mfc2257

I'm over my days of waking up at 4am to plow the driveway before going to work.... Sleeping on one of the benches of R-36 OR better yet on 3 chairs from the meeting room lined up (hoping that I would roll off on the floor which was what usually happened).... The only saving grace for those nights was Rocky's Deli right down the road (24/7) and good company to waste the hours away with.

JBE, tbendick, Sq288... Can you shed some light here... I was boxing up my FireEngineering's from 2005 getting ready to store them when I came across the "Specifying the Small Stuff" supplement from June of 2005 (a supplement on specs for apparatus ordering). On the cover is a picture of a job in NJ that appears to be either Weehawkin or Union City by "Franks Furniture". Bergenfield's Tower, a NHRFR rear mount (I would assume the lo-pro Seagrave that runs out of Weehawkin by the Lincoln Tunnel) and FDNY Truck 3 are visable at the front of the structure with an unidentified straight stick operating its master stream from a far side exposure. It seems strange to me that any FDNY apparatus would be operating at what appears to be a standard taxpayer in NJ. Hoboken, Jersey City, as well as other NHRFR apparatus would seem to be much closer than Truck 3 that if I'm not mistaken turns out from 13th Street and 4th Ave (for folks not familiar with NYC 4th Ave NB becomes Park Ave at 14th St., Union Square).... A pretty good shot away from the Lincoln Tunnel. Wouldn't Ladder 21 (38th IAO Dyer Ave, Lincoln Tunnel) or Ladder 24 (31st IAO 6th Ave) be more logical? Any thoughts here?

Thanks for the reply on the NJ job. I remember the job in Pelham. We were there with Rescue 36 early on in the fire to fill bottles (this was back when R-36 was still one of a handful of mobile cascades with 8 6500lb+ bottles). We had a decent sized crew. A few men stayed with the rig to fill bottles and the rest of went to work. We operated on the same floor with a crew from FDNY for a brief period of time. The only other time I've seen FDNY operating out of their own box was at the SMRP NB @ the Cross County EB interchange for a pin job. Truck & Engine 52 out of Riverdale were dispactched to a job that should have gone to Yonkers. The YFD OIC kept them on the job to work.

you can here it wailing in the backround http://media.putfile.com/MVI_001742 ← Aussie George The "Que" that everyone is referring to is a model of siren made by Federal Signal. It's been around for decades and is one of the most recognizable sounds in the American fire service. Rarely do you see on on a piece of apparatus that isn't fire related (Police and EMS for example rarely have them). The technical name is a Federal Q2B. It is a very large electric motor that spins a fan blade inside a protective and decerative schroud. The fan blade draws air in one side and shoots it out the other. It creates a distinctive sound that sounds like an old air raid siren (on a smaller scale) They are usually operated by a switch mounted on the floor of the cab on both the drivers and officers side. Step on the switch and the siren with spool up to speed and begin to scream. Let off the switch and the siren growls on the way down. Typically they are mounted on the front bumper of fire apparatus with a decerative chrome shroud that covers the fan and a cover for the electric motor that is chrome as well. Occasionally they are mounted into the front grille of the apparatus with only the fan and schroud exposed and the motor conceled in the body of the apparatus. The product web link is below. http://www.fedsig.com/products/index.php?id=111

I haven't taken an EMS response in 5 years, BUT before that I took hundreds. Best rule of thumb is if there is something to be gained by calling the hospital then call. If the ER crew will be better prepared to treat your patient when you arrive if they've been notified, then call. If your patient has a minor injury or complaint that doesn't warrent a call to the ER, then you are only taking time away from other patients already in the ER by calling. I've had some frequent flyers in the past that call every time they had a stomach ache just so they could get treated right away and not wait in line with everyone else that got there on their own. Our policy prohibited us from refusing to transport, but when we arrived at the hospital, we would drop them in the waiting room to sign in after notifing the charge nurse or ER doc that they were there. If the doc wanted to see them right away, then in they went, if not, they wait just like everyone else. As far as the driver calling the ER, even if they aren't an EMT or Medic, if they are driving an ambulance and participating on EMS calls, they should at least be a first responder. They should be familiar with giving a basic report to the hospital either via cell or radio patch. They should also be familiar with how to establish both phone and radio patch to each hospital that they could potentially transport to on a regular basis. If a Medic, EMT, and Attendant are working a 12 year old that is in arrest after being hit in the chest with a baseball, the driver better be able to let the ER know what's going on...

