Remember585

Great job by DC 911! It's too bad we can't do something like that on our county firegrounds...

Does it really matter? It's like saying "we cover our calls," but only after three tones and often having exterior and/or Junior Members on the rig.

Ken, it's only one FF per station, with 3 at HQ. Sometimes there's only 2 at HQ. Mohegan's district is very large, and thanks to some of the busier roads it can take a while for people to arrive on scene. Because of this, many feel that either putting additional paid or volunteer members on the rigs would alleviate that. To me, it's your "normal" room & contents job that generally gets knocked down in minutes. Others may have different opinions. One thing everyone should remember is that no fire should be considered "routine." I think what people are saying is that an IC should recognize they need manpower sooner and call for it, rather than pulling a FAST and leaving those working the job without proper support of a FAST. We've been put to work on several occassions, but our SOG states that we will not abandon FAST duties unless relieved by another team or if we have personnel to "split" duties. An example of this would be the last fire in Montrose we responded to. We retained four members as a FAST (even though it went to an exterior operation) and used 8-10 others to man the two 2 1/2" lines, pump the Engine, drive the Tanker and hook the hydrant. We had an incident last year where a car struck a gas main, it ignited and started to spread to the building. I requested our "10-75" which brings a FAST from Ossining, and also requested an Engine from the VA because my interior crews reported back to me that they were having trouble getting into the 2nd floor apartments due to the amount of crap in them. For us, we generally put enough personnel on the scene to handle our own fires, and only call Mutual Aid for a FAST, Cascade, Tankers or additional hose. Some gave me crap for calling stuff in, but until it is under control, I'd rather have units on scene in staging instead of waiting the additional 10 minutes. We know that we may need people right away from out of town due to a shortage of our own, and we will call another Engine for that, leaving the FAST alone.

Date: 2/9/10 Time: 12:50 Location: Bear Mountain Parkway near Stony Street Frequency: 46.26 / LMFD UHF / MVAC UHF / YPD Units Operating: 2261, 2262, E253, E258, 69B? / 34M1 Weather Conditions: Cold, Sunny Description Of Incident: Rollover MVA with possible entrapment and vehicle fire Reporters: Remember585 Writer: Remember585 12:51 - E253 & E258 responding. 12:52 - 2262 responding, updated of possible multi-vehicle MVA with vehicle fire. 12:53 - 2261 responding. 12:54 - 2262 on location. 12:55 - E258 on location. 12:56 - 2262 reports no fire. E258 will be sufficient, return E253.

This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is? Classic!

Nice to see they went all out on the door logo... LOL.

BMFD Units operating: 2051, 2052, 2053, E92, E93, E94, TL40, R37, 53B2 OFD Units Operating: 2332, 2334, E97, L41 CFD Units Operating: 2082, E119 (FAST) Other Units: Battalion 12, Battalion 10, 36M1, BMPD, C&O Zone 3 Relocated to BMFD HQ: Millwood: 2253, E247 Croton: 2081, TL44 00:43 - BMFD Dispatched by 60 Control for reported structure fire with possible people trapped (Updated enroute). 00:49 - 2053 on location with a working fire. 00:52 - 2053 requesting 1 & 1 from Ossining to scene. 01:10 - Battalion 12 requesting Ossining FAST to scene. 01:16 - Millwood Engine & Croton TL44 to relocate to BMFD HQ. 01:19 - 2081, 2253 relocating to BMFD HQ. 01:30 - Croton FAST dispatched to scene. 01:33 - 2082, E119 responding. 2253, E247 relocated to BMFD HQ. 01:41 - 2082, E119 on location. 01:42 - 2081, TL44 relocated at BMFD HQ. 01:57 - C&O Zone 3 dispatched. 03:07 - 2082, E119 available. 03:14 - E97 available. 03:59 - E247 & TL44 released from relocate. 04:43 - L41 available. 05:38 - All units clear of scene. Building reportedly had truss roof construction and no fire walls in attic. A GREAT stop by Briarcliff & Ossining, it could of easily got control of the attic and roof and made it's way into other units. I also was told the dog was rescued from the house - always a plus!

