dwcfireman

As a former Union rep, the clear answer to those in charge would be, "Who are we supposed to protect? The people who pay our salaries directly? Or the people who have their protection through a jurisdictional agreement because they cannot staff their own full time department?" But, to get back on the topic of the thread...Is the county holding another towns & villages test next year?

Generally, if it's not in service then it cannot respond. Barry, do you know when (or have you heard a timeframe of) it goes into service? This, IMO, seems a bit silly. I always thought the point of a MERV was to assist at MCI calls and aid in the transport process. Does anyone have a good description of what the Medical Evacuation Bus is intended for? I can't seem to find any information about it on the County's website.

his is extraordinarily dangerous! I don't even know why these high power lasers are offered to the public. They're cool to have, but what do you really need it for other than trying (and failing) to scare away geese? And now I can bet you we're going to see more people being arrested for flying their drones, regardless if they're too close to a police chopper or a private jet.

I fully agree with you, RES24CUE, I should clarify from my original statement that I don't condone this type of behavior. However, given certain, and unfortunate, circumstances you have to find a way to get the job done (i.e. breaking the windows of the car blocking the hydrant to get the 5" connected). I'll bring it to your point of "DON'T GO LOOKING FOR IT!" There's a time and place where you would have to cause the undue damage, but, in my opinion, has to be a last possible option or you really need to save those 30 seconds to keep that rescue from becoming a recovery. And, yes, videos like this do leave an unjust impression on the youth in the fire service. It's so easy to get lost in the moment and make a snap decision that can later become a mistake. Unfortunately for us, we're being watched all the time by the public, and almost always being recorded on a cell phone camera. That's when our little mistakes become huge issues for the department. It's best that we take these videos and put them to good use in the classroom. This video in particular is great for a driver training class, and can really drum up a good discussion around the table.

It's a two way street (not the one in the video), fire trucks don't park in front of a house being burlarized, and police shouldn't be parked in front of a fire. Sometimes you have to do a little damage to get the job done. I recall a fire upstate where a fire broke out in a house literally 3 doors down from the firedepartment/police department building. A rookie police officer left his cruiser in front of one of the fire bays (and ran towards the fire!), and the driver of that first due engine just pushed the cruiser SIDEWAYS across the street. Was it the right thing to do? It probably wasn't the best judgement call, but given the situation I would do the same thing. After all, there's a reason the insurance companies exist. However, since the officer in the video happened to be right there he could have just moved the car.

Sorry, forgot to answer the question of who went on the trips....Usually only one of the three chief officers would go, sometime two. The department always tried to keep a chief in town. The rest of the committee would go, as well. And being a snall rural village the village trustees rarely got involved (especially since the mayor was one of our firefighters!).

I remember back home that our apparatus committees were always about the size that people keep suggesting; five, usually consisting of the chief, both assistant chiefs, a couple of senior firefighters. I remember for our new engine (2005), however, that someone finally had a bright idea, and a legitimate idea at that. One of our younger firefighters was a certified deisel mechanic! Much to what Bnechis stated, it makes all too much sense to send a mechanic. I understand it's simple for carreer departments to send a mechanic, but in the volunteer world we need to get these people involved in the apparatus design process. I know A LOT of volunteers who are full time mechanics. They have knowledge and skill where many of us don't, and we need to include them where it counts!

