RES20CUE

Talk about bustin' chops- Back in 1975 when Somers got it's first diesel, cab forward pumper (E-180- 1975 Oren), there was a sign placed in front of Somers (hamlet) Fire House- simply stated- "SEAGRAVE CROSSING" I wish I had a picture of it- It was because all the other houses still were operating the 1958 Seagraves, everyone loved them so much, and no one wanted to drive the "new Oren" so by the time the Oren was responding to an alarm, a Seagrave was already passing the firehouse! Ah, the good ol' days!!!!!!!

Yes, we use Z-Chains on our ambulances, and they work pretty good. You can drive faster than on regular chains, and the "Box" doesn't bounce around as much as the on-spots. The only drawback is with the long runs to the hospitals from Somers, we tend to wear them out pretty regularly. But seeing how Mohegan has it's own Hospital, they should do you fine.

Yes I agree, there are plenty of Dept's out there that have "spare" apparatus. Why? because it's required by ISO just for problems like Larchmont is experiencing. Every department has it's apparatus problems, some expected, some not. It suppose be up to each Departments Chiefs and Commissioners (or Town/Village/City) to ensure that the Dept has what it needs to protect it's area. This should include "Spare" apparatus! Not to beat up on Larchmont, but E-35 is a 1960 something Mack- I could be wrong, but from I understand is that the Tank has been rotted out for years, and was only used for hose and a pump (??). Obviously, this rig should have been replaced many years ago. Even if a dept has to buy a used piece to utilize as a spare, this should be done. What happens if 1 of the 2 Engines Larchmont has operating right now breaks down or is in an accident? The Rescue, though reliable, can't fight a fire!

With "on-spot chains" standard on just about every apparatus in the Northeast (If you don't have them- there is something extremely wrong with your apparatus committee!) 6" should be a good time to place the "heavy chains" on. The "on-spots" do fine up to about 6", of course I'm speaking about heavy apparatus- smaller vehicles start having problems around 2-3 inches.

To close out the Ambulance question- before it was squashed- 1- Hastings 2- Armonk 3- Mohegan 4- Croton 5- Pelham 6- Mohegan 7- Briarcliff 8- Verplanck 9- Bedford 10- Hawthorne 11- Somers 12- Somers 13- No Tarrytown 14- Briarcliff After Somers and Mohegan went to Rescue designations in the 80's- Armonk took 5, and Hastings took 12.

OK - Here are the correct ones, so far- 4- Croton 7- Briarcliff 8- Verplanck 9- Bedford Village 13- Sleepy Hollow (I'll give you- it was No Tarrytown then) 14- Briarcliff

Seeing how no one has posted anything in a while here's a new one- EMS has become a big part of the Fire Service over the last few years, however several Westchester Fire Dept's operated Ambulances going back into the 70's. In 1978, 11 FD's operated with designations of Ambulance 1 thru 14, can you name them by designation?

There are no safety concerns, to "pull them from the streets". The tires rub slightly when the rig is turned all the way to the right. It does not interfere with driving, or handling. I agree with you, that this has gone on way to long. As I said with the Tanker, a tickler list of problems was drawn up right away, prior to acceptance, and KME immediately fixed all the problems. We did the same with the Seagrave's, but it was felt that these issues were not big enough, not to accept them, especially when we despirately needed the vehicles. My point is that Seagrave did not immediately take care of the problems, and they have both been returned to the dealer several times, and some of the probems still exist. It is easy to "armchair" quarterback, but be "pulling them off the streets" does not solve any problems. It only reduces the firefighting stregnth of the town. Which is not easy to do with over 1400 runs! As for the Rescue-Pumper, the problems with that vehicle were addressed and corrected by Pierce. That vehicle was "pulled from the road" several times, before the corrections were made.

To answer MSM's questions- The vehicles were inspected, tested and both had a long list of problems. Seagrave's dealer (not to mention names, but it's located in Mamaroneck) fixed several of the problems. There was an auxiliary suction valve installed backwards, OK- I'll admit, the pump testing did not include testing the function of the auxiliary suctions- How could this $350,000 pumper leave the factory with a valve backwards? How could it get past the dealer with it backwards? Anyway, we found it backwards the hard way and blew a pump on a Mini-Attack. Seagrave made good on this, fixed the valve, and replaced the pump on the Mini-Attack. As far as all the other problems, yes it's 2 years and they're still not fixed! They are still not scratched off the list made in March 2001! As stated now the paint is peeling off both of them, and a rep from Seagrave will not return our calls. As far as your statements about "counsel" that may be the way to go at this point, but I'm not a Commissioner, and the pumpers are owned by the district, but I'll mention it to them. My feeling is that if you pay that much for an emergency vehicle, they should be there to take care of the problems immediately. I didn't care for the Salesman from KME, but they sure took care of the "hit list" right away upon receiving Tanker 16. We'll just have to see.

Not true on the Tanker. To this point, we are happy with the Tanker, and it was only out of service for a faulty dump valve solenoid. I can honestly say that the KME tanker has been in service more days in it's first year of service than the Seagrave's were. Our 2- 2001 Seagrave's were plagued with problems, that to this day still have not been corrected by Seagrave. The right front tire on both of them rub against the front suction piping- how does this happen?? Now the paint is peeling off of both bodies. True you get what you pay for, or should! We paid $350,000.00 each for those pumpers, and we definitly are not getting what we paid for!! As for "looking at KME" for our new pumper, we didn't look at anybody specifically. However, the bids were opened last night and KME came in about $35, 000.00 less than Seagrave and Pierce. It's very hard to justify not going with the lowest bid, with that much of a variance, especially when your dealing with tax payers money. As far as I know, Yorktown and Mohegan are both happy with thier KME's.

