Remember585

Back when West Nile Virus became an issue. I took a call from an older female that went like this; Me: "Fire Department." Lady: "Hello, there are two birds on my front porch and they won't go away." Me: "OK mam, this is the fire department, what do you want me to do?" Lady: "Well I already called the police and they said to call you. These birds have been in front of my door for over a half hour and won't go away. They are very menacing and keep staring at me." Me: "Unless they're on fire, we really can't do anything. If they're still there in a half hour, call the police and file a harassment complaint."

We tried the same thing Miami222 is talking about, and after our printer crapped out, we went back to engraved plastic tags frm My-Lor.com.

A list isn't posted anywhere. You can FOIL the list from Westchester County Human Resources.

Playing Devil's Advocate here... If we are part of a department that has signed a Mutual Aid Agreement, are we not obligated to answer any request for help (provided we have the manpower / equipment to do so)? Many departments have Automatic Aid in place or Dual-Responses for a special / additional piece of equipment or because the incident falls in two jurisdictions. For these, I don't see an issue. But the departments that call upon another department for the routine runs because they can't get out on a regular basis - that's abuse of the system. Eventually, we're all going to be running more calls than ever - and that will be because we are always going out of town. At some point, the bean counters are going to say "WTF" and it may all change for the worse.

This is odd...

Four doors - because carrying a box of donuts on your lap is soooo 1990.

In this month's Firehouse Magazine, there is a section on firehouse design, and it shows a picture of the concept drawing for PFD's proposed HQ. I hope it comes to fruition, they truly need a new facility.

The 10 year rule on a plastic lid is ridiculous... /rant And I have to pass, I only buy leather.

#winning

What is the staffing of the incoming Mutual / Automatic Aid units? Do we even have a standard for this in Westchester? Should we? An "Engine Company" from one department may be packed with 8 Interior Firefighters, while one from another may only bring 3 and Joe Bob the 70 year-old driver. There might be underlying issues on this particular job that prompted the IC to call what he called (water pressure, long stretches, Collyer's Mansion, etc) so we shouldn't just assume it was a lack of personnel. Also - I think it is time to put an end to the "re-tone." If you can't turn out on the initial dispatch in a timely fashion, another unit should either be dispatched in place of or at the same time as the original. We all need to don our big boy pants and admit when we can't get out, and that time isn't after 15 minutes and multiple sets of tones.

There's a huge difference between the mentally unstable to begin with, the overly emotional, the empathy-seeking trolls and legitimate PTSD folks, however the first three I mentioned generally get most of the attention, and the latter - and most serious we need to try and help - get overlooked, usually because nobody knows what to do for them.

How does the incoming LDH know which deck gun(s) it is feeding - is there a valve somewhere on the rig to allow for that selection? And what is the ladder rating? Cool rig, nice job.

Will this be accessible for use to agencies outside of Yonkers? If so, great! If not, I give it six months before one is sitting outside DES in Valhalla. Also, I would imagine they don't put the Empress logo on, God forbid Empress ever changed names or lost the Yonkers contract. Re-lettering gets expensive...

This is kind of a spin-off about the minimum training in NYS. Is there any "required" training for Company or Higher-Level Officers in the fire service in NYS? Everything I have been told, found online or read elsewhere more or less "suggests" what we all should do. In addition to this, I have another question along this line. If Fire Officer courses are hard to find or don't come up often enough, what's to say a certified instructor from your own or another department can't teach some form of officer training, provided it mirrors the NYS or NFA programs? Here's a perfect example. I, myself, am a certified instructor - can I instruct a program that covers what is done in a NYS class and would it be considered "compliant" with the NFPA's recommendations? Thanks...

I can't think of any situation where a fire investigator would need to get to a scene in an emergency. "Quick, get here fast to investigate this fire," said no one ever... But then again, people still respond lights and siren to sit in someone else's fire station, so what do I know...

Is it true the filmmaker specialized in adult films and used this rig for said films? #thatwouldbeawesome

The only Fire Departments NOT dispatched by 60 Control full-time (at least the last time I worked) were Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Fairview, Hartsdale, Hastings, Irvington, Mount Vernon, Ossining, Somers, Tarrytown, White Plains, Yonkers & Montrose VA. EMS Agenices that do not get full-time dispatch from 60 Control are White Plains, Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Yorktown Medics, Ossining Medics, Mount Pleasant Medics, Montrose VA, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Greenburgh PD, Harrison, Hastings, Irvington, Sleepy Hollow, Ossining, Pleasantville, Port Chester/Rye/Rye Brook, Scarsdale, Somers, Tarrytown, Valhalla & Yorktown. Why an agency doesn't seek county dispatch - that's their choice. In many cases departments have valid reasons to stay with their own way of doing things. For others, it's a lack of understanding the advantages offered to them. Want my opinion on the whole system.... Send me a private message...

Congrats gents!

I've been giving something a lot of thought lately, and decided to post it here for discussion. There's quite a few departments in Westchester running FAS Teams (or RI Teams). Rarely, unless I am wrong, do any of them train with each other or the department's they routinely run with. I'm thinking that maybe it's time for those of us running these teams to perhaps get together and start working together towards a common practice. I think we all pretty much use the same equipment, require the same training and have the same mindsets on how we should do our jobs. Firefighter safety is a very serious topic to me. I've been thinking of ways to increase our safety in my own department, and started to think about ways to help all of us get on the same page - or close to it. Please note this isn't a debate about how they should run, etc. I just want to open up the discussion of other departments in the WC interested in starting to work together towards - dare I say it - a more standard approach to all of this FAST stuff we do. It all starts with every firefighter recognizing and knowing what to do to avoid / get out of trouble, and maybe as a united voice (all of us running FAST's) we can start helping our own avoid ever needing us. Just food for thought - I'm more than willing to work on this and to use our station to play host for meetings / training. Thanks for reading.

I like the discussion here. But I have yet to really hear from any department (other than one) that is really interested in putting all of our heads together to work towards the same thing. Firefighter safety, survival and rescue training is near and dear to me. I firmly believe the additional 24 hours of FAST training should be tacked on to the Firefighter I & Survival classes the WCFTC puts out. I also can't comprehend why survival training and rescue of our own is not minimum training for all of us. To make it a separate program and not make it required training STATEWIDE irritates the living hell out of me. What further irks me is that guys walk out of the training center, carrying their Firefighter I certificates (most not take Survival, thanks WCDES) and never again take a course to better themselves in the interest of all those that they will be working with. Survival and Firefighter Rescue Training needs to be a requirement - period, end of story. /rant

I hear Snooki & JWoww are looking for another firehouse to live in...

I think the most commonly used thing on our rigs is the pen for the reports...

Rest in Peace.

Looking really good!

I think 9 out of 10 people here wear their uniform more than they'll ever need a booster line. With that said, we only have one Engine with a booster on it still, as it was built in 1993. I'm fairly confident it's replacement won't have one. As others said, if you can't handle it with the can, stretch a line. If nothing else, it's good practice for the guys to flank out a line and use it - and it's good to take it out of it's bed and get the kinks out of it. Another thing I don't like is that it usually only flows 30 GPM. Give me a 1 3/4" flowing 150 GPM and I'm done five times faster.