Dinosaur

I guess by default they would be but they're only meeting OSHA's two in-two out requirement. They can't ladder the escape routes, prepare for rescues, assess the structure, and do all the other tasks that a FAST/RIT team would be able to do. If departments have responses to a confirmed structure fire with only four FF, they also have other issues. Of course this is happening all over every day because we continue to do things the way we did 75 years ago. If we had one large department FD consisting of 10-12 of the current fire fiefdoms we could get the 3-4 guys available in each and have a reasonable response more quickly and effectively than we do under the current patchwork. This isn't rocket science; its done damn near everywhere else better and cheaper than we do it. Consolidating doesn't mean closing fire houses - it just means managing smarter and using resources more wisely. It's not a bad word and should really be looked at more seriously than we do.

Does this make them a combination department?

The 60 cents you're referring too are probably taxes unless there's a bulk contract and you get a substantial discount in volume - and with over 150 agencies in Westchester alone I don't think anyone's getting bulk. If the 'volunteer' is given tax-free gas, you're simply shifting the problem. Now you're reducing the revenue that another entity receives from the sales of that fuel which will result in a tax increase somewhere else. Net gain to the volunteer = ZERO! Is this really a problem? Are volunteer volumes so high and response distances so great that the cost of gas is stopping volunteers from coming out? Many of the larger/busier EMS agencies already have paid crews on during the day (or 24 hours) so there aren't huge turnouts during the day. For fire agencies the volume isn't so high and most fire districts are so small that gas usage could be measured (if anyone bothered) in ounces not gallons. Is this really a recruitment or retention tool or is it just a gimmick because someone wants to pay less for gas?

They are not volunteer agencies. They're voluntary 911 providers and are part of the NYC system. Most run ALS units, in Manhattan they used to run more ALS units than the City did, and they are responsible for PAR's and dispatched by 911 just like FDNY units.

Yes. If something happens the highest ranking person will be held accountable but in many cases they'll be held responsible whether they're on the scene or not (vicarious liability). A chief should absolutely stand back and let subordinates learn how to manage/supervise. If the incident escalates or changes they can always step in and assist the junior officer. I was fortunate and had some crusty old dinosaurs allow me to fall flat on my face as I was moving up in the ranks. You learn a lot that way!

The "way to go" is to form a single citywide fire department with a paid staff augmented by fully qualified volunteers. "Cooperation" has gotten you nowwhere and resulted in the mess going on today. The city should dictate that everyone meet a minimum standard. Its just stupid to have different standards, different levels of response, and no accountability. There hasn't been any cooperation for years so Stamford should lead by example and coordinate the implementation of a real system for its taxpayers.

A disaster is right but we don't need to make Rye Brook a "real department", because the Village Board never will. They'll continue with inadequate staffing, inadequate coverage, reliance on mutual aid, and we'll be right back here talking about the same nonsense year after year. We need to start consolidating all these little companies/departments/districts and focus on regional approaches with properly trained personnel responding in accordance with NFPA and OSHA standards instead of departments like mine that think sending one career guy on an engine or ladder is a response. Maybe there will be 10 fully trained volunteers right behind him but maybe there won't. That's no system. Training also needs to get standardized so you can't call yourself a firefighter if you can't do the job and haven't completed the training standard. The single standard for FF whether you are paid or volunteer. Imagine that. Its time to stop the nonsense and move on so we are cost effective and efficient at doing our job for our customers, the taxpayers.

Charlie, this isn't just your problem. The problems plaguing the fire service (and the other emergency services) are all of our problems and are not unique to Port Chester or Rye Brook. In fact, the best solution lies in everyone looking at a regional solution rather than trying to put bandaids on all these little problems.

If we worry about the nameless, faceless bloggers who do nothing but spam media websites with their nonsense we're all going to have ulcers and hypertension. Worry about the things that we can control or actually influence. And that ain't those bloggers!

Some really smart people commented in this thread but we're still fighting about nonsense. How about designing a system that will meet the minimum response standards (NFPA 1710 or 1720, or OSHA for 2 in and 2 out) with properly trained FF's regardless of their pay status? How many years has this debate been raging? Enough already.

Lots of people are trained. But are you properly equipped for firefighting? All these people who think they can do it all on their own are part of why we have such problems in the fire service today.

When you've got 15 minute response times you shouldn't complain about the time it takes to do anything.

Fire service administrators are going to get themselves in trouble with such broad and draconian policies. There is freedom of speech and as indicated with the results of the NYC EMS lawsuit, the courts will probably not side with the FD in these cases. What do we have to hide? Why are we so closed-minded? I have every right to criticize, praise, discuss, or simply talk about whatever I want, even my fire department. Unless I do it on a FD computer or while on FD time, they have no right to tell me I can't. Stupid, narrow-minded policies.

I think the concept is being lost on some departments that create special teams for FAST when it should be the function of aany/every FF instead of "special teams" that aren't always available. In a large career department every FF can be FAST. In smaller departments and most volunteer agencies it's treated like something special and not everyone gets the training.

