dwcfireman

Striaght from an inside (anonymous) source I have from back home: West Webster was originally dispatched for a car fire. While on scene a car drove up and opened fire using a semi-automatic rifle. The suspect then fled into a nearby home, which then was set ablaze and spread to nearby homes. The last I heard was that the suspect was still at large. Monroe County Sherriff Dept. deployed the SWAT armored truck to recover the injured firefighters from the scene, 2 of which were DOA. An absolute tragedy for our brothers and sisters in West Webster this morning, and I extend my condolences to everyone affected back home.

Units: West Webster (Monroe County), Webster PD, Monroe County Sheriff Dept. 0530 - WWFD dispatched to car fire. While on scene a gunman approached and opened fire on firefighters. 2 DOA, 1 Critical. MCSD SWAT on scene. Gunman barracaded inside a home with two house also on fire.

Hundreds of departmentrs nationwide participate in holiday parades and decorate their trucks (including my hometown, which has hosted such a parade for the last 17 years), and I have never heard a problem stemming from a decorated fire apparatus. And, generally the decorations are paid for through donations or company money, not tax funding.

I personaly think the Wi-Fi will have the opposite effect...kids will be too distracted by their gadgets to complain about the crappy conditions of coach flying.

First, I find it a bit ironic that the other video on the Facebook page shows how to foot a ladder using a set of irons.... I'm not going to beat a dead horse by pointing that fire is blowing throughout the rear of the home, rather I'll point out that the construction of the house appears to be extremely segmented, leading to the idea to vertically ventilate the garage. The garage, even though it's attatched, appears to have a completely separate attic from the house, which would lead to inspect the area for fire. I agree 100% that a few inspection holes in the ceiling would suffice. And if there was fire in that attic space, given the exterior weather conditions, ripping down the ceiling or entering that attic space through a door or opening with a handline will be much more productive (and safe). Also note there is no visible fire or smoke in the garage. Remember, while you're on the fire ground, you are your own personal safety officer, and a safety officer for those around you. Essentially, every firefighter at every incident is a safety officer. We have to look out for each other and stop each other from doing the inevitable mis-step (more commonly known as 'stupidity'). At no point should anyone rely solely on a safety officer to stop incidents like this one from happening. Common sense should have kicked in at some point during this incident, but s**t happens, and that's why we have to look out for our fellow brothers and sisters.

I remember this was a hot topic around the state a few years back. I thought the resolve was that (at least volunteer firefighters) a CDL was not needed or firefighting personnel in NYS. I could be wrong, but that was the last thing I heard. Having grown up in a rural fire house I've had the chance to work with tanker shutles on plenty of occasions. I can't completely agree that a tractor trailer tanker would slow down the operation. In my experience the shuttle operation is usually slowed down by inexperienced drivers/operators and miscommunication. My personal opinion is that tractor trailer tankers (or at least one in the shuttle operation) could be very useful at the begining of a fire or in a situation where there is an extremely long haul to get to the fire.

When you need a lot of water fast!!! I'm surprised the idea of large tankers like this isn't more common.

Move upstate and join my father's vollie department, get hired to work with him part time as an investigator with the county, and start a business building fire boats (my dad's new passion).

If I win the MegaMillions tonight this may just be my first purchase!

Having been associated with the aviation world for about 15 years now, I happen to be familiar with the NWS weather lines. I'm also familiar with the FAA certified automated lines and radio frequencies for air traffic control and ATIS (Automated Terminal Information Service). The ATIS is updated by an airport's operations department and theATC tower simultaneously. The NWS weather, at least for airport reporting, is also fed from an airport operations office, yet some of the information is updated automatically from the weather instrumentation. The point I'm getting to here is that these automated services fall back on one thing; the human element. Without someone to augment the information correctly, the system fails. Where am I going with this? Some people feel that automated dispatching systems will eliminate the human element for part or all of a dispatching center, thus reducing staffing levels and saving money. Others believe that the systems won't work and will cause more havoc on the scene (this is a little extreme, but there are people who just don't like computers). My opinion falls somewhere in between...I do believe the automated systems can relieve dispatchers of time-wasting dispatches, yet I know far too well of the consequences when computers fail at critical moments (like when my weather reporting monitor at the airport decides to take a "break" while trying to publish a weather report during a Nor'easter). The bottom line really comes to the jurisdiction and how they plan to use an automated dispatch system. It may work exceptionally well for a dispatch center that has the funding and technology to pull it off with a staff that is willing to make it work, and it may go horribly wrong for a small dispatching office with little funding and small staff. Obviously, Charlotte has used the system enough to know that it can and will fail, and redundancies have been emplaced to account for the times that "Samantha" decides to take a break. Personally, if this IS going to be the way of the future, let's give it a try. BUT, let's not get our hopes too high that this is going to be the future of 911 dispatch.

