Bnechis

No change. It is no longer used as a BLS Flycar. 1st due engine goes on all calls now.

Most of the concepts in emergency managment planning revolve around what is known as "all hazard plans". we start with a hazard assessment, which ranks all potential hazards, the likelyhood of occurance and the potential severity. We make sure that the most like events and the most disasterious events are planned for 1st. But the all hazard concept, covers even disasters we dont plan for, because most of the concepts are the same. You say we don't respond to monsoons so we don't need to plan for them, yes technically we don't get "monsoons" but we do get enough rain that the same effects are there. Wrong. Can plans get hyjacked and flown into buildings? 10 years ago many would say no, but the concept of a fire in a highrise and even a plane into a building are all part of all hazard planning. Thanks Chris Thats "all hazard planning". Some or all of these items would be needed during almost every major emergency. The motto has always been: "Failing to plan is planning to fail" It is very clear that most communities have not done the planning needed to protect itself, even for minor emergencies. While we may have more than some 3rd world countries, have you ever watched the news. We prove how unprepared we are with almost every minor incident. We have local communites that page EMS for 45 minutes for a single ambulance. Need 6-10 fire depts. for a bedroom fire. And whats needed for a major emergency? We have a number of methods, but they are less effective than you make out. You can only text, e-mail those who have pre-registered (less than 3% of the population). VOIP phones are generally not on the 9-1-1 / reverse 9-1-1 system. Cell phones are also "off" the alert system. The rest rely on people being "on" during the emergency. We have never been able to do it before. FEMA always told us 48-72 hours was needed to mobilize resources, then after Katrina they changed it to 72-96 hours as the minimum.

The U.S. East coast does have a history earthquakes and unlike the west coast we have no sismic building codes. NY Earthquakes About 20 years ago FEMA was commenting that the east coast was due for a major quake and if its epicenter was near Boston, that due to the masonary "ordinary" construction Boston could see 60-80% of its buildings with very sever damage or distroyed. SO yes earthquake is a major threat, but what about a tsunami? You are correct that an earthquake generated tsunami on the US East Coast is unlikely. But, a mega tsunami trigered by a volcanic event in the canary islands and the shearing off of half the volcano will cause a 200 foot high wall of water to strike the entire eastern seaboard. Canary Islands and CNN Warning

Your score is 50/50......You can't blame the unions for what we have is correct, but the reason you can't blame them is the unions did not ask for the current system. The conference of mayors asked the state legislature to force it on us so that each town would not need to run its own system. It was sold as a major cost savings to the community....... Same with disability pensions, the local governments asked the state government to set it up, because it was in the best interest of the public. We had pensions long before the state pension system. Infact we still are paying out of our city pension to the last few widows who are left on the old system. Can you please tell me how I can get this free healthcare for life. For the last 27 or 28 years everyone hired on my job gets to pay into our healthcare for life. I had a 401K in private industry and I traded that in for a 50% pay cut and a good pension. Now the politicians dont like the deal that they came up with and are convincing the public (including you) that we get to much and its all the unions fault. Yes lets break tradition, pay us from the start based on our risk. A ff with 2 years on the job has the same risk as one with 15 years but gets paid 1/2...Lets break that tradition.

You are assuming that it was the manufacturers fault. If it was they will be required to pay. If it was wrong in the spec then it will be FDNY's fault and they will be responsabile for the cost. Either way, someone from FDNY inspected the vehicle at the factory and accepted the unit, it would have been fixed prior to leaving if FDNY had found the issue when it inspected the vehicle.

Right now the private sector is down, but when it was up, would you think its ok to deal with that level of "out of balance"?

In the 1930's we lived in a greater economic crisis and when those looked to the past they new that we won the "war to end all wars" (WWI) nothing to worry about, no more wars. Just because you do not see a threat, does not mean its not lerking around the next corner.

Is that 70 billion just what the FEDs put in to education? I think if you add the state aid and every school districts local tax leve, you will find we spend a tad more. Defense $$ is primarily just the federal cost and local $$ does not get added to that figure.

In NYS they all are.

And how is this any different from domestic spending?

