bigyellowtaxi

Heard a rumor that the paid firefighters are going to take over EMS in Mohegan Lake is this true? If so how would the Fire district do billing, now that their assets are being used for the VAC? Can the VAC bill using Fire District personnel as primary responders?

OK here it is as told to me from a member. During the month of May over 80% of calls were given away. That is to say 80% of their revenue was given away. The volunteers broke away from the fire district, with the permission of the commissioners, for the express reason that they charge for response. Last I heard the VAC and the paid Firefighters responded to 2000 calls a year. So 2000 X $400.00 = $800,000.00. and the paid firefighters and the Paramedics are paid by the tax payers. So where is $800,000.00 going? Surly not into equipment or supplies or the price of manpower. (Manpower is free, right?) While they supply transport, Oxygen, Band aids, training(this is questionable)and vehicles. This could not cost more then $100,000.00 AHH maybe it is cut up at the fire house. Since the Volunteer Fire association does not charge for calls, they charge the VAC rent. This way money can be laundered and used as they please. So they charge the VAC $10,000.00 a month (actual figure unknown) and they walk away with $120,000.00 a year for floor space rental. The left over is $580,000.00. So where is all the money? Why is the Fire District not being reimbursed for sending their paid firefighters to the scene that they are not responsible for? Are the VACs reimbursing the Towns to help defray the cost of the Paramedics, or are they just stuffing their coffers. The taxpayers are already paying for these services, if you would like to charge a person not living in your town that’s maybe something I can get on board with. I pay enough taxes in the town of Cortlandt now. But to break away from the Mohegan Fire district just so you can bill people is a crime, more of the hidden cost of volunteers. So does someone out there know where all the money is?

OH PLEASE STOP ALL THE BACK PATTING!!!!!!!!! This is simple economics 101. If I am giving away 40% of my calls I am not making money on these calls. So I contract for $400.00 a day for coverage and bill an average $400.00 a call, they are making 80% instead of 60% even for 5 calls a day. At 5 calls a day after the first call its a profit of $1600 before expenses, not a bad days pay for sitting back. Who will lay me odds that the poor VAC will all so solicit funds in the form of donations. All this and they give their members a $400.00 a month LOSAP. It will probably be promoted as its helping the public, but they are also helping themselves more

Thanks chief and grumpy

What is ISO and where can I find it? I am not looking at new money just replace the FFs that have retired. Yes you are right I only got opinions from those I spoke to. I will be speaking to one of their recent retires in an hour or so and maybe get another view. Since there is apparently no accountability for volunteers I would be a bit intimidated to go to a meeting and not get help to my house when I need help. Don't say this doesn't happen because I've seen that personally. I just figured that there is always one bad apple that would stoop that low. I went to http://www.lmfdpro.com/vote.htm There is no mention of Volunteers and there seems to be many concerns there. I then went to http://moheganfire.com/ There is no mention of paid FFs and there seems to be nothing wrong everything is OK. I have gotten pretty cynical in my old age. I have gotten this old by not believing everything I read in thenewspapers and not drinking anyone elses KOOL-AID

Maybe he is not needed in Yorktown. We can save money on his salary and hire some firefighters!

Just stumbled on this http://yorktown.lohudblogs.com/ Apparently shows Eric Di Bartolo Yorktown Highway Supt. in charge at Mohegans fire.

