jcoppola

Members, There seems to be somewhat of an outcry by some members about posts being deleted. I think I speak for all moderators when I say that we try to use that very sparingly. And, for the record, I did not delete any of the posts from the thread about too many chiefs at a fire. I tried to offer some useful thoughts and it got carried away. The post deletion tool is used when a poster is not being civil in his words or is attacking another members thoughts. What would happen if we let something like that go out of control? The site and the ideas behind it would be useless because it would be nothing but arguments and ranting, so the moderators try to keep it light and running smoothly. Just understand the intent is to keep the info useful and enlightening and you will be fine. JVC

Well, believe it...I am telling you the honest to God truth. I really don't want to draw any attention to these people so I am done discussing this. They aren't doing anything wrong, as a matter of fact, I wish I could do it. It'd be a lot better than trying to make money teaching. I think the reason you don't see it more is because it is hard enough to get one FD job, let alone 2.

Same...OPENLY. Not hiding it from anyone. How could they?

That happened in CT a few years ago. A member was working a side job while on disability from a FD job. Urban ledgend says that he was found out through the use of a private investigator. He was fired and I think the termination stuck.

We are covered 1 hour before shift start and 1 hour after shift end. Not sure if it is a state thing or not, but at least we are covered in case of an accident commuting.

I know a few personally. It is done all the time. 24 hour shift schedules work wonders. Some departments have no provision to enforce otherwise, mine happens to have it but only for members hired after a certain time, and I don't fall under that rule. Man that would be nice...2 pensions!

Volunteer FD's must carry workman's comp insurance and cover a member injured in the line of duty no matter what their "true" profession is. It gets sticky when that true profession is a career FF. The peer pressure will be worse than trying to get covered. If you have sick time at your job, you use it. If you are willing to take on that chance of getting hurt, thats your own business. We have to remember that this is still the USA and we are afforded many freedoms, one of which is to spend your off time the way you want. What many forget is that many of us IAFF members "bang nails" and do jobs of labor that is protected by unions. What happens if a plumber or builder (who is also a IAFF member) is exposed to asbestos? That can be looked at as maybe line of duty, maybe not. It is a very touchy subject, one that can be debated all day and still not agreed upon. And, how about this one...what about those members who work for more than one career FD? What happens when they come down with a pulmonary illness??? Which job covers that one? This is a can of worms that should be left closed. JVC

Why should we even question it? If a member is on duty, eating, sleeping, firefighting, in-house or off-location, on an extended heart and hypertension leave, on way to work or on way home from work, jabbed with a dirty sharp and passes 5 years later, he/she died in/through the performance of duties, thats it. It is pretty clear-cut the way I see it. If a member dies trying to rescue a person while off duty, the municipality should have the decency to cover them LODD, but we all know what could happen with that. JVC

This may help...the pond is the end of a pretty strong river that goes through Trumbull, ends up in bunnell pond then a small waterfall brings the water to another river bejind wonderland ice rink. It stands to reason that there would be some pretty strong currents in that area. That water is ALWAYS moving, I drive by it every night and day commuting to work. I also agree that there may be time, with the mammalian dive reflex and everything, but it is still a grave situation. Good comments on this thread, I am glad I posted it. Visibility in that water CANNOT be too good, the pond is known to be extremely silty, I would guess no better visibility than a foot or so. The van was in the water for only a few minutes before BFD and BPD got there, Many, many people witnessed the van go into the pond from the parking lot of Beardsley Zoo, near the entrance.

Bridgeport has one of the larger waterfronts in our area. Without having a great deal of knowledge about them, I would surmise that they have as much water rescue training as we in Norwalk have. Although we recently combined our dive team with the Norwalk PD, all of our guys have at least cold water rescue training and our companies have the suits etc. to do that job. Anything bigger would require the dive team and as we all know, that takes a while to assemble. I am not sure about the PD dive team, but I bet they would take a bit of time to assemble too. We all know that the only way these people could have been saved is if the dive team was on scene and ready to go as soon as the car went into the pond. Let there be no question that BFD did everything they could within the scope of their training and equipment. Reports from that day indicated that the car was approximately 20 feet under on arrival, out of the reach of anyone not in scuba gear. Also, it should be noted that Bunnell's Pond has claimed many lives over the years and a few of them were from skaters falling thru thin ice. JVC

That was really good work. Unbelievable how the masonic temple did not get going too. Plus, I think Austin FD had the wind currents working to their advantage, at least while the video was shot. Great post for learning how important exposure protection is! JVC

I agree, less to fuss with on the older style, and less to break on them too. I have worn both and I find the reduced profile skill is easier using the older style, especially when putting it back on after you have gotten through the obstacle. On the positive side, the part that rests on your lower back is more comfortable than the old style, but overall, the older style is more user-friendly and better to use to teach new people. JVC

Thats exactly what I meant. Thanks.

Well, you certainly are lucky then, arent you?

