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I worked with an insurance adjuster who worked the site. His photos were amazing. I don't think most people were aware of the massive extent of the damage that the buildings sustained.

Briarcliff is getting its paid EMT from OVAC.

Good thread Seth, Paratrooper jumped and forgot to pull his ripcord.

The latest incident report has a command vehicle, two engines (#1 & #3) and a truck. Then there is M/A. Is Newburgh only operating with two engines and a truck? Is there an E#2?

It is an interesting variation on the Chicago paint scheme, and yes, it would be interesting to know why the cost was $1.3M unless it was just a matter of taking delivery of both a 100' TL and a 2000 gpm pumper on a single chassis. And, this is not directed at Carmel specifically, but volunteer departments in general. If you can't be be confident about turnout for any given call and how many and which of your apparatus might be getting on the road, should it be an apparatus like this that can do double duty as ladder and engine. Is there any data on departments replacing their dedicated ladders with combination ladder/pump and changing their response protocols to put these apparatus on the road as first due?

You know, voter turnout being what it is, low these days, if a member of the FD/EMS service who really wanted to effect change ran for office and made a coordinated effort with like candidates from other villages/towns, you might actually get a significant number of FD/EMS people into office who could then try to get some changes enacted by bringing these issues we talk about to the public's attention. If the whole department, their families and friends got behind a candidate it creates a pretty strong voting block. Get Joe, John and Mary from village A, B & C elected, etc. and maybe something happens.

Next time a request is made to build a care facility in your town/village, those that approve the plan should require provisions for EMS that do not rely on or otherwise burden their existing EMS structure, rather than accepting a one time donation of money toward a new ambulance, which is often the case. That solution wears off faster than a coat of wax on the shiny new bus.

I don't think anyone would doubt that getting out of the station quicker may improve your outcome. Of course there were/are plenty of times that calls have come in and our volunteer station happened to have a complement of personnel and we're on the road within the time it takes to suit up. I'm just asking, but are there really that many more burned out hulks in the volunteer districts than in the paid districts? Oh, let me answer, NO. So, as usual, it's about the money. $3 Billion in NYS about $140B nationally. That could be a lot of jobs. Provided the public is willing to pay.

Briarcliff Manor Totals for 2015 2015 FIRE: 699 2015 EMS: 841 2015 Non-Emergency events: 517 (Work details, Meetings, Training, Etc) 2015 Total (all events, emerg. & non-emerg.) man-hours volunteered: 49,119 BMFD responded to 10 working structure fires (Signal 10-75) in our district in 2015.

What I meant was that you would expect a firehouse in this condition to be in a part of the country where resources (money) is very hard to come by. You know, where departments depend on pancake breakfasts, bake sales and spaghetti dinners to fund themselves. It's not about call volume. This appears to be a firehouse that hasn't even had basic maintenance for years. The fact that it is still viable at all is a testament to how well it was originally built. It's a shame that a classic Tudor building like this has been allowed to deteriorate to the point of major reconstruction or tear down and start over. Again, one has to ask, where does all the money go?

This is a problem throughout Westchester County. The average price of a home in Rye is over $1.5 Million dollars. If you can afford a $1.5 Million dollar home, either you are working your ass off to afford it and would never have the time necessary to be a volunteer firefighter, or they simply wouldn't have the demeanor usually associated with persons who volunteer to be firefighters.

If you are old enough, you would remember the County Police when they were 'just' the Parkway Police. Then their leadership moved to make them a real force in the County, expanding their capabilities and equipment and transforming them into the pre-eminent department they appear to be today. Reading the incident report from this morning, it was clear that the County officers assigned to Mt. Kisco had a major incident with potential loss of life, so the County PD responded by sending the appropriate support. Good for them. Is the County really so poor that it can not have 24/7 paid fire personnel able to respond specialized County equipment and apparatus to emergencies?

Eastchester? More like a station in East Bum Fk.

Not a firematic issue but: Hillary Clinton is the apparent front runner in the Democratic party. But she is at risk due to all the numerous 'scandals' and the potential for even more to come depending on the current FBI investigation. Bernie is a Socialist and O'Malley is as light a weight as can be found. Neither highly electable in the General. But everytime I hear pundits talking about last minute candidates to pick up the baton should Hillary falter, they never mention Andy. Here's a current Liberal Democrat Governor of a major Democratic state, he's a former HUD Secretary, he's dating? a beautiful TV celebrity, his children are Kennedy's and he inherited his fathers oratory skills. Why does his name not come up? Is he too susceptible to becoming Preet's final fall guy in the 'third man in the room' ?

