tommyguy

Yes there are two results that come up pretty quickly, towards the top of the list. The 'day of the fire' story -- a passerby reported it by stopping at Station 14 -- and a followup story detailing the arrest of twenty-year-old Steven Branda charged with arson.
Yonkers Fire Dept. Chief Andrew Gerlock was mentioned several times as being the IC. I was growing up in White Plains at the time of this fire but I recall seeing Chief Gerlock's name in the newspapers occasionally.
Thanks yfd95. Very nice! I live in Yonkers now and I'm very interested in the city's history.

The bowling alley is certainly well remembered in the bowling world.

Date: 3-12-14
Time: 1839hrs
Incident Type: Fire in a taxpayer
Location: 5-15 Caryl Ave C/S South Broadway
District: Yonkers
Units: (See Below)

Description: Fire in the basement of a single story multiple storefront taxper, with extension through the walls to the first floor. Numeous lines stretched and operating, trucks opening up

Updates:
2132hrs: Units picking up

Units Operating:
Yonkers FD
Engines 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313
Squad 1
Ladders 71, 72, 73, 74, 75
Rescue 1
Battalion 1 (IC) Battalion 2 (Safety)
MSU
Car 6

Empress EMS
Yonkers PD
Yonkers PD ESU

Relocated:
Yonkers FD Engine 314, Ladder 70 To Station 1

New Rochelle FD Engine 22 To Station 12
Eastchester FD Tower Ladder 17 To Station 12

As a former MTA bus driver...no doubt the driver was not at fault. Once those things start skidding on a hill only God knows where it will end up. Poor job clearing the hill especially that one with all the slush at the bottom it was an accident waiting to happen. Hope the driver was not hurt. Keep the "wheels on the bus go round and round...round and round.....oops....skid skid skid...all day long"

Like a good ship captain, she went down with her bus

I'm gonna chime in too. I always comment, on how the BeeLine drivers are the only drivers on the road that do what they are supposed to do for an emergency vehicle! They always put on their hazard lights, yield, and then stop for approaching Fire apparatus. A big Thank You to the drivers for that!The assignment to the bus into the deli was:
E-312. TL-75. Battalion-2. Rescue-1. S/C E-314 W/Collapse rig (SQ-11 was out) S/C E-310 for additional manpower, shoring operations underway.

I have always wanted to say something about the b line drivers and this seems like a good place.
I been doing Yonkers EMS for 25 years. These guys always seem to have their eyes and ears open for our trucks. They always move over for us. I can imagine the extra 40 feet of bus between them and us and the ambient noise on board would make hearing us much harder, but they yield right away, consistantly.
I once had a female b-line driver having excrutiating abdomenal pain. She WOULD NOT leave that seat until a b-line supervisor arrived to take control of her bus.
My hat is off to these drivers for their skills in sharing the crowded roads of Yonkers.

sad. brother RIP,you were part of the best FD out there YONKERS,they will never forget you

Nice work Yonkers in working these 2 jobs the same day under really bad conditions.
Sorry did I just go off topic here?

How did this post, originally about a great job done by all, including the rescue of ten people in below freezing temperatures become a diatribe about everything except the job. I was surprised to even see a post about a yonkers fire since the incident alert section has not posted many of our jobs the past few months.

I would rather not answer any questions about myself on this thread. As gpeifer mentioned it was originally about a fantastic job our members did on a very busy and frigid night, surely saving multiple lives and mitigating property damage, and I would hope it might focus on its original intent. As far as 313- apparatus is not my division and I would rather not get into that, and as far as regionalization / consolidation- I am for it under the right circumstances but again, this is not the correct thread to discuss that. I will keep an eye on this site over the next week or so, and if a thread pops up with regionalization / consolidation as the topic I will consider chiming in. Same thing for the memorabilia / museum question- this is not the appropriate thread to discuss that.
I would like to keep the attention on the great work that our members did on the night in question, as well as during numerous other working fires so far this winter (most of which were not reported on in the IA section here) . Notably, the skilled and dedicated firefighting operations that took place on the night of the 2 jobs that this thread initially focused on was done by a force comprised of 1 in 6 firefighters with only a week or so out of the academy, and another 30+ with less than a year on the job, and many of the bosses very new in their current rank, I was not at all involved with the operations on that night, but I am very proud of the excellent work that was done by our members and the attention should be on them in this thread.

E204 is its Westchester County designation. FDMV has WCDES designations for engines 201 through 207, and ladders 61-64.

Maybe it's their assigned County Number?

That was the job I was talking about. And we did get control of the 6th floor and the building looks like it never happened. I also know Graham.

1) By standards, how many engines does a city of 4 sq miles and 66,000 population require? That need to be determined before one can say if they are stripped or not.
2) they signed the mutual aid plan. You want assistance you have to agree to give it.

You are welcome, Tommy. It's actually few and far between that we are thanked for our professionalism. FYI I worked with Vinny Varley. He was in Qay Sanh during the Tet Offensive. We had a job in a cockloft one night and Vinny said "Nam has nothing that beats this." He since got hurt on the job and had to retire. If you see Vinnie, say hello for me

I think I know what you mean by confusing but listening to the radio transmissions I didn't sense any confusion. It seemed like a well-orchestrated response to a difficult situation. It was fairly amazing actually. I really salute all involved. I also noticed that when Yonkers FD radio was releasing companies back to their jurisdiction the dispatcher thanked them for their help. That was a nice touch!
As a Yonkers resident and homeowner I was somewhat relieved at the way in which responses were carried out during the Beech Street incident. Especially the way a full response was mustered for the Landscape Avenue job (which was reported as a structure fire). Believe me, that was very reassuring.
As someone who lived and worked in White Plains for many years I got a kick out of hearing the truck company coming up North Broadway last night to the activated alarm at St. John's Hospital (I live relatively close by) and knowing it was Tower Ladder 6 from WPFD Station Two! Years ago I knew guys who worked at Station Two -- with the engine company, though, I don't recall knowing anyone who worked the truck -- and I can only imagine what they would've thought.
I also knew a guy (Vincent Varley) who worked for Hartsdale FD. So I got a kick out of hearing E170 responding to the job near South Broadway. Then hearing them return to Station 13 on Kimball Avenue.
Quite a night and a terrific performance by all involved. As a Yonkers homeowner I give a heartfelt, "Great Job Guys and Thanks Much!"

