchester, White Plains Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham, Pelham Manor, New Rochelle

Date: 4-3-06 Time: 1300hrs Location: I/A/O 100 Block of Boylston St. b/t Charles & Tremont Departments: Boston FD, EMS, PD Description: Crane & Scaffold collapse onto street below crushing at least one passing vehicle w/ two occupants, reported to be a Honda Civic sedan. Vehicle then rearended by following vehicle. Occupants extricated from sedan. Three confirmed fatalities total a/t/t. Links: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_regi...e_collapse.html Writer: MFC2257

I flew Hooters to Myrtle once not necessarily for the girls, but because it was cheep.... It was cheep, but it sucked for those looking for the same attention that you get at a Hooters storefront. Two Hooters girls welcome everyone on board and hand out some promotional items while the plane is pushing back. Then they sit in the front row until the aircraft lands. Then they say goodbye as you deplane. The flight attendants are normal men and women not Hooters girls as they would have you believe.

Right before I moved to Florida in early 2005, Millwood and Pleasantville began working together on a section of Pleasantville's box that had water supply issues and pressure problems. I believe that the final agreement that was finalized after my departure was that Tanker 15 is now first due into their box for certain streets due to this water supply issue. I'm not sure if they've added Pocantico and others on the intial alarm. Glad to see that Katonah and others from the north are cross training as well. Both 2251 and 2371 are on this board often, they can probably elaborate.

OVAC and Briarcliff Manor FD-EMS are the primary providers other than CVAC on the west end (Millwood Fire District). Essentially CVAC's box ends in the area of Route 100. Most spots west of Route 100 are OVAC or BMFD-EMS's box area. There may be some overlapping areas of NewCastle that Armonk, Mount Kisco, Pleasantville, and Yorktown cover, but I'm not 100% sure b/c they don't boarder the Millwood Fire District and only interacted with those agencies on a second due basis.

Animated Knots is a great site... I couldn't remember it before. If you have time to make the Emergency Harness listed on the page, thats great. If you need to make something REALLY F-ING FAST... Follow the instructions for the Bunny Ears. Practice and make sure that you make the loops big enough for your legs/thighs to fit through.... step into it and if you need to be lifted immeadiatly then hang on tight and make sure that you don't fall backwards out of the loops.... Also, watch your family jewels... This hurts... If you have another moment, you can leave some excess line when creating the rabbit ears and wrap it around and under your armpits and tie it back to itself to prevent you from falling backward if you need to let go of the rope. This is tricky as you have to tie the knot back to the line with one hand (as you maintain tension in the line with your other so that you tie it close to your breastbone/sternum area) that requires an overlapping method of which I'll need to get a better description from an old instructor of mine.... It's a modification of a knot that I know as "three follows two"... Which coincidentally is one of the only, if not the only life saving, load bearing knot that is recognized to make an inline anchor point on a rope. All of this can be created in about 20-25 seconds. Just the rabbit ears should only take about 10 seconds. I'll see what I can put together for this.

You're absolutely correct, they are different. I was catagorically speaking when I mentioned it as a swiss seat because lots of folks will call it that.... Even though its not technically. The harness or system of knots that I believe that everyone is talking about here is intended for quick solution to big problems that require you to go up or down an incline via rope assistance or lift... Not to do general rapelling with that should be performed with proper harnesses, rope, safety precautions, etc.

Oops JM15 beat me to it. http://home.arcor.de/varn/rappel/swiss_seat.htm This link is a more thorough way of doing it when you have the time. I'm looking for the pictures of the way I prefer which is to create the seat off your body and step into it... It's faster.

What you are referring to is called a "Swiss Seat"... For lack of a better description, it's a figure 8 with two bites (rabbit ears) to put your legs through like a harness... If you leave a little extra slack, you can wrap the rope under your armpits and tie off to itself to support your upper body. It's very effective to get your put out of dodge in a hurry when the brown stuff's hittin the fan. It's uncomfortable to be lifted by, but it works. I'll try and find instructions online, if not I'll write them out and attach later this week.

In theory more power doesn't mean more fuel. Often times turbocharging and supercharging make engines more effecient by making power more effectively through the hp/torque curve. My family had a 1996 Chevy Tahoe that had some engine work done. Most notably was the supercharger that added plenty of power (a dynoed total of 400bhp at the rear wheels) but also increased fuel economy by 25%.... On the highway, the truck had enough power to pull overdrive up just about any hill without downshifting, and around town requred less throttle imput to drive the local roads. It's not always the case that you get better power and better economy, but high quality products can often give you the best of both worlds.

Yawn ! Growing tired of Yankee bashing for the sake of bashing.... The dumbest thing I've ever heard is "I hate the Yankees because they've won too many times" That's not a reason to hate a team. If you are a fan of Boston or the Mutz or anyone else for that matter, try putting more effort into rooting for your team than bashing the Yankees... It takes less energy and makes being a fan much more enjoyable. Rooting for someone to lose just for the sake of losing is about the worst outlook you could ever have. BTW I'm a Yanks fan (if you couldn't tell) and I think that one of the best things that happened for baseball was Boston winning the series. To tell you the truth, I hope that the Cubs get a chance soon too. It's good for baseball for other teams to win... Helps keep it interesting... It's not good for baseball to hear people to hope that teams lose for the sake of losing. Think about how a 10 year old kid feels while standing on line to enter Yankee Stadium for a Blue Jays or A's game when he hears people saying "I'm not an A's fan, but I just hope the Yankees lose." The Yankees aren't going anywhere. They may not win the World Series this year or next... Doesn't matter, they'll be back sooner than later. And when they do, someone who sat there bashing them will have egg on their face... Again! Have fun be a fan of your team instead of a Yankees hater.

