Bnechis

Well this appears to be the $1,000,000 questions.....How many responders are available in this part of the district to go to the fire station to get the rig? Now if the plans had accommodations that might attract members to hang out and then it may not matter, but it does not. I asked a family member who lives in the district what they thought and I followed that up with a a call to another member. They both answered the same: No members.....NONE.....Nada..... live in Yorktown south end of town. Now I'm taking them at their word, if this is true, how much fire protecction will this house provide? It means that the 2nd due rig will always beat a rig from this station. Since it will go lights & siren, while any crew going to this house will not. The general opinion is that while YHFD is very strong, it is not strong enough to staff this station and rigs will just sit there. The idea of this station started when the department was much stronger, but like almost every dept. manning is dropping.

We are in the final stag of development and expect to be field testing within a few weeks. I will update as we go. I know from talks with FDNY that so far it appears to be working nicely. Is any new technology trustworthy....not until tested and accepted. SCBA, TIC'c, radio's, motorized apparatus, etc. at one point they were all new technologies. How trusted are tags? Many use them, but do they "account" for anything other than you showed up at the rig at some point in the past. Are you still here? are you dead? did you leave and forget it? was it left on the rig from the last time?

Yes, you can also legally have 1 board with 2 operations that do not work together, but what would be the point of that.

If memory serves, When it was last up for public vote, this point came up and the answer from the commissioners was something along the lines of none, but this will get volunteers from other parts of town to "hang out here". Me Too! If YFD builds this house, can YFD guarentee a response time with apparatus and manpower that is acceptable to its own standards? Since, YFD would still respond they would have no liability, particularly since the voters turn down expansion. This new fire station with an engine, tanker and dive truck will not help anyone if it does not have staffing. If they have outgrown the other fire stations, they need to consider: 1) do they have the right size fleet (that they can staff and operate)? 2) do the existing stations need additions? 3) could they add a bay in Millwood to help handle it? And going back in history, didn't YFD have an engine stationed in Millwood many years ago? With this move and the state mandated tax cap, the tax payers may never allow it. And most can't get a winning team on the field. Firefighters put out fire, not fire stations and rigs The dead horse is any dept that can not put enough interior firefighters onscene in under 10 minutes 24/7/365. As vollunteer numbers drop and career depts face reduction, this will continue to be an issue. Most of the country is already seen the light but we would rather be taxed high and get poor service for it, just so we can be proud of our own little kingdom.

If you are in 2 different fire districts you can consolidate, 2 different villages, or towns you can as well. The only law that prevents consolidation deals with citys and other governments.

Since the voters turned down the bond on this project (twice?) and that was in boom times, then the commissioners said they would just save for a few years and build it without the voters approval, I wonder how the voters will respond, particularly the next time they are asked to buy a rig or anything else?

How are you defining "rough water"? I have no doubt it handles the "rough water" on the lake well, but how about the swells and chop of LI Sound or even more open water? There is a big difference in conditions.

Sure, It is up to the dept to set the minimum standard as long as that standard is equal to or exceeds the state minimum, which is so low that no one should consider it. For career depts. the state law says they must have 229 hours to be interior, but the Westchester minimum standard is 480 hours and FDNY's is longer than that. Many VFD's require FF1 & FFS, but thats more than the OSHA minimum.

Agreed and most legislators 1st goal is to get reelected, so they do many things that do not help us as a state or nation, but what is good for a group. This is not completely acurate. In the communities that had a fire alarm box system, the FD got the call long before the Police dept even existed. This went on since the 1880-90's. PD's check and advise was not common till the 1950's or 60's and then it was because they answered the phone and sent a "Radio Car" out, sometimes with the FD notification but often not. Fast forward to today and Automatic Fire Alarms go from the alarm service to Fire Dispatch and PD often never knows, till we tell them. In my experience the "check and advise" mentality occurs mostly in volunteer communities (this is not a Vol vs career thing, is an FD vs PD thing), as many PD's do not want to "bother the VFD", but does not want career FF's sleeping while they are out on the road. I've heard this issue from all sides in many communities. And sometimes liability is a driving force, but more often the depts ignor the threat and roll the dice. Its changed because of politcial pressure. You are very correct in how we have changed, but its not just the medical calls....we get called for lock ins, lock outs, no heat, no hot water, broken light....etc.....etc......etc.... PD dealing with the "drunk" has been gone in the areas I work for close to 30 years for multiple reasons: 1) Our PD was told they would be put on charges 30 years ago for transporting "patients"...because it cut into the city's billing. 2) I know of a number of cases where PD has transported to either the ambulance building ("to save time") or the ER. I have opened the PD car door in both of those cases and watched the "patient" throw up all over the back of the car (that usually is the last transport for that officer). 3) I do no of legal cases of "drunks" who died sleeping it off in the drunk tank...but they were not drunk, they were medical calls. That usually ends the practice. Its not the legislators who are dialing 9-1-1. We have more than doubled our calls in 25 years. Yes we have created a nanny state, but thats because we are teaching that you do not need to learn to fish, since we will keep giving you a fish. Agreed, but they have a short enough memory, so they do not remember that the cost for not supporting us costs more.

PFD's ambulances are all BLS and they run ALS Engines and Ladder companies.

That would mean "properly" staffed is 6. Since once you lose 1/2 of your 4 man crew, the engine is either out of service or understaffed. Our Mechanic says most of those items like tires need replacement based more on time than milage. Even in a busy system how many miles are we talking about. The engine is not in service more if 1/2 the crew is not with it. If the engine is busy enough tending fires, then you need 2 units with proper staffing, one for fires and one for EMS. And if thats the case, why run a mini attack for EMS calls....get an ambulance and be able to transport.

