Remember585

An incident like this would be an absolute clusterf*** in Westchester. I don't care where it happens, what day and what time. Here's why; 1. There isn't a day that goes by where a unit is going Mutual Aid to someone and can't figure out the trunk radios we've had for several years now. It's a shame and it is going to have an incredibly bad result one day, I guarantee it. Communications have to be fully dependable - by everyone on every end of the system. 2. There's too much chest-pounding, our way or the highway mentality in Westchester. There's how many threads on here about redundancy of services, right? And in how many of these cases are there similar services available in the same community by more than one agency because everyone wants to one-up each other? Heck, in our stupid village we now have a "Police Rope Rescue Team" that suddenly appeared and is responding to incidents without calling the FD (you know, a service we have provided forever...) But I will digress on that. My point is that in every community with very few exceptions you can't get PD, FD and EMS to play nice at a simple minor MVA. 3. Is any kind of training to prepare for this kind of thing offered to all three of the emergency service branches? I haven't seen a course for fire officers locally... perhaps I missed it. I give the utmost respect to all the responders and dispatchers that handled this incident in Aurora. It's something nobody can even imagine, and nobody can truly prepare for. I hope that everyone that responded or worked the radio room for this gets the counseling they are going to need. We don't need guys or gals becoming casualties themselves. And lastly, God bless the victims. It was a bunch of people, just like all of us, that just wanted to go out and see a film. Very sad.

Geographically speaking, it's roughly a 50/50 split of hydrant vs. non-hydrant areas. The majority of the Village has hydrants with some exceptions, and the majority of the Fire Protection District we cover in the Town of Cortlandt does not.

We just run the one Tanker. Between our 3 Engines, Quint & Tanker we bring just over 6,000 gallons of water to a fire. Any reported structure fire gets two Mutual Aid Tankers automatically bringing an additional 6,000 gallons. If it's a confirmed fire (or if the IC wants them sooner) we get two more Tankers for a total of 18,000 gallons of water on a First Alarm.

No it isn't.

Ardsley went to black and whites? Sweet!

Like anything else, it could be done well where it benefits all involved. However it's being looked at by politicians, so I doubt it will benefit anyone but their own interests.

Croton DPW uses this frequency.

ALF is actually back in the manufacturing game. They hit a rocky patch for a while, but are indeed making rigs again.

No.

Monies received by most fire companies I know generally goes to some of, if not all of, the following; - Station amenities not covered by the district / municipality (this includes cable, phone, internet, furniture, furnishings, etc.). - Retention events (picnics, dinners, etc.). - Public Awareness / Recruitment (websites, "members wanted" signs, open houses) - Community Give-Backs (funding a Little League team, etc.) - Celebrations (Wet Downs [usually open to the public], Anniversary dinners / parades [often open to the public], etc.) I really don't think anyone that writes a donation check to their local FD isn't doing so because they want to show their support to those neighbors of theirs who are coming to their aid when they need them. Often times they make comments like "I wish I had the time to help" or "I give you guys a lot of credit for what you do." The ones that don't donate are either doing it because they can't afford to, don't donate to anything or just plain hate us. jumping up and down, screaming that all volunteer fire departments are ripping off taxpayers, using donations for lavish vacations just isn't true for all of us. We don't even send our Chiefs to trade shows anymore because we realized that more time (let's be honest - money) was being pissed away at meals and lodging. The money we get from our Village for training is used for everyone and no longer pays for 2 or 3 guys to "vacation" in Baltimore. Sure, you sit in on one 3 hour seminar each day, but how many hours of that same day are you at the pool or the bar? None of us are perfect. And at the end of the day I think most of us will agree that our "system" (to be used loosely) is fractured in New York, but it's what we have and we are all trying our best to do what we believe in - right? To Mr. Flynn, I appreciate how strongly opinionated you are. We share that trait and I credit it to our similar first name. And believe me, I hold nothing against any one person, one organization or one group of individuals. What I do have a hard time with is anyone that wants to degrade any group or organization for doing something wrong, when everyone (myself included) has made mistakes as well. I think all of us on EMTBravo should stop making everything a debate and try to put our energies into more prudent efforts. Let's start by agreeing on one thing - whatever that one thing is - and working TOGETHER to find a resolution. Nothing will ever come from all of us (especially yours truly) getting all hot and bothered here. To all, I apologize for my lunacy in earlier posts, but I tend to get emotional when my department gets lumped into the poor choices some others (and I am NOT talking about Irvington, so don't hate me guys!) routinely do. Thanks.