Stock up now before they`re gone! More seriously, though, the unions should have dealt with the issue much differently, especially with the holidays coming up. How do explain to kids that Santa didn't bring them any gifts? How do you explain to your signaificant other that you can no longer afford the bills? Now you have to spend the holidays in a dark, cold house?? If the union sucked it up for a few months and took the lower pay, and negotiate an adendum where higher pay could return if profit margins increase, then 18,500 people would still have a job. Me, too!

Remember, this is still a few days out. The models aren't showing the accuracy that they did with the hurricane, but it is in everyone's best interest to prepare for it.

It was good times driving that Hawthorne Ambulance with you on those menacing Mondays. I will always remember you. Rest in Peace, brother.

I heard somewhere along the way that purple lights, from a federal standard, were for transport vehicles carrying nuclear fuel/waste. Has anyone else heard that?

This is the same fashion how the federal goverment repealed regulations that now allow commercial pilots to carry guns with them. Not all pilots carry guns, and some airlines (usually smaller, regional airlines) prohibit their pilots from carrying. I don't fully agree the new legislation, especially when I own guns myself. I would never carry a gun on the fire truck, so why should EMT's need them on the bus. It cracks open pandora's box to a world of hurt and liability. Going back to the airlines, I don't agree with pilots being able to carry, either. Company/Agency rules and regulations for carrying weapons are far less strict than those in law enforcement agencies. Changing the subject a bit; An Army friend of mine once said, "You can teach anyone to fire a weapon and hit a target, but not everyone can be taught to shoot a person." Some people, even those in law enforcement and the military, freeze up in a situation where they're being attacked or have a gun drawn back on them. The same thing will happen when a gung-ho EMT draws his weapon on a man who just shot his wife and children. Will this 24 year old EMS know-it-all pull the trigger, or will he end up in the morgue after he himself gets shot? This is where I agree with some of the others in this thread that non-lethal tasers and/or mace may be more acceptable. Then again, we should just fall back on our training and stage elsewhere until the police come in and do their job. Fire departments fight fire, EMS fights death, and Police departments fight crime. I'll gladly wait 30 minutes for a police officer if that's what I need to do.

Somebody did they're homework on this one. The Concorde was an awesome plane, and it's unfortunate that it had to be retired. This was supposed to be the future of airline travel, and it would have been nice to fly to Europe in under 3 hours. Despite the issues with the Concorde, commercial aviation in general is extremely safe. The planes are built tough to withstand the minor incidents we see every now and then, federal aviation regulations require redundant safety measures, and pilot training has increased significantly over the years. The down side is that we can't prevent everything from breaking, hence incidents like the one above with the B757.

This discussion has taken place at least a few times before, and I understand your concern over the situation, however, it's a moot point to have this discussion again. Some departments have stubborn leaders who refuse to change, some departments have no leadership, and there's a few that have gotten lost along the way. It happens to many more departments than you think, just as every department has their problems. If you happen to be a taxpayer in the district you are referring to then you need to start a campaign to change it. If you belong to a mutual aid company that is responding to this district, voice your concerns up your chain of command.

This is the reason why the Concorde was decomishioned. Luckily B757's are of a more modern design, and the engines are capable of taking larger debris. And the other hand, since take-off is the most dangerous part of any flight, losing 1 of 2 engines at this point is extremely critical, and can result in major catastrophe as the aircraft loses speed and gravity takes over.

I understand where my post could have come off as a bit judgemental, and I appologize for that. I wasn't trying to be. I was just explaining my experiences to relate to Sage's issue.