"There are still more than twice as many volunteers as career firefighters. But the number of volunteers has dropped by around 11 percent since the mid-1980s, while the number of career firefighters has grown more than 50 percent, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The allure has diminished because fund-raising now takes up roughly half the time most volunteers spend on duty. It’s also harder to fit in volunteer work. The rise in two-income households often means that there is no stay-at-home parent to run things so the other can dash off for an an emergency. Urbanization and the aging of the rural population are taking their toll as fewer young people are available to replace firefighters who retire." This is the paragraph that sums up most of the truth behind the decline of volunteer firefighters in America (in my own humble opinion, that is). So much has changed in the last 30 years in our society, in our faimly lives and values, and what we select as our hobbies. The American psyche has always been to work hard and earn that cold hard cash, and it has really taken shape into what we see today, not just in society in general, but even with the volunteers that still make the sacrafice to make the first due rig. The first portion of this paragraph states that the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped 11% since the mid-1980's. It's a sound number, though I can't seem to verify this because I cannot find it with in the source given (NFPA). Regardless, it is true that the number of volunteers has dropped quite significantly over the years. I remember as a kid, growing up in the late 80's, that there was always, and I mean always, a dozen guys hanging around the fire house every day. When I finally became the almighty probie at age 18, I noticed not as many were around, and there was always a struggle to get the first due out the door with an appropriate crew. I remember one of my first residential alarms where I was still a probie riding officer with just the driver, and my father was the sole man on the second due engine. There's not much you can do with three firefighters. Thankfully my hometown fire department turned around and the firs due was always full, even during the day time. But as Sage mentioned, this was an exception to the general trend. Anyway, time always has a way of playing its little game, and the downslope comes way too quickly. After I moved away 6 1/2 years ago the downward spiral began again. It seems that we, as the volunteer fire service, get little bursts of hope, and then we fall right back into the same original problems that we thought we erased, and now we're back to square one. fund-raising now takes up roughly half the time most volunteers spend on duty. I'll dispute this a little, as I've never noticed this at the district/department level here in Westchester, or the Tri-State area in general. Yes, many fire companies are out there every weekend doing boot drops, or car shows, or selling Christmas trees, but none of these fundraising efforts go to the operational needs of the department. It's company level funding. On the other hand, I do know of departments upstate and across the nation that solely operate on fundraiser money. For example, a good friend of mine's father is the chief of a small rural district in Iowa (forgive me, I can't remember the name of the town). They have no fire tax. The town pays nothing to the fire department, and neither does the village. They operate with a $110,000 budget every year, which comes only from fundraising. This goes for new apparatus, too. Their new $600,000 engine/tanker was purchased with money earned from the blood, sweat and tears of the volunteers. Do you know how long it takes to raise $600,000 while also raising money for your operational funds? My friend's father told me it took about 8 years. Now, you have to remember, these volunteers went out and worked their butts off, in their free time, to raise the money for a place that barely afford to give them a free t-shirt. They make it work, but it takes a lot of work to make it happen. The rise in two-income households often means that there is no stay-at-home parent This is all too true. It's almost impossible to have a single-income household while you're trying to support a family. Taxes keep going up, inflation is exponentially growing, and there is no such thing as a break anymore. Myself, living in my tiny one bedroom closet, I spend $1000/month in rent alone, and then there's student loans, car payments, insurance, and so many other bills to attend to. And that's just for myself. Imagine if I was trying to support a family on my income alone. It's impossible these days. And never mind the two-income household thing, because some parents, and sometimes both, have to work second jobs to help pay the bills! Do you really think that you can retain a volunteer that works two jobs AND has a family, or let alone any social life? It takes true dedication to work, tend to the family, have a social life, be a good neighbor, and volunteer at the same time. And people wonder why the divorce rate amongst emergency service workers is so damn high! We drive ourselves crazy enough that our spouses/significant other go crazy and snap! I can attest that after working a double shift that I don't want to go to that ridiculous EMS call at 0130 for the drunk passed out. And I can attest that our dedication to the service has ended plenty of marriages (including my own parents). Being a volunteer has become a circus act of juggling a few too many items in our lives, and it's killing us. Urbanization and the aging of the rural population are taking their toll as fewer young people are available to replace firefighters who retire. Well, ain't this the scary truth. Let's look at the first word of that sentence. Urbanization. It's quite obvious that no where on this planet is becoming more rural. As our populations increase, the cities spill into the suburbs, and the suburbs spill into the rural communities. Everything is becoming more urbanized, which leads to more accidents, more fires, and more people needing emergency help. Unfortunately, there comes a point where a small group of volunteers can no longer handle the onslaught of calls, so municipalities hire paid firefighters and EMT's. Slowly you see a small town volunteer department evolve into a combination department, and eventually into a fully staffed carreer department. It takes time, but it happens. Us volunteers hit the tipping point, and the municipalty takes over. And the most unfortunate catalyst in this issue is that our youth, the fresh college grads and young adults, move closer to the cities, and feed into the urbanization of America. So now our rural departments, even those in the suburbs, are left with an aging population that is tired, moving slower, and growing less capable of doing the job they once did so meritoriously. I'll admit I've seen a crew of firefighters all 50+ in age do a heck of a job at a house fire. But how will they perform in their 60's? And who is replacing them? Oh, yeah, no one. All of the kids moved to the city, and they want to be paid to do the job. Understandably, who wouldn't want to be paid to fight fires all day? It's an exciting job. But, as more and more of our youth move to become paid firefighters in the cities, we struggle to find replacements for our aging volunteers. The sad truth is that people don't last forever, and unfortunately our tradition won't either if this trend continues down this path. The recent trend has been the downward spiral of fewer volunteers, lesser funding, and more work for the few of us that still have the spark to keep our departments alive. It's tough. Life gets in the way, and we make sacrafices every day to prioritize what's truly important. We may pass on that EMS call, but we'll say good bye to the family when that structure fire gets toned out. Our wives will continue to yell at us, and the people we help will still continue to be grateful for us. It's a fine balancing act that comes with a little bit of dedication, a little motivation, and a whole lot of perseverence. The volunteer fire service, even with all of it's short comings, has always been a vital vertabrae in American society since the begining, and we need to preserve this virtue. Will the volunteer firefighter disappear for good? Yeah, in a few hundred years, long after we're gone. But, for now at least, let's keep getting out there a doing the job we love. Recruit retain, train and retrain, and be the best damn firefighters we can be. It's a fine balancing act that comes with a little bit of dedication, a little motivation, and a whole lot of perseverence.