That is correct FDNY L-14 was a Century Cab LaFrance rear mount 100ft tower. Follow this link to view it. http://www.nyfd.com/manhattan_ladders/ladder_14.html FDNY also ran (they may still run up to 4 of them I believe) 110ft Seagrave Rearmounts. FDNY L-119 used to run a 144ft rear mount Mack Maxim straight stick (also called a "High Ladder") in the 1960's before being replaced by a Mack Arielscope. Chappaqua L-3 used to be a 106ft Hahn rear mount straight stick. It was recently replaced by a 75ft Sutphen mid mount tower.

Use the paint currently recommended by the manufacturer. In addition, follow the instructions for prepping the helmet very closely. If the helmet isn't cleaned and the surface preped properly, it doesn't matter what paint you use, it will peel, flake, or fisheye. I've seen a few do-it-yourself re-paints that came out looking pretty bad due to lack of prep work. Also FYI, I believe you can send your helmet back to Cairns and they will refurb it for you in whatever color you specify. Not sure of the cost because it's been a few years since I knew of anyone doing it, but I feel like $75 plus shipping is a familiar number.

On a side note... Before this guy decides to sue everyone and their mother, I wonder how bad the weather was in the area and for how long. Was this guy outside continuing to work while the sky is unloading around him and going on the principal that there is a one in a million chance that he'll get struck.

The cost of helmet fronts would hardly be noticable and would be the last thing anyone would think about when trying to improve communications via streamlined identifiers. In fact, the the only cost that would have to be incurred would be the technology update for the CAD and the man hours to implement. If individual companies choose to re lable their helmets or even their appratus for that matter is up to them... From a communications standpoint just because you have one thing written on your equipment doesn't mean that the people talking to you on the radio can see it. When the topic of streamlining operations in the county, changing identifiers so that each company is unique, automatic mutual aid on certain calls, etc... people constantly say "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Nothing like 100 years of tradition unimpeded by progress. The good majority of the country operates their counties on a streamlined identifier system where fire districts, stations, apparatus, box areas, and officers for each individual department correspond with the districts county assigned number for them. This allows for much cleaner orginization in the CAD and a much clearer level of communication. The way Westchester County's apparatus numbering exists now is through a disorganized system where apparatus are arbitrarily numbered based on reserving a number, tradition, politics, etc. There is no rhyme or reason to it. There are departments with multiple engines who's identifiers are over 100 numbers apart. (Thornwood has Engine #'s 88, 89, and 290 Pleasantville has #'s 90, 91, 259, 260). That should have been corrected at the county level LONG ago. There is Ladder 1 and Tower Ladder 1 in the county. They are both Tower Ladders and from different municipalities (go figure). As far as saying that Westchester would become like Rockland, from an orginizational standpoint, that wouldn't be the worst idea. All thier companies have unique numerical identifiers. If I hear a piece of apparatus on the air that begins with an 11, there is no mistaking that its responding from Orangeburg. In Westchester Engine 11 Comes from Harrison, Ladder 11 is "Reserved for Future Use", Tower Ladder 11 Comes from New Rochelle, Squad 11 From Yonkers, Mini Attack 11 from Banksville, Utility 11 from Mohegan, Tanker 11 from Continental Village and there is no rhyme or reason. So geographically Squad 11, TL-11, and Engine 11 could easily wind up at the same job down county, and Utility 11, Tanker 11, etc could wind up at the same job upcounty, yet they are all from different companies. Thats plain backwards and can lead to confusion on a hairy job. As for placing the county number of 60 before Westchester apparatus, that isn't necessary unless they are operating out of county. Last time I checked, in Rockland and Putnam (for examples) who have unique numerical identifiers, the apparatus do not announce the county number (44 for Rockland and 40 for Putnam) before thier apparatus numbers when communicating.

