Remember585

I could be wrong, but it looks like they set up the aerials under cable and phone lines, with the power lines above those.

From what I recall, their Tower Ladder's escape ladder was removed for some reason or other.

Well, if you're in Mount Vernon, you're s*** out of luck.

1. So long as personnel are operating within the IDLH - then yes, someone needs to be designated to the responsibility of firefighter rescue. How an IC handles this is their call. 2. Why doesn't Westchester have an accepted minimum training / minimum staffing requirement in the Mutual Aid plan for a FAST company? 3. Why is everyone depending on the Mutual Aid FAST to be their "solution" to cover their 2 In / 2 Out? Someone needs to be the "2 Out" right off the bat if you got "2 In." 4. What is a department's SOG when they have a MAYDAY? This is something our department is working on now for several months. Our biggest concern isn't so much what happens at an incident in our jurisdiction, it's when we go Mutual Aid. How do we go about getting the resources we're looking to get? What do you do if that IC refuses to call for them? 5. It's 2014. We have talked about FAS Teams for what, 15 or more years and had the same discussions/debates... let's knock off this bullshit and get a f***ing plan in place, train on it and pray we never need it! This isn't about paid vs. volunteer, this isn't about calling a department because they're your drinking buddies - THIS IS TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN. I'm sorry guys, but this stuff truly strikes a nerve with me. But I know DAMN WELL that those of you who are intelligent firefighters, officers or past officers are agreeing with me and beating your head against your desk just like me.

The county only recognizes two aerial device terms - Ladder or Tower Ladder. This was in a letter to all departments a numbero f years ago, eliminating "Tele-Squirts," "Quints" & "Snorkels" to help simplify terminology. What a department does on it's home turf is it's own deal. It's when they go Mutual Aid somewhere that they should be bringing what the IC is asking for. IE: If Town A's IC asks for a Tower Ladder, then Town B better bring one or turf it to the next due TL.

#1. Thank God this fad is over. It was fun and entertaining for like 30 seconds. #2. I don't see anything wrong with having any fun doing something like this. It builds camradarie. #3. The only thing I saw that I don't like was the video of the black over red Truck where what appears to be two teenage girls on top of it dancing. Who is to blame if they fall off and get hurt? Have fun, do it tastefully and be safe.

I don't see a need to point out how he died. But that's my opinion. RIP.

Monty, Your neighbors to the north can respond to ice rescue incidents. For everyone else asking why more departments don't do it... I can tell you that over the past FOUR years we scheduled a class THREE times and the weather changed on us, eliminating the ice to do it on. Our instructor has offered to bring us as a group to his area (CT) which hasn't been fully ruled out. Ice Rescue isn't as dangerous as a lot of people think it is. Like any other technical rescue, those that haven't learned it will always be skeptical about it and say it's too dangerous to do it. As for MoFire - I know that Montrose does something annually (for the most part) - ever thought of inviting your neighbors to the south? I mean we are nice enough to invite y'all to some stuff...

Not every tradition needs to be broken! Some are what makes what we do worth it.

I think it was 25 and it was accepted by the State but had to be done on local levels - where in Westchester it was denied. I could be wrong.

They're an invaluable asset if they can do all that is expected of them - including speaking English if that is the commonly used language of a department. Do departments require these folks to be legal citizens? Is it required? We got people using different slang or "cool" terms on the fireground already, and that causes confusion!

Question: What is an acceptable amount of time for a dispatched fire resource to respond to an incident (not a relocate)? I thought of this while reading the OC thread. Often an FD is dispatched to the scene of an incident either as Automatic or Mutual Aid - then take what seems like an eternity to respond. I'm a proactive thinker... so I am always tossing around ideas in my head - often with other similarly-minded guys. Some thoughts we've had on this subject include... 1. Give said resource XX amount of time. If they aren't responding, hit the tones again. Give them another XX amount of time, then page someone else. 2. Give said resource XX amount of time. If they aren't responding, dispatch the next like resource. 3. Leave it up to the IC to decide whether or not to let their originally requested resource cover the assignment or to move on to the next. I don't know what the right answer is - although in a perfect world whatever an IC asks for would show up in a timely fashion. I also think that given the advances in technology we have (CAD, cell phones, IAR/Spotted Dog/Active 911/Etc.) a department should be able to know rapidly (or even ahead of time) whether or not they can staff certain resources or not. A prime example would be a FAST/RIT, because 20 minutes after being requested isn't the time to say you can't do it. This applies to both paid and volunteer agencies. If a career FD doesn't have personnel to spare for a MA request for a shift, the Duty Officer should be able to take that resource out of service with county dispatch. Thoughts?

Anyone?

Well... that's interesting.

Correct.

Here's a link to our website for story and photos from the Montrose fire on 1/3/14.

Another year where we all go home safely at the end of the day.

Perhaps David Lee Roth can be here partner...

I read somewhere that there was a Mosque in this building. I hope this wasn't the act of terrorism.

I got qualified on our ambulances at 18 "by fire." A call came in for an elderly male with difficulty breathing. We had an EMT, just no driver, so I drove. At the time I was driving a tow truck, and the patient was the father/Grandfather of members in our FD. Similarly, I joined another VAC a couple years later. There, they refused to let me drive despite the fact I was a qualified driver on our ambulances, my Engine, Tanker, Rescue and Ladder Truck. The reason; "We have enough drivers." I was qualified when we had an MCI and nobody showed up for the third Ambulance. If you can be an EMT at 18 and work for a commercial service where you drive, then there is absolutely no reason why a VAC shouldn't allow you to drive too.

I think they already did. Not positive though.

Budgets are deceiving. You're talking about Operating Budgets - what about Capital Projects and their related costs? We are a municipal fire department, funded by the Village of Croton-on-Hudson ($532,213.00 for 2013/2014). We provide services to the Mount Airy/Quaker Bridge Fire Protection Districts within the Town of Cortlandt for about $262,572.00 per year. Our "operating budget" shows a line for Workers Compensation of $79,268.00. So in essence, we have a budget to work with of $452,945.00. Since the Town of Cortlandt give the Village $262,572.00 each year, we really only cost the Village $190,373.00. If you look at it this way, we are only 1% of the Village's expenses per year (a budget of over $18M). This is basically our Village giving about $200,000 of Village Tax money to us to run a department of about 150 members, averaging 17 members per incident, staffing six apparatus, three command units, two boats & using three stations. I'd say we're a pretty good bang for our buck.

Looks nice. The key to success is to eliminate duplicated resources with untrained personnel handling calls. #WestchesterProblems

Did I read somewhere that apparatus are permitted to be front-line for 25 years, not 20?

If what I hear from JM15 is accurate, 60 Control will provide "Direct Dispatch," meaning calls we receive for Somers will get dispatched by us with a follow-up phone call to their dispatcher. It's a similar practice we have with other agencies, such as Elmsford, Fairview, Hartsdale, Port Chester/Rye EMS, Harrison EMS and others.