I thought this was WESTCHESTER trivia? But to take a guess- I would say Hyde Park, NY- president was Roosevelt.

One correction- Montrose VA is not, nor has ever been dispatched on 46.26. Station alert is on 33.96 from 60 control. 60 may call the apparatus on 46.26 if apparatus is out of the station and no one acknowledges on 33.96.

The minimum should be what is "suggested" by NFPA and required by OSHA- At this time- Basic F/F, Intermediate F/F, Haz-Mat Ops After 4/1/04- Firefighter I This minmum should also be made MANDATORY by State Law makers! Still hard to believe that NYS still does not require any training for Vol F/F's, but requires 229 hours of initial training and 100 hours annual in-service training for Career F/F's. What is the problem here?????

The major reason for "returning" to Red ambulances, is the fact that the Ambulances are owned by the Fire District and staffed by the Fire Department. We are one TEAM, and wanted to look that way! If you notice, the color scheme matches Engine 180, 181 and Tanker 16, with the white over red cab and the triple white stripes. We are planning on replacing 80B3 this coming year (2004), and will most likely be a duplicate of 80B2. So far we are very happy with this unit. It's "taking the lickin' and keeps on tickin'!"

A type III can either be a van or "long nose" chassis. My vote is for a PL Custom, first then Horton, second. Braun's, and Wheeled Coach's are not made well enough for the call volume, terrain, and distances to Hospitals in the "North Country" Check out Somers' new 80B2 on EMTBravo. com or somersvfd.com

Yes, a great story. I remember reading it in WNYF back in '77 when first printed. I also remember seeing it off loaded from a flat bed truck at Kensico Dam during a Fairchester Muster, but don't remember the year. Ah, it's great getting old!!

Yes, it is true. "Ol' Smokey" is going. They are replacing it with the old Chief's Car (4dr Ford pick-up). It is currently being outfitted as a brush truck.

In Somers, we use Hurst, and always have, but we are looking into other brands for replacements with our new RES20CUE. Lukas was bought out by Hurst and now goes by the name of Hurst Centurian. Hurst is definitly heavy! We use State-Line for our service, and never had a problem. Great Service and Emergency repair too. Let me ask you guys a question- If you were to purchase a new set of tools today, what would you buy- Hurst, Centurian or Amkus?

In Somers, we didn't purchase surplus from NYC, but from other areas. In 1967, we purchased a rescue truck from New Hyde Park in LI, did a little refurb, and ran it front line until 1987, and in "Light Duty" until 2001, Great Investment!! Another great investment- in 1975, purchased a ladder truck from Larchmont, refurbed slightly twice and ran until 2001. Hopefully a good investment, is our current Ladder, a 1989 Sutphen from Kensington, MD. Doing well so far. For the higher priced vehicles (new), I believe it's good to buy used, as long as it's a good deal, and you expect to get out of it what you pay for it, if you get more- that's a bonus!!

Good Job Chris, Yes indeed, the first due was Quad 5, a 1950 Ward La France 85T Quad. Hence the Bonus- Eng 36, 37, Quad 4, Lad 19, when the Quad went, and the 3rd "triple" came in- Eng 51.

Seeing how I got the Call Letter question right, Here's my question- The Town of Mamaroneck uses Engine 51 as it's first due Engine, which is a 1979 Seagrave. Prior to 1979, what apparatus was used as first due and what was it's designation. BONUS- The other 2 Engines are 36 and 37, Why are all 3 not in sequence?

Address: 21 LAFAYETTE ST. LADDER 12, 10-84 FIRE SHOWING FROM #2 FLOOR WINDOWS, 10-75 TRANSMITTED @ 1202 Units Operating: Engines 21, 22, 23, 24; Tower Ladder 11, Ladder 12, Car 2302, Amb 30A1. Relocating E-25 to Sta 1. Fire showing from #2 Floor, 2 1/2 Story Wood Frame 1212- 20x40, Heavy Fire on #2 Floor, extending. 2nd Ambulance and 2301 dispatched. Water on Fire.

KBS999- North Tarrytown KLD812- Ossining WQO555- ???? KEF213- Portchester KBR359- Eastchester KCP575- Peekskill KTV688- West Harrison KTV687/689- Mohegan (JV & Furnace Woods) Bonus- KRV295

Good Job, JM- Engine 134 and 135 were originally assigned to Somers. They were Somers' first 2 engines when the county started designating apparatus. E-134 was a 1940 Diamond "T"/Sealand and was re-designated E-180 when we went to the 180's in 1958, and was assigned to Granite Springs (and for any of you SPAAMFAA members, it should be appearing in an article in Enjine!-Enjine! shortly), E-135 was a 1943 Ford/ "Somers-built" was was re-sesignated E-185 when we went to the 180's, and was assigned to Somers hamlet. You are also correct on Tanker 1 and 11. Cont Village originally had Tanker 1, they also had different Engine numbers, but some Coordinator years back, thought of CV as more a Putnam Dept and stripped thier Westchester #'s, so GBFD got Tanker 1, and CV got Tanker 11 when "they returned to Westchester". But Somers still had the first Tanker in Westchester in 1946, before Westchester had Tanker designations.

As far as Engine 134 and 135, they were not always Peekskill's numbers. When the county first started designating apparatus back in the late 30's, 134 and 135 belonged to another Dept, and my question was which dept and what apparatus was assigned to each? As far as 57Truck's question- Snorkel 1, 1970, and I'm guessing on it's first Mutual Aid was to Mt. Kisco.