I don't have an issue with career firefighters. I have an issue with you. I, and so many more people, have grown tired of you only speaking up on these forums to beat your drum and stand atop your soapbox to deem all volunteer fire departments as incapable, lying, deceitful organizations. You think because you use big words and generally have ample grammar in your posts, that all of us are blind to your obvious dismay for the majority of us. The issues ongoing in the Irvington FD are being beaten to death here with no true resolve. I agree with you that it's noble of the gentleman involved to stand for what he believes in. Just as I think anyone who stands up for what they believe in is honorable, because let's face it, too many people would rather not take a position on something and join the majority (drink the Kool-Aid, if you will). Anyone that doesn't see you for who you really are and for the views you have of us evil volunteers is either naive or blind. We aren't perfect, not a single one of us is, but do you really, honestly think that coming on here and playing your game is solving anything? And am I alone on these forums to think that this story in Irvington is going to have little or no impact on anything? There's so many more things in this world and in what we do that need our attention. And for me, those issues are ensuring we all are offering the best fire prevention training, fire safety education, strict code enforcement and adequate response to any emergency we're called upon - regardless of the community, department and whether or not those sworn to do these tasks is paid, period. You're an intelligent man from what I can tell, with a wealth of knowledge and experience that could help better the fire service. Do you really think spending your time trying to dissect and disassemble the volunteer fire service is helping ANYONE? Good day to you, sir.

Could you imagine how pissed they would be when they are told about how many guys go out on worker's compensation that aren't really hurt? Or how much is spent on overtime to cover them? Holy cow!

And, let's be honest. How many people donate money not only to volunteer fire departments, but other charities, not because they want to support them, but they're dying to get some tax breaks? The people donating their hard-earned money to their local volunteer fire departments are doing one of the following; 1. Thanking those that have helped them at some point in time. 2. Thanking those that may have to help them at some point in time. 3. Want to feel good about themselves. 4. Want a tax break. 5. Are members themselves. 6. Are family of members in their local FD. 7. Can't think of a way to say no to soliciting firefighters, so throw them a couple bucks so we leave them alone. If I missed anything, please, feel free to add to this list. But in the 20 years I have been around, this seems to be the key reasons people continue to donate.

Pics from my phone.

Define trained personnel? if it's Interior Firefighters, then the usage of Mutual Aid would be capable of handling this. if you mean specialized training for this type of incident, where can one find that course? Hopefully all of them... I would say it will happen, just not sure of exact time frame due to response times / distances. If it is during a day like the past two days we've had, it would be brutal and require extensive manpower. As for times/day of the week... it's always going to be a crap shoot. Volunteer departments as we know are hit or miss. Paid departments during the day routinely have extra guys on and run with their minimum at night - which we all know isn't enough. Take into consideration too if it's during a storm when everyone is already out running around handling dozens of calls - so many variables.... Go north, make two rights, make a left then head east.

EMS isn't dispatched initially for most departments for the same reason. When a call goes into the CAD as a "Stru" (Structure Fire) it could be for an oven fire, already extinguished fire or another lesser incident that wouldn't require it. A dispatcher will send EMS if call information warrants it (burn victim, smoke inhalation, person(s) trapped, etc.). However, most fire departments have EMS sent on confirmation of a fire. Mathematically speaking, the % of "structural fires" we went to last year that required EMS was less than 10%.

Pound Ridge isn't linked to 46.26. Eastchester isn't linked to 46.26. One Yorktown frequency listed isn't linked to 46.26 - it is linked to Fire 17. One Peekskill frequency listed isn't linked to 46.26. 453.0250 is Croton's 46.26 link.

