Bnechis

We also have a camera. The sensors were a trial to see if it should replace the back-stop unit which did not fit this bumper.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20121209/NEWS02/312090095/No-joke-Rabbi-Con-Ed-worker-get-stuck-bucket-truck?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1 NEW ROCHELLE — While the ancient Jews were running low on oil, it’s safe to say they didn’t encounter this kind of trouble lighting their menorah. A rabbi and a Con Ed worker were stranded in a bucket truck Sunday night about 20 feet in the air as they attempted to light an oversized electric menorah.

Seperate fill sites like that is a great way to handle it (better way would be to standardize the tanker fleet, but we all know thats not happening anytime soon here). I also like the idea of them nursing, refill and standby. But its not just unloading at the same rate that is at issue. If a 2,000 gallon tanker and an 8,000 gallon tanker offload at 1,000gpm (average) then the smaller tanker will have to wait till 6 minutes before it can unload and get more water. Once portable tank ops start you need at least 3 tanks (5 is much better) to maintain 750-1,000gpm flows. Then you dump in the closest one to the attack/supply engine and when its full move the tanker to another tank. Ideally you need more portable tank capacity (per tank)than your primary tanker size; i.e. if you run 2,000 gallon tankers then 2.500 tanks are a good choice (since you may not be on level ground and because there is always some water left when you switch to other tanks.

The exemption does not include tractor trailers. Inexperienced drivers/operators and miscommunication are the biggest problems during shuttles, but what consistintly slows down shuttles (with well trained crews and good communications) is tankers that load and unload at different rates. Since the rate changes as the tan fills and empties what commonly happens is you flow has slowwed to a point its better to move out and let the next tanker in, but that means you are not fully filling or empty and you are hauling extra water back and forth that will not be used for firefighting. The other problems with the tractor trailor is its much harder to turn around and/or back up and finally because of its length it may prevent other tankers from dumping until it is moved away. These tankers are very useful as a nurse tender, where they are not trying to shuttle.

I strongly agree that they are needed, my point was that we are willing to strip a region when needed. If its a "necessary resource" then maybe we need to do a better job of preplanning. The minimum fireflow requirement under NFPA is 500gpm. To maintain this (or higher) you need at least 4 and possible as many as 8 tankers (depending on travel distance to fill sites and the calculated gpm of each tanker). Since thats all the tankers available on either the No. East or No. West every working fire will require stripping. As a side note: we have 4x the number of engines needed in those areas and we never strip all of them. Could it be we do not have enough tankers? I agree with almost everything you said, except you really cant compensate with backfilling, since there are not enough to begine with, so backfilling just means you have stripped another area of its 1st due water supply.

Its a Ferrarra

I don't know, but maybe feeling that she betrayed the future King is pretty devistating.

The local dept does it on a secure website. It needs to be uploaded to CAD by 60 control

Can you explain this? I am the 1st to point out the problem of duplication in Westchester and the lake of reporting to the public (and even ourselves). But the gov. was advised that the tax cap would not work and would just create massive problems for all local governments, but all he wants is to mae it look like he is fixing everything so that in 2016 he can be the next president.

Andy, I know you are aware of it, but even though it is not required, each volunteer department could adopt it. Could it be standardized? Yes. Could it be done on a county or regional level? Yes Would it chase away volunteers? I do not know, but if you cant dedicate a minimum of 2 hours of training per week (or 8 hours per month) then you are of no use to the fire dept. and maybe chasing those that cant be bothered away is a good thing. Could it be run at DES? Yes, but funding might be an issue. The volunteer service and the communities it protects will continue to suffer until FASNY has a total rethink of what it fights for and against.

Chief Flynn orders pie instead of mutual aid "Batt 1 to Dispatch have the apple pie locate near exposure #1 and report to the CP"

Must be nice to have only one training standard

Its not just the availablity of dispatchers to spit it out. We found that we can not use the airtime to deliver this info. If you can not get it electronicly in the field (or as a rip and run, but that limits you when on the road) the 1st due is trying to radio its size up but cant because we are learning about the building.