Companies sell brush fire gear for aprox $125.00 that includes pants, top, socks, etc. Many departments will allow FF's to operate at a "grass" fire with bunkers, helmet, gloves.... OR if they are a department that has issued uniforms, and the BDU's are made from a fire retardant material, then that is acceptable too. A true brush fire or woods fire, is a very different animal than a grass fire and I would caution against ever operating at one without a dedicated fire retardant suit that includes socks, gloves, helmet, etc. In Westchester County where brush fires aren't so common (like they are out west) that departments are going to be issuing dedicated brush fire gear, then the answer is full turnout's. THIS BEING SAID, on a hot summer day humping hose, rakes and shovels into the woods, under the power lines, along railroad beds, or where ever else these fires are found, extra manpower is the key. Possibley more so than at a structure fire. Exhaustion will set it quickly while aggressively working a brush fire in full bunker gear and there must be an ample supply of FF's to rotate out in timed intervals, as well as a dedicated rehab station who's focus is rehydration and preventing heat related illnesses. To compare.... A 1 acre grass fire (often reported or confused as a brush fire) may only require two engines and a mini pumper or brush rig to control (maybe a total of 10-15 men including officers).... A woods fire of the same acreage (depending on wind, previous rain fall, amount of thatch and leaves, etc.) may require the same equipment (give or take) but would very likely requre double or triple the mount of manpower and all the resources needed to keep them cool, hydrated, and not worked to the limit of exhaustion.

You are correct... Chassis are the same and options differ (obvioussly Denali's and Escalades are more expensive than a straight 1500 series pickup or Tahoe) Silverado 1500 = Avalanche = Sierra 1500 = Escalade EXT = Hummer H2 SUT Silverado 2500, 3500 = Sierra 2500, 3500 = Avalanche 2500 (no 3500 option) Tahoe = Yukon = Denali = Escalade Suburban (1/2 ton) = Yukon XL (1/2 ton) = Denali XL = Escalade ESV = Hummer H2 SUV Suburban 3/4 ton = Yukon XL 3/4 ton

In NJ, eastern PA, and some other regions of the nation, the EMS providers stepped up to the plate and began providing rescue services as well. The evolution of this was that eventually their consentration on training for rescue and emergency medical jobs lent them to providing full rescue services while the FD's consentrated more on suppression and other services. Many of the rigs in northern NJ are true heavy squad's that provide everything that a FD sponsored heavy rescue would. A typical station might have two ambulances and a heavy squad. It's mearly a seperation of services. For example Bedford Police used to do all the extrication in the Hills and the Village up until the mid 1990's. The tool was carried in the Chevy Suburban. I could be wrong , but I don't believe that Rescue 10 when it was originally purchased, didn't carry extrication equipment. In some areas Squads are also the local rescue company assignment to structure fires. When the initial alarm is struck, the local FD might be first due with 2 engines and a truck, but the Squad is alerted to cover the rescue company assignment as well as ems to the scene. Upon arrival they will establish rehab, establish a staging area for quick treatment/transport of MOS, and the Heavy Squad will perform initial & secondary searches, as well as help with truck company functions, and other as needed. Here is an example of Princeton, NJ's Rescue Squad. http://www.pfars.org/ Pierce Heavy Squad 3 Ambulances Zodiac Special Services Unit (like Mt. Kisco's FAST unit) Utility First Responder Suburban

I agree... It's personal preference. If a department indicates that water is welcome, they know what they're going to get, and what can go wrong. I was at a wetdown a few years ago for a mutual aid department of Millwood's where there was a little bit of water nonsense that went on. No one got hurt, no apparatus was damaged, and the public really didn't see anything more than the local fire department having fun (ie; there wasn't tons of drunken idiots or flowing beer). I've also seen it go terribly wrong where a deck gun gets aimed toward the ground by accident and gravel from the parking lot sprays the side of the brand new rig like a sand blaster.... Not cool. Personally I like a little water action (but make a point that everyone knows that no deck guns, master streams, smooth bores are permitted)... I also like the transfer of water from one rig to another and pushing it back into the station too. Any way you shake it, there have been enough good AND bad wetdowns over the years, that based on experience, you should be able to plan one (wet or dry) that works out properly.

It's very funny that you bring that up.... I know exactly where that pumper is in PA. It's with Heidlersburg VFD in Adams County (Company #25)... The ex-chief of that department is restoring my 1957 B-Model Mack that I bought from the department I was in during college (Gettysburg... Adams County Company #1)... He also did some cleanup work (mini resto) on Millwood's 1924 ALF Brockway Torpedo during my sophomore year... The current Millwood Car 2253 and myself rented a Penske 24 foot box truck and brought it down in a snow storm... ANYWAY yes the Mack issue is true, it went to court, all the badges were removed and it's either recently been put in service at Company 25 or will be soon. Company 25 also has an R model tanker (Tanker 25) and a CF600 Mack (Engine 25-1)

http://www.thewatchdesk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=160093 As promised... I found this on a similar board to EMTBravo. It takes a second for the pic to load, and it's about 1/2 way down the page.

There was a point in time when I believe that the Sutphen Corporation was offering a tillered tower. Essentially, the bucket would turn 90 degrees forward and become the tillermans protective compartment while he was operating the rear axle while traveling to and from jobs. I'll try to find some photos....

Its easy for everyone to say that its too big or impractical.... BUT Without hearing the reasoning behind it from those who designed it and ordered I would venture to say we don't know whether or not it's impractical OR VERY practical. As for "getting around" if you've never ridden on a tiller or followed one through traffic you wouldn't know, but a tiller can go just about anywhere a standard length pumper can. Why to you think NYC has tillers in Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. A tiller will go places that a tandem axle rescue or rear mount ladder wont.