antiquefirelt

We've come full circle. Now the chief who calls for the "old way" is progressive!!! The irony is perfect and I can't say I don't agree. Quints make sense in far fewer cases than people will admit. IMO: The fireground is far too dynamic, to allow any first due aerial, that may be the only aerial within reach of the building, to be anchored in position by interior hoselines. Those who run quints first due like to say they always place them right, but most of us know that's a pipe dream.(pun intended)

True enough, in fact most people are under the false impression (purposefully installed there by the real estate and residential const. industry) that insurance might cost more due to water leak potential. Our state recently studied this and found not one company that increased premiums and an overall 15% average reduction. I'd like to see them increase this premium break as they'll certainly save much more and eventually be insuring greater numbers of safer houses. We've discussed a first year tax incentive program to pass an ordinance in our municipality to require 1 and 2 family dwelling systems in compliance with NFPA 101, 2006 and now the new IRC. Maybe further cooperation with/by the insurance industry could yield results on LW material use, as at this point we're losing the battle on that front.

I definitely agree that the insurance companies could be our best ally in many code issues. If they were to see that we are not going to save nearly as much property in newer homes built of LWC materials, they will probably raise rates. Making this a public campaign to educate the masses that their choices will have significant monetary and safety consequences would force the issue. Similarly, how long before the insurance companies want to raise rates for new homes built without sprinklers? A perfect argument for them, is that most codes now agree that sprinklers need to be installed, but states have allowed exceptions for 1 and 2 family dwellings. Why should they insure homes not built to the letter of the nationally recognized codes for the same rate as others? A larger difference in premiums would help sell the systems. Maybe, the costs are where they should be now and new sprinklered homes should have a reduced rate vs. raising the rates for others.

This is how it is in our area. You'd better have done your homework and educate the masses, because on a presidential election year, they come out of the woodwork to vote and most aren't happy with tax increases. About 3 years ago, we actually pushed our tower ladder purchase back a year due to the timing. We were asking for a $750K Bond on the same ballot that asked voters to pass a statewide tax cap based on valuation. Needless to day, we waited, the tax cap failed and 12 months later the tower bond passed. To have lost the bond issue would have made it much harder to go back the next year. In all having all votes on the same day allows more people to vote, but may cloud the issues. Like this year, how many people are paying attention to all the others issues they'll vote on when they go to pull the stick on their choice for Prez? Off major election year issues get better press coverage. I certainly wouldn't want to be looking for large new dollars this year!!

While I agree, I'm far to much of a realist to believe this will ever become a reality for us. I fear the public would rather we took less risk, and let their houses burn than pay what it would cost to use traditional framing methods. Hell, too many firefighters now would rather we took little to no risk, so we're fighting ourselves. Maybe going forward with safer engineered products and rigorous testing under fire conditions would be a progressive step. The ICC and Fire Service just got sprinklers passed which is monumental! Maybe riding the swell of this and moving forward we can do some good. maybe a trade where is you use lightweight trusses you must sprinkler the space. How about requiring some sort of easily accessible attic vent. But get rid of lightweight construction? Not in our lifetime.

It would be interesting to know what's failing on the Rescues? It would stand to reason with the abuse the street conditions give, the bodies might crack, bend or other. Does someone know how the bodies are built? Formed stainless steel or extruded? We were given the option on our new RP and the builder noted the extruded bodies tended to hold up better when heavily weighted and run on punishing roads. We went with formed as this is not our conditions and we wanted a seamless sided body. I'm sure the spec committee at FDNY has seriously weighed all options, and few of us have the same resources and experience to draw from.

That's the one I was looking for. The low cost affordable housing market is just great isn't it. We definitely need to invest time into making truss marking or other awareness programs a priority for the safety of us and future firefighters. As for the sandwiched OSB with foam, I worked residential construction back in the late 80's through the mid-90's and we did a few places with these panel. As I remember they were used frequently in post and beam construction., though they may have been plywood then.

There's a decent Power Point on this. I have it in my office, when I'm this afternoon I'll try and post the link.

I don't think the debate did anything for anyone. Both sides claim a victory, how predictable. I figure neither walked away with any more votes than they started with. Look for more of the same in upcoming debates. All fluff, nothing to sink your teeth into. As for leadership? Right now, we've got a lot of men and women downrange. It doesn't look like that will change soon under anyone's plan and new threats will keep us on our toes. For this reason alone, I'd rather have a man who understands war, intimately, and while being militarily aggressive in nature by comparison, is tempered by his own POW experience. John McCain will protect our country while protecting our soldiers. Obama, will fail to do either as he panders to the peaceniks on the right and cuts our military, all the while raising our taxes to ensure illegal immigrants get a managed healthcare plan!

