Remember585

A happy, healthy & safe New Year to all of you!

I have to disagree. An explosive metal would more than likely display a whiter flame, what was seen here looks like an exploding cylinder, which me thinks is the main O2 tank. The smaller blasts were probably the portable oxygen tanks (or even the fire extinguisher that the rig should have been carrying). Of course I can (and usually am) wrong.

Rest in peace, Dawn.

Date: 12/23/10 Time: 19:32 Location: 105 Lincoln Avenue (Between Prince St. & Dewitt Pl) BING MAP Frequencies: NRFD UHF / 33.96 / 46.26 / Fire 18 NRFD Units Operating: E22, E21, E23, E24, E25, E18, L12, TL11, L13, R4, 2301, 2302, 2303, 2306, 2309, MSU3 NREMS Units Operating: 3015, 30A1, 30A2, 30B1 Relocated to NRFD Sta. 1: Pelham Manor E1, Pelham L1 Relocated to NRFD Sta. 3: Greenville E150, Eastchester TL17 NRFD Recall Units: E18, R4 Weather Conditions: Cold, Windy (about 30 degrees) Description Of Incident: Fire in 2 1/2 Story 20x60 wood-frame dwelling Reporters: Remember585, EMF508 (O/S) Writer: Remember585 19:32 - Initial dispatch for reported structure fire, E22, E21, E23, L12, TL11, 2302 assigned. 19:38 - 10-75 transmitted, E24, 30A1 assigned. 2302 reports a 20x60 2 1/2 Story frame dwelling fire on 1st floor of #4 side. 19:42 - 2nd alarm transmitted, E25 & L13 assigned. EMS dispatched for a fire-related injury. 19:45 - Greenville E150 & Eastchester TL17 relocating NRFD Station #3. 19:46 - Pelham Manor E1 & Pelham L2 relocating NRFD Station #1. 19:56 - Hartsdale relocating E170 to Greenville HQ. 20:02 - Per "EMF508" on scene, fully involved 2 1/2 story frame, exposures as follows: #1 street, #2 4 story brick, #3 Yard, #4 3 Story Church. 20:20 - 2301 assuming Command, has fire on all floors, wind severely hampering firefighting efforts. 20:37 - E18, E1, L2, TL17, R4, 2304 responding 2201 Palmer Avenue for odor of gas in hallway. 20:55 - 2301 reports fire is darkening down, using Ladder Pipe, fire contained to original building. 21:25 - 2301 reports fire is knocked down, extensive overhaul due to Collier's Mansion conditions. 21:25 - E1, E150, L2, TL17, 2304 responding to 40 Memorial Highway (Avalon East) for Commercial Alarm. 21:45 - 2301 reports fire is under control, extensive overhaul. 21:52 - 2301 transferring command back to 2302, 2301 10-8. 22:45 - E23, E25, L13 10-8, Mutual Aid companies released. 23:20 - All companies 10-8 from the fire scene. Lohud Article

He deserves more jail time. He could of killed or hurt someone - specifically one of our brother firefighters!

Date: 12/21/10 Time: 05:17 Location: 45 Lakeside Road Frequency: 46.26 / Fire 16 BHFD Units Operating: 2031, 2032, 2033, E198, E199, TL57, T5, R10 MKFD Units Operating: 2281, 2282, FAST U13, E104 KBHVAC / EMS Units: 65B1, 45M1 WCDES Units: Bat 16 Weather Conditions: Cold, Clear Description Of Incident: Working garage fire Reporters: Remember585 Writer: Remember585 05:17 - E198, E199, TL57, R10 dispatched for reported garage fire. 05:19 - 2032, 2033 responding. 05:20 - 2031 responding. 05:21 - E198 responding. 05:25 - 2033 on location. Transmitting a 10-75. 05:26 - TL57 responding. 05:27 - 2033 reports smoke showing. E199, R10 responding. 05:28 - Mount Kisco FAST, KBHVAC, 45M1, Battalion 16 dispatched on the 10-75. 2032, E198 on location. 05:29 - 2032 advising E199 to come in from the "top side" and lay in to E198. 05:30 - 2031 requesting T5 and an additional Tanker, water issues in area. 2031 assuming Command. 05:31 - Bedford Hills T5, Katonah T6 dispatched. 05:32 - Command requesting an additional Engine to the scene from Mount Kisco. 05:33 - Mount Kisco FAST re-dispatched, and original request for additional Engine. 05:34 - U13 reports they are "still assembling a FAST." 2282 responding. 05:35 - E199, R10 on location. 05:36 - 2281, U13 w/ FAST responding. 05:38 - Command reports two-story frame residential with fire in garage, appears to be knocked down. Redirecting T6 to BHFD HQ for coverage. 05:39 - E104 responding. 05:40 - 2282 on location. 05:45 - 2211 relocating BHFD HQ.