Date: 6/21/12 Time: 19:14 Location: 2 Oak Hill Terrace (Cross of Overton Road) Frequencies: 46.26 / Fire 12 / EMS 12 / Fire Ground 3 OFD Units Operating: 2336, E96, E97, E98, E99, E100, E101, L41 CFD Units Operating: 2081, 2084, E119 w/ FAST YHFD Units Operating: 2531, 2533, R16 w/ FAST BMFD Units Operating: 2052, R37 w/ Cascade MFD Units Operating: 2252, R36 w/ Cascade OVAC Units Operating: 7405, 36M1, 74A1, 74B1 PVAC Units Operating: 7605, 76B3 Croton EMS Units Operating: 55B1 Relocates / Standbys Ossining FD HQ: Millwood 2252, 2253, E247 / Sleepy Hollow 2311, 2313, TL38 Chappqua FD HQ: E146 Ossining EMS HQ: Croton 55B1 Briarcliff EMS HQ: 53B1 Cortlandt EMS HQ: 88B2 Weather Conditions: Hot & Humid Description Of Incident: Fire in rear of 2 1/2 story residence Reporters: Remember585 (O/S) 19:14 - Ossining FD dispatched for reported structure fire. (Box 6-6) 19:18 - 2336 on location, working fire. Croton & Yorktown FAS Teams dispatched. 19:20 - Battalion 12 responding. 19:21 - 2081, 2084, E119 responding. 19:22 - 2531, 2533, R16 responding. 19:24 - 2336 requesting Millwood Engine & Sleepy Hollow Truck to OFD HQ. 19:26 - B12 reports 2 1/2 story 30 x 50, still locating the fire. 19:27 - Croton FAST on location. E247 relocating to OFD HQ. 19:29 - B12 reports Croton going to work, Yorktown to be the FAST. 19:31 - 2336 reports fire knocked down, checking for extension. TL38 relocating to OFD HQ. 19:33 - Command placing Yorktown back in service, Croton FAST handling. 19:36 - Tarrytown L37 on standby in own HQ for Sleepy Hollow per 2313. 19:37 - Pleasantville EMS Rehab requested to scene. 19:42 - C&O Zone 3 dispatched. 19:45 - Croton EMS 55B1 relocating to Ossining EMS HQ. 19:46 - Briarcliff Cascade dispatched. 19:56 - Cortlandt EMS requested to relocate to Croton EMS HQ. Cortlandt unsure if they can cover a 2nd crew and requesting to standby in own HQ, per Croton that will be fine. 19:58 - EMS 11 dispatched. 20:03 - C&O Zone 4 dispatched to cover Zone 3. 20:11 - B12 reports fire is under control, overhauling. 20:14 - B12 reports 1 FF to Phelps for exhaustion. 20:28 - B12 requesting Millwood Cascade, Briarcliff is OOS at scene. 20:37 - Briarcliff EMS on standby in own HQ for Ossining. 20:44 - Croton FAST in service. 20:45 - 2252, R36 on location. 20:53 - Chappaqua FD putting 1 Engine on standby in own HQ for Millwood. 21:36 - Relocates being released from OFD HQ. 22:00 - All units in service from fire scene / relocates.

RIP Brothers. At our monthly FAST drill tonight, we took a moment to remember these fallen brothers and to reflect on why we keep doing this training.

There goes any thoughts I had of doing it...

There's a growing epidemic of people getting wasted on hand sanitizer... at least moonshine generally tastes better...

Good job Bill. Did you get free food out of it at least?

Some of the rig's specs: 2012 Seagrave Marauder II 6-Man cab Seats 4 firefighters 3000 gallon water tank 1500 GPM Waterous pump Cummins 500HP motor Allison 6-speed transmission Two 10" side chutes 12" rear dump chute Two Zico pond (not rack...) lifts Whelen warning lights, scene lights and tank level lights Federal Q and PA300 sirens The rig committee set out to replace our current T10 with an apparatus that could dump and fill in the same amount of time, if not faster - with an additional intention of making it "user friendly" for our current E119 drivers, attempting to duplicate as much as we reasonably could with regards to how it drives and pumps. We also designed it to be an efficient nursing Tanker, by installing LDH discharge and using a 4" tank to pump line. We look forward to taking delivery of it and putting it into service, where we expect it to provide us and our neighbors with many years of excellent, dependable service.

Here's a couple of photos from our final inspection trip this week.

I could think of a dozen sites that would be far worse to have been left open on that screen. How many of us have seen police cars with the computer open to solitaire, etc. I've even seen police cars parked where the officer(s) inside are on ipads deeply involved in a game of Angry Birds. To me it's not a very big deal. But since we're all public employees, we're automatically in the wrong.