It's so sad that these times bring us to stories like this. Politicians will spare no expense to put flower planters at every street corner, but will cut funding to emergency services because "it's just not necessary." It seems that the majority of the public has forgotten why they pay taxes in the first place, that is until their house is on fire and the first due engine takes 12 minutes to respond. The point being that we're not here because we NEED to be, rather for what we MAY need to do in the future. Working under the business model of "what if," it's easy for residents and governments to say we don't need that new rescue truck, and we don't need that tower ladder. Hell, apparently some fire departments don't need to exist! The big 'what if" is why we do the job, both carreer and volunteer. What if I need the fire department, or an ambulance, or the police? They're there to respond. What if I don't need them? They're still there. So many people are too worried about pinching a few pennies here and there that they forget where those pennies matter the most. I would gladly pay an extra 2% in taxes if that meant superior emergency services in my town. Unfortunately there are far more people who don't see it that way.

So if this was a bee sting in the parking lot, why wasn't it just an HFD response with an ambulance (and maybe a utility)? Or is Mount Pleasant requiring the large response for everything in the park? It just seems to me that too many responders were dispatched for what should be a simple response.

This is a normal response for a missing person or person injured on one of the trails. Also, there has been some arguing over the years of which jurisdiction the parking lot falls into.

I had some down time at work today and was able to find the hard copy (You beat me to it!), and I do stand corrected on the issue of ambulance color. From what I've heard around the rumor mill, and by that I mean asking around the office, is that ambulances go by the KKK standard for markings because the not many airports have their own EMS transport rigs, and the FAA won't/can't/doesn't care to regulate road registered vehicles such as a transport ambulance (again, this last statement is what I have gathered from talking to other ARFF personnel and not from any FAA publication).

The REAL FAA regs state that if you purchase the apparatus using FAA money (grant assurances) and the vehicle is spec'd under the provisions of an Advisory Circular (extension of FAR Part 139), then the appratus/vehicle must be painted the lime-yellow if the airport operates international COMMERCIAL flights (that also meets a certain number of operations during the international carriers busiest week within a 12 month calendar year). If I can find the particular AC (and there are thousands!) I will try to post the exact verbage for you guys. Also, the lim-yellow color is often chosen for domestic airports due to it's high visibility within an airfield environment.

I've seen this first hand, and my department now premixes it in all our water cans. Phenomenal stuff!

If you're far enough from your own jurisdiction or mutual aid districts, just stay in the car and keep driving. It's the safest thing to do, and it avoids all the confusion and BS of a story like this. The only exception I would make, and this is a bit hypocritical of my above statement, is if someone's life was seriously in danger, such as a serious accident happens in front of you while you're driving down the highway. You have to stop anyway because the road is blocked, so you might as well check on victims to give the local 911 operators a better scene size up for the incoming IC. Once the FD, PD, and EMS are on scene, back away and let our brothers and sisters do their job.