This may be a forum hijacking..... BUT.... If you drop the "2" from the front of the 3 digit numbers, you come up with what should be the Westchester County Department Numbers for each department that should correspond to apparatus and station numbers.... I've commented on this before, and hope that someday Westchester will move away from the chaotic apparatus numbering system that is used today to a streamlined system that groups apparatus and company numbers together. For example.... Company 208 is Croton... Drop the 2 and the department simply becomes Company 8 and thus...... Engine 8-1 (E-118) Engine 8-2 (E-119) Engine 8-3 (E-120) Rescue 8 (Rescue 18) Tanker 8 (Tanker 10) Chief 8, Assistant 8, Deputy 8, Ambulance 8A, Ambulance 8A1 Etc etc etc Not to hard to know that any apparatus that begins with 8 is from Croton Company 225 is Millwood... Drop the 2 and the department simply becomes company 25.... Engine 25-1 (E-245) Engine 25-2 (E-247) Engine 25-3 (E-248) Rescue 25 (Rescue 36) Tanker 25 (Tanker 15) Mini Attack 10 (MA-25) Chief 25, Assistant 25, Deputy 25, etc etc etc..... Sorry for hijacking, but I think that company numbers, which aren't currently very important with day to day operations, can streamline the fire service and the mutual aid system Not the first time I've said it... not the last.

I've had some experience with No-Smoke systems which are essentially a box installed on the exhaust system of the rig that closes a butterfly valve and holds the exhaust while you back into the building. When you pull out, it will stay closed for a few seconds and then open up again once you've been running for about 30 seconds. It's been about 5 years since I've operated a piece of apparatus with one of these systems installed, but they appeared to reduce horsepower and torque. In addition, I've had some experience with roof mounted exhaust fans in the fire station. When the bay door(s) open, the fans go on and create a draft through the open apparatus bay door and up/out through the roof. These work very well.

I can understand a truck having a pump but no water/hose so that it can pump its own ladder pipe, but I can't much see the point in putting a pump on a rescue and not at least having preconnects and a small tank to cover a car fire or initial attack. I believe Rescue 9 out of Valhalla has a 300 or so gallon tank and a 500-1000 gpm pump along with a crosslay or two.

I didn't have a chance to watch any of the episodes at their original broadcast time, so I TiVo'd them. After watching the first bunch of episodes back to back to back, I kept seeing the fact that the fires were all without smoke etc. Then there was the fire in the cabinets that kept shooting out at them. I rewound and saw that most of the fires appeared to be filmed in a propane fired training facility. Sometimes you could even see the poured block walls of the training room. All of the overhaul films appear to be genuine, but I think most of the actual fires are filmed in a facility, and the budget for the show probably pays to have halfway decent and real looking furniture and settings put into the room to make it more realistic than the typical training facility with concrete and metel everwhere. Just my 2 cents. I'd comment on the PPE issue, but it's been covered.

Leather forever ! Black Sam Houston with Bourkes. I took the Green reflectors off and put a black 1.75inch piece of Scotch-Lite around the entire base of the helmet (yes the black truely does reflect well) with a half inch white Scotch-Lite laid on top of the center of the black stripe. Gives the helmet a much more classic look, the black & white makes the helmet a little more conservative and over all, you increase the total reflective area by 150%. The in the pic linked below you can see my old yellow Lieutenant's 1010 helmet that I had black on the bottom with red laid on top of it. 2251 has a white chief's helmet with a gold large stripe and red small stripe. I've done a few others too. Millwood Fire Department Open House Pictures The Link below shows the same helmet with the black section glowing white with the flashbulb of a camera. Millwood Fire Department M.A. Kings College Pictures

The aforementioned "highway striping" is called a Chevron. Also below are the NFPA guidelines for emergency vehicles. Emergency Response Vehicles: (Per NFPA 1901) Reflective striping is required around all four sides of the vehicle. The stripe or combination of stripes must be at least 4 inches high and cover at least 50 % of the cab and body length on each side, 50% of the rear width and 25% of the front width. A reflective graphic design, such as a door shield or lettering may replace a part of the required length or width. Vertical Panels: Apparatus Chevron Striping can be used to warn and direct traffic away for a highway incident. All vehicles that are utilized in this manner shall comply with MUTCD Section 6F.57. (Bill What's this? bb) The chevron patter shall slant downward on both sides of the vehicle at an angle of 45 degrees, pointing in the direction of the bottom rear corner of the tailboard. The patter should resemble an inverted V with the point at the top center of the apparatus. The following alternating color patterns may be used: red and yellow orange and white red and white blue and yellow blue and white Vertical panels must: be 8 to 12 inches wide and at least 24 inches in height have alternating colors, retro-reflective stripes at least 4 inches in width. If the panel height is greater than 36 inches the stripes must be 6 inches wide must be sloped down at 45 degrees and have a minimum of 270 square inches of retro-reflective area facing traffic

