firefighter36

HRPC was its own little city back then. They had a public sfaety dept. that did double duty as security and fire protection. Not sure about staffing. The ladder raises, rotates, and extends, and was pretty sturdy when I climbed it. Everything runs, justs needs some minor astethic upgrades and it will be good to go. I beleive it sat out at the tree farm in Pleasant Valley in a barn for a number of years before the latest restoration.

Oil prices are very reactive to the value of the US Dollar, and right now, our money doesn't stand up to the rest of the world like it has before. Strengthen our economy, and encourage people to be a bit more responsible in their travels and with vehicles purchases, and I think you'll see things rebound. Inflation, gas prices, etc. are all cyclical. Lets not forget that for years people have been economically irresponsible getting themselves into HUGE debt that they may not be able to get themselves out of. Now we are paying for it a bit.

This is a shining example of how manager-types micro-manage their employees. Hiring a PI? That is out of control. What is the return on the money they pay out to a PI vs. the "Lost Productivity" of employees using the bathroom? I can understand if employees are grossly derelict in their duties, but when is enough enough? I can't understand for the life of me why politicians and the public alike cannot get over the bit of downtime public employees get in their shifts (albeit some more than others.) Talk to any HR person in Corporate America, and they'll inform you that it is a proven fact that there is a standard 40% productivity loss with employees, because of the internet, email, etc. Just my .02.

I feel that staffing a rig with one firefighter is simply unacceptable. There should be no less than 3 (if not 4) on all fire apparatus- regardless of status (career or volunteer) Just so, in my ideal world, there would also be 2 officers per patrol car for Law Enforcement. Of course, we are limited by budgets, egoes, and the like. CPAGE, thanks for enlightening us about the training in NJ. I think that a lot of camaraderie could be fostered through training like that, especially for the recruit class. It is unfortunate that you don't see that in NY except at outreach classes or update classes. It always seems that Complacency and Agendas of political organizations keep training from being truly standardized in NY. There is a lot to be done at a scene when we first arrive. It seems to me that the manager-types in the village/ town/ city halls, as well, as the public simply want to see a fire truck show up to keep the numbers game in check. Bean counting doesn't fight fires or improve the safety of residents. It provides a mythical sense of security to otherwise oblivious taxpayers who may have no understanding and my over-estimate the abilities of their fire protection. I have a lot of respect for the brothers who have to go it alone, as they have to be the go-to firefighters at any scene. Keep up the good work, and don't be afraid to call for immediate back-up. And more importantly, if people talk trash, don't tolerate it, we know the job you guys do. Keep the faith, and remember, we are all in this together. It was mentioned in a previous thread that we have garbage trucks staffed with more members than fire equipment.....

It is a shame to see what Poplar Street in New Haven became. My family extended family used to live there, and over the years, it has gotten progressively worse. I remember watching from my great-aunt's front porch as a bank robber made his big escape on a bike one day. He was promptly arrested in the everybody's food market parking lot. Great work by the brothers from NHFD and AMR!

Troop 401 East Haven, CT 2000

The ladder truck was actually stored in a butler building in Pleasant Valley, NY. Bilmar Nursuries. Seth, I think you have photos from the Christmas tree farm there. The owner of that farm has 2 barns full of vintage rigs, along with boneyards scattered throughout his property. He purchased all of the HRPC rigs from Fairview when they were sold/surplussed.

Believe it or not, we still get a calls on our house phone for your station about once a month.

Congrats and Good Luck!