It would most definitely be a great idea and a valued resource for an IC of any major incident. Having a bird's eye view of the scene, especially if the scene is expansive or complex. Additionally, drones can be equipped for search and rescue missions where people are lost in the woods. With the ability to carry cameras and be able to transmit the data to the ground, and the fact that these quadcopter drones are fairly inexpensive to purchase and operate, it would be an incredible notion to have these floating around for an IC to use. But........If you've seen the news lately about the FAA and drones, it puts a hamper on this idea. The FAA wants all drones to be registered, the operators to be officially trained, AND they want to charge you for it. Recently the FAA has lashed out at drone operators using drones for commercial use, and again has been lashing out at private drone operators who just want to take awesome photos and video. The FAA has also lost court cases in their attepts to have drones registered for flight, but they're not going to give up the fight. The underlying issue, and I agree with this (since I'm an airport operator and firefighter), is that drones are posing an airspace threat. We've seen on the news the damage that an 8 pound goose can do to an aircraft that's flying at 180mph; that is like your car hitting a bison at 20mph! Drones may not weigh much, but they can do a lot of damage to any aircraft. And, you have to remember that larger incidents attract a larger number of news and emergency helicopters, thus congesting the airspace overhead. If a helicopter gets damaged it's not going to glide off into the distance like a plane; it's probably going o come down right next to you. The bottom line is we don't need more aircraft accidents. I'm not saying don't do it, but, be careful if you are going to do it.

Sometimes you have to think outside of the box! I, for one, am definitely impressed!

Back when I went to college (I'm really not that old) tuition was free for any firefighter in a SUNY school under the same scenario of metting grade and volunteer requirements. The only catch was you had to volunteer within 50 miles of the school. The FASNY tuition reimbursement is definitely a great program, especially since it urges our younger firefighters to go to college! Remember, kids, the new high school diploma is a college degree!!

I prefer the combination nozzle for smaler or lighter fires, such as room-and-contents or a structure fire in its early stages. I've found using the smooth bore on larger, hotter fires a bit more advantageous as you can et a few extra gpm's over a TFT.

I know of some departmentsw upstate that rely on this method. They will more or less wait for the nozzleman to bleed the line, and then adjust the pressure to just before the point where the nozzleman becomes airborne. To fix an issue like that I will refer to CHIEFPHIL's statement that I requoted above.

One thing I want to throw in here is the point where as we replace older engines with new, state-of-the-art rigs we're losing our ability to do the math and retain the knowledge that and engineer needs to know. We're starting to over-automate our rigs, albeit some cases warrant the automation (such as ARFF). It's over-simplified to train a new engineer to hit the green preset button and tell them "don't let pressure get too high" and "don't let the vaccuum drop below 0." I'm sure everyone loves the idea of a "set and forget" pump operaion, but we need to stay on top of our training and know the science behind it and why it works "that" way. After all, that preset button is linked through a computer to the pump and apparatus engine to do all the math for you, and you have to remember that computers (both the hardware and the software) have impecable timing when they're ready to crash. BAM! That's all we have to do!

I also use this method (for when I have to do the math). I generally rely on memory because I can memorize almost everything that I see or read. However, NEVER RELY ON MEMORIZATION, especially when you're working with something technical, like an engine pump. Always remember to practice your math skills while you practice your pumping skills! I practice my math by talking through it aloud so I can reassure myself mind that I'm getting the correct flow and pressure. Also, keeping flow/pressure charts in the MPO compartment helps a lot, especially when the fire is ripping and you don't have much time to think.

I used to have a copy of the old Fire Officer Handbook that the government published decades ago (we may be talking about the same publication?). It had a chapter about how to respond to UFO crashes. It was weird that this chapter existed, but the government also denied the existence of aliens.

Probably wing spars (the pieces that run from the fuselage to the wing tip) or structural pieces for the fuselage. My bet is the wing spars.

This is akin to when the CDC published the "How to Make a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit" to their website a few years ago. Given the zombie fad that's been striking the population over the last decade or so this is definitely a great way to get people to read about preparedness and think about the things they'll need for when a disaster does happen.