AFS1970

The helmet I saw briefly in a window was a Tradiional style (New Yorker or Ben Franklin, ect.) not the metros common among EMS. I know that some of the hospital based ambulances wear yellow metros and so do some of the Volunteer EMS units. BRAVO in Brooklyn does, not that I think they would have been anywhere near that scene.

I saw it as part of the coverage on TV, it was one of many shots strung together while the commentators were talking on the late night news. I doubt if it is still avalible. This might just have to remain a mystery.

Good job, nice mix of still shots and video.

I only saw the first half of it, during the midnight repeat. I hope to catch whenever the repeat is. I echo the thoughts that have been posted already. Finally someone got it right. While I don't have the career frame of reference, it did look like they got it right all the way around.

OK so I wasn't the only one who thought that helmet looked yellow. I didn't think that the Auxiliaries were all that active in NYC anymore but I may be wrong. I do know that White Ben Franklin II's do get kind of yellowish with age and use. I've seen a couple that really didn't look all that white anymore.

Well done, nice mix of still and video.

This sort of thing happens. It wasn't all that long ago that a mistake sent the EVACUATE CONNECTICUT message across local TV Screens. But I also remember MTA Police sending a preprogrammed message out to other Police Departments by mistake stating that a Wildcat Strike had shut down all commuter rail in and out of New York City. I am less worried about the panic such things cause as the Cry Wolf metality is breeds in the public. If they keep seeing these things as false, will they react with a lack of panic when the real thing happens? Just look at how many people actually evacuate from thier apartment buildings when the fire alarm sounds?

OK now to jump into the fray: Plain english, is just that PLAIN. Slang terms like Bus (instead of Ambulance) are not really plain english at all. We have a term in Stamford "Next on theList" which means send a tow truck. It goes back to the days when tow trucks were rotated call by call and you got the next truck on the list. (I should point out that they have been rotating day by day for at least 20 years). This term has also become a joke. When a cat or dog is struck by a car, it is not unusual to hear someone ask if Chins is next on the list today?. We had a Sergeant as for Next on the List at a DOA (He was asking for the local Funeral Home) and a Dispatcher who didn't get the joke sent him a TOW TRUCK. I personally think that a code or signal would have solved this problem, but if we are going to use plain english then it really has to be plain. As for National Standards, APCO (which is a private organization) tried this a few years ago. I don't know of anyone willing to change to this standard. Stamfords ridiculous attempt at new codes (to comply with NIBRS reporting) was a good example of how not to change. Under the old codes a 10-13 was stolen property, which made it real interesting when Metro North would call on the phone and tell us they have a 10-13 at the Train Station. I guess Plain Language would have helped in that case. A little know fact is that when FEMA said to get rid of codes last year, that was spread like wildfire. We got copies of the article in communications. A little while later when FEMA told the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) that they could go back to using codes if they wanted, nobody paid any attention. Plain Language was only a national standard until the cops brought up security and brevity issues. As for being buffy on the radio, I am not sure sounding like FDNY is a bad thing. Isn't FDNY the biggest FD in the world? I would guess they probably have more radio transmissions than anybody else. So if any single agency is in a position to spearhead a national standard, wouldn't FDNY be the logical choice? I have never said 10-75 on the radio, but I have told incomming units that a SIGNAL 4 has been transmitted on the box they are responding to. It's only one sylabel shorter, but isn't brevity why we started using codes in the first place? As a kid I heard units call a 5,7 & 9 all the time. Now they are "Returning to Quarters from a False Alarm and Recalling the Incident". If that's an improvement, I don't see it. Brevity is more of an issue in these days of increased call volume than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

I have probably the smallest collection. I only have 3 Code 3's. I have the Mack CF from Ocianic VFD in NY, and I have the two Jack Daniels Distilery rigs.

I saw the show the other night. I thought it was basically a good show. My only real complaint was that it was very Brand Specific. I don't know if there was any reason other than just getting the names correct, but much of the tools and apparatus they discussed were called by their brand names.

Excellent Article. Interestingly enough, different colored hoses was my request with the new extrication equipment we are buying. I liked the way we have these for our Airbags, and attack lines, and thought it would be a great addition to elliminate confusion.

Regardless of how positive or negative this issue is, it is an issue within the Fire Service. I first heard about this incident on another fire service website, which also has forums. So far, in the short time I have been posting here, the discussions have been better and usually less hostile, so this is where I look for further information. If we didn't discuss these difficult issues here, then they would get discussed elsewhere and that would be very helpful to this site. Like others have said, we have discussed firefighter arson here also, but for whatever reason firefighter DWI has recently become a bigger topic, and we have seen more incidents in the past few years. At least this incident didn't lead to a death or injury. If some reads this and decides not to do this themselves, the we have by not brushing this away, contributed to the overall professionalism of the Fire Service. I personally would like to see these discussions be more generic about the actions than about the individuals simply because people who post here do sometimes know the person, and we should be able to learn from others mistakes, just like we do our own.

So we have several options here.... 1 - The French are trying to hide Osama, by telling us he is dead. 2 - The French knew he was dead and concealed this info from us. Either was I say blame the French. Now as for the serious stuff, I too won't believe Osama is dead until I see something a little more credible. Plus if he died in hiding, Al Qaeda would have got all the mileage they could out of him being martyred because our hunting of him prevented his proper medical treatment. Since they did not play the opportunist card, I have to be skeptical on this one. Of course if he is actually dead, that will just ruin the Liberal assertion that Bush was going to suddenly capture him just before an election.