Over the past few years, I have noticed that my department's response times have been extended by as much as 4 minutes from the time of the initial call until the first arrival on scene. This doesn't have to do with staffung, or where we are responding to, but rather the way in which we are dispatched. Up here in Dutchess, we have a county dispatch center, who take calls and dispatch appropriate resources. The old computer system triggered a station pre-alert and printed a run ticket as soon as the alarm was initially entered by the dispatcher. The call was then toned out over the radio (by priority if there were multiple alarms holding.) We have pagers, plectrons in the station, portable radios, etc. My concern is, with the New World Systems Software that Dutchess is now using, there is no pre-alert, and it seems as though there are no plans to engineer a new one. From reading run rickets when I am on duty, I see that there can be as much as a 2-5 minute delay between when the alarm is entered by the call taker and notification of the alarm from the 911 center. We have no problem making it from the station to the scene in under 6 minutes at our time of dispatch, but we lose a very valuable couple of minutes off the front end of the call. Furthermore, I discussed this with a member of our county Fire Advisory Board, who explained to me that the pagers at their fire company go off the same time whether they are at home or at a meeting. There wasn't much understanding of the delay between the initial call and the initial dispatch, since this person's station is not manned 24/7, nor do they have a computer link to DC-911. I know that every county has a different system, and even different departments have different equipment. What does everyone's station have? Do any other departments have any kind of pre-alerting system? What is your department's average time between Initial call and Dispatch of the run? More importantly, what does everyone think of the time we lose not having such a system anymore?

Got the explanation about this that I was looking for. Thank you. EMTBravo, can we close this topic?

At the Hudson River State Hospital fire, IC continuously re-fueled the rigs that were in operation. As I recall, Arlington FD sent their mechanic and his assistant to the scene with a fuel truck. The vehicle was basically a utility body on a pick-up with a diesel tank and pump on board. It worked great. We were there for a number of days and no vehicle came close to running out of fuel.

I actually missed the demo, just tried the bunkers out of the need to have properly fitting boots!

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Brothers in Scranton and his family. Lets hope the LODDs slow down this year. This many in 6 days is simply unacceptable.

I use the Haix Firewalker Bunker boots, and am in the process of purchasing a pair of the air power 6" station boots w/Gore Tex liner. I like these boots alot. I previously had Warrington Station boots and Bunker boots. I have flat feet, with no arch whatsoever, and Haix was able to get an extra wide boot with an insole that took the arch out. Another person on my job conversely has extra narrow feet and a higher arch, and he too was able to get a pair of duty boots and bunker boots from Haix with the necessary insoles to fit his feet right. Previously, I had to break in Warringtons over 3-6 months and hope they would fit right, which, they ultimately didn't fit to the full potential of the boot. Also, Haix's soles have never frozen on me in foul weather, which Warringtons did routinely. Bascially, it was like wearing a pair of ice skates out on runs. I highly recommend the Hiax boots, and if you have any special fitting concerns, see a salesman and they can usually address fit issues quickly.

Also, be sure to do a lot of cardio workouts, and light weight training with dumbbells. Do your workouts with high intensity for about 15 minutes or so if you can handle it, to simulate how much strength you will need for the actual CPAT (10:20). Also, I worked my way up to using about an extra 20 lbs of vests, so by the time I got on the stair master at the actual CPAT in Meriden and it was like nothing.

To the family of Lt. Martinson, the Brothers from E-249, our thoughts are prayers are with you.

