demps121

I have a different spin on this incident.  Lets forget who called who   and I am asking this of anyone at the scene,  what did you do?  Was it readily obvious that it was refrigerant that was leaking,  or had already leaked (puddle on the floor),  was the area metered by a 3 or 4 gas meter prior to hfd arrival?  and what were the results of that.  (decreased o2 levels), was the erg book used asap?  what did the HFD meters tell you when they were used?  And what did you do to mitigate the incident?  Lets learn from a haz-mat call   thanks. 

Total BS.  We have a busy, large enough sandbox of our own to worry about.  
A battalion chief responds anytime more than one unit is toned out, In or Out of the city. Its basically the start of incident command and to protect the members.  So yes, any units out for a duration of time need to be replaced on recalls, including the chief.
When we receive a call for mutual aid, 9 times out of 10, we are requested to the scene.  Not just to cover the fire house.  Sometimes on arrival, the incident commander asks the chief for advice.  
 
So before you start spreading rumors, get the facts straight 
 
 

I always take my info off Emergency services info boards. How about picking up the phone and calling Westchester County Human Resources.

I always take my info off Emergency services info boards. How about picking up the phone and calling Westchester County Human Resources.

I always take my info off Emergency services info boards. How about picking up the phone and calling Westchester County Human Resources.

As a fire instructor I had to again notice the push back from the chief who stated he only had to take a 60 hr course, and now it is 112 hrs. "Who wants to drive 2x a week to Carmel". It is thinking like that NY State is on the lower
end of FF-1 course hours. And that always leads to the Career vs Volunteer debate. The last class of recruits traveled 5x a week, 8 hrs a day, for 16 weeks. That is 640 Hrs. With the constant threat of failing out due to poor grades, or not being able to pass CPAT. 19 out of 20 that started finished. It isn't a game, it isn't about how many members your
dept has, it is about giving the customer the service that is expected from a group of people that raised their right hand a swore to protect to the best of their ability the life and property of the residents of their community. If we do nothing the fire will still go out. The ends don't justify the means. TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING AND DEDICATED MEMBERS.

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You are trying to compare an ADULT ONLY retirement community in sunny Florida to a congested NY county. You say you spent 30+ years as a FDNR dispatcher? You must know the area Eastchester FD serves. Do you think that 2 firefighters on a rig is a waste of money? I caught a fire the other nite on the 8th floor of a senior citizen apartment. 2 Eng. 1 Ladder and my Duty car : TOTAL 8 MEN. You pay low taxes because the Villages doesn't have to build or run SCHOOLS! Plus the SCAB labor of Rural Metro doesn't provide pensions to it's workers. I'm sure you retired in either Tier 1 or 2 of the NYS Pension system and every month you cash your check. Yet you defend Rural Metro and speak of wasteful spending and "Breaking the Bank". Shame on you, sir.

It all depends on the Municipality or whatever you want to call it. There's definitely some out there can meet the needs but choose not to. Many times it comes down to personalities and grudges. It's no different then one Business that thrives and another one that fails. Each Town/Village/City finances are different. Many Mayors and Town Officials get pretty pissed off when they find out a FF or Police Officer is making more then them and have a better Retirement Package and Health Care Benefit for only working a few days a week and then B-Jobbing the rest of the week. Especially when the Municipality has to pay into the Retirement System for each Civil Servant and then has to cover our illustrious 207a members retirement benefits in addition to having to hire new personnel to replace them and provide them with the same benefits. You can't expect a Community to keep raising taxes either to do this, putting the burden on many who have lost their own Jobs, House, Health Insurance etc.etc. Many of Joe Public out there don't give a rats ass about our Contracts or Union in general. Especially when they see a Civil Servant out on Disability living the Life of Reilly and may even be banging nails on a house next door to them or Volunteering in their home Town. That's if they even decide to stay around and don't pick up and move South or West where they will get more bang for their buck till age 70 tax free. We are our own worst enemy!

WOW! Seems to me many Depts across Westchester County then are abusing the s*** out of it both Career and Volunteer! If this is the case which Im sure it is many Unions should stop advocating their so called loyal Union members to stop coming back on OT to backfill for those Depts that are making cuts to manpower and putting Apps oos! Just a thought!