Good luck with that...

We have our own policies & procedures, as well as the SOGs from the departments we dispatch that we must follow. Should we have a reason to deviate from one of these, in plain English - we better have a damn good reason for doing it, and be prepared for any questioning or backlash. Good dispatchers and Supervisors have that ability to know something needs to happen. For example, if a call is coded in EMD as BLS but the dispatcher/call taker has a gut feeling that ALS is warranted, it might get dispatched. The best thing we can do is prompt responding units of info we've received so they hopefully get the wheels going to call for more stuff. Today, we were responding to a reported kitchen fire. 60 Control notified us that PD was on scene with a working house fire. Being 10-15 seconds away, I called the 10-75 on arrival, but if I was a couple of minutes out, I would of made that request while still responding. Good dispatchers and good Supervisors are more than their computers.

Yup, 2nd Alarm fire this morning.

Nobody else has anything to share? Weak!

Providing members the basic Confined Space & Awareness Safety program is almost impossible in Westchester County. How often have you even seen this course offered at WCDES? NOT NEARLY ENOUGH! For the past few years, one of our members was granted a status of "Supplemental CFI" which allowed him to teach NYS OFPC courses in house for us. During this time, we managed to provide the CSAS class several times, HMFRO Original & Annual Refresher, Scene Support Ops and other courses. I don't have the exact nummbers in front of me, but we GREATLY BENEFITED FROM THIS! A few months back, WCDES informed our Instructor that he could no longer do this, as it was only a "trial period" and they didn't want to continue it. To say that this is a major blow to our well-documented and repeatedly proven operations is an understatement. The second blow came a couple of weeks ago, when DES pulled the plug on using our firehouse as one of their satellite training facilities - citing "lack of attendance." Not for nothing, nobody ever bothered to A: advertise our firehouse as a satellite, B: Never took the time to explain to us (THE CHIEFS) what we needed to do to host classes here and C: Who cares if 6 people show up to a class? That's 6 people that benefit from this training! As a Training Officer / Instructor myself, if I have one student, I am giving them my time. AND I DO IT FOR FREE! I KNOW I will catch s*** for saying this, but I am very displeased with the way this county operates. People can say I am over-reacting or not seeing the big picture, but the proof is in the ink. If the classes WE ALL NEED are not offered often enough, then how the hell are any of us going to ever meet or come close to meeting those requirements that apply to us? If a career FD is entitled to have an MTO, why can't volunteer departments? Don't the Instructors require the same training as the career guys? We have half a dozen guys whom have completed FSI-1 and have extensive training and experience themselves. Three of our guys are even certified by NYS to teach THIER PROGRAMS - BUT THEY CAN'T. What sense does that make? Sorry for ranting and steering away from the original topic. But in defense of the TFD and almost all of us other volunteer FDs in Westchester - HOW THE F*** CAN WE EVER BE EXPECTED TO MEET OSHA/NFPA/ Other REGULATIONS WHEN THE PROGRAMS AREN'T OFFERED A FRACTION OF HOW OFTEN THEY SHOULD BE? /Rant

The damage to the car, as well as the injuries Officer Hess received, should be plenty of indication that the actions Hess took were warranted. If he didn't do what he did, who's to say that this vehicle wouldn't have hit someone else, plowed down a group of other people or continued on, got on the Saw Mill in the wrong direction and killed someone. I can't wait for this to go away, with the officers involved being cleared of any wrong doing.