He also said that Phoenix was not a fire dept that responded to EMS calls, but with 86% of their calls being EMS, they were an EMS agency that sometimes went to fires. If only 14% of the calls were non EMS, take away the service calls, and all the other non fire calls and he was correct you do not need fire trucks in Phoenix. But then one must wonder why do they need to send an engine, truck or ladder tender on every ALS call as they do not put medics on ambulances.

Correct there is no legal requirement to take state classes in NYS. Hazmat ops is legally required, but the law clearly states that the employer (and NYS courts say VFD's are considered employers) must certify the firefighters to the HM ops level or higher. Unless you work for OFPC, they can not certify you. Very well said. Yes PESH sets the rules in NYS, but they are based on OSHA regs. Federal law requires NYS PESH to enforce OSHA or stricter regulations to get funding. For years most NYS PESH regs had a state cover with a zerox copy of the federal registry for the subject behind it. Their are a few exceptions (bailout ropes being one), but most times NYS does not exceed the OSHA reg.

Around here, not commonly. That show up? Not during the daytime, and sometimes not at oher times. See above. Handling two calls at a time is not happening in many depts....actually handling 1 call at a time is not happening in many depts. Does the dept not have enough people to get 2 staffed rigs out? if so its not a dept. its a company and its time to fix it or move on. Yes, daily.

Thats not what he is saying and I think you know it.

Since most depts. do more EMS calls than Fire calls, I suspect this dept. runs about 500 calls per year. If they are keeping an engine for 25 years thats a total of 12,500 calls if it covered all of them without a flycar. Engines used in big citys are designed to handle that in 4-5 years and tend to be dead in 10-12. That means one could double the life of this engine to 50 years. Are we really saving money? We need to buy the flycar and equip it, insure it, maintain it, fuel it and house it. Is it cheaper than the engine yes, but the argument appears to be that it will make the engine last longer. Can we keep a rig longer than 25 years and still meet NFPA? Is it safe? Is it good maintenance practice to run your engine so little? They are designed to get out on the road. Does it make operations sense? Sometimes, depending on the dept.

Brighton votes for fire service changes News Article

When previously proposed MPPD said they would reduce the coverage (I do not know what the $$ was). This maybe why their is no interest.

Its the other way around. Failing to renew means the DOH will no longer pay for your EMS certifications and recertifications.

http://newrochelleny.com/index.aspx?nid=325

Technically the municipality usually is, since they own the building. However if you wait for them, you will have the same run down kitchen on the day you retire as the day you started. Most career fire stations get redon by the members, when lucky the municipality will cover the cost of materials &/or appliances.

Mark is not allowed to play with an Axe or anything sharp, since the incident with running with scissors. It happened a long time ago, everyone knows about it and thats why all your moms told you: "don't be like Mark....walk".

How do you know that the call taker was in the TMC? Do you know that the roll over system means any NYSP answering point can pick up the call? About 2 years ago I was coming back from a meeting with DOH in Troy. I was on the upper section of the Taconic and as I came over the top of a hill and made a panic stop as their was a car vs. deer in the roadway. The spot was blind and I was able to back up on the grass and establish a safe zone (I was in a dept car) by closing the lane and slowing down traffic. The driver was uninjured, and the car could not be moved. I called 911 and as the MALE TROOPER was asking for location info I realized that other than being southbound on the TSP about 20 minutes drive south of I-90, I could not remember any exits & there were no mile markers. The Trooper asked a bunch of questions but that did not help. Then I started to descibe what I could see: On the north bound side there was a scenic overlook and in the median there was a tall stone wall that from all the tire tracks it was clear the the local troopers used it to sit for a speed trap. I told him this and he said, sorry that does not help as he had never worked the TSP and that he was in Tonawanda (near Buffalo).

1) There are no windows in the section of the TMC she works in. 2) While the SP can enter and exit the sprain directly into the TMC. The dispatchers have to get off in Hawthorne and drive about a mile and enter from the "local" street side, so they never "see" the highway from the building. 3) I looked at 2 different maps, one shows the BRP meets the Taconic by the Hawthorne interchange, the other calls that section of BRP between the Kensico Circle and the Hawthorne interchange the Taconic making the intersection at the kensico circle. The location that you were reporting is actually 2 different locations that are 2.6 miles apart.

This week a group of fire service leaders had an interesting round table and the following questions were raised: After the intitial response is onscene of a working fire and the IC beleives he does not need more personnel at that moment: 1) Do the IC's request enough additional personnel to staging to provide timely relief if needed (or to handle a change in the situation or tactics)? 2) How is the above question change if you have additional companies available inhouse vs. having to call mutual aid? 3) Do firefighters, company officers and even IC's avoid putting the staged resources to work, because "we can hamdle it without them"? Do we consider giving our troops a break by using those staged or is it more important to release them (particularly if they are mutual aid). 4) If IC's do not request enough personnel, does this come to light during critiques or post incident reports? Do members or in the case of a career dept. the union complain about this? 5) Now lets move on to what is the purpose of Mutual Aid move up to cover the vacant station? Would it be better to move them to staging as the potential for use at the scene (particularly if a mayday occurs) is far greater than the potential of a 2nd incident in the community (particularly in a smaller community)? 6) If you are using mutual aid to move up to cover your station, who is covering the units moved up? I find this particularly interesting when FD A has a fire and FD B moves its only ladder into A's station, but not B's area has no ladder. I expect the answer will vary based on the size of the dept and by the staffing. VFD's and career depts may also have slightly different answers, but I encourage all to participate.