The crime rate in some areas of Westchester is(or was) greater than the areas of NYC I mentioned. And a county dept in Westchester would not have the right stuff if it was properly sized? Since police patrol, the number of stations does not have a major affect on response times. How does more precincts benifit other than it might save a mile or 2 drive. The costs are stagering and how often does the public go to the stations? The playland "precinct" is really a substation and I think other than in name is not really a "precinct". You are correct that depts could merge stations, the question is what is the right number? Did you know that New Rochelle Police HQ is closer to parts of Larchmont, Town & Village of Mamaroneck, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Mt. Vernon, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe and a very small portion of Scarsdale and Yonkers than to parts of New Rochelle? That would indicate that since it covers 100% of New Rochelle, the distance could cover much more (I do not think it would be physically large enogh or so configured to cover all of that area). Now the northern most 50 streets in New Rochelle are actually closer to White Plains PD HQ than to NRPD HQ. What is the right size coverage area for a police precicnt? I don't know what if any formula is use (I know fire & EMS ones and I would think PD's are normally larger because they patrol vs. respond from the staation). Based on the 1/2 way point between NRPD & WPPD I worked out a precinct radius of 3.75 miles. Based on that a single police dept in Westchester would need about 12 precincts. Nassau County has 8 (plus some local PDs) and they cover an area that is 25% smaller (433 vs. 287 sq miles). So I figure my quick #'s are not far off. Lets see that a reduction of about 60% from the current number of stations. Cutting the cost of maintenance, insurance, staffing, replacement, etc. can we reduce our taxes, while improving capabilities, i would think so. Someone with a backround in police deployment will be better suited to do this than I, but with just a few minutes work, I think I have shown it is possible.

Why? If this was true, Harlem, Bed Sty, the South Bronx, etc. would need there own police, not NYPD.

It is very possible. Politicians are very quick to claim it will save, but 1st one needs to look at the service delivery levels. If dept. A and Dept B are both undermanned, together they may not be or they may still be undermanned. Their are a number of tools available to study this and determine service levels. Once thats done, the personnel needs to meet those service levels are calculated. The main cost savings come from reduction in duplication in support functions (payroll, HR, training, etc.) and if the districts are contiguous potentially fewer patrols are needed, because one unit maybe able to cover both sides of the previous boarder (that needed 2 before). Also fewer special services maybe needed, i.e 2 swat teams wont be needed, but maybe a few extra officers on 1 team.

The difference, is the pension bill must be paid annually (with occasional 1 year extension) and since it is up to date, if the member leaves, is fired or the dept is disbanded, no additional costs are incurred (as long as no disability claim exists). The LOSAP programs have been traditionally underfunded (the NYS Comptroller around 2000 reported that in some cases massivly underfunded) this may require continued costs to the dept/municipality even after the member is no longer participating in the FD (particularly if they complete the minimum service time). The real issue out there is politicians have heard the call to "cut my taxes" and have promised to do so. No one has asked what the effects will be. I can cut the FD budget and that will reduce the tax, but the effect is we will provide less service and the property owners insurance will go up 10 times more than the tax reduction. Another example that was on the news this evening, to save money the state is cutting the funding to the 192 year old school for the deaf in Greenburgh. the 180 students will be sent back to there home school district. Each of those school districts by state law will have to provide an interpreter for each student for the school year, thats 180 employees. Will this reduce the state budget? Yes. Will it raise or lower the total tax burden on New Yorkers? Very true, but how many FD's (or other gov.) actually take advantage of this and do things that they know would be unpopular, but because the voters are not looking figure they can get away with it. Even if the voters do not like what a fire district is doing, with only 1 board member per year up for election, you need to get multiple candidates over multiple years to change the board. It is designed to maintain the status quo

Yes there are jobs that need to be done, but if you do not have enough interior firefighters, you might as well not even bother to respond because all your doing is being a spectator. If you look at most career incidents about 80% of the firefighters are inside. The few exterior people include the IC, safety officer, pump operator(s), FAST and those waiting to go back in. Out of 20-30 members on-scene thats about 5 members plus FAST. This is a very real difference from most of the scenes I've been to in volunteer communities, where crowed control on the front lawn is needed. This is only partially true. If you "show up" without OFPC certs they will turn you away. You can and I have applied for equivalance certs from OFPC where you must provide them with course outlines and instructor qualifications prior to showing up. Again the law is clear that its the depts responsability and OFPC can not legally complete the training your dept needs to meet the law.