Chris, Trust me when I tell you this - when your dispatcher calls over to us at 60 with any kind of direction or patient updates, we relay it to responding units. However there are times that we don't get this info until units have committed to a certain response route. And, there's also some that are told the location many times and continue to go the wrong way. For the record, I have personally experienced similar activities in the other respect - where we update a PD or I listen to a PD getting told exactly where something is and they still don't go the right way. I guess some of us just pick a route and commit to it... And the ability for all of us to be able to communicate.... at least fire and EMS has the equipment to do it. Some just choose not to.

This is a good topic, and one that always brings about some personal feelings. In our community, we dispatch our Rescue and the First Due Engine to all MVAs along with EMS. If it is on Route 9 with reported / confirmed entrapment, it gets 2 Engines and the Rescue (To assist with road closing and keep POVs off of the highway). When the Rescue is OOS, the extrication tools usually go to E119, so in those scenarios you would have EMS and 2 Engines. I won't go in to case histories or anything in the past about why we made this change. In a nutshell, it is done for these reasons; 1. The caller to 911 commonly will call in an accident while still driving by it. If you blow past an accident at 70 MPH it's hard to see how many patients there are, if anyone is trapped, if fluids are leaking out and so on. 2. The three emergency service branches going to MVAs have to be on the same page with a good working relationship. PD almost always gets to MVAs first and may determine that none of us are needed. If that is the case, a Chief generally verifies this and reports to the scene to confirm it. And many of those times, we hold the FD apparatus in quarters, and will relay what we have to EMS. 3. We cover the Village of Croton which is patrolled by the Croton PD. I would say that 99.5% of the time they are on scene at an MVA before we are. However, in the Fire Protection Districts within the Town of Cortlandt we cover, it isn't uncommon to await State or County Police for long periods of time. More often than not we do arrive at an MVA before they do, and again, we conduct a size-up and determine what resources are or aren't needed. 4. As a dispatcher, I can't tell you how many times I have been told "it looks really bad" and it isn't. I've also been told how it looks "pretty minor" only to have an arriving unit show up and start screaming for EMS to expedite, send us a chopper, etc. Perception of what has happened by Joe Public is never as good as that of a first responder (PD, FD or EMS). 5. If dispatch receives a call for an MVA with possible or unknown injuries in a roadway, especially highways, they should send everyone. If it is reported as a minor no injury accident, especially in parking lots, then I don't see the harm in sending the sector car. In these cases if someone "needs" (read: looking to sue someone) EMS, then they can call upon it. As far as the discussion whether PD even needs to go to every fire or EMS call - I'm not about to get into that subject.

Date: 12/14/10 Time: 15:35 (Approx) Location: Glendale Road (Just south of Quaker Ridge Road) Frequency: 46.26 / Fire 17 Millwood FD Units Operating: 2251, 2252, 2253, E247, R36 Ossining EMS Units: 7405, 36M1, 7411, 74A1 Croton EMS Units: 55B2 Briarcliff EMS Units: 53B1 Chappaqua EMS Units: 54B1 New Castle PD, Town of Ossining PD Weather Conditions: Cold, Clear Description Of Incident: Two car MVA, 1 patient ejected, 5 additional patients Reporters: Remember585 (O/S) Writer: Remember585 (O/S) Six patients ALS to WMC.

Freezing rain + people driving too fast = a busy night for PD, EMS & FD.

This line leaves an unsettling feeling in my stomach. Sharing services is fine, but there's no true answer to the big "Are we merging" question.

I'm not familiar with how NYC operates, but here's a thought. Beef up code enforcement. Be more dilligent with building code violations, false alarms, etc. Have companies write violations in their neighborhoods, or the Marshal's office or whomever handles that stuff. I am sure on any given day that the fines that could be assessed could result in several thousand dollars, which might even pay to keep some of these companies open. I think, personally, that billing people or even their insurance companies when they get into an accident is a scam. There HAS to be better ways to make money and offset the costs.

