Monty

For most departments (volunteer anyway), a normal day is no fires! So, in my mind sending as many as will fit the apparatus makes sense. There should be a minimum standard though, so you don't end up with an engine for example with two exterior firefighters! Or a FAS Team with 3 people ..... It does seem that there are some who would rather show up with a minimal or inadequate staffing than admit they can't get a crew and have someone else take the call. I guess these things should be written in to part of the mutual aid plan - and if someone keeps flouting them, they are removed from the compact. Without getting in to a different subject (but a pet peeve anyway), for a standby in quarters, should it be an emergency response?

Very Nice! Not sure what it says that I'm here typing away Christmas morning though Here's to another great year of EMT Bravo !!!!! And, hopefully less stress to all involved (Especially Seth)

We don't have any requirements to be a line officer, other than two years and 'active'. Our company bylaws have all sorts of regulations for officer responsibilities in the fire house, very little on the fireground though. Mind you, the line officers don't really seem to do anything on the fireground anyway, it's the chiefs and everyone else.

I have seen Con Ed in the city with RLS ! Speaking to someone that works for Coned, he said there were some emrgency response units in the city that have been given dispensation by the city. Again, NYC is a different world from Westchester!

My old department upstate went through this about 8 years ago. We didn't have enough runs to justify firefighters (~700/yr) but response during the day was low. Additionally, people weren't volunteering as much as years ago due to different lifestyles. So, an administrator, mechanic and custodian were hired. Part of the requirement required being a member of a fire department so that they could respond (if they wanted). However, there main duties are not fire-fighting - there can be several days with no fire calls. Also, if there are regular members in house, then these guys are last to get on the truck, if at all. Now, on the other hand, having a County department seems to make a lot of sense - but it's so progressive I know there are places doing it but .... Reading some of the responses, I understand cykal's comment, whether the community is getting the best service is another question. Maybe, maybe not for the taxes they're paying, the fire responses the jurisdiction has, the response they get. Also with firecapt32 - he overstates the requirements of some volunteer departments Remember - keep it clean now Monty.

Working in Midtown NYC, you see this quite often. When you have one way streets stopped at the intersection 2 or 3 cars deep, you can't go around. It seems most often it is the ambulances leaning on the horn, and I can certainly see why the questioner spoke up. If you're sitting at an intersection and a car length or two behind is this incessant noise, it's very tempting to make it stop by getting out the way. As to the legality and interpretation of the law, I guess that's for the lawyers! I'd be very surprised if this is an issue in WC though.

Maybe I'll pass on taking it out for a jolly then. Rather buy a fire truck for that money

Cool, thanks for the info. Yeah around track 30 or so - and I noticed it wasn't connected to anything but had other cars behind it on the track. Looking at the web site, seems like it is a long way from home! Wonder how much it would be to take it on a run around here somewhere

Don't know anything about it, but saw this this morning. Sorry I coudln't get any better pictures. It seemed there were people inside eating - wonder what they thought of all the people gawking at them [attachmentid=1581] [attachmentid=1582] [attachmentid=1583]

Interesting. As for the middle seats they're a waste of time on the Hudson line. Only in the rarest of cases will they get taken (like now when the trains are so short) - especially on the M-7s. Look forward to seeing these double deckers - although I'm not going to be holding my breath

It's interesting seeing this attitude - not sure what the brothers and sisters in Phoenix would say about treating our customers this way. It's also interesting seeing the topic on Burnout. How many people at 2am are going to roll over and reset their pager when they hear the alarm, or worse turn it off? If there's an additional 600 runs, that's pretty much 2/day. I would say an immediate action would be to go to a reduced response. So far I belive the story said 1 in 75 calls was something, that's about 1.3% - which seems high. Even with a reduced response people are alerted, on their way and can be upgraded if needed - still better than a check and investigate. The longer term is to work in partnership with the institution to improve the detection system. It seems many of these places don't have to follow local ordinances, just state and federal. You get to federal buildings, they don't follow state rules. The other idea I would see as someone mentioned is having the organisation form a fire brigade or department. Maybe even a satellite company and get them involved with volunteering for the department.

After I left, my old department offered CDL as a benefit to all the drivers (probably helped with insurance premiums too). Maybe we can get WCVFA or FASNY or someone to sponsor a drive to get us our CDLs

Hopefully it doesn't have my personal info embedded in the link - unless you win a prize!

Something I received from MNR:

I'd have thought you should be able to go to the County offices and find that out?

Not being picky but an interesting illustration of a K Tool Great piece - thanks for posting.

Here's something I received:

The other thing I hear, which sounds plausible, is that the drive wheels spin on the leaves. Then the monitoring system detects the wheels are going too fast and applies the emergency brakes. Then you have to back up, release the brakes whatever - adding another 10 minutes or so to the ride when all is said and done. Mind you, my experience with the Hudson Line over the West of Hudson is that it is a whole lot more reliable - and a whole lot less hassle than driving to (and parking in ) NYC.

Absolutely agree. Chief Salka is a great guy. Had the pleasure of doing a ride along when he was a Captain in the bronx. Also attended his Get Out Alive presentation in Albany before the Firefighter Survial course he helped design. I'm sure it will be well worth attending.

From another source:

I haven't seen anyone reply to your original question. Plenty of interesting opinions though Obviously ther's no easy answer (otherwise you would have been shot down for asking ). Maybe if there's a decent BC that cares about PR he could be approached about the situation in general, and then maybe backed up with a specific example. Don't know if there's a suggestion box somewhere or what would happen if you called 311 .... Probably the biggest thing is to make sure it doesn't get too personal and eat away at you inside!

I find this piece of the article interesting. I know that some municipalities give tax breaks for active firefighters. So for the cost of a few dollars dues, you can get a couple hundred bucks tax break - regardless of how active / inactive you are just as long as you are on the rolls. I also know of another department that tried something like this. They kept the payments to under $600 (or thereabouts) so that they did not have to file 1099s to report miscellaneous income to the IRS. Interestingly, it did very little to increase the level of participation in the department which was its main aim. Though it was appreciated by the already active members. The department does already have has some paid daytime guys and is considering adding more. The incentive reward was an attempt to do it within the current budget.

Yeah, this came up a while ago. Searching google, I couldn't find any link related to it. Made me wonder how legit the story really is.

My previous department was $3/year - and Class A and work uniform was provided. My current Company is $25 application fee. My last years dues & fines were about $30. I forget how many years you need to have before you do not need to pay dues and fines. It may be 20. I guess that's how we get our food and drink subsidized. We also have to buy our own Class A uniform in our Company. The things we do for love ehhh?

Figured there had to be something like that going on. Roads were blocked and baracades up around the Roosevelt hotel. Tent around the door, lots of black SUV's -- and an FDNY ambulance.