res6cue

In the end, I think it's perfectly fine and natural that it comes down to popularity, so long as all parties are QUALIFIED. As I stated earlier, every election in the history of mankind comes down to who likes who the best and who has more support. Volunteer fire depts that do not have strict guidelines and requirements in place, which are fully enforced no matter who they're applied towards, are only asking for trouble. These requirements should not be easy to change either, this way you don't get a chief that changes them on a whim so his buddy can run for office. The foundation for them should be in the company bylaws, which should state that all active members shall comply with the training requirements. The requirements themselves should not be in the bylaws, as they will need updating from time to time as classes change, a clear example being NYS going from Essentials to Basic/Intermediate to Firefighter 1 in less than a decade. If you use the term "or equivalent" to allow some flexibility, it should be spelled out exactly what that means. The best way to deal with "or equivalent" situations is to have a neutral third party make the decision for you, rather than leaving it up to your own officers. An example of that is when we run into a situation like that, we ask the chief county fire instructor to make the call for us. The requirements should be enforced by the board of fire commissioners, not the company. They should review and approve any candidates for office so there is no question as to the qualifications, and the review is objective.

Pretty cool, but it would be nice if it were available on other chassis like Ford or International, as trauma74 said. This certainly looks interesting and unique too, the new Multi Cab design. Aluminum aerial now available in 100' in addition to the 75'.

Just more government scapegoating and window dressing. Maybe they should've never let FEMA get swallowed up by DHS to begin with, they wouldn't be in this situation where they have to act drastically to make the public happy following the Katrina fiasco. There is no such thing as starting over, as they'd have us believe needs to happen. It's just another excuse for the government to line the pockets of "expert consultants" who will spend years trying to figure out how to dismantle FEMA and rebuild the agency under another fancy name in some other section of the government. In the end though, you still need that agency to do the exact same job FEMA does (or, should be doing). Now that they have a director with some actual real world emergency management experience, take FEMA out of DHS like it was and should've remained, and let Paulison clean house. Get rid of the pencil pushing hierarchy and replace them with people that have confirmed, real world experience in disaster management, not just a wall of NFA certificates or college degrees in emergency management. Enough with the appointment of political chronies and hacks. Save that crap for agencies of the government that don't depend on that agency to save lives. I have to say, the more I've listened to Michael Brown, the more I agree with him. Sure, I think he was a big part of the problem and his comments now are nothing more than 20/20 hindsight and/or trying to make himself look like the good guy who was screaming for reform well before Katrina hit, but the man has a point when he says "It sounds like they're just re-creating the wheel and making it look like they're calling for change. If indeed that's all they're doing, they owe more than that to the American public."

All elections are a popularity contest, whether it's for junior engineer in a volunteer fire dept or President of the US. The trick is to have high enough standards and requirements (including perhaps even years of service to attain each position) in place so that even if it does come down to which guy kisses the most a$$, at least he'll be properly qualified. I think maybe some volunteer depts are reluctant to put these into place though, figuring it will discourage members from advancing because they'll have too much training to take. Well, in all honesty, I'd rather have one officer position go vacant than have it filled by a member with 2 years in the dept and only a couple of live burns at the smokehouse under his or her belt. Our dept, while certainly not perfect, has a pretty strict and comprehensive set of guidelines for each position. It has stepping-stone requirements for Probationary Firefighter, Firefighter 1, Firefighter 2, Aerial Operator, Apparatus Operator, Safety Officer, Engineer, Lieutenant, Captain, 2nd Assistant Chief, 1st Assistant Chief and Chief of Department. It's a pretty substantial list, so even if you sat in class all day every day, it would still take you a few years to get through it all. Not to mention you still have to get accepted to Aerial Operator and Apparatus Operator training, which will take at least 2 or 3 years in the dept for Aerial and at least another year for Apparatus. You're talking at least 3 or 4 years in before you can even think about running for the lowest line officer position.

That's absolutely horrible RIP Chris

That's cool and all, but not exactly a new idea. Other manufacturers have had replaceable tips for years. I know our Pierce has about a 2 foot bolt on section, and there is no interference on the rails or rungs as that article suggests the Seagrave system is "unique". Clearly the Seagrave will have a much longer bolt on section than I've ever seen, but still...nothing earth shattering. Still and all, if you manage to do damage to that much of the aerial, whether from heat or structural damage, I don't think I would just bolt on a new section and forget about it. Steel transfers heat and vibration pretty good, so I'd still have the entire device checked over after damage like that.

The warnings are definitely no joke. Hillcrest (Rockland) was toned out for a brush fire this afternoon, homeowner called right back after dispatch to say it was involving the structure and on arrival it was a working structure fire involving at least 50% of the structure. All said and done, the main structure was basically a total loss and there was damage to an adjacent structure and a vehicle. We're only talking a few minutes here too in which it went from a brush fire to a full blown structure.

Civilians I can somewhat understand. With all the flashing lights and mayhem, it's fairly easy (and understandable) for the average joe to get overwhelmed and completely confused. Not to mention most civilians probably don't exactly know that they can't drive over fire hose (even though I do think it's in the DMV manual), so they probably figure "I can drive over my garden hose, so fire hose HAS to be tougher." In any case, it's really all moot points because the imbecile in the video was a first responder of some sort. I just can't get over how completely oblivious and/or ignorant this guy had to be to not only run over the supply line, but cross in front of the attack line and drive, what...10 feet?...in front of a fully engulfed structure. Mind boggling. I probably shouldn't post this, but that sure did remind me of a Hatzolah battle wagon, a very familiar and frequent site in Rockland.

All seriousness aside, that was one of the funniest things I've EVER seen in my life. I can't stop laughing, it's making my stomach hurt. You would almost believe that it was staged if you didn't know better. I mean honestly, can anyone really be THAT stupid??? Wow.

In Rockland County, PD responds to every single EMS and FD call. Now, as far as them actually doing anything once they get there, that usually depends on the individual officer and/or situation. I'm not entirely sure what, if any, minimum standards they're trained to, or if it's even consistent among the county agencies. I would guess they're all trained in at least the most basic CPR and perhaps some first aid, and basic fire safety. The Police Academy is held at the Fire Training Center and is the same for all county agencies...Sheriff, towns and villages...so I would also assume there is consistency as far as training, at least in the very beginning. There are, naturally, quite a few cops in the county that are also volunteer EMS and/or FD, so if one of them responds they're likely to be pretty hands on if the situation dictates. I've had and seen cops around here help lay hose, perform CPR, etc. One thing is for sure though, regardless of whether they actually assist in EMS or FD operations, in today's crazy world it is nice having them around at every scene watching your back.