firemoose827

Hello Chief, I think that every ff needs a healthy respect for fire, so they can go about extinguishing it quicker and safely. I think that I would be a little cautious around those who get burns at every fire! Than again I got burned once, but it was through my nomex hood and mask, around my forehead and jaw line at a fire that was HOT.

Hello FD304, I have seen it done before by the way. Sorry to have veered off topic before. In my new dept in Cobleskill, NY, they had a system with pumpers. We cover a large Village and an even larger town with multiple hamlets. They had it set up so that their Engine 2 was for urban responses; 5 inch hose, knox box keys, 500 gallon tank and 1250 gpm pump, multiple crosslays for various cases, and everything else you would need in the village. For the town responses they set up Engine 3 with 1000 gall tank, 1000 gpm pump, portable pond compartment, portable pumps and suction adapters, ect. On engine 3 they kept the air packs in the rear passengers side compartment figuring the crew would first help drop the suction in the source and help the PO set up the pond, than they would hopefully have more manpower on scene to pack up and attack. Usually it is surround and drowneds though Stay safe Jonesy

Just my opinion, TRUCK6018. Different depts. have different terminology for the trucks and their parts, I was finding out what he meant by "Cab". In our dept the cab is the drivers compartment, and the area the ff's ride in is the jump seats. How many of us remeber to put on their seatbelts on the way to an extrication, or working structure fire? The officer is in charge of the crew, and it's just my opinion that he/she should check out who they have as a crew, make sure they are set for the response, ( Seated, belted.) than hand out responsibilities and tasks. Everyone stay safe. Jonesy

I think what FD304 was trying to say was removing the packs from the Driving compartment; Not the jump seats. My opinion is the officers pack, depending on the available room and the type of mount, is convenient to have. In my dept we just got a new Engine with the officers pack in the passengers seat, it is mounted directly behind the seat. This mounting makes the seat feel so far forward that you almost feel like you are sitting on the hood, it also takes away space to be able to don the pack. Some departments just dont take the time to properly lay out and measure their new apparattus according to what their response area needs. Like the new engine of ours I mentioned above, the jump seat is supposedly a five man cab, a forward facing bench seat with three packs and two fold up jump seats facing backwards without packs. This is ok except for the fact that you couldnt even fit THREE ff's on the bench seat without elbowing each other. And when their are ff's on the bench the jumpseats couldnt even be folded out without taking out someones knees !! I think that with proper planning and layout the cab packs could definately be used effectively, and with the proper training and leadership all ff's would become used to using the seatbelt. This is just something that each individual dept needs to experiment with to determine what best suits their needs. Where did you read that article? Just curious and wanted to read myself. See Ya!

Hello. HELLLLLP!! I am in a fire department that is filled with people who think State training classes are a joke. They firmly believe that whatever training they get in-house is more than enough to pack up and go interior. There are actually quite a few guys who have little to no State courses in their file and yet they want to run for officer! I have tried numerous times to make a point that training is important, and that I realy do not want to go interior with any of those guys, and they just end up making me out to be the stupid one. They think that its funny that I would actually take a class more than once every 2-3 years to refresh and learn of any new techniques. I am hoping to run for officer soon, and I am seeking any advice that I might use to turn the training standards around for the better. Does anyone else have similar problems? I know that in-house training, conducted by experienced officers or ff's is just as important, but I dont agree its the ONLY training you need. Any advice would be appreciated. Stay safe out there everyone.

Interesting Game couldnt stop playing it!! See Ya!

BFD, Hey, that sounded like a great thing to do. My wife and I are both trying to get our squad to go with the Pilot Program also. We attended the lecture at this past years Vital Signs conference in Rochester about starting one. I would love to get some info from you on how to organize such a day, and how to get a hold of some of the lecturers. I think that would be a great way to get our squad into this program, especialy if they see that they can get a bulk of their credits in a one day lecture program. Thanks for the tip!!

You are exactly right on the leadership. Last years elections were depressing because of the level of qualifications needed to be an off. Line off's need ff1 for 3 years, 2 state incident command courses, hazmat awareness,pump ops and qualification on all trucks. Asst chief needs all above plu ladder ops and 1 add command course with 2 years as line off, and chief needs hazmat 1st resp with 3 years as asst. This past year we left two lieutenants positions "Opened, to be appointed as candidates become available"!!! because no one is taking courses. I transferred from Richmondville FD to the one I am in now and I have been here for two years. I have all the required classes but I am still trying to get the complacent off's to get me out on all of the trucks. I have 17 overall years service and I cant get anyone to take me out and qualify me. Ill get them out there though one way or the other. Thanks for the advice guys, it is definately appreciated.

I have two fires that were the worst. First was in 1994, jan 26, i was 18, gung-ho, and taking every training class they had as well as seminars done by guys from FDNY. One night we had a Structure with possible entrapment. I responded on the rescue truck. They were working on getting a line into position when we got on scene and everyone was acting like there was noone inside so I just figured everything was good. I stood by in staging waiting to receive orders when an asst chief came around the front yelling for me and another guy to follow him. When I reached him he said there WAS someone inside and we needed to search. We entered through the garage door and were hit with INTENSE heat. We dropped to our bellies and crawled on. We did a quick search of two rooms and were quickly called out because the fire was coming down the hall right at us. Reluctantly we retreated. Outside there was confusion again, now saying there was no one inside AGAIN. I relieved the nozzle man and was advancing through the front door and started to go down the hall and thats when I found him, face down in his bedroom door 5 feet from where we ended our search. That has been with me ever since. Second was when Main Street Worcester ( Otsego County, upstate) burnt down. We were called at 7:30 that night and were there for 30 hours. That was a hairy fire and I remeber it well because we were in a store on the end of the row that was not yet burning doing salvage work. We were removing files, computers and other stuff when the heat suddenly rose and it felt like 200 deg, and the smoke started to poor in. Our Lt told us to get out and we didnt need him to tell us THAT twice. Five min after we got out, the building was fully involved, 10 min after we left it collapsed. Talk about close calls!