I can't guarantee things haven't changed, I've been 'retired' for several years, but in Briarcliff the Chiefs did not pass off their vehicles to Company officers in their absence. In addition to the Chief and his Assistants, there are numerous Deputy Chiefs (Past Chiefs) who will respond in their POV's to assume command. Should no Chief or Deputy respond, command is by the Sr. Company officer. In the absence of any officers, command is by the Sr. member of the Company. I'm not familiar with any incident in which any of the above scenarios created a disagreement or discussion as to who was in command. But, if you're down three Chiefs, can your Dept. afford to have more people responding directly to the scene? Somebody has to be on the apparatus. We have also had Deputy Chiefs who would respond to the firehouse rather than to the scene because as Drivers it guaranteed apparatus on the road. There is most certainly an advantage to have an Officer on scene to size things up prior to the arrival of the apparatus, but you don't want him/her standing there waiting for apparatus that is waiting for drivers. All our officers are drivers.

+/- $5,000.00 for a 3,000 SF house.

What happens when one these behemoths breaks down or wrecks or just plain gets stuck? The roadway is effectively blocked, snow or no snow.

Go Modern, Go Gas, Go Boom. When I monitor the radio, I often hear requests for Con-Ed for either gas issues or electrical service issues that require immediate assistance to mitigate an problem that is hampering the firefighting operation. The initial calls are usually followed by requests for updates on their time of arrival, then followed with a response that is non committal. You know, they'll get there when they get there. Why doesn't Con-Ed have a 24/7 emergency response vehicle (lights and siren) with specially trained technicians and equipment to respond to fire calls with gas or electrical service issues?

Completely wasted space behind the cab, how about some type of enclosure with bench seating to aid in evacuation and why not all wheel drive instead of two wheel so it can go in the snow, speaking of which how about a plow attachment and a winch. Sounds like they had money for dump trucks not specialized vehicles and this is the best they could do. Another waste of taxpayer money.

In prior posts I mentioned the possibility of adjoining departments assigning a specific dedicated engine with a four man crew for a daytime shift M-F to respond to any call in either jurisdiction. You would only need two persons from each dept. each day, thereby spreading the load. It guarantees a quick response with a full crew and enhances the relationship between the departments and their personnel. Alternate firehouses on a weekly basis.

Pocantico goes out to Sleepy Hollow fairly regularly. I still don't understand the MA/Coverage calls though. Last night in Briarcliff, Millwood provided their only ladder to the scene rather than Ossining, which has two. Then, for coverage, Chappaqua provided their only ladder rather than Ossining. Engine to the scene is Ossining, for coverage Pleasantville. Makes sense even if its vice versa. But why not have Archville at least stand by in quarters while Scarborough E92 is going to be in service for an extended period such as last night? At Ossining's South Highland Ave. fire Pleasantville proved a ladder for coverage, Millwood an engine. (Croton Fast and Briarcliff Cascade were already assisting). At the Main Street fire Montrose provided a ladder, Millwood an engine for coverage. Buchanan provided the cascade. (Croton Fast and Briarcliff Cascade were already assisting). At the Charter Circle fire it was a Fast from Thornwood after Croton's Fast went to work, Croton's Ladder for coverage and an engine from Sleepy Hollow after Millwoods engine for coverage was diverted to the scene. (Briarcliff's cascade was already assisting). Usually it's Sleepy Hollow providing a ladder to Ossining. I can only assume that 60 Control is dispatching according to protocols and current conditions as they exist about the County. And, believe me, it's a lot more orderly and efficient now that dispatch is centralized.

About ten years ago, my nephews were coming into our volunteer department. I told them then that I believed they would be the last of our families volunteer firefighters. That, by the time they had children of their own old enough to be firefighters, it would be an all paid vocation. I still believe that. For all the reasons previously stated, most younger people don't have the time or the desire to carry on the tradition. Diversity can't change the price of a single family house in Westchester and its' environs. Urban areas will not be able to maintain volunteer departments capable of providing adequate and timely responses to the increased call volumes. The difficulties we see today will only increase in magnitude as time goes by, at least in my opinion. I have seen some of these 'live in the station volunteers' which work well in some locations, but for all the recent construction of new, and renovation of existing volunteer firehouses, I have not seen any of them make accommodations for even overnight standbys let alone in house dormitories for live in volunteers. With the exception of truly rural areas, I believe the volunteers are being (deliberately?) regulated to the history books. And, as always, the taxpayer shall provide the ultimate solution to solving the problem.

If you are looking for common sense, forget about it. I recently moved to an area covered by a volunteer department. I stopped by the station, 1/2 mile from my home on the same street, to inquire about membership. I was told that my NY credentials were not recognized in GA. One day an engine came up the street, responding, when it passed my house it was not the local dept, but the neighboring paid department. I have seen them responding into our area several other times. So, I'm usually available 24/7, have lots of training, 30+ years of experience as an EMT, Officer, Driver, Interior Firefighter, but they can't use me and they also can't get their apparatus on the road 100% of the time either.

Fox news just reported that there have been at least 10 reports of fires, one person claims it caught fire as he was riding on it, another claims it burned his house down. The airlines are refusing to take them on board.

Yea, with an active power source I don't think this would qualify as 'spontaneous combustion'.