I have worn the following sets of gear: 1. Cairns PBI (Tan with green striping) with a heavy liner- not bad, not great. It was my first set issued for my vol. training class. 2. Globe PBI (Tan w/ Green NYC Striping) from my old Vol. Dept. in CT- Good stuff, light liner, and fit nice, the cut could have been better. 3. Globe GX-7, (Black w/ NYC Striping) when I got hired at my current job. This stuff was best described like above- Carhartt with Tin Foil Liner. Heavy, bad cut, and no waist support, so your back always hurt from suspenders. The coat didn't fit well with an air pack on, which meant the shoulders took a beating. 4. Globe G-Extreme (Black w/ NYC Striping)- Advance with a very light liner- awesome stuff. Also does not require suspenders, which I find to be a great advantage. I am satisfied with it. Had an issue with the liner, but it was repaired promptly. Helmets 1. Bullard Metro (bed-pan)- uncomfortable, rode high, and that stupid fold down face shield that made it look more like a welding mask than helmet. Junk. 2. Cairns Metro w/ goggles- hands down the most comfortable helmet ever, a low ride, low profile, and extremely light. Looks like you have a salad bowl on your head, but that is the price you pay for safety and superior protection. 3. Morning Pride/ Ben 2- Heavy and bulky, but it was a good helmet. Wore it to the fire academy and the first 2 yrs. on the job. Currently my spare. 4. Bullard New Yorker- I know, its not leather, which means its way lighter! And it fits me better than a Cairns 1010. Been using this almost 3 yrs, and can't complain one bit about it. Practical, economical, and reliable. As for gear color- I can care less, whatever provides highest visibility and best protection works fine for me. People cry tradition (FFD941 is a self-proclaimed tradition hater though!) I suggest that each dept. gets what suits their call type the best, but if we did that, I'd be in Morning Pride EMS gear or ARFF gear at helicopter landings (that stuff must be awesome for night time visibility!) Bottom line- use what fits best, and what works best for the application. Be practical, the more bells and whistles, the more problems you tend to have. My only real complaints are that my outside harness seems to wear at the shell, but I have seen internal ones do more damage to liners. More importantly get the gear that is going to provide maximum visibility and give you the best chance at safety when you're on the street. Tan and Orange striping sticks out like a sore thumb. The traditional black/green, though sharp looking, is like urban camo, and as such you may not be as visible. Everything has the plus and minus. Add it up and get what best suits your department's response and scope of work.

AFD, wouldn't one of those company owned stations you referred to also have an annex with a club house, and soon, a pool? If so, where are the priorities? While I am not opposed to a social organization having a clubhouse, annex, etc. How does this look to taxpayers, considering one could reason that tax money derived from "renting the firehouse" could be used for such construction endeavors?

ALS, I believe that departments that employ less than 5 career members do not need to send firefighters to the academy for the 229 certificate, thus they wouldn't need the CPAT (a requirement for the 229), and would only have to meet requirements for the job title via civil service.

Cheers Fellas! Here is to the coolest job ever!

There are two departments in Dutchess that employ day-time firefighters. New Hackensack and Pleasant Valley. Work hours are Monday-Friday day time. After that, volunteer members handle calls. These career firefighters do the same station duties as "housemen" in addition to responding to calls. I don't understand why comissioners feel they need to circumvent civil service or not truely call the person they are paying to do the duties of a firefighter a firefighter. Just boggles my mind.

I know this happens alot on Long Island. Mechanics, Secretaries, Janitors, Etc. All stop doing their jobs when a call is recieved. What are the qualifications to apply for or be hired in one of these positions? Are fire or EMS certifcations taken into account? If so, what does that have to do with the ability to fill the job description of the above titles? Is having a Janitor or Mechanic a way to keep pride and egoes intact at a department that proudly proclaims themselves to be "100% Volunteer?" Employees- do you work one of these jobs? What is your input? Do you have SUFFICIENT, QUALIFIED manpower on daytime calls if you respond? Or are you on your own? What is your compensation package? (Pay, Benefits, Retirement?) We all read the Expose on Long Island, and we see the whole state being affected because of irresponsible spending. (GASB45, etc.) Comissioners- what is your rationale behind employing for such a position? Is it to prevent a tax hike? Financial hardship? What is the bottom line? or is it to make sure there is money for SCUBA Training in the Bahamas, Race Teams, New Rigs, Huge Firehalls, etc.? I guess all I want to know is: 1. Is this TRUELY legal? 2. Does it really improve a troubled department's response? I'm not worried about unions, who is paid or volunteer, pride, politics, egoes, etc. All I see here is something that amounts to more fiscal irrespinsibility, just like we discussed in "Paying the Rent." Our responsibility to our taxpayers is to provide the best service for the best price. Are we doing that by hiring for these part time positions?

What is everyone's opinion of this? More importantly, what is Civil Service's opinion of this? Should it be a new thread or is it opening a much bigger can of worms?

Absolutely amazing.... and where did they learn such crafty criminal skills?