Nice concept, except firefighters asssigned to desk duty fall into 1 of 2 catagories: 1) Members working in training, Safety, Special Operations, Development, Codes, OEM, etc. and must maintain their interior status. And they respond to working incidence and are assigned as needed, including to interior operations. 2) members who are on "light duty" because they are recovering from an injury or medical problem. THese memebrs are expected to either recover and go back to the line or retire (due to the medical problem) and are awaiting a determination from the pension doctors. In either case it would be illegal to pay them differently unless the union contract allowed for it, which is highly unlikely. In fact many of those positions require additional training/certification, which may mean an increase in pay. Which incourages members to compete for those positions.

"Interior" and "exterior" are not considered protected classes by the courts. So in effect you can legal treat them different and its not considered discrimination. The following characteristics are considered "Protected Classes" and persons cannot be discriminated against based on these characteristics: Race - Federal: Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 Color - Federal: Civil Rights Act of 1964 Religion - Federal: Civil Rights Act of 1964 National origin - Federal: Civil Rights Act of 1964 Age (40 and over) - Federal: Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 Sex - Federal: Equal Pay Act of 1963 & Civil Rights Act of 1964 Familial status (Housing, cannot discriminate for having children, exception for senior housing) Sexual orientation (in some jurisdictions and not in others) 2002: New York: The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) Gender identity (in some jurisdictions and not in others) Disability status - Federal: Vocational Rehabilitation and Other Rehabilitation Services of 1973 & Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Veteran status - Federal Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 Genetic information - Federal: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Under Labor Law the department is required to provide the training and certification. The state and/or county is not required to provide any training (unless its for their employees). The law has been in effect for 30 years. And the courts will pay attention to this since it is NYS Law. Training and education. 1910.156©(1) The employer shall provide training and education for all fire brigade members commensurate with those duties and functions that fire brigade members are expected to perform. Such training and education shall be provided to fire brigade members before they perform fire brigade emergency activities. Fire brigade leaders and training instructors shall be provided with training and education which is more comprehensive than that provided to the general membership of the fire brigade. 1910.156©(2) The employer shall assure that training and education is conducted frequently enough to assure that each member of the fire brigade is able to perform the member's assigned duties and functions satisfactorily and in a safe manner so as not to endanger fire brigade members or other employees. All fire brigade members shall be provided with training at least annually. In addition, fire brigade members who are expected to perform interior structural fire fighting shall be provided with an education session or training at least quarterly.

The only problem with finding (and paying for) new incentives is the LOSAP program, once adopted must payout at the end and even if the dept went 100% paid because of no volunteers, money will still need to be spent on past "earnings". The LOSAP program was designed as a shop up today and we will pay you later system. Yes the taxpayers foot the bill, but that does not mean they decide on anything. There are many studies in NYS (By the Comptroller & by the commission on governmental efficiencies) that have shown that very few members of the general public, vote in Fire District Elections or on budget and other items. In municipal depts, there is almost no comment by the general public about the FD. In Westchester their are FD's that have ignored the will of the voters on more than one occasion (particularly when spending large amounts of money).

About 60. Over 1,000 calls in 48 hours. During April 2007 storm.

April 1885 Relief Engine Company NRFD Medal Photo Credit John Maguire 1980's L13, This unit was on loan from FDNY (NYC)Seagrave 100' rear mount. Note: the "phone" booth on the right side. NYC needed it for extra seating. This unit was used in a commercial for "responding to freezer burn" and the vehicle was painted blue. Photo Credit John Maguire 1962 Maxim 100' Tiller L-12 Photo from the colection of John Maguire

John Maguire "The Midnight Voice of KEF-934" Just sent me the following pictures: 1908 Enterprise Hook & Ladder on Main St opp Maple Ave Engine 6 Coopers Corner (North Ave near Mill Road) Huguenot Engine - Lawton Street (this station burned to the ground around 1880) Marchers include: Lt Edgar Hall, Edward Neuman, Louis Gerard, Joe Frozoa Relief Engine Co about to start for Hudson Parade, June 22, 1911. Infront of Fire HQ on Church st. Note the awnings over the chiefs windows. April 1914 Engine 3 North & Eastchester

The written tests in NYS (except NYC) are written by NYS Civil Service, so they should be very similar.

Does freedom of speech cover arson? Granted there are ways to burn a flag that is not Arson (by definition).

Dear Governor, Remember that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. "We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers salaries and take away their right to strike." - Adolf Hitler, May 2, 1933

I've gotten conflicting reports, but looks like 96 hours per week, also heard 6 "days" on 1 off. but do not know how long a day was.