Remember585

If Buchanan was only called for their cascade unit, there is no reason those responding on it have to be strucutal firefighters, since that is not what they were called for. Other cascade units in Westchester respond staffed by non-firefighters (Greenburgh CD comes to mind). If manpower is needed (this isn't specific to this call or to Montrose so don't jump down my throat) then an IC can and usually does call for it. Sounded like enough personnel were there to handle this fire, so stop the hating. 16fire5 - you're right, people have to right to ask about an incident to learn from it, but if people are on here just to "stir the pot," nobody benefits from that. And you are a smart enough guy to realize when that pot is being stirred. There are far fewer incident discussions, photos shared or even discussions of any kind on here anymore because everyone is a critic and a lot of these "critics" have personal agendas. As far as I'm concerned, "all the chips fell into place" for this fire. I've been to a few fires caused in the same manner as this one, and they've resulted in the destruction of rooms and total homes. The homeowner was fortunate that someone drove by and saw the fire, got her out of the house, the FD had a quick response and the fire was mostly contained to the exterior of the home. She's lucky and Montrose deserve's a pat on the back. Ignore the haters.

Watch Hill Road is in Montrose and Mohegan's Fire Districts. If it was in Mohegan, I am 99% sure that's who would have been dispatched. As for the other questions, wasn't there and wasn't my fire, so I'm not in any place to comment. Damage was minimal, occupants were OK and no firefighters were hurt - a success from my stand point.

Lohud.com Story

There's no such thing as a "Westchester Battalion Chief." There are the "Mutual Aid Coordinators" who are responsible for their "Battalions," that go by the radio designations Battalion 10 thru 19 based on geographic assignments. The only "Battalion Chiefs" in Westchester are in Yonkers and Mount Vernon. Other career FDs use a county ID # (usually ending with a "2" as their Chief/Commissioner uses their ID ending with a "1") for their shift commanders. Examples are White Plains (2512), Eastchester (2102), New Rochelle (2302) and Hartsdale (2172).

The village I live in is currently exploring changing local elections to be in November instead of March. Some are arguing that this will take away the importance of their local election, as it would be overshadowed by the more publicized national and state elections. Personally I don't care either way because whether it's for local, presidential or firehouse elections, you can always find a flaw with each candidate. If you were to have Fire Commissioner elections at the same time as bigger elections, I don't think it would matter - most people around here just look at the fire department as "existing" and "there when they need them." The only ones that really ever make the effort to show up for votes pertaining to an FD are it's members, their families, the few supporters and the few haters. Most people don't pay any attention to us (paid or volunteer) until we inconvenience them with a road closure or have to help them. So to say that you think most taxpayers wouldn't want to assume liability, you're giving them too much credit and assuming they're paying attention to us in the first place. More often than not in our village, citizens think we are paid because that's what they had in the city before coming here, and the way we conduct ourselves at every incident is with a level of professionalism that they should expect. Our rapid, capable and well-manned responses done by unpaid volunteers is commonly referred to as "the best deal in town" by our Village Board. We're there when we are needed and our community knows this, expects this and occassionally appreciates this. Our operating and capital budgets are always at the mercy of our village, so "essentially," yes, we are under their control. As for the way fire districts are run, I am not part of one nor do I have any interest in talking about them.

Cool stuff, thanks for sharing.

I believe Rockland and maybe even Putnam do this or some variation of this? There are what, dozens, of "organizations" within our county that meet on a semi-regular basis - what do they discuss? How about doing away with all of these different organizations with different agendas and form one that focuses on the bettering of ourselves and the services we're expected to offer. With ONE voice, not 12 different ones, we would be stronger and would be able to bring our concerns forward where we could get on the same page. Automatic dispatch of FASTs, Tankers, Trucks, etc. could happen countywide. At least some departments (not many) have their response plans already setup that calls upon Mutual Aid resources that may be needed. I am proud to be a part of one of these departments, where we have automatic aid coming for Tankers in our non-hydrant areas. Every department can do it on their own, you just need to make formal agreements with your Mutual Aid departments and have them established within the CAD at 60 Control. (Take the time also to set up your greater alarm plans. You may be the Chief and know what you're doing, but what happens when one of your junior officers is in charge?)

I have no problem with people carrying firearms in public. It's done in other states and they don't have many reported issues.

NBC news at 6pm said that one officer, a 20 year veteran, was shot in the head and another officer sustained a GSW. Apparently the wife was found deceased in her car, and the husband was holding their 3 Y.O. while waving a gun. The officers managed to get the child out of harm's way. Here's to a speedy, full recovery to all of the involved officers, and my heart goes out to the child, who is now parentless.

Most fire apparatus are outfitted with 50-75 gallon fuel tanks, if they're full or close to full you should be able to manage most incidents without running out of fuel.

Ed, Currently it works like this (for unstaffed agencies): EMS 1st page No response, retone after 3 minutes No response, retoned after 3 minutes and begin Mutual Aid FIRE 1st page No response, retone after 5 minutes No response, retone after 3 minutes and begin Mutual Aid The "problem" is that once a unit from an agency signs on or calls in by landline, that call is "on them." Departments should have internal SOPs that say "if nobody else calls in after X amount of time, request Mutual Aid."