It was brought to my attention that there is a pretty heated battle going on for the Board of Fire Commissioners in Somers. While I could care less since I don't live there, what I found interesting was some of the information at the link here: www.electstevepilla.com. Pay attention to the Dispatch Comparison page... those of you using 60 Control should know what is right and what is wrong information here. My question is this - where is this (mis)information coming from?

Date: 12/9/10 Time: 05:35 Location: 3901 Gomer Court (Off of E Main St) Town of Yorktown "Jefferson Valley Collision" Frequencies: 46.26 / 453.275 / Fire 17 / FG 1 / MVAC LMFD Units Operating: 2261, 2262, E253, E258, L10, 69B1 YHFD Units Operating: 2533, E270 FAST MFFD Units Operating: 19-6-1 MFD Units Operating: 18-2-1, 18-7-1 CVFD Units Operating: 2132, E231 PVFD Units Operating: YVAC Units Operating: 86B1?, 34 Medics SFD EMS Units Operating: 80B2, U88 (RAC) WCDES Units Operating: Bat 16, C&O Zone 4 w/ 1404 Weather Conditions: Cold, 21 Degrees Description Of Incident: Working fire in 30' x 50' 2 1/2 story dwelling attached to 100' x 100' auto body shop Reporters: Remember585 Writer: Remember585 LoHud Article Relocated to Mohegan HQ: 2341, 2342, TL45 (Peekskill FD) & 88B1 (Cortlandt VAC) 05:35 - L10, E253, E258 dispatched to reported structure fire. 60 Control advising multiple calls on it. 05:39 - 60 Control advising responding units one person possibly trapped per YPD. 05:40 - E253 reports fully involved house fire, still not on scene. 05:41 - 10-75 transmitted. E253 has a propane tank that already "let go." 05:41 - 60 Control dispatching Yorktown FAST, Mahopac Falls Cascade, Mohegan VAC & Bat 17 to the scene. 05:42 - E253 to 2262, fully involved and reports from units on scene all occupants are out. 05:43 - 2261 requesting a Ladder to HQ and send one Tanker from "somewhere." 05:45 - Peekskill TL45 dispatched to cover Mohegan HQ. 05:46 - 60 Control dispatching Battalion 10. 2261 cancelling the Tanker. 05:48 - E270 responding. 2262 requesting Con Ed Electric to the scene. Battalion 16 dispatched. 05:49 - 2262 reports an auto body shop on first floor with a residence above, 30' x 50'. 05:50 - 2262 requesting Con Ed to "step it up." 05:52 - 19-6-1 responding. 05:54 - "L10, as soon as the PD car moves, I want you to set up in the rear," per 2262. 05:55 - "E258 to the hydrant, send me water!" 05:56 - "2262 to the hydrant on E Main St, shut it down, I have a situation." 19-6-1 on location. 05:57 - "2261 to 60 Control dispatch an Engine from Mahopac, we need manpower here." 05:59 - E270 on location. 06:02 - Units reporting partial collapse, E258 has no water, 2262 reports "we're working on it." 06:03 - "2261 to all units, switch to Fire Ground 1." 06:05 - 18-2-1 responding. 69B1 transporting 1 to WMC. 06:06 - 2261 requesting Yorktown Highway Department for salt, "we're falling all over the place." 06:12 - 18-2-1 on location. 06:18 - Bat 16 on location, 2261 requesting the C&O Team to the scene. DC41 reports "Ladder operation is underway." 06:19 - C&O Zone 4 dispatched. Mohegan VAC, 39M2, U18 dispatched to an EMS call. 06:23 - Bat 16 requesting an update on the electric company, please put a 2nd call in, we have a hazardous condition. 06:25 - 60 Control advising Con Ed crew assigned, should be there in 15-20 minutes. 06:28 - 60 Control advising Bat 16 that Con Ed reports they have a rep on scene. 06:29 - Bat 16 requesting run down of EMS units on scene, 60 Control reports a YVAC rig and Yorktown Medic. 06:31 - Unknown unit reporting, "not enough pressure on this line over here." 06:32 - Bat 16 requesting 1 Ambulance to cover Mohegan and 1 Ambulance to the scene. 06:34 - Cortlandt VAC dispatched to Mohegan HQ for coverage. 06:38 - New Channel 4 Chopper showing live video, fire appears to be darkening down. 06:41 - Bat 16 reports units making progress, exposure issue is a 100 x 100 body shop, 4 L/S/O and 1 Ladder Pipe. 06:44 - 2261 requesting two ambulances total on scene at all times. YVAC is transporting unknown #. 06:47 - News Channel 4 Chopper reports business is "Jefferson Valley Collision." 06:48 - Bat 16 requesting Somers Rehab to the scene. Carmel VAC & Somers EMS have been requested to the scene. 06:49 - 1404 responding. 06:53 - 60 Control reports that YVAC is going to be transporting 3 with smoke inhalation shortly. 06:54 - Bat 16 requesting Con Ed Gas to the scene. 07:06 - 1404 on location. 07:07 - 60 Control advising Bat 16 that 80B2, 18-7-1 on scene. Bat 16 reports exterior operation, fire darkening down, making progress. 07:22 - U88 (RAC) responding. 07:31 - U88 on location. 07:36 - 2261 declaring the fire under control. 07:39 - Bat 16 requesting Code Enforcement to the scene. 08:01 - 2261 reports they have an excavator coming, the building has to be torn down for total extinguishment. 08:02 - 2261 requesting manpower from Continental Village & Putnam Valley to the scene. 08:15 - 2132 on location. 08:16 - E232 responding. (Originally called in as E231, later corrected they were in E232). 08:27 - 24-2-1 responding. 09:13 - Yorktown FD units released. 10:00 - C&O units returning. 10:09 - Bat 16 reports Red Cross is on location. 10:15 - Bat 16 going in service. 10:28 - Continental Village units in service. 10:45 - 2261 requesting Yorktown Water Department to the scene. 11:00 - Mahopac & Mahopac Falls FD units in service. 11:08 - E254 & TL45 responding on a CO investigation. 12:05 - All units clear from the scene. TL45 released from standby.