1) 60 Control will follow the depts. preplan if it can. Its only 60 Control decision if the IC says: "Get me an engine or get me a truck or even get me a mid mount 95 ft tower ladder". If the IC says get me Mildew Hose companies tower ladder, then thats what 60 will call. 2) While the coordinators will try to avoid stripping part of the county, everytime there is a fire in the northeast or northwest 1/2 the tankers in the county (all in that region) are stripped. 3) If we request all the depts in our region, 60 will contact all the depts in the region. It is up to each dept. to determine (at the time of the request) if they can assist while maintaining home coverage. There are times when depts have to turn down the request because of unit activity, apparatus out of service, staffing, etc.

Their is a standardized inservice program in NYS. It is required for all career ff's. And once again we circle bac to the fact that until there is one standard for all FIRE FIGHTERS we will always have problems. Andy, I know a number that do not even meet the OSHA minimum (remember that the "8" hour does not include all of the requirements).

1) Stop whining 2) In the past LFD has called VMFD both to the scene and to stand-by. Maybe there was a reason they didnt this time. 3) The only one who needs to decide is LFD. Local knowledge is nice, but I'd rather have a dept that I know is properly trained and staffed. If they are going to the scene that the local FD is operating at, how critical is local knowledge and if they are covering the community, in most of Westchester the chance that they will even respond on a call, much less a fire is almost zero. How many fires are occuring each day in any one dept in Westchester?

1) It would more likely just change the bias. 2) Under ICS, the coordinators are "resource officers" and the AHJ is the person with the responsability for those operating at an incident. 3) If a responder or equipment are injured or lost there may be liability that under your concept would switch from the requesting agency to the county.

I would somewhat agree, however I have sat on a number of apparatus committees and I have seen many that were very happy to let the dealer write it for them because; "we only want an XYZ firetruc:. Actually, in NYS the Comptroller puts out many documents that show both fire districts and municipal depts need to be vigilant in this area. Ignorance of the laws has never been a very good defence and the NYS Comptroller audits regularly find improper practices, that may not rise to the level of "bid rigging" but they are advised to change practices or face massive fines. In NYS the only "Fire" class is a basic class for new fire commissioners as to there fiscal responsabilities, There are non FD classes for municiapal purchasing that our purchasing staff go to annuall. this is where most of that training comes from, but its not specific to the fire service (it does not need to be.)

While it maybe underhanded on the part of the business, it is a major failure on the part of depts. to protect the taxpayers and in some cases it borders on bid rigging (which is a crime).

Most times it is because the other vendors believe the spec was written for one manufacturer. It costs thousands for a manufacturer to bid on a new truc and if in reading the spec, it looks like the spec is designed for one brand, why should he waste his time and money. This may not be an intentional thing, there are many hidden lines in every spec. i.e. we had a line that said "the windshield wiber motors would be housed in a curved bump out below the windshield". We changed it to "the windshield wiber motors would be housed in an accessable location" after a vendor pointed out the the curved bump out was American LaFrance code and it ment we did not want other bidders.

They generally only work well in areas that are flat, dont have twisty/windy roads, narrow driveways, etc. They also require a CDL (even in NYS) so its harder to get enough drivers. They are often hard to use in shuttles as the slow them down. They do work well as nurse units

You already know the players and the problems, it is highly unlikely that there is a big hidden issue that could explode on you, particularly in a small dept.. Even if OSHA (PESH) did come in it is technically the "Employeer" which has to make corrections, the employeer is the Board of Fire Commissioners, Board of Ditrectors or the City or Village admin and not the Fire Chief. Volunteer leaders often leave because they have other interests, family pressures, job issues or they have just had enough (I know career chiefs who have retired for the same reasons). Don't over read it.

Just because there is enough pressure to use soft suction does not indicate if they flow enough to meet ISO standards and recieve credit. If they do not flow enough gpm, then the cost of instilation, maintenance and the time wasted by FD to operate them at a fire would be better spent developping alternative sources. If you could find out the GPM, please ask. Thanks

Any idea on the flow available?