I don't really care, I just want some of my boxes to come up! Win or lose, Reggie Bush is still going home to Kim Kardashian...

It looks pretty good, Steve. How many seats?

We're all human, and there isn't a single Medic, EMT, CFR, Driver or Attendant - paid or volunteer - that doesn't have their grumpy moments. I've had them, I've seen others have them, and I have heard people have them on the radio. None of us should preach this or that when it comes to "professionalism," because we've all been guilty of our human moments where we let what we are truly thinking out. Cops waiting on EMS know this. Firemen waiting on EMS know this. Dispatchers paging our over and over again know this. And all of you EMS people know this. So let's get over ourselves and stop acting better then anyone else. We have to provide the best care with the most professional attitude we can. If this means mixing it up and doing duty crews, chopping dead wood members, hiring people, firing people, WHATEVER - then by God put aside your feelings and do what is needed to provide the best service you can to those that depend on it. Our calls may not seem like an emergency to us, but the person calling has their reasons for calling. Whether they're in pain, they're sick, they're afraid or they just plain need our help with something, we have to be as respectful as we can. I always used to think to myself that every elederly person was someone's Grandparent and that someone loves them no matter their flaws. I'm done... just my perspective as a "retired" EMT. Enjoy the weekend!

The tape tends to peel off at least once a year, so when the time comes to replace the tape we sneak a peak to make sure everything is OK. In addition to the irons, we've done the same thing with our 6' & 8' steel hooks, closet hooks and even the rubber mallet for the MPO.

Good work FDNY! One question, is there any kind of SOP / Guideline for clearing windows? Some places I've heard clear the top half only for venting then the bottom half after search is complete, etc. Always love Truck placement in the City, and you gotta appreciate a corner building to gain access!

Well said. Society as whole is way too pampered. Nut up or shut up!

I thought of a couple more. When possible, have different colored hydraulic lines for your hydraulic extrication tools. If you have only one color, use different colored tape on the ends of each line so you can ID which one is which. Always open your SCBA cylinder all the way. Carry a spray bottle of a soap and water mix to help find gas leaks. Remember to zero out gas meters before turning them off after each use! When searching with a Halligan, keep the tool down with the adz and point on the floor. The gap will leave room for your hand without it snagging on the floor. Fiberglass and even wood and some metal handles on hand tools can be a pain in the arse, try putting a D-handle or wrap small rope around it then cover it with hockey tape. Works great. (Here's a picture of some of our tools.)

When someone is near you trying to transmit on their portable radio, cover yours to cut down on feedback. Keep your turnout gloves in your bunker pants pocket. This way when you put on your waist straps, they're not hard to get at. LABEL EVERYTHING! Put your name, ID#, initials, etc. on your helmet, hood, each glove, coat, pants, each boot, etc. When pushing down a ceiling after opening a roof, push down with the handle of the hook, not the head. This way when you do break thru, you won't have the tool slip away. (Been there...done that).

Volunteers, combination of duty crews and pager calls. It's not perfect but it is working. Our leadership is always analyzing response times, getting feedback from our Medics, our public and our members to see what we can fix. In anticipation of having to use paid personnel one day, we didn't even name our organization a VAC, just EMS. We all know that eventually we may have to use paid personnel to handle the ever-growing call volume, but luckily it's been going well with volunteers only thus far. MJP is right, ambulances are being abused. People call for things that could easily be handled at a Doctor's office, or by driving one's self to an ER. But a lot of people are under the impression that getting an ambulance ride will get them through an ER faster. Perhaps creating some form of public information about when to and when not to call EMS is needed? Perhaps Doctors could start answering their phones after hours and not always cop out and tell their patients to call 911. Or maybe we could all start charging an assload of money for transports until people think twice about calling 911?! Perhaps when someone calls 911 we can charge them for that too? That would cut down on pointless PD calls, FD calls and EMS calls. Oh what a wonderful world that would be!