Either one of the engines (E331 or E332) the rescue engine (E333) or the Truck (Truck 33) is also first or second due into just about everyone elses territory that directly and secondarily surrounds Kentlands district. One of the differences between a County like Prince Georges vs. Westchester is that apparatus from other companies are listed on the first due box card for mutual aid. Often times, another department is dispatched for a fire, and Kentland has a piece of apparatus on the initial call and is dispatched at the same time. For example, on September 17th, they were dispatched on the initial alarm assignment into Company 5's territory with the rescue engine (E333 which is set up as a "true" rescue) as the rescue company (not FAST, but as a true rescue company like one of the five FDNY companies). Not only were they on the first alarm, but they rolled in right behind engine 51 and went to work right away.

I would advise anyone who doesn't have any experience in both the way Westchester's system works now, compared to the way that the combination systems in Maryland work not to participate in this forum. I see the potential for a lot of bickering here. Not to be a jerk, there is just a lot more to the Maryland systems than simple combination departments. It wouldn't be as simple as each department in Westchester adopting the Mohegan or Peekskill models (not that there is anything wrong with those departments as they operate today in Westchester) That being said.... I'm fairly familiar with the way that Baltimore, Prince Georges, Anne Arundle, and Montgomery counties in Maryland work as combination departments. It could work in Westchester, but it would take a lot of money to implement and would cause a lot of ego's to hurt. Maryland also has a large head start on Westchester when it comes to this type of program. Career and volunteer firefighters, officers, and administrators are working successfully in these counties while sharing volunteer and county owned apparatus often in the same station. The committment to implement would need to be made over the course of a decade or even longer. It would require leadership at the county level that I don't believe is present currently. It would also require some of the local volunteer departments to adhere to certain standards and SOG/SOP's that they currently don't as well as reporting to a central command structure. It all has to start at the top by hiring an fire/rescue administrator at the county level with a high level of success and experience in running a true combination county. There cannot be a massive influx of change all at once. Career FF's and apparatus are only introduced into departments / areas where the standard of protection is determined to be below an acceptable level. The beginning will include a standardization of response, apparatus protocall, minimum staffing, response time, equipement purchasing, radio frequencies, and many other things that combination counties implement beyond the simple introduction of county paid career firefighters. Many departments may never see a piece of career apparatus OR a career firefighter.... Many may recall prior discussions by myself and others on this site about the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department. ( www.kentland33.com )They run the second busiest engine in the USA next to Washington DC Engine 10. They are in Prince Georges County and are surrounded by Career, Combination, and 100% Volunteer Stations. You won't see a peice of career apparatus or a career FF in that station anytime in the next 50 years or more unless they are providing stand-by coverage during one of the hundreds of confirmed structure fires they run each year.

JBE.. I agree with you. Many (not all... for those waiting to jump) firefighters, emergency medical providors, and police officers are accustom to the style, tone, and actions of specific dispatchers. A sense of comfort and confidence is present for many of us when we speak during chaotic incidents with dispatchers that we've been though tough situations with before. If you go into the deli in the morning and you've been ordering coffee your way from the same girl for the past 10 months, you probably don't need to be concerned with her messing it up. If you are used to hearing the same voice at the end of the radio for many of your complicated incidents (and it's attached to the same ID number) and you roll up to a hairy situation and transmit that you’re on location, with that trusted dispatcher you're probably going to feel pretty confident that you're getting what you need when you need it, and if something goes wrong, that the guy on the other end of the radio can handle it. The issue will come when for the first time, someone rolls up to a big job, and they hear that familiar voice answer with a strange #... Now confidence can be shaken because they're not sure if it's really who they think it is talking to them. Will this create downright confusion in the field, probably not. Does it create an issue with some people’s comfort level based on prior experience, yes. Will everyone be able to adapt and move on… if they can’t then they’re in the wrong business.

Oh yeah... One thing that I forgot... I've seen some folks spray clearcoat that will adhere to aluminum over diamond plate, and it looked great for decades.

I believe that there might be some shared responsibilities for I.P. but if I recall, the facility is technically Verplank's first due... I could be way off, but I think that Entergy donated a significant sum for Verplank to purchase their Bronto Skylift. Some of boys from the Tri-Village should be able to shed some light on this.

