res6cue

I know, as I was typing it all out I was thinking "man this is getting longwinded and boring, I should just post "Driver" and be done with it". I was also realizing just how many of the terms we use are holdovers from decades and centuries past. It used to be at one time that the head of the fire company might've been the "Foreman" or "Chief Engineer". I suppose the "Engineer" part was shortened to just "Chief" over the years. Which makes it interesting when I think about our dept which has three Chiefs, but still has a Chief Engineer! We also don't have "Deputy" or "Battalion" Chiefs, instead we have "1st Assistant Chief" and "2nd Assistant Chief". Oh wait, hang on...we DO have "Deputy" Chiefs, but they're appointed not elected, and you must be an ex-Chief to hold that rank. This is a fairly recent thing for our dept, although I know some neighboring depts have done it for years (New City comes to mind). A Deputy Chief can assume the authority of Chief of Department in the absence of a line officer. Oh boy, another mouthful. I think I'll stop posting now, I'm out of control!

Maybe it's just me, but what does the Jake Brake have to do with hydroplaning? Skidding, yes...hydroplaning, no. I'd also like to know what year and make the rig he was driving was, as most modern rigs with ABS have the Jake Brake or other retarder system interfaced with a traction control system so that any detected wheel slippage SHOULD disengage the retarder automatically to help prevent skidding. Whatever the case though, I agree...as drivers we DO have a MAJOR responsibility. We're of no value if we can't get ourselves to the scene safely, or safely back to quarters. Our responsibility to protect the public also extends to how we operate on the roads, a fact I think some might lose sight of.

We call ourselves "Drivers" and that's what we're referred to as in the bylaws and SOPs. In our dept, "Engineers" are the six line officer positions below the three Chiefs, the Captain and the two Lieutenants. Actually, the Lt. is also referred to as the "Chief Engineer", the 1st Lt. is the "Assistant Chief Engineer", with the six Engineers below him being the 1st through 6th "Assistant Engineer". "Chauffeurs" are appointed line officers that have little to no authority on the fireground. What it is is that we have too many trucks (8) for the amount of Engineers we have (6), so we have Chauffeurs in charge of them for maintenance/drill night. There are three Chauffeurs, two assigned to the extra trucks and the third a floater who fills in when an Engineer or Chauffeur is absent. Then we have "Flyers", which are non-drivers who are qualified to operate the aerial ladders. Umm, yeah so. We sometimes do refer to ourselves as "Aerial Operator" or "Apparatus Operator", but that's only if we want to sound more official or take ourselves too seriously. Not that we don't take the responsibility seriously! We do, but you get what I mean. We like to keep it real, yo.

Hope you enjoy the day!

Since when does NYS certify people under the age of 18 as EMTs?

Suffern's 19-Tanker and 19-1250 are identical twin 1993 ALF 1250 GPM pumpers and both carry 1000 gallons of water. It's been a few years since I've peeked inside the compartments, but I'm pretty sure they carry the same equipment and are not setup any differently. A few years ago they ran first and second due with one functioning as the attack engine and the other as the hydrant engine. Their new Seagrave 2000/600 engine runs first due now. As I posted earlier, the only requirement for naming a truck "Tanker" in Rockland is that it carry at least 1000 gallons of water. That really doesn't mean much though, at least in so far as most people's traditional views of what a "Tanker" is. There are quite a few engines in Rockland with 1000 gallon tanks, and only two that I know of with more (both Tallman's), and they only have 1250 gallons so it's not much more at all. Our dept has four engines, all with 1000 gallons of water and either a 1500 or 1750 GPM pump. One of the 1500/1000 engines is called "6-Tanker" and it's the first due engine out of our north station. All four of those engines can and do function as attack engines, with three of them first due. The fourth is second due from our south station and has more LDH on it so it can function better as a hydrant engine.

Joe, are you talking about the timestamps on the boards here? If so, go to My Controls, then Board Settings (towards the bottom left). Make sure the correct timezone is selected (GMT - 5:00 hours Eastern Time for most of us) then UNCHECK the "Is daylight saving time in effect?" box. The times should be correct after you do that.

I think what he's trying to suggest is that Seagrave put all their eggs in one basket for many years with FDNY, and it somehow hurt their sales. There may be some truth to that, but Seagrave is still going strong, FDNY or not. As a matter of fact, they seem to be regaining some popularity here in Rockland after a bit of an absence. Three pumpers have either been delivered or are about to be delivered within the past 2 years.

Hey Joe, post whatever pics you have from the Nyack Parade. I'd love to see them all.