I think I know what you mean by confusing but listening to the radio transmissions I didn't sense any confusion. It seemed like a well-orchestrated response to a difficult situation. It was fairly amazing actually. I really salute all involved. I also noticed that when Yonkers FD radio was releasing companies back to their jurisdiction the dispatcher thanked them for their help. That was a nice touch!
As a Yonkers resident and homeowner I was somewhat relieved at the way in which responses were carried out during the Beech Street incident. Especially the way a full response was mustered for the Landscape Avenue job (which was reported as a structure fire). Believe me, that was very reassuring.
As someone who lived and worked in White Plains for many years I got a kick out of hearing the truck company coming up North Broadway last night to the activated alarm at St. John's Hospital (I live relatively close by) and knowing it was Tower Ladder 6 from WPFD Station Two! Years ago I knew guys who worked at Station Two -- with the engine company, though, I don't recall knowing anyone who worked the truck -- and I can only imagine what they would've thought.
I also knew a guy (Vincent Varley) who worked for Hartsdale FD. So I got a kick out of hearing E170 responding to the job near South Broadway. Then hearing them return to Station 13 on Kimball Avenue.
Quite a night and a terrific performance by all involved. As a Yonkers homeowner I give a heartfelt, "Great Job Guys and Thanks Much!"

Reserve Units activated tonight: E305, E317, E319, L78, Bat 3, Bat 4
Others Heard: Car 2, Car 4, Car 5, Car 6, Car 7, Car 45, SOD, Rehab, MSU
Mutual Aid Units:
New Rochelle: 2309, E22 (Both Times)
White Plains: 2517, TL6 (4th Alarm)
Mount Vernon: E204 (4th), E206 (3rd)
Hartsdale: E170 (Both times)
Eastchester: L16 (4th), TL17 (3rd)
Fairview: L1 (Both times)
Pelham: E5 (4th)
Pelham Manor: TL3 (4th)
I think E22, E204, L16 went to work on Beech, and the remaining companies (except L1 which went OOS mechanical) handled additional runs in the city.
A confusing, busy night in Yonkers - much respect to all involved including their Communications folks.

Interesting thread. Given the volume of fire YFD had to contend with, and the density of that downtown block, they appear to have done a tremendous job in knocking down the fire. It could've easily extended to other buildings and become a real catastrophe. Great job (as usual) by Yonkers.
I have two questions.
1. The Bee-Line bus shown parked within the fire lines. Was that there to give firefighters a warm dry place to take a breather?
2. The alarm assignment shows E170 Hartsdale was MA at Station 13 on Kimball Avenue. Does anyone know if E170 got any jobs while they were there?

Isn't the purpose of a covering assignment to take calls that are anticipated? If you're expecting nothing to happen why not question the overall purpose of the assignment (stand by in quarters) ? I know that when we put our personnel into another departments incident we assign a chief officer, this includes covers thereby ensuring a chief is immediately available should a significant incident come in. While most line officers are very used to (and capable) being the first in IC, when you take them outside their own coverage area you introduce many other potential issues (unfamiliar street, hydrant spacing,non-common LE and EMS freqs and policies, etc.), a chief officer as a liaison if nothing else can smooth these and ensure the line companies can just do their job.

From my understanding, the bus was requested in order to provide temporary shelter for the evacuated (later displaced) residents of 371 South Broadway (the 4-story/48-unit apartment building next to the fire building). I don't know whether it was OEM, FD, or PD who made the request. Once the Red Cross with OEM set up a Reception Center at a nearby church, the Bee-Line bus was released after a few hours of service and cleared the scene. I'm sure the bus could also have been used for firefighters, but I only saw it being utilized by a dozen or so civilians.
I could be mistaken, so feel free to correct me if that's the case.

A well known/respected member of YFD posted here what they dispatch and what policy is and additional posters AFTER that post, write "I think" this is how YFD operates. right or wrong, its not needed.
Can we try to read the post 1st, before posting. Thank you.

Yonkers has an impressive fleet and does their best to minimize the use of mutual aid (imagine that!). They start recalling personnel early and staff reserve apparatus (imagine that!) so the mutual aid can be returned to where it came from.
YFD also has a lot of specialty apparatus. It's an impressive operation.

First alarm:
E304,E303,E306,E308. L74, TL71, Rescue1, Battalion1
Signal 10-29. 10-30 (W/F, All Hands) Battalion2, L72 Fast truck
2nd Alarm. E307, E309, E312. TL75
3rd Alarm. Sq11, E310, L73
4th Alarm. E313, E314, L70
Additional on AH/multiples. The Deputy Chiefs, Car-2 Car-3. MSU. FIU (car6) Rehab w/Car45, Car1 Commish Sweeney etc.
After the 4th additional engine requested to relay water into Sq11. (Reserve)E317
Mutual aid is called in to man YFD Firehouses:
New Rochelle E22. Eastchester TL17 to YFD Sta1
Mt Vernon E4. Ladder2. To YFD Sta12
Hartsdale E170 to YFD Sta13
Recall Yonkers reserve rigs, E300, 317,319 TL80 bat3 etc......when in place released Mutual Aid.