There are isolated cases of crooks posing as cops but the story I remember is from the late 1980's when a Briarcliff cop was arrested by the Feds for violating the rights of women after he stopped them on the Taconic trying to get a date (sicko). A Briarcliff Manor cop, Ronald Langer, was a suspect in the murder of Sherri Orofino but I don't think they ever convicted him for the murder.

A friend of mine is a trooper upstate and he wears his uniform and travels around in an unmarked car. Not at all uncommon from what he tells me. The State Police aren't the only police agencies out there. Lots of other state, federal, and local agencies may be using the parkways/highways and can stop someone if they need to.

Because FASNY wants to take credit for it even though it will undoubtedly cause litigation when the responsible party tries to cap the bill at 10K because of the state law and the FD tries to charge them more under the federal law. FASNY really needs to catch up with the times. It would make more sense to see them lobbying for support to effectively consolidate some of the 2000+ FD's in the state.

Wouldn't it make more sense to put it at the Police Academy so everyone can benefit from it? I mean how many cops are there in Tuckahoe, Bronxville, Eastchester, and Pelham? 100? 125? And there are how many who go to the police academy? Just more fiefdoms.

Lighten up there sport. Nothing to get so fired up about. And I think a lot people in town would get upset if it said head mother anything. The vehicle should say chief for the chief, assistant chief for the assistant chiefs, and so on. Trucks shouldn't say "incident commander" because they're not and they shouldn't say "incident command" because when you have ten of them parked all over the place you'll have no idea where the IC actually is. And there are times that the fire chief isn't the IC so it's just simpler and easier to leave it "chief". (I always told my bosses to just give me a plain white truck with no markings at all but they said our town's codes required that it be marked so it said chief, just chief, and with no gold lettering.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/TSA-Agents-Cops-Arrested-in-Oxycodone-Bust-129720708.html Three TSA agents and at least two police officers have been arrested, accused of being involved in a massive oxycodone trafficking operation between Connecticut, New York and Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Twenty were arrested, federal officials said, including three Transportation Security Administration officers based at airports in Florida and New York, a Westchester County police officer and a Florida State Trooper, whose names have not been released. Nine of them are from Connecticut and most of those people are from Waterbury. The investigation began when officials received a tip that someone was traveling to Stamford from Florida to sell thousands of oxycodone pills. In April, police arrested the person, referred to only as “the individual” and he admitted to running pills to Connecticut, 8,000 pills at a time, for a year, officials said. He is cooperating to receive a benefit in a case that is pending in Connecticut. Officials said the suspects are accused of receiving cash to assist in moving tens of thousands of oxycodone pills from Florida to New York and Connecticut as well as transporting cash proceeds from the sale of the drugs back to Florida. During the news conference, officials said the suspects are accused of buying oxycodone from the conspiracy, of being involved in the illegal purchase and distribution or of possession with intent to distribute. U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Stamford Police Chief Robert Nivakoff will hold a news conference on Tuesday afternoon in Stamford to discuss the arrests. More information will be posted once it becomes available.

Clearly a different mindset out in Utah vs. the Brooklyn video. A skinny chick in flip flops appears to have been the IC, too. LOL

There are many problems with this picture. The top of an engine isn't the right tool to elevate fire suppression efforts. The officer isn't wearing appropriate PPE. Putting an engine under all those lines, energized or not, exposes the risk to damage if one of the lines fails and falls. The officer could have simply called for the right equipment or let the utility handle their own problem with their equipment. I don't understand the rush to use the wrong equipmnent for the job when the right equipment is readily available. And a question for the utility company guys out there: even if you de-energize the lines, couldn't they be back fed by a customer with an improperly connected home generator? Bottom line, egos and emotions aside, it was the wrong move even if it was with good intentions.

I saw only one post in an unrelated thread about the Verizon strike and the delay in scheduling a repair appointment. Are there any emergency service related impacts that this strike will have? I heard from a couple of Verizon guys during their lunch break from the picket lines that the company is bringing in 20,000 non-union workers from other states to fill in for the striking workers. According to these guys, Verizon netted about 6 BILLION in PROFIT last year and their CEO's made over a quarter BILLION dollars in salaries and bonuses just last year but they're trying to send almost 10,000 jobs overseas to save money. Sounds like union busting to me and they won't even negotiate with the unions.

What's the insurance companies take on it when an FD does respond but the building is still a total loss? Seems to me that whether the FD responds or not the fire, and hurricane in this case, is going on so they're going to pay. Barry, what's the ISO perspective on "no response"?

Bnechis reported that one rule of thumb is that ops stop with the arrival of sustained gale force winds (39 MPH). That sounds reasonable to me. It isn't just apparatus operations, what about personnel being on the ground in such winds or moving water? It simply isn't safe and we're fooling ourselves if we think we can operate when everyone else is hunkering down. Be safe, be smart and be prudent!