jcoppola

I vote for coach buses. By far that was the most challenging extrication I have ever participated in.

Ok, I'll be honest, it took the horrible loss of Captain John Keane of Waterbury FD to get me to open my eyes to wearing my seatbelt all the time. I was an occasional wearer, but in my 20+ years of responding in fire apparatus, I never made a concious effort to do so. Now I do and I try to reach for it every time I get in the truck. All reports about Waterbury seem to indicate that seatbelts may have changed that tragic outcome. RIP Captain John Keane, Waterbury FD.

Maybe I am bisaed, but the CSP State Police Dress Uniform is the sharpest one I have ever seen. I think NY and NJ run a close second. The Washington State Patrol uniform is outright ridiculous. They look like they could do bachelorette parties on the side. Can I say that? Oh, I guess I did.

Can anyone shed any light on how Darien Fire Department was able to purchase identical and I am sure, expensive, engines??? I mean, kudos to them for getting that accomplished, but I just don't see how a town would buy 1 department 2 brand new engines. Maybe they got a grant or something??? By the way. they are really pretty trucks... We need to get that purchasing agent a job in Norwalk!!! JC

Its amazing that each one is pretty much hand made. Lucky for us there are still tradesmen & women who do this type of work. JVC

Thats okay, we get enough action without going out of town...YEAH RIGHT!

Why don't they just REFURB it again...Interstate does such quality work...haha (I am being sarcastic and my BFD friends know why) JVC

Look into the CFA cirriculum of building construction. They currently offer Type 1, 2 & 5 and they are pretty good classes, I teach in that program and I have to say that it is a well done lesson plan.

Just when you think you heard it all...someone does something so outrageous that all you could do is shake your head in disbelief. I agree that the intent probably was a prank, but that does not justify it or make it "funny" WOW.

Date: 10-27-2007 Time: 0615 Location: Interstate 95 N/B area of Exit 16 Entrance Ramp Frequency: Units Operating: E2, C2, R2, Norwalk EMS, Norwalk PD, CSP, E3 Special Call but cancelled Description Of Incident: Box truck rollover with ejection onto the entrance ramp. Victim was DOA. I95 closed N/B for several hours for investigation. Writer: JVC

A few build photos of FCHM Field Comm Truck in progress.

Seth, The manufacturer is MBF Industries, Inc.,210 Tech Drive, Sanford, Florida 32771. The chassis is an International C4900 like our current hazmat truck. It's station location is still unknown at this time, but Norwalk is a possibility. It will have full radio capability although I don't know about the ITAC-ICALL. It will serve as a mobile command post for our incidents and it was purchased mostly with homeland security grant funds. It will be a good resource for the county.

Date: 10-23-2007 Time: 13:05 Location: Fort Point Street @ Seaview Avenue Frequency: 151.445 Units Operating: E3, Rescue 2, Car 2, 2 Norwalk Hospital Ambulances, Numerous PD Units Description Of Incident: Motorcyclist vs. car. Cyclist apparently hit the vehicle and was ejected from the bike, first rolling over the windshield of the car then onto the roadway. Victim was transported to Norwalk Hospital with what appeared to be serious head injuries. Writer: JVC

I am so sick and tired of reading this volunteer vs. paid garbage on this site. It should be deleted, locked out, or whatever it takes to stop this freaking nonsense! Why doesn't anyone else realize that no matter how powerful, stong or member-heavy a volly company is, nobody is losing any paid jobs...take Danbury, Connecticut for an example, they have a ton of vollies in the city yet they still managed to add a entirely new engine company (E-26), new station quarters and full compliment of manpower (per thier contract) to their strength. I'll admit, I got cought up in one of these arguements here in the past, but I definitely learned my lesson then. Again, nothing any of you say or do is going to take away the opportunity for a career fire job in Fairfield or Westchester counties, or any county in the tri-state area for that matter. While I argued in the past that career and paid cannot get along in a combination house (and got some heat for that one too...) neither of us are going anywhere any time soon! Just weighin' in... JC

nice job. i agree. I thought many teams still did the "God bless America thing still...Am I mistaken?

Theres just something about Yankee Baseball in October. I have to admit I am really bummed that there is not going to be a Yankee-Redsox ALCS this year. I am a met fan who was rooting hard for Torre and the Yanks to see some good, gritty, in-your-face playoff ballgames. I guess there is always next season...

I agree that Firehouse Magazine has gotten really bad. I cancelled my subscription a few years ago. Every now and then I see one in the firehouse, pick it up, then put it down and give thanks that I stopped paying for it. Fire Engineering is a LOT better, each month I find a few items worth reading. I am, however, very displeased with Chief Brennan's replacement on the back page. You just can't replace that talent with Brunacini...unreadable JC

Nice rig, good idea behind it too. Question...is the old Ford Rescue slated for replacement? I saw that rig at a class a few months ago and I was really impressed with the tool compliment on it. The members there look like they are very squared away with their rescue training.

Date: 09-29-2007 Time: 07:33 Location: 68 N. Main Street Frequency: 151.445 Units Operating: E2, E5, T2, T1 (RIT) R2, C2, C16 Description Of Incident: Initially dispatched as a still alarm for E2/T2. On arrival E2 requested a full box assignment for smoke in the basement of a commercial row of stores of Type 3 construction. Fire was found in the basement and extinguished. Units are still O/S overhauling. Writer: JVC

Norwalk has Panasonic Toughbooks in ALL apparatus. All Toughbooks are hard-mounted on movable brackets and have a GPS Locator System on them with maps and plot-as-you-go directions. As our pre-planning program, we are using First Look Pro, which is a pretty user friendly program. In it, we are importing all valuable data about EVERY address in our city, including digital photographs of sides a, b, c & d. In some cases we will be putting roof pictures on the program for commercial occupancies. The wireless internet is coming as I am told, but still not in the computers yet. Other software on the computers includes NIOSH and DOT HAZMAT Manuals in electronic form with much more to come...

Good site, well done and neat. Very professional looking. My website is below in my signature...click it and check it out.

Date: 9-26-2007 Time: 12:15 Location: Connecticut Ave. Underground Powerline Project Site Frequency: Units Operating: NPD, NFD, Norwalk Hospital EMS Description Of Incident: A Norwalk police officer sustained a serious head injury Wednesday morning when he was struck by a trench box. Officer John Russell Wynkoop was directing traffic at a construction site on Connecticut Avenue at about 12:15 a.m. when he was hit by the large steel box, which is used to prevent sidewall cave-ins of trenches. The construction site is part of Connecticut Light & Powers installation of high-voltage power transmission cables beneath Connecticut Ave. After the accident, worked stopped for over an hour while police and personnel from the construction company investigated what occurred. Police at the scene said Wynkoop was knocked unconscious by the blow, but regained consciousness by the time he was placed in ambulance and taken to Norwalk Hospital. Wynkoop is the second-longest serving police officer on the force, which he joined in 1975. Writer: J. Coppola PS: Incident description courtesy of The Norwalk Hour Newspaper and Reporter Harold Cobin, who covers Police & Fire matters for the newspaper. I will post Officer Wynkoop's condition when I get more details.

I have a few good CT HS Football Rivalries, some from the past, some from present: Greenwich-Fairfield Prep (present) Greenwich-Stamford Catholic (past) Stamford High-Westhill (past and present) Stamford Catholic-Rippowam (Past) Am I showing my age? Joe