I'm not against anyone speaking their mind, asking questions or offering advice to improve things. What I am against is the hypocratical nature that this forum was founded upon. "Your knowledge helping others." Asking questions that only instigate debates and hard feelings does nothing for anyone involved. For example, what, if anything, has the questions regarding Banksville's response done? My guess - NOTHING. A general rule I abide by is that you should only type what you would say to someone's face. Way too many people hide behind their keyboards. This is all going to turn into a pissing match, because one side will be convinced they're right, and the other side thinking they're right. It will lead to heated discussions and will rarely be of any use to anyone. Eventually people will tire of reading the debates and criticism on this site and find other avenues to vent. Unfortunately, it will be AFTER someone's feelings are hurt. It's bad enough that certain people (not just on here) constantly make younger, newer and more impressional members feel inadequate and/or that their whole existence and/or organization is a joke. Some read what others post or write as gospel and become combative to the order within their own ogranization. I, personally, have learned A LOT from here, probably more so than most other things I read, yet I know the difference in spirited debate compared to others who see it as bashing. I don't think censoring is permissable, but I do think we all need to remember that what we say here can and will hurt feelings, and the ramifications can be worst then a lot of people are realizing. A prime example that I am familiar with involves certain postings by some in regard to certain organizations that resulted in bad blood between several organizations. It's immature, I know, but this is the world we live in. People don't know when to tune out certain things and when to listen. Like Chief Flynn says, Quit taking it personally, but for all too many this is impossible. If discussion about incidents is going to be permitted, then everyone better grow a thick, THICK skin, because firemen are our own worst enemy and our biggest critics. Game on...

It's not just different from volunteer department to the next one - the career departments also have things set up differently. With each department and each area being so different from the next, what works in New Rochelle may not work in Eastchester just like what works in Mohegan may not work in Yorktown. And Mike, Tankers are those fire engines with lots of water in them.

Banksville's Car 2582, E158 & T7 were all responding in 4-5 minutes after dispatch. When the Chief called responding he added a Tanker from Pound Ridge to the response. On arrival with "light smoke showing" he requested a "10-75" or "working fire assignment." This brought (if I remember right) an additional Tanker from Armonk, an Engine from Bedford, FAST from Kisco and EMS to the scene. I don't think the IA times were right. A Tanker can, just like almost any other motor vehicle, be operated with just one person, it's just preferred in most places to have a second person to assist with backing up and positioning at a drop or fill site. Also, this fire occurred on a Sunday, not a Saturday, not that it makes a difference, but it just goes to show we all are capable of making mistakes. As far as distances from firehouses, you got me. Banksville is as foreign to me as Idaho (though I sometimes wonder if they're one in the same).

One thing to consider, and I don't know if this was the case here... Many times, a unit can be responding for a minute, or two or more, and not actually call responding either due to other radio traffic or, which does happen, forgetting. I have been in a rig responding for a minute or more and had to wait for other communications to end to get my "Responding" message out. Again, I don't know if that happened this time, but it is something that does happen.

I don't think it's THAT common...

Nooo...... I've never heard the "Oh wow, you're all volunteer" phrase from people in our area...

Texron will fix it.... Luckily it didn't roll over, that would of been B-A-D!

According to one of my buff friends, only two of those "Q's" are real, the other 2 are covers only. But yes, a little ridiculous. Much the same as those rigs using TRAIN HORNS.

Classic! I also heard that. I also like when someone pulls up on a CO investigation and reports "nothing showing." I don't remember when/where it was or who said it, but we were out on a vessel in distress call once and someone said "It appears the Minnow has been lost, however the Skipper and Gilligan are doggy-paddling back to shore."