Sage, As a young, now ex-officer, I can completely relate to your situation. When I turned 21, marking my 3 years as a firefighter and thus allowing (by by-laws) to run for lieutenant, I was pressured into running and becoming an officer. Low and behold, I became the youngest lieutenant [ever] in my hometown fire department. I had a lot of issues to face, not only from a training perspective, but to live up to my family name (my father was chief and my mother a lieutenant, both for several years). Being an officer is a terrible place for a young firefighter, no matter the situation. Any how, let's get to your issue: How do we get the older guys invlolved in training and helping the younger guys learn and gain experience. I will tell you there is no right answer. And the older guys will tell you all the wrong answers (I'm not bashing anybody here, but let's face the fact that the older generation of firefighters are more susceptible to tradition than progression). So, I'm going to tell you my little secret. Here's my secret: Find an ex-chief, or a firefighter that has been around a while, or any of the older guys that has a real passion for the job. And, if you're ready for it, because this is the hard part, ask for their help. Do this in a comfotable setting (for me, I pulled an ex-chief aside in the bar and asked him, "How do I do this?"). Most people in the fire service, when you ask, are more than willing to help...well, you should know that since you have plenty of responses to your question already. But let's get back on track...once you have that elder's attention, he or she will tell you what you need to do and how to do it (especially after a few adult beverages). Continue talking to them until they decide to go home. You won't believe the information that spills out of their mouths. The other approach that I've taken was to be an authoritarian. This is where you put your foot down and say, "You are doing this, or you're not riding the fire truck. Period." This is a last ditch effort, however. Please refer to the previous paragraph as much as possible before resorting to the authoritarian approach. There's a time to be an @$$hole as an officer, but it should only be a last resort. I will tell you from experience, if you are a hard @$$ as an officer, volunteers will not show up. But, if they don't want to cooperate, remind those folks of the rules/by-laws, and show them who's the boss. Bottom line, be confident in all of your decisions. Be confident in your training. As always, take more classes. If you need to, find guest instructors. But, most importantly, as an officer you cannot be afraid to ask questions. If you show the older guys (by asking them questions) that you want to learn more, and that your younger guys want to learn more, then they will be more willing to help out and show up to training.

I really love this statement, and your follow up is spot on! If you want to use the wiord, go for it, but make sure you know what it means....and make sure it's in the right context. To anyone that thinks that a "re-kiindle" is due to a fire not being fully extinguished, please re-examine your basic science knowledge. A fire consists of four things: Fuel, an Oxidizer, a Heat Source, and the Event that makes fire. The hardest thing to remover is fuel, and 99% of the time that's what we leave. I say this because I have never seen a fire department remove a house from a fire. Now, if you remove the oxidizer and heat from the triangle, yeah, you've extinguished the fire....however, there is stiull the possiblility of a new event re-igniting the fire (hence, the fire tetrahedron). That's where the word "re-kindle" comes into effect. Like I said before, something as simple as a light breeze can re-ignite the fire. But, speaking more literally, we see "re-kindles" in fires that are (a) hard to extinguish and ( are surround-and-drowns. These types of fires aren't as dangerous as they seem, however, we pose a threat to the public as we respond back to them. x129K, you hit it on the head, too. Re-kindles happen. As long as you're aggressive enmough on the fire, you won't have one. My experience with these types of fires is to handle them once. Put enough water on the first time, and it becomes the only time.

This is quite an interesting question. Even though I brought it up, I don't even have the answer to this. I've done a lot of fire prevention in my career, but it's always been directed towards kids. Could the insurance companies do it? Preach the positives of having sprinkler systems in the home? Obviously, that would be too easy. In the fire prevention programs and open houses that I've done in the past, we've tried to reach out to the adults, but the materials that are provided are all the BS pamphlets (kitchen safety, EDITH, smoke detector maintenance, etc.). Maybe we should be taking a more direct route to home safety, and teach adults what sprinklers can do to save your home (i.e. water damage from a sprinkler head versus losing your home). This topic has so many loose ends and open ideas, it's tough to decide where to start. I do recall NYSAFE (New York State Association of Fire & Life Ssafety Educators) did experiments as to how young you can teach children fire prevention and fire safety and how to do it....I know this because I was one of the "lab rats." Maybe it's time we take a step further to figure out how to do the same with adults with the knowledge we need to bestow upon them.

I understand your chief's concern. There's a few people at the airport where I work that use them, and we tell those individuals to obey the rules as if it were a real cigarette, only to prevent 'actual' smokers from lighting up on the airfield. The theory behind this is that as long as people don't think they'll have the option, they won't break the rules. I have used an E-cigarette in the past as well. Mine never exploded, but the atomizer (the heat conductor) did break apart on me.

So true...But it can happen to anyone. Both my parents were firefighters, and our house caught fire at least 3 times (that I remember). We always do fire prevention programs for the kids...Why aren't we continuing this education for adults?

Now, more importantly, who has good pictures of the fire?