But I thought M/A was the answer? Especially when guys come back on OT of an undermanned and ill equipped Dept. to help their neighboring struggling "Brothers" out next door who have been fighting the same issue for yrs. That's all Ive ever heard from my fellow Union Brothers, "Hey we're there for you guys just give us a call." LMAO! The chickens are coming home to roost!!! Gotta love the "Union Solidarity!" It's all bullshit fellows!

Read up this is the Westchester Mutual Aid Plan
http://emergencyservices.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/FireMutualAidPlanAdopted12%2019%202012FINAL.pdf

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

very interesting discussion. I am not really in favor of this. I think the small communities are going to lose some of what made them great (the small town services). just thinking, why don't we close every store in every town and just open a
Walmart supercenter? Is this how we want our communities to function. Remember the beat cop? he knew all the local kids and there parents. Why does CT not have county govt? Who is correct?
When a resident with some clout calls up at 1 am does not get a local officer then we will see what happens. I just think some of these small villages and towns residents want local cops to handle everything. This is not an issue about efficiency this is just a dollar issue as of now, it is to save 200K that's it.

very interesting discussion. I am not really in favor of this. I think the small communities are going to lose some of what made them great (the small town services). just thinking, why don't we close every store in every town and just open a
Walmart supercenter? Is this how we want our communities to function. Remember the beat cop? he knew all the local kids and there parents. Why does CT not have county govt? Who is correct?
When a resident with some clout calls up at 1 am does not get a local officer then we will see what happens. I just think some of these small villages and towns residents want local cops to handle everything. This is not an issue about efficiency this is just a dollar issue as of now, it is to save 200K that's it.

That rig spends more time in the shop than on the road. It does not really matter because it does not fit in there temp firehouse that they have been renting for 2 1/2 years. So in summary it has been OOS for 2 1/2 years The taxpayers are being ripped off.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Your statements are on base. TL -17 sat outside in the elements for approx. 2 years and they scratch there heads why it needed such major expensive repairs. As for firehouse repairs most likely the biggest government disaster ever to occur.

Barry,
Lets talk about 2 of the squads that were disbanded. 1 Was Squad 5 that was handled by Eastchester and Scarsdale. Eastchester is allegedly with Mt Vernon now. Lets say there is an incident in NYC trains are going to be stopping in New Rochelle because they have a hospital, Trains will stop in Yonkers because they have 2 hospitals, Trains will stop in Mt Vernon because they have a hospital, and guess what trains will stop in Bronxville because there is a hospital.
So now lets talk about decon at these locations, how are we going to decide who gets the trailer? and the needed equipment?
Also Mt Vernon has 3 train stations as does Eastchester. Perhaps the people that made the decision to do away with squad 5 should really speak to the people that do the work. The plan may look good from some meeting room however not in practical application.
Captain Richard Dempsey
Eastchester Fire Dept
Haz Mat Tech

It looks like a larger regional Fire Department might be the only thing that could get a handle on things like this. Chiefs seem to join into things like the Southern Westchester Spec Ops Task Force and after a couple of years thay either "unjoin" or change their piece of the plan without telling anyone.
At least a regional FD would be structured and goal oriented fpr the area as opposed to the committee system with no teeth that we have now.

Barry,
Lets talk about 2 of the squads that were disbanded. 1 Was Squad 5 that was handled by Eastchester and Scarsdale. Eastchester is allegedly with Mt Vernon now. Lets say there is an incident in NYC trains are going to be stopping in New Rochelle because they have a hospital, Trains will stop in Yonkers because they have 2 hospitals, Trains will stop in Mt Vernon because they have a hospital, and guess what trains will stop in Bronxville because there is a hospital.
So now lets talk about decon at these locations, how are we going to decide who gets the trailer? and the needed equipment?
Also Mt Vernon has 3 train stations as does Eastchester. Perhaps the people that made the decision to do away with squad 5 should really speak to the people that do the work. The plan may look good from some meeting room however not in practical application.
Captain Richard Dempsey
Eastchester Fire Dept
Haz Mat Tech