First I am glad that I am not the only one who has noticed Mohegans downfall in the recent years. I am still concern with the quality of fire service here. Well as a resident of Lake Mohegan I decided to call the firehouse. It was not easy but I got through after 2 attempts. The first time I called was a Saturday I got a recording, A RECORDING? WT*! Its a Saturday and there is no one at the fire house? Turns out that they were all at another firehouse training. OK The second call was more productive, I spoke to a Paid Firefighter. He told me that this has been getting worse for some years. The Board of Commissioners have turned the focus of the dept towards medical response. The paid staff has been cut by 30% hoping that maybe the volunteers would pick up the ball. (didn't happen) One Lieutenant and six firefighters have not been replaced, 4 firefighters retired and 2 firefighters retired due to injuries from the job. I asked if they were injured due to lack of man power, after a long pause He had no comment. They have not hired any new firefighters in 7 years. I wonder how old the force that they have is I decided to call up some old friends who I know are volunteers in Mohegan the other in Yorktown. It seems Monday’s fire that their paid Capt that usually does not respond to fires, did so. They could not fight the fire from the inside because they did not have enough firefighters to do so. Westchester dispatch, which has taken over the radio dispatch in recent years, did not get the message to respond all on duty firefighters from the outer stations. This would have put 5 fire fighters and a Capt at the scene. Five years ago this would have been 6 or 7 paid firefighters but the volunteers feel intimidated with that many paid firefighters on scene. Some of the volunteers that showed up were not “inside firefighters”(which means that they are not allow to enter a building fire. WHAT!!!!!) Some of the Outside firefighters refused setup the hydrant and opted to take pictures instead. This action caused one of the paid firefighters to go take care of the hydrant and took him away from inside firefighting. BRILLIANT! This left one Capt and two Firefighters to fight the fire. There is a difference of opinion but it seems all safety teams ( FAST) were used to fight the fire. The chief claims that the fire got a good headway (news12). I bet it did while you were waiting there for more people to show up! Apparently the paid firefighters have complained about unsafe working conditions and the volunteers don’t like that OSHA said that they must follow a 2in2out policy. This was being violated until recently. I don’t want my house to burn down, but I don’t want any one killed for my house even more. The morale in Mohegan is low and the commissioners are turning a blind eye. The volunteers FF do not like that they are being restricted by the laws that keep them safe. The paid FF (that are union) feel like they don’t get the respect from volunteers that are themselves are in other unions (paid firefighters including NYC, Police, paid EMS, Town workers,) These volunteers are union members so they can have better pay and working conditions for them and their families but don’t like when the paid force in Mohegan asks for the same for themselves and their families. Even if the Commissioners hired 6 paid firefighters tomorrow they would still have to be trained and this would take time. I can hardly believe that such a great dept as Mohegan has been reduced to not being able to fight their own fires, because of should short sighted Commissioners. I am getting a lesson in fire dept politics and the games people play with others lives.

I think that censorship would be the worst thing that could happen. It would probably cause more members to leave or be angered then any other reason. When we disagree, somebody, somewhere is not going to like what someone else's opinion is. Here on this site many times opinions, are not opinions, they are fact, as proven by recordings and records. By shining the light of truth on subjects that are not discussed anywhere else on the internet, everyone will better from it. I know when I ask questions I get answers here. I called my local FD and got a recording, A RECORDING. I guess it comes down to If you don't like it, don't read it. If it is an opinion, voice your own. Facts are discuss-able not disputable. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you cannot answer the questions, you should not be in a position to be asked. I have learned much watching this site over the years and it is only because of truth and factual talk that I and everyone else has benefited.

Whats with Mohegan? I know that they have cut their career numbers by 5 or 6 through attrition. They also have stopped certain (Rescue)apparatus from responding to structure fires. Now every time I hear they have a structure they are screaming for manpower and mutual aid to the scene. Even when they call a FAS team they put them to work and call another Dept for FAST. Many times by the time the second FAST is established the fire is under control and salvage Ops are occurring.

It seems that a Dept like Mohegan that has Paid and Volunteer personnel should have enough people to fight a bread and butter. Maybe they are saving money by called in other dept instead of hire the amount of people needed. Is it fair to surrounding Depts that you save money and utilize their resouces? When does a Dept over use another Dept resources? Can Commissioner be held responsible? If so are these Commissioners asleep or just ignoring whats going on in their dept? How about their Chief, he is in the field he must see the problem? Should an Officer allow a RIT/FAST be put to work instead of taking care of his men's safety. While I don't know if this is Personal, Safety, or Monetary issue. There's a problem here some place, maybe the fire is out by the time the chief shows up.

This is a good, but incorrect article. The Fire commissioners of Lake Mohegan at the time could not see past their noses. They turned this, and the Haz-Mat team down because they were afraid of hiring more career firefighters and hurting some feelings.

I seen one like this outside of Boston http://adland.tv/content/man-calls-911-due-aflac-billboard

How about Mohegan they're short of men now

So my tax dollars are going towards my neighbors pizza delivery bill :angry:

Ahhh! To be young and on the job again.