Date: 11-02-06 Time: 2250hrs Location: 23 Cosgrove Ave (Johnny C's Auto & Truck Service) X E Railroad Ave Frequency: F1 46.18 & F3 46.48 Units Operating: West Haverstraw (Dept 23), Stony Point (Dept 18), Thiells (Dept 26), Haverstraw (Dept 4) Description Of Incident: Working structure fire in auto repair shop Writer: res6cue 2250 hrs - Dept 23 dispatched for a reported structure fire @ 23 Cosgrove Ave (off E Railroad Ave next to Vol Hose firehouse) 2251 hrs - 23-5 in service 2252 hrs - 44-Control advising 23-5 that PD is reporting heavy smoke showing 2254 hrs - 23-2 on scene establishing 23-Command 2255 hrs - 23-Tower instructed to set up on corner of Cosgrove Ave 2255 hrs - 23-Command advises 44-Control possible working car fire in garage, investigating further 2256 hrs - 23-1501 instructed to wrap hydrant near scene 2256 hrs - 23-2000 instructed to come down Demarest Ave 2258 hrs - 23-Command requesting Dept 18 FAST to scene and Dept 26 pumper to standby @ 23-100 2259 hrs - 26-3 in service 2300 hrs - 23-2000 instructed to hit hydrant, supply 23-Tower, stretch handline to rear of building 2302 hrs - 23-Command reporting confirmed Signal 12 working structure fire, requesting operations be switched to frequency 3 2303 hrs - 18-2 on scene 2303 hrs - 18-EQ in service (FAST) 2305 hrs - 26-5 and 26-Tanker in service to 23-100 2309 hrs - 44-1 in service 2314 hrs - 23-Command requesting 26-Tanker relocate to scene 2315 hrs - 23-Command requesting pumper from Dept 4 to standby @ 23-100 2316 hrs - 4-5 in service 2320 hrs - 4-1500 in service 2326 hrs - 4-1 and 4-1500 standing by @ 23-100 2328 hrs - 23-Command requesting 26-99 to scene 2329 hrs - 26-4 and 26-99 in service

Um, maybe it would help if you actually read the article in the first post and not just the thread title?

Yeah, it's the TFT Extend-A-Gun. We have it on one of our engines. The deck gun sits in a well above the pump panel when stowed, and when deployed it raises 12" to clear the raised roof and hosebed.

They're NOT making the decision, YOU are. They're simply the ones calling over the air to relay your message. By your reasoning, an Incident Commander should never let an aide, an apparatus driver or a subordinate call for or cancel additional resources at a fire scene, nor should anyone but that IC be the voice on the radio. Clearly that's not how it works, however. Interesting that you would include the word "volunteer" here. Perhaps that more than anything else has to do with your reasoning? What if driving the rig was that person's career, not "hobby"?

That's being a little picky. Considering many agencies use point to point simplex portables, I can think of many occasions where the EMT would be inside the house attending to the patient and would direct the driver to "go cancel ALS" using the mobile radio. Nothing wrong with that scenario at all.

The site probably has hotlinking disabled, which is why you couldn't see the images when they were posted with the IMG tags.

Nice to have you aboard Jeff.

The trouble with these is the same as with the faceshields, Bourkes and anything else that doesn't sit flush against your skin: there is a real chance of debris coming up under them or in from the sides. There really is no substitute for either shatter resistant goggles or an SCBA mask.

If you'd like to post your MySpace or Facebook link here so that others can add you, feel free. Otherwise please keep the thread free of extraneous comments. Thanks.

I would think so. A scene can be secured with just one person, especially if it's a small, isolated scene. Obviously the person left behind should have either a radio or cell phone so they can advise someone if the situation escalates. We've had our fire police babysit situations like these in their POVs if we needed to clear for another job.

Well, while I wouldn't advocate taking up from a scene that is still "active", sometimes you have to draw the line somewhere. How long is long enough tying up a truck and manpower babysitting downed wires while waiting for the power company? I don't have the exact answer, there are too many factors. First of all, we've had situations where it was pretty clear that the power company didn't exactly rush out to us because they knew we were there and there was little urgency on their part to respond in a timely manner. Also, maybe these lines were down in a remote area or the road was already closed off with trees down or something. Maybe the PD remained on scene, or told the FD to take up and they'll keep an eye on it. Hard to really say this dept did the right or wrong thing without having all available facts.

Nice helo. I wonder if that's the same model Rockland is looking to purchase.

In Rockland, the term "Tanker" basically refers to any apparatus that has at least 1000 gal. As far as I know, there are only two trucks with more than 1000 gal, Tallman's 20-2000 and 20-Tanker, each with 1250 gal. I can't think of one truck here that has a pump below 1000 GPM with at least 1000 gal of water, so I suppose they're all technically "Engine-Tankers" by whatever standards we're using. Personally, I think it's a bit silly calling an engine with a 1000 gal tank a "Tanker", but that's just me. I would say anything over 1500 or 2000, sure, but 1000 gal seems too common around here for what are otherwise run of the mill engines.

Ask, and ye shall receive... http://www.beaconfd.org/incnews/082806resobt.shtml Direct links to the fullsize pics... http://www.beaconfd.org/images/new5501.jpg http://www.beaconfd.org/images/new5502.jpg http://www.beaconfd.org/images/new5503.jpg http://www.beaconfd.org/images/new5504.jpg

Ah well, the same thing goes on in the real world. Some guys are always trying to pick out everyone else's faults, put their ideas down or just do nothing but negatively criticize. More often than not, these are the same guys who seem content with sitting in the back of the room running their mouths about problems instead of lifting a finger to effect change. Just a follow up, I was contacted tonight by none other than the apparatus chairman himself for Valley Cottage's new ALF. Not surprisingly, he didn't sound too happy that someone would use his truck as a soapbox to complain. He also said he would be happy to answer any questions about the truck, as well as welcome with open arms anyone who wants to come take pics when it comes in (in about 6 months or so). That, my friends, is BROTHERHOOD right there. Kudos to Valley Cottage, a class organization.

@1024x768 resolution: In Firefox 2.0: The pictures are towards the top of the page, but they wind up overlapping the righthand navbar and blocking the text/links somewhat. In IE 6: The pictures are all pushed down past the righthand navbar.