I can't cite an actual example of the arsonist answering the phone and I agree that you shouldn't continue with lights and sirens. This is merely the excuse we give when we tell building owners that unlike the PD we will not ever completely disregard an alarm activation. Last weekend three local FD's were toned for a reported structure fire, during the response a call to dispatch said it was a smoke condition on the second floor, no fire and they were all set. The hometown Chief canceled his auto aid only to arrive and find a fire on the second floor. Re-toned for the original crews. Did turn out to be very minor, but it proves hazard of trusting the building owner understand the fire alarms system or fire in general.I can document tons of examples where the residents or the person who answered the alarm companies call had no idea what had set of the alarm. No raging fires, but a few faulty detectors and many homeowners who needed help understanding their alarm systems. The reason we don't cancel like PD regardless of verification of ownership is that most don't understand their system. Also they don't go off for no reason. A PD alarm is often someone not getting to the keypad in time or forgetting to shut off the system. A fire alarm system activates when detection devices activate. Most activate for a reason, and as I said before most owners don't really know why. For us its a good chance to have a positive interaction with members of the community.

While I understand the concept, given today's litigious society, I'd be careful going code three to a call where a LEO or other "competent" person reports no fire. Some gets hurt or killed en route? Major legal action. This could easily be equated to running code three to a non-life threatening EMS call, which in at least one case I know of caused career ending legal action. As for responding cold, as I said before no call goes unanswered by at least an engine (non-emergency)

If the scenario happened in our first due, we would run the engine in cold and everyone else would return to quarters. The addition of the LEO changes things a little for me. We will not take the word of the alarm co. w/o verification that an actual RP is on scene. Maybe the guy that lit the fire stands by for the phone call? That being said, any report of a false alarm casues us to reduce our response. The duty officer has the choice of: 1. continuing the first due piece "hot" and reducing the rest to "cold" (often this is for high life hazards occupancies) 2. reduce all units to "cold" and continue (if the report of the false alarm little or no detail) 3. reduce all to "cold" and return all but the engine. (most common, when false report is followed by details as to the cause) In the end, an engine always checks out the call, something many neighboring FD's don't do! We also often find that employees of many businesses have no clue as to the difference between smoke and heat detectors or evenlook at the alarm panel. We have had employees report a false call from smoking in the bathroom, when only heats are present or reporting a pull station tripped by a child when a smoke detector was the culprit.

While touring PA, NY and NJ we ran into a few of these type places. I'm not saying it's a smart thing, but there's more to it than a drinking club. In one PA FD we went to they had a full operating bar in the basement, with all the video poker, pool tables (yes many!) and a two lane bowling alley. The place was pretty busy for a mid week mid-day as far as most bars go. The difference was that it was a "private club", you had to be a member and had to pay to be a member. There was no entrance to the apparatus floor or really any part of the actual FD without an responsible party getting a key and letting you in. The ex-chief who showed us around explained they had a 2 or 300 person roster with maybe 25 actual firefighters. But the bar is how they funded the FD. It's like an Elks Club. They have strict rules on drinking and reporting to the station for calls. This place is in a pretty downtrodden part of a PA city where bake sales and chicken BBQ's wouldn't fund crap. BTW, the building is fully private and they received no tax dollars, according toe ht guy telling us the deal. So, while I don't think FD's and alcohol should be in the same building, one can see that the possibility exists that a FD that has a bar doesn't mean they're necessarily irresponsible. Our guys often go out for beers after drills at a local bar and as long as they know not to come to calls? It doesn't seem much different. Anyone know anything about Hillcrest FD in Rockland Co.?

Right on the money as usual ALS. Any exemptions granted will not be by OSHA or DOT from the sound. Our state DOL specifically wrote an exemption for turnout gear, but it in no way accounts for the lime or orange day time color requirement. We're buying the vest because it makes sense. We have had many close calls at MVA's. Of course, the turnout gear exemptions allows our personnel to use common sense when there's a need to wear PPE due fire. Though we would have skipped the vests for a fire and just shut down the road, end of story.

Not NY, but here we hire OT guys to man an ambulance for the duration of football games, they are considered fully OOS. If they need to transport from the game a duty staffed crew responds for the duration of the coverage. Similarly, it is required they have a staffed ambulance at the field to play HS football.

After watching McCain last night, I really had the overall feeling that as long as we're at war or on the brink of war, I'm always going to go with the candidate who has prior combat experience. The fact that McCain was a POW really propels this further. I like that the man who will be sending our soldiers into combat, has been there and knows the consequences. I trust that a president with that background will truly evaluate the options before committing soldiers to combat. I hardly think a man with his past will ever put our soldiers in harms way on a whim. As for Obama, he might never send them, which will only expose the same soldiers to violence on our soil and extend the same potential to their families as well. As a note, I must say John Kerry's conduct following his service in Vietnam completely takes him off any eligibility list for office in my book. I wouldn't pi$$ down his throat if his heart was on fire, and I'm a fireman!

I think that Drew's video doesn't quite address every part of the pie. While the middle class has much more than it did in the past, so do the lower class and the rich. How is it the middle class don't feel the squeeze when the lower class is given free programs that we pay for as a percentage of our pay? Oh, but not the upper class who only have to pay up to a point, everything over said point gets a reduced percentage. When we get a 3% COLA but insurance prices increase and our contribution increase, while the liberals increase minimum wage at rates far exceeding the COLA, and raise taxes to cover the subsidy insurance programs. So the bottom moves up and the middle stays where it is. OK, in this case maybe the rich would pay more as they employ the minimum wage earners, so they increase the price of their products/services to cover their profit margin. Then we middle class persons go buy their products or use their services at the inflated rate. I don't know how many times I've seen huge LCD TVs, tricked out cars, expensive clothes and the like in subsidized low income housing developments around our area but I know the "have not's" have more than I do and I work 60+ hrs a week and get nothing in subsidy. I'm even OK helping those less fortunate up and on their feet, but it's getting ridiculous.

You think? I'll bet he did it purely for votes. Not that I don't agree a woman is competant, but lets not overlook the real reason anyone is chosen as VP. And will it work? I doubt it. I hope it does for the sake of the country and wish it wouldn't for the sake of the GOP. The GOP needs to lose the religous base and just work on issues. As long as their decisions are based on religous values they will come across as the high and mighty. The problem is the other side offers little to those of us, who don't want increased taxes, beleive in a strong defense, and are sick of paying for everyone elses issues.

I don't buy it. The same Democrats hated Bush before the war, and looked for anything they could to discredit him, then suddenly fell allover themselves to believe him and approved of the war? BS! And the CIA and FBI are filled with employees that do their job, like you and I, regardless of who the president is and what affiliation he ran under. You think all member federal service change their party affiliation every time a new president comes along? The reason we were so mislead has alot to do with the lack of any real intelligence as Clinton wouldn't allow the CIA to do their job properly. I also agree Bush misled us, even though I think his intentions were correct. Saddam needed to be taken out, OBL needs killing. Instead of focusing on the future, many of these idiots are focused only on proving Bush was a bad president. Done, most of already agree, you need not waste our time and money charging him with anything, as in the end nothing will be done. He'll be gone in a few months. If you were going to impeach him, you should have done so 3 years ago, at this point it's a complete waste of taxpayers dollars, when the Congress and Senate should be focusing on other things.

Doing it all day (and night)! Just as well to be here in the firehouse than on the road with the tourist making their mad dashes home!

I was pysched I scored over 145K and when I went to the high scores, I was at number 77. Page 77 of about 100 per page!

Are you speaking of HMO insurance coverage? Or Point of Service? You'd better be sure of this before you go and refuse to pay your Dr's bill. Often your insurance policy doesn't cover 100% of many procedures. If your policy only covers 80% of the Dentist check up, you are responsible for the other 20%. In EMS billing the rules are set by Medicare. If you bill Medicare then you must use their rules and rates. It's Medicare who doesn't allow EMS to balance bill. I've not heard this is the case with all insurance, unless it's HMO style coverage. As part of an HMO network, your provider has agreed to set rates. But if your coverage is not HMO, you probably owe the difference.

Careful Izzy, you're apt to break that thing. Dokken and Cat Stevens in the same Ipod? Surely it will implode!

I was taught if you didn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything! Maybe with some tact we can have a decent discussion about proper defensive tactics without bashing. I'd note there are a lot of recent fires on the web where defensive ops were lacking.

It's funny (OK maybe sad) that the IAFF always backs the Democrats. The Union is widely known to be made up of more Republican's or right leaning members than any other Union. But Dem's favor labor and Republicans are anti-labor. Yet, here we are still making it work after Reagan, Bush, Sr. and Jr. Bush (just those I was around for). Sure, we could be doing better, but they've not destroyed labor unions, and the thought is that McCain will? As has been alluded to, how will we survive when taxes keep going up? Obama will be taking more money from taxpayers than ever before? Taxes go up = municipal jobs go down. It's that easy. Look at the cuts to FD's across the country, there due to taxpayers being overtaxed and cuts being made to balance budgets. It pisses me off to no end that illegal aliens have healthcare yet we pay for our own! Sadly, this race is now heading toward making the VP choice a large part of the pie and the Republicans are narrowing their choices to Right to Lifer's. Great! We'll lose the election in spite of "the Separation of Church and State". Oh yeah, Anyone remember Chris Dodd? You know the IAFF's first choice for Prez?