Makes sense to me, I mean, you never hear of any fatal fires at night... So many other ways to cut spending. Eliminating fire companies is not one of them!

BMFD had their Ambulance there.

"December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy." - FDR More from President Roosevelt's speech HERE Here's some facts I found doing a Google search: Pearl Harbor Info God bless all of those lost that day, and those men who went on to fight in the Pacific & Europe to bring an end to WWII.

Boy PFD, you're on a roll today! Glad to see some topics worth getting involved in. Once our IC calls a "10-75" we get a FAST, two ambulances & a Medic. One Ambulance is for us and is to stay on scene, the other is to transport as needed. If an incident is in inclement weather or will be prolonged, the EMS OIC (working with our IC) will make the call for a Rehab unit. Additionally, when operating at any Haz-Mat incident, EMS is sent on the initial run with our FD units. As needed, additional will be called upon. Some EMS Rehab units I know of are Cortlandt VAC, Somers FD, Pleasantville VAC and rumor has it Peekskill VAC will soon. Not sure who to call? Have your IC contact 60 Control for a rehab unit, and we will gladly find you one!

Our Engine 118 is a 1993 HME / Saulsbury and features a 100 gallon tank which is filled with 1%/3% AR-AFFF foam. The rig has on board capability and the foam can be pumped from any discharge (working with the 1000 gallon water tank). Our other two Engines (119 & 120) do not have on board foam. Both carry 15 gallons (3 pails) of 1%/3% AR-AFFF foam and utilize an eductor, similar to what Barry mentioned. Additionally, we added 30 gallons (6 pails) of the same foam, an eductor and new foam capable nozzle to Marine 12 this year. As far as uses, we generally utilize water for all fires, but we do have the foam if we need it.