I was in my office in Weehawkin looking across at the city sitting at the trading desk with my business partner next to me talking with our third partner via cell phone about to walk into his first appointment of the morning at 1 WTC. Even after the plane hit, we had to convince him to leave and not wait to see if his appointment would be cancelled. We then had to convince him that his laptop, briefcase and blackberry weren't important and not to go into the WTC parking garage again.... Needless to say, he didn't go to get his stuff, and got on a private boat in the Hudson. He'd of been underground when the South Tower fell. As soon at the South Tower fell myself and a few other vollies in the building thought it would be best to join our companies. I drove up the western shore of the Hudson trying to find an open bridge crossing (I thought Newburgh was going to be my closest option) but the NYSP Officer at Bear Mountain let me though. Millwood VFC had a contact at Javits center telling us what they really needed (above and beyond water food etc) and we spent the next week gathering money and equipment from Northern Westchester/Connecticut suppliers and sent several 26 foot truck loads of construction & welding equipment directly to the WTC or the 14th Street Armory with the help of a loaned truck from Barr Brothers Moving.

This is a cut an paste from a post I made about a year ago. Just my two cents. Find some old carpet (1/2inch) that has a good glue fiber backing. Cut a piece about 6 inches long by 3.5 wide. Take a scrub brush and cut all the bristles off and apoxy carpet upside down to the bottom of the carpet. Apply Mothers or whatever you use liberally to surface and work it with the carpet. Have someone else follow right away with a good towel to get excess. Buff after drying as ususal. You can subsitute the hassle of epoxying the brush handle by punching two holes into the carpet and adding a handle of some sort made out of a piece of thick rubber bungee or cable that is run through a 1in or smaller piece of PVC. Sounds like a lot of trouble to go to, but the extra leverage of a handle really helps add to the shine and saves your hands. The buffing wheel approach works too, but I find that it's a better removal tool... The carpet works to really apply the product and let the abrasive nature of metal polishes do their job. If you have someone follow with a buffing wheel to remove the product and finally someone to buff behind them it'll look brand new...... But never as good as T-15

Near where I spent my college years you'll find this brush truck. Adams County Pennsylvania (close to the MD border and the National Fire Academy) Company # 7 (Bendersville FD) Brush Truck 7 http://www.bendersvillefireco.com/army2.JPG

I've got a feeling that the point of this might be getting off track, mostly due to a poorly written article. This being said, I now live in the Orlando metro area (not Broward county but close enough that this program is a priority here as well) after 28 years in NY. The point of this program isn't for Medics / FF's to get to a scene and ignore traditional EMS protocall by having phone conversations with people who may or may not be of any true help to the situation at hand. (FF's don't ignore traditional SOP's when they roll up to a commercial structure fire at 4am just because there is a after hours contact # on the sign outside the front door... But a officer can call the number and have that contact respond as well as relay critical information about the building) The point is to add an additional resource that can be utilized. In Florida where this plan was developed, 99% of departments are career where a Medic Engine as well as a Rescue (actually a commercial chassis ambulance) respond to most medical emergencies. This brings 5-7 FF/EMT/Medics to many EMS emergencies. Often times there are police responses as well. There are many hands to help. The chauffer of the engine, the police officer or even a bystander can be asked by the primary EMS providor to check for an ICE # and gather additional information such as previous medical history, allergies, handicaps, current medications, etc.... None of this is designed to take away from the primary level of care or protocall. The point was raised that most people have Mom or Dad listed in the phone, but if your parents are 80yrs old and in a retirement community, how much help will they be. If you pick any name out of my phone and get my college drinking buddy in Boston, what good can he do for me in Orlando. My ICE # is my wife. She happens to be a LPN which is a bonus, but she can deliver information to a caller that can be relayed to a medic or ER doctor that can change the way they look at my diagnosis, OR make sure they aren't missing something. At the end of the day, this isn't a bad idea. It's just another tool that if it's used properly, can improve the level of care delivered. BUT just like any other tool, it won't work if not used correctly.

2 hydrant wrenches (one in the bag, one attached to the steamer connection on the LDH) 2 3in gates 2 spanners 2 LDH spanners 3 or more road flares (safety and torch use) Rubber mallet A box light is required equipment for all FF's coming out of the jump seat. In theory they shouldn't need a light in the bag. However on all rigs there is at least one box light charger mounted in or near to the bag's compartment should the FF need it.