At least two of our former stations in Belltown (Stamford) are still standing. 11 Leonard St a 2 story 2 bay station was closed in 1963. It now houses the TR Molgano Landscaping Co. And there is an old barn on Toms Rd, next to a forgotten old cemetary, which was I think our original station. It has long since been converted to a private house and is owned by the parents of one of our past members. It is down a long driveway and can't be seen from the street. Of course Stamford's old Station 2, at 678 Pacific St is still standing, but since most of the South End is about to be redeveloped who knows how long it will be there for. I've heard it will be saved for some type of new use but we all know how well historic buildings do against "progress" On Lockwood Av, north of Cove Rd in Stamford, is also the Firehouse that never was. It was originally built for 4 Company, but never occupied by the Stamford Fire Department. It was the home to the now disbanded Stamford Auxiliary Fire Department until 1978. The 1950 Mack Engine that the SAFD used is now at the SFRD Mechanical Division and is used for various public events. The Building is a private club now, I think it may be a greek american club but I am not sure.

I like this fine: "Any member found removing or in any way interfering with orders or papers on the bulletin board, unless authorized by the proper officers, $1.00 fine." Maybe that one should stay. Since we operate on a point system, with 1 point for each call, drill or meeting the lack of points becomes it's own fine. The key to making a point system work, IMHO, is that points above the minimum have to mean something. Otherwise there is no reason to go above the minimum. Back to the topic at hand, I think that a point system that rewards activity is the flip side of a fine system that punishes inactivity.

Well Done.

We still have an old rule about dues that has never been enforced since I've been a member. It says that the annual dues shall be $25, but that members making their quota of points (calls, drill, meetings) are exempt from dues. Theoretically we are supposed to collect these dues every year. I think that dues are an idea whose time has passed. I'm sure they were useful at some point, but lets face it, most of these dues ammounts were probably alot more in days past. $25 isn't the fine it once was. Also, any rule that isn't enforced over a long period of time, ceases to be useful.

When I was little my mother used to tell me that two wrongs don't make a right. I am surprised to see so many people defending Dog, he broke the laws of the country he was in at the time. Should we not enforce American laws on Mexicans if what they did would have been legal back in Mexico? The reason that US authorities couldn't get the person is the same reason that Dog should not have done what he did, Mexico forbids it. Now I do think that Kidnapping is a strong word to use in this particular situation. This was a known criminal who was eventually convicted. But what if his case was thrown out due to some technicality involving the way he was captured? Would we be calling Dog a great guy in that case? There are alot of hard working Bounty Hunters out there who work to make sure that alot of scumbags stay off the streets, but remember that the motivation is always financial. Dog is just famous because of his WWE like looks and tactics got him a TV show. This case wouldn't even have made the news if he wasn't already famous.

Well done video. I had to look at it a second time to notice that the first rig shown was a Mack. They had more tha one pic of destroye Segraves also. I think it was just a collection of found pics, that they used to show the horror and destruction at the scene.

Hursh said witnesses would testify that they had heard a PASS device sounding while Morrison was missing. He also said Morrison should have left the fire before he became incapacitated. So the lawyer is a firefighting Tactics Expert? I think that in every single LOD Death of Injury case, we would all agree that it would be great if the firefighter had been able to get out before being killed or injured, but sadly that does not happen. The PASS is designed for just such a purpose, so that if we don't make it out, our brothers can find us and hopefully get us out. A PASS failure, as this case shows, is a major fireground event. I also have to wonder if those witnesses are able to distinguish between the PASS alarms of diferent firefighters? If so, I'd love to learn that trick, because that would sure speed up rescues, if we knew who's alarm was sounding.

I have to dispute the Oreos theory here....they would make a poor absorbant since they stay crunchy in milk. I think vanilla wafers might work much better.

So lets see a Bounty Hunter who makes a living going after bail jumpers jumped bail? One more reason why that Dog should be sent to the pound. Most states do not allow CONVICTED FELONS to become bounty hunters, I believe that is why his business operates from where it does, because there are still a few states that don't license or do background checks on bounty hunters. I have never been a fan of Dog or his show, but perhaps now this scum will be off the streets and be barred from tarnishing the reputations of the hard working bail enforcement agents who actually want to bring professionalism to their profession (hmmm, sound like any other group that is well represented here on EMTBravo ?).

I still think Charlie Daniels put it best at the end of his newer version of the video for In America. "This song is dedicated to all the Americans that did nothing more than get up and go to work one morning" It coves everybody killed in this attack, and it expresses the sentiment much better than anything else I have ever heard.

Without reading it, I would say that 2 years is not long enough to become bitter and cynical. It's taken me 17 1/2 to be that way. And now comes a book by one of the crack heads that help make us that way. Someone who failed at several other jobs. That is a critical problem with hiring dispatchers, is there a Police or Fire department that would hire a Police Officer or Firefighter who had such a past? NO! But hey it only a dispatcher so we can get that wierd kid down the street who never bathes and doesn't talk that much. Then Chiefs seem honestly surprised when there are competancey problems. Now someone who prbably didn't succeed in this career is writing a book about what kind of screw ups we all are. The stories that sell books are not the onew that show the professionalism than can exist in a well run dispatch center. I don't think I'll be jumping aboard the bandwagon on this one.

I have to agree that the leather boots are great. I recently started wearing the Pro-5000 which have more Kevlar than Leather on the outside. We did alot of pump out calls this weekend, and they kept my feet perfectly dry. They are about the same in comfort as my old leather boots, which I ruind the toes on, like everyone else seems to. As for