Hey, you know what? The manning of spare apparatus thing is a HUGE pet-peeve of mine. Allow me to explain why, and when I am done, I bet you'll totally agree with me. Whe Norwalk has a fire that commits all of our FD resources, we backfill our stations strategically (meaning, the ones most centrally located). Who we backfill them with (career or vol) really is not the point here. My problem is that our department won't call back our members to man spares and put em into service, they let the covering companies sit at our stations at the expense of the taxpayer of the covering co. municipality. And in some cases, the covering dept's will hire back OT to fill the created temporary vacancies. Seems a bit unfair to me. I think the only way to address this is thru contract negotiations. Joe

I am ok with the growing a set thing, but it's too late for the hair...at least for me!

We finally agree on something. You are absolutely correct. If a member can't hack it, they are dealt with severely, through chop-breaking etc. But keep in mind all, this is not the basement or the bunk room of the firehouse, it is a world wide web forum and as mentioned, it can possibly be read by thousands of people, so lets look like the pros we want to be seen as! JVC

Thanks. My biggest mistake (as usual) is "biting" on a topic that I have strong feelings about. I am at peace because I know I respected your opinions even though we disagreed. Thats what the forums are about, and as a moderator, I wish to stand by that credo. JVC

Ok, your "roots" are with the unions that you are affiliated with, mine happen to be with a volunteer department. That does not diminish my dedication to Norwalk and if you are insinuating that you are way off base. I can't help that things went down in Belltown the way they did, I was a huge supporter of the brothers that got laid off. I helped raise $2,000 to give to the "Family Benefit Fund" and attended the fundraiser in support of them while they were laid off. Most of them were my friends and unfortunately that situation ruined a lot of long-standing friendships. I knew when all was said and done they would be better off and they are now. Remember, there are 2 sides to every story. Throwing a dig at me about Belltown is uncalled for and unfair.

First of all, I never deleted anything that you posted, and I feel strongly about letting the members post their opinions and respect them. While we are throwing years around, I began my fire service career in 1986 and I am a 4th generation firefighter, so I know the deal. Definition of Non-Firefighting ways: Associate membership that does not contribute to manpower "strength". Going to family functions of the department that gave you your start, helping out with training, simply "giving back". These are strong feelings bro...it goes way deeper than you can know. I remember where I came from and it is not only accepted by my brother firefighters in Norwalk (and Stamford), IT IS RESPECTED. Opinions are what this forum is all about and contrary to what you may believe, I respect yours even though I disagree with them. You CAN be a dedicated union member and yet still have respect and gratitute toward an organization that helped you get started in the business. There is no rule that prohibits dedication...it is the very foundation on which our "calling" is built.

As a union officer of a 130-man union, I can tell you that many of our members INCLUDING ME are affiliated with organizations that are considered fire service organizations (volunteer) and as long as they are not fighting fires or contribute to the fire suppression staffing, there is not a thing we can do about it nor do we care to. There are too many "fires" to fight without worrying about what a member is doing on his/her personal time. I am so sick of hearing this garbage, it does not matter...no union guys are losing jobs because of the volunteer service in our area. Also, to back my remarks up, I am in constant communication with my IAFF district VP and he has told me that the IAFF does not care to police members who happen to be affiliated with volunteer companies in a non-firefighting way. There are just too many other important things to worry about, like benefits, legislation protecting firefighters, the heart bill, the presumtive cancer bill and I can go on all night. Face it, its a weak fight, and I won't delete you because I disagree with you. The spewing of false union garbage needs to stop. I can say this as a 9-year union official in the rank of Secretary. JVC

Ok, I'll bite too... The way I see it, it all depends on mutual aid pacts in the volunteer services. What do the first arriving bosses want out of the mutual aid resources coming in? My bet is they want manpower 90% of the time. So, if that is the case and whole crapload of white helmets show up, put 'em to work. The way ICS works, even in a system that uses it in an abbreviated fashion, is to assign chiefs to leaders of operational roles. Take the much-discussed church fire. Even though I was not there, I can think of 3 or 4 roles that could be headed up by chiefs other than the IC. How about a chief in charge of fire suppression operations, or a chief in charge of dealing with the media, or a chief in charge of staging...all realistic roles. The sign of a good boss is to be able to serve many roles on an as-needed basis. And while on the topic of staging, if you have no job for a company, yet want to keep them close, STAGE THEM. Why should the chief of an incoming service be any different? Just some thoughts for what they are worth... JVC

I requested to go to the training for the Mark I kits but the powers that be told me to forget about it. I think it comes down to a stocking issue with the hospitals. JVC

Depending on your security settings on your computer, some parts of this site may not be working as you would like them to. It really has nothing to do with the site or the format, simply try a F5 or "refresh" and many times uploading pictures or checking out posts will work more smoothly. I learned this through trial and error. JVC

Awesome video. Nice job. JVC