Bnechis

Seth, you comment constently about how wonderful all the new rigs in Westchester are and how well they will serve the communitiies of Westchester. At the same time you moved away because of the high cost to live in Westchester. Part of the problem is every 1 square mile in Westchester keeps buying more fire apparatus than it can staff. Westchester has 135 fire stations, 200 engine companies, 74 ladder companies, 37 rescue companies and at least 150 fire chiefs cars. The total replacement cost is estimated at $981,680,000.00 The average number of response is under 600 fire runs per year per dept. and each dept. has at least 3 rigs to handle those 600 runs (some as many as 15). Now add EMS, PD, DPWs, Parks and the Schools and thats why our taxes are #1 in the country. I was going to say: Seth you can't have it both ways. But the real issue is Westchester can't have it both ways.

How were they "entrapped"? If they were just behind the door it sounds more like they discovered the fire and was attempting to get out when they were overcome.

Makes it harder to id after you cut off other cars causing MVA's.

Sounds like the job discription for the logistics officer or at a minimum a county battalion chief (even if thats the wrong title for them).

Nope, materials cost the same and same amount of labor to install.

Cause it looks cool that they can only see us at night. And looking cool is the most important feature in a response vehicle.

ALERTS TERROR THREATS IN 2011 EUROPE The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada. The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's Get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years. The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides." The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose." Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels. The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy. Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far, no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level. John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person.

Mt Vernon and Niagra Falls. The 5 are considered counties within the state for emergency managment planning & response and meet with SEMO & the counties within each SEMO Region. My understanding is every city in the state was given the option to opt in or be covered by the county and this was locked in at the time.

No not in NYS. Standards_426_New1.pdf Note: thats the minimum for career for the last 30 years, but for the last 25 we have generally done 2-3x the minimum

No, but for the last 30 years they would call someone in if needed. Yes in downtown and we gained access to them. But what about the other 90% of our city and the county? They do not need to be on 24/7 but with 100's of drivers one would think they could get 1 to come out in the middle of the night. The county airport plan calls for them, to move none injured or very minor injured, but if DES can't get them, so much for the plan. We already pay (and more than allentown, who can get them). NYS lists each county and 5 cities (plus NYC) in the state as having a legal obligation to do emergency planning. An additional number of towns in Westchester (about 5) also do planning. That leaves about 1/2 the county relying on the County do its emergency planning. And the county planning in the past has always included the County Beeline busses as a resource.

How old do you think I am? There are no age restriction on drinks once you hit 21.........

You are correct its a balance, now the best way to protect the members is to ensure they have proper training, but we all know many VFD's that do not and part of the reason is the chief wants to get re-elected and the members may not support him if he mandates too much. So how is he protecting his community or his personnel? The scales are set to tip in favor of the chief and against the community and ultimatly the members. See the above example. Also backing efforts to reduce minimum standards, both legislative and NFPA are very well documented. "Mixed results" is a major understatement. I have seen many reports showing anywhere from a 20%-45% drop in the number of volunteers (locally, regionally, statewide and nationally) and since that has happened many millions have been spent to stop this slide, but the numbers continue to drop. Its clearly not working in most places. Are there a few exceptions....YES. But 25,000 depts are having trouble and 25 or even 250 its working for is not a real example of success. If this were true, then why are incentives needed? Clearly they are being offered because of a lack of committment. How can that be proven? If you stop providing the investment, will these "dedicated" members quit? I have asked a number of companies that provide LOSAP services to show any study that provides it helps retain members. None are able to produce such documentation (BTW I was officially asking as part of a study team for a community that was interested in purchasing their services). I am not saying that members should not be rewarded for service (if the community wants to). But how many of these programs were approved because of the line: "If we dont do this we will have to pay career ff's and that will cost more"? 1) with LOSAP, if the dept is no longer meeting its community responsability, it still gets to pay its LOSAP bill for past retention (that did not work) as its paying for other alternatives. 2) What are the depts responsabilities? Minimum training, Minimum staffing, Response time.......etc. I would also include reducing insurance premiums, by proving you can do the job you claim to be doing (39,000 of the 44,000 depts in America scored below a 60% on an open book test).

Hey Jr. is that a 6 pack of Pepsi?

There are many flycar medics in Westchester who would be happy with any ambulance arriving within 20 minutes of their onscene time.

Great Pic

Guy, How dare you use the facts to prove your point. Well done!

There is a big difference between a union and a VFD "protecting" their members. The Fire Department and its leadership have a financial responsability (among other responsabilities). The Fire Chief's first responsability is to the community that he swore to protect. At times that may include defending the member, but at other times the defense of the FD is in direct conflict with the defense of the member and if the Chief is true to his oath, then he must defend the dept. This is were the unions responsability to protect the member comes in. The Mission of the FD and the mission of the union are different. Every FD mission statement that I've seen talks about protecting and serving the community. The unions mission statement is protecting and serving the members. Often that includes fighting to improve the service provided to the community, but it is not the primary mission. If the VFD leadership supports a member over the community they serve, that would be irresponsable and it happens all the time. The Fire Dept. is bigger than its members and needs to be if it is to survive. And if the money does not increase the ranks is it still ok to keep spending it year after year? At what point is it a bad investment?

In the 1800's New Rochelle was protected by 3 Fire Departments. This is one of them. Care to guess? Hint Thats an armory in the background, but its not on Main Street.

Really modern, but consider it was replaced 45 years ago and the replacement no longer cuts it. Consider that old house when built the NRFD did 150 runs per year with horse drawn rigs. Today we run 8,000-9,000 per year Good catch. I cant find any info on it.

Unless you are retired or have your PhD in technobullshit its not comprehendable.

Wow...then that video proves that ICS does not work....alert helecopter.

Thats great, how many are interior certified/

What happens if the driver on the right and the one on the left dont agree on which way to go? It wont work in Westchester for rehab. Our EMS crews requested a Bee Line bus for rehab at the Main Street Church fire last week and the answer was DOT can not provide a bus till 6am.

Care to explain this.

Final Morning at Station #1. After this photo was taken the company moved to the new station #1 on Harrison Street. The building was torn down to build the original Mall Parking Garage. 1966-1967 The last photo is from the Dominick Bruzzese collection