I'm not at work so I can't look this up and verify it, but here's what I recall from memory... (NRFD guys please feel free to correct me) Initial was probably the usual 3 & 2: E21, E22, E24, TL11, L12, 2302 10-75 would be E23, 30A1, 2301 2nd Alarm would be E25, L13, MSU3 with a backfill of 1 & 1 to Station 1 (Pelham & Pelham Manor) and 1 & 1 to Station 3 (Greenville & White Plains) 3rd Alarm would be another 1 & 1 with an additional backfill (Fairview & Hartsdale) 4th Alarm would be another 1 & 1? 5th Alarm would be another 1 & 1? I believe NRFD had 2301, 2302, 2303, E18, E21, E22, E23, E24, E25, TL11, L12, L13, L14, R4, U91, MSU3 on scene. Greenville E150, Town of Mamaroneck E36, Larchmont TL7, White Plains TL6 on location. Pelham Manor E1, Pelham L2, Fairview E174, Hartsdale L46 covering several other runs. Eastchester normally is involved early on, but last I knew TL17 is OOS. Again, if I am wrong, let me know. I think Larchmont's TL7 was special called to the scene, which IMHO is a smart move. If you're going to prolonged master streams, Towers are much safer than straight sticks. (From what I recall in training with Lt. Mike Wilbur, FDNY) It sucks that a historic building, especially a church, had to burn down like this. At least all of the brothers there went home safe at the end of the shift. Good job NRFD.

The civil suit BS is no surprise. Everyone wants "ju$tice."

In that video - am I hearing correctly that a woman keeps saying "this is a sign?" LOL

Wow, that's a homeowner who doesn't mess around - he had his own 30# extinguisher! I hardly ever see a home with even one of those tiny kitchen ones! Very neighborly of him, I doubt you would see that around here...

Maybe he took a class once on how to be a fire officer / leader. It worked in Mount Vernon, right?

Excellent stuff! Good job to all involved.

Great photos, I especially like the Tiller and the Tower. Thanks for sharing!

Date: 2/9/11 Time: 16:51 Location: 200 Montross Road Frequency: 46.26 / Fire 17 Units Operating: 2531, E273, E271, E270, L51, R16 Weather Conditions: Cold, Overcast Description Of Incident: Fire showing on outside of 20' x 40' Cape Reporters: Remember585 Writer: Remember585 16:52 - 2531, E273 responding. 16:53 - L51 responding. 2531 on location. 16:54 - 2531 reports fire showing on side of house, requesting FAST to scene. 16:55 - E271 responding. Mohegan FAST dispatched. Battalion 17 dispatched. 16:56 - 2531 cancelling FAST, fire knocked down with a water can. Requests EMS for a burn to the hand. 16:57 - E270 responding. R16 standing by in quarters per 2531. 17:00 - 2531 reports fire under control, venting and overhauling. E271 on location.

Perhaps someone has an actual answer to this and not just opinions. Why do some fire and police departments respond to EMS calls that aren't CFRs, EMTs or Medics? What is the point and what value does it have for the patient or victim to have untrained people standing there with them, waiting on an ambulance? As for lift assists, why do PDs and FDs handle these? Is there any kind of liability if "XYZ PD" or "FD" responds on a lift assist, moves a patient and further injures them? I only ask because our FD only responds at the request of EMS, but discussion has come up about lift assists and what to do when the ambulance doesn't get out for a lift assist. Should Mutual Aid have to handle it, or is another emergency service in town (PD or FD) capable to handle this? On a personal note, if there's a call for a cardiac arrest, I think no harm would come from sending all 3 services if they have AEDs - get someone with the right equipment to the scene as soon as possible. Thanks

I believe the Mark McGwire card started out relatively small, got real big towards the end of his career then shrunk down to almost nothing. I could be wrong....

Physio-Control makes a solid product from what I have seen. When they say the battery is good for two years, they're not kidding. All four of our Lifepak 500's died around the same time (2 years old) and had their batteries replaced. Our other 3 AEDs are now the 1000's, and we have 2 more being purchased this year. I believe Croton EMS runs with the 1000's as well. Great product.

You know what I mean. Stop trying to bait me or someone else. Nobody hear is ignorant enough to think that every EMS call is covered by the local agency all of the time. I'm pretty sure dozens of discussions of this type have happened here. You're right, it is handled differently in each jurisdiction. It's also handled differently every call, it seems. I hear some lift assists being handled by PD, others by EMS and some by FD - all in the same communities. I also agree that they are a legitimate call for help and that someone needs to respond and handle them in as timely a fashion as possible. I also think that since there is no medical emergency reported, there is no reason for responding personnel to utilize lights and sirens. I suppose I could re-post my question with different wording... Why do agencies continue to respond to medical emergencies and not have any certified training (CFR, EMT, etc.)? Can a PD or an FD respond to and "correct" a lift assist without being EMS trained? I know that Bnechis mentioned that NRFD routinely goes on Lift calls, and I also know that often times they request EMS for an evaluation/transport. It's good that they respond to these calls with their EMTs - but should other FDs not responding with EMS personnel even go - or should it be left to the EMS "professionals?"

Rest in peace, and may God bless his family, friends and fellow officers.

I still wish they killed off Tammi... I liked Nate.