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I routinely scour eBay for "stuff"...and found this yesterday. It is a postcard with a photo of the members of the J H Ketcham Hose Company, and it is post dated 1909. JHK was incorporated in 1908...these may VERY WELL be our founding fathers! I plan to get it framed and donate it to the department to hang in our meeting room.

YUP! LOL... I TRIED for a vintage YONKERS high eagle helmet a few months ago..looked as if the seller ended early.

VERY COOL Brian! Yes, ebay can be great..other times a pain in a**..LOL..I am actually getting a VERY. VERY bad tatse in my mouth from paypal...went from loving it - to hating it! I picked up the helmet shield on ebay over the winter...only because it said DOVER..no idea WHAT Dover it was from, but didnt really care. Few weeks later looking at the artifacts behind the glass at our station, I noticied a twinf to this one, only difference was it was marked as WINGDALE on the bottom, where mine is marked DOVER. Turns out it really is from the JH Ketcham Hose Company in Dover Plains, NY! MINT, New old stock, never issued! There has also been so many Poughkeepsie Fire items I have lost out on...LOL (it didnt come with the helmet, i put it on a spare I had)

Our Seagrave; Photo credit to Billy Marshall...

Another gem from Ebay..the original advertisement for the Seagrave Suburbanite, of which we own one. The ad is from a 1926 issue of Fire Engineering magazine. Our Seagrave is a 1927. The apparatus featured in the ad is labeled as "AFD", unknown department though This too will be framed and donated to the department. Poor pic, from my cell...

Summer of 2002, both my sister in law and little brother, as well as my wife and I, were expecting our firstborns. All was going great and we were all very excited. About 3 weeks before they were due, the doctors noticed "something of concern" with their baby in the sonogram..and they were sent for a more detailed eval down in Westchester. The news was devastating to say the least. The baby's internal organs including the heart were not properly formed, among other abnormalities..they were told she would not survive birth. In August, they were scheduled for delivery at Wetchester Med...still shell shocked from the news. I remember driving down on August 14th....not knowing what to say, especially since our child appeared to be totally healthy and trying to not be overly excited in front of them. The delivery was tough to say the least...not only did my brother have to fear losing his first born, but his wife nearly died during the process...the staff at WMC worked their hardest, stabilizing her, and delivering the baby, a little girl, aptly named Faith. She did in fact survive birth...barely...and the second she was born she was whisked away to NICU for so many tests and procedures... My brother couldnt talk...his wife couldn't even so much as open her eyes..we didn't know what to do, what to say.. My brother was shown how to baptise Faith by our Preist...which he did, as well as her Last Rites..could you imagine that!? I still can't. We were able to see Faith quickly..and I will be honest..knowing what I knew..I thought it would be best of she passed quickly...when I met her...her eyes were wide open..her little fingers moving...so much about her that day was amazing, but I still can picture her beautiful blue eyes..the eyes of a fighter! I knew right then that no matter what actions needed to be taken, no matter the cost..that little Faith deserved every chance in the world to survive. And fight she did! She was taken to Columbia Pres by Stat Flight ground crew..the very same people I had worked with so many times on Empress chopper jobs...My brother was told not to expect her to live through the trip. BUT she did! Faith and her mother spent months living at Colmbia Pres...so many surgeries..rebuilt her heart, as she was born with a single chamber..her kidneys...a feeding tube, chest tubes, so many other things they patched, fixed, or made..amazing work..GOD'S WORK. MY little brother aged 30 years in that time..barely working so they could be together as a family..just in case..so many times they were prepared for the inevitable. In November, our Son was born, 100 precent healthy. I would be lying if I said we didnt feel a tinge of guilt, but moreso releived. Right before Christmas 2002, little Faith came home. Amazing. She was in and out of the hospital alot...for a long time..more surgeries..got very sick easy.. This all took one helluva toll on my Brother and his Wife. They lived like zombies..no emotion at all..just numb. We were on vacation in Myrtle Beach the next summer when the house phone rang in the middle of the night..my brother crying that Faith was being airlifted to WMC by Stat Flight and she wasn't going to make it. And we are 13 hours away.. Well...she did survive another battle! As she grew, she lived a very normal life..but was still plagued by medical issues..a long term feeding tube..frail.. Faith and her mother just returned from her first vacation to Scotland, where her mom was born and raised before coming to th US.. Today we got together to celebrate Faith's NINTH birthday.. This little FIGHTER is as normal as any other 9 year old today..she is the TOUGHEST, BRAVEST, SWEETEST person I know. She could teach volumes on being a survivor...she has more fight in her than I ever will. A NINTH birthday for a wee little lass who wasn't supposed to survive birth. Guess she showed them! So even though we read daily that the police, fire, EMS, hospital, and medevac staffs are overpaid, under appreciated, overworked, etc..know that there are peopl eout there who benefited from your actions, your training, and your skills..people who appreciate you and what you do - because as little, well, not so little anymore, Faith can prove...you are needed and appreciated..from the Doctors who reconstructed her heart, to the nurses who changed her, to the medics that responded to their house when she collapsed, to the firemen who stood by while the chopper took off with her, to the Trooper who didn't ticket my mother on the TSP...all of you made a difference. Thank you. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAITHY...I LOVE YOU!

RIP Loo' That is one of my fears when operating on a roof...and added incentive to pull my hood up. You did not die in vain, as your tragedy will be learned from. God Bless the DFD

Chris - you woould be angry too if your keyboard didn't have a SHIFT or PERIOD key!

I was going to post this here when I read it yesterday..but didint.. This guy has been CHIEF for 10 years already and he JUST FOUND OUT about liability???????????? Please.

Fuzzy - but dramatic at the end. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/videonetwork/1109693891001/Stage-collapse-at-Indiana-State-Fair

The one yelling the loudest.

The term "Command Vehicle" is used as a blanket term to describe most Chief's cars, as most have the equipped with Command Centers in the rear.

So is basic english and punctuation. You may very well have a valid point, but it is impossible to decypher what you are saying, Sir.

Keeps the vehicle safe when it is operating in areas by cemetaries.

It is a shock in this day and age to read such posts, especially here in NY...kind of makes you appreciate what so many of us take for granted every day..good luck to you guys

Sweet~!

Very nice! Great combo of "ghost striping" and gold leaf...very classy.

Maybe in Texas...LOL

Today I took my kids to the park in Wingdale to launch model rockets (BIG fun..until they float into the woods or a pond on the way down...$$$$), but the park was closed for day camp, giving us an hour and a half to kill. Our Station 2 is adjacent to the park, is we "hung out" there...and the kids wanted to wash a fire truck, so we did...and I took a pile of pictures! Again - the screen on my camera is broke - so I was shooting blind, but they came out good. The rig is a 2002 E-One / Saulsbury Rescue Pumper, but to BUFF me it's a SQUAD! This was really the first chance I have had to go through it and see what it carries, and man was I shocked! We have alot of equipment I didnt realize we had, so I am pretty pumped..now to get familiar with operating it ALL. We have been lucky in the past few years to not have many pin jobs or technical rescues, only a handful of door pops and one or two "involved" pins..most recently last year involving a propane truck and a car. BUT, it is nice to see we have this stuff ready to go. I would like to see this truck take on an expanded role on calls, and may just see that "someday"..(My "SOMEDAY LIST" is getting big..LOL) I don't have the specifics of pump size, gallons, or amount of hose. Anyways..on to the pics..

Holy Crap...great point! I didnt even realize that! LOL...yup...all of our rigs except for the old 36-11 are like this...THAT is also on the "someday" list...

Thanks! Imagine what I could do with a real camera! LOL On a side note - I think I am pretty well known as an E-One fan boy...I love 'em...BUT, the mirrors like the ones on this rig, our 13, and our ladder - SUCK BALLS! I hate 'em! The shake and vibrate when you are backing up...BADLY! Poor design IMO...

I know that, BUT..and a HUGE BUT..is what about the daytime when we are covered by a comemrcial agency? We need one on 14 and one on 45, period. BUt that aint what this thread is about..LOL

I would like to start a list of Memorial Services being held in Dutchess County for the 10th Anniversary of the attacks and murders at the World Trade Center. This will keep people informed in advance and help to ensure a good turnout to each. I CAN NOT STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDING THESE EVENTS IF YOU CAN! While the majority of the people appear to have forgotten, I can assure you that we in New York's emergency services have NOT! I also urge each member of emergency services in the area to stop at Union Vale fire station 1 on Route 82 in Verbank, and visit the touching memorial built around a peice of steel from the WTC. If you have information, dates and times of any 9/11 Memorial, please post.

This will be a must see for people in the area. I will be certain that my eight year old sees this exhibit. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20110810/NEWS01/110810009/DCC-host-commemorative-9-11-exhibit?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|PoughkeepsieJournal.com

For real,,right? LOL I KNOW I missed stuff too...but man I like this one..totally under utilized IMO