Hey fellow giants fan. Im still too depressed about the giants loosing the way they did to even care who wins the superbowl

I started out with the 660c through my junior years and into my first few years in the fire service. Than an old friend of mine from Long Island sent up his old 1010 as a present for finishing ff2 and I never looked at any other helmets. I would like to eventually get myself the cairns 880 with bourques and ESS because I too hate the faceshield. I have lost track of how many replacements my department has bought for me over the years, probably enough to buy that 880!

Like was previously mentioned, not everyone wears their helmet correctly. You see a lot of ff's tying their chin strap around the back brim, and that takes away an important safety feature. The helmet is designed to protect against falling debris, if your helmet's chin strap is not secure than the first peice of debris knocks the helmet off and the second makes you either dead or a vegitable. It is silly to see ff's wear their gear wrong just to look COOL I myself have the Cairns 1010 traditional style and I love it. It's light, and fits me perfectly. I started out with the Cairns 660 Metro style and it just didn't feel safe. There is a new helmet called the "Fire Knight" or something like that, it has no "brims" and totaly wraps your head, and it has goggles that slide in and out of your helmet. Looks weird but I heard it has top notch protection. Stay Safe out there.

Hey everyone Just wondering if anyone knows of any job openings for Fire Investigator? I have my level I fire investigator through the state and my national certification through NAFI. My wife is pregnant with our first and would like to get a decent job with the skills I have to provide for them. Anyone have any info? Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks All.

Hello everyone, My name is Brian and Im not in a Westchester County dept but I volunteer with the Cobleskill FD upstate ny. I was introduced to the sight by my father-in-law who is career with the Portchester fd, and my brother-in-law who is also in the portchester fd rescue 40. This is a great sight and I look forward to learning a lot from you all. I was a junior in Northport Long Island for four years, than moved upstate and joined Richmondville FD for 11 years where I served one year as Lieutenant. I am now in Cobleskill FD for the past 2 years and I am a FF2 and currently recerting my EMT-D. I am also a Haz-Mat Tech. I am married since October 1, 05, and we are currently pregnant with our first!! Everyone stay safe and hope to meet you all eventually. Brian Jones ( Jonesy, Moose.) Cobleskill Fire Department.

Truckie419, I agree with you. I may not be a paid ff, but I have 17 years in the service and I was brought up to always, ALWAYS respect my elders. In Northport FD we were supposed to stand and salute when the chief entered the room. Probies KNEW what was expected of themselves and they did it out of respect. One opinion was that training today is better than before and offers probies the right to have that "swager" around the fire station? Training is only the first step of many to becoming a good ff. Next you need experience. You need to fight fire with the senior guys and learn from them and their experiences or else that training is worth @#%! There are far too many self taught ff's out there and it scares me. Especially when these self taught wonders start disrepecting the senior people. Seniority is one tradition that should never be forgotten and we should remind todays probies of the importance of it. It's good for the morale and image of the dept and builds better relationships between ff's and officers. Learning and the desire for knowledge are becoming lost in the fire service, today people think you need one class and you know everything. Learning should be a continuous thing from class, to dept drills, to the senior ff telling of his/her experiences. Sorry for carrying on but this is a sensitive subject for me too. I wish I was in your dept truckie419!!!

Im in Cobleskill FD and we recently purchased TNT tools. They are excellent tools and come with a variety of attachments to make rescue easier. They just came out with a confined space tool now also. Good tool.

Funny you mention this. My dept just recently yelled at our ambulance FOR rehabing our members!! Our squad was doing an excellent job bringing water and gatorade to ff's and asking to check their BP, because just like you said, most ff's will not voluntarily go to rehab. It's a Macho thing I guess, but I have heart disease running through my family and I am the first one there each time I exit the building. But then the chief got upset saying that ff's were complaining that everytime they came out they were barraged with EMS people. I personaly think that is a good thing with all of the heart attacks you read about in the fire mags and newspapers. I strongly believe that EMS should have rehab either by staging or near the CP somewhere out of the way so that the IC can access them easily. Just my opinion though. Stay Safe

Hey. I have never had the chance to use TIC's at fires and I am now trying to sell one to a local Fire Department. My company sells ISI cameras. I want to properly inform the members on the use and quality of the camera. Does anyone use these types of cameras? How are they? Are they suitable for a small country FD that has an average of 200-300 runs a year? Any info would be great. Thanks everyone and stay safe.

I dont know about any of your departments, but in mine there are a lot of people who actually think that training classes are a waste of time and that what training they receive at our drills is good enough. Needless to say, I do not go interior with any of them but it is still a scary thought to think that people are entering burning buildings armed with info they get from buddies, or relatives who still believe in old-school practices. We need more education and physical fitness in the fire service REGARDLESS if you are paid or volunteer.

Schenectady County Community College has a Fire Protection Technology Course and a Homeland security. Empire State College has Fire Science programs on-line through NYS Fire Academy. Good Luck.

I agree with 3015...EMS STANDBY is exactly what it says, Stand-by. If you have any patients I strongly recommend appropriate PPE and decon. Advise the ER staff of what you are bringing in also so they can prepare to receive them. Look into a training session on Haz-Mat first responder ops for EMS also. Good to have.

Village of Cobleskill FD, upstate NY, had 426 calls for 2005. We received a new engine in august, and are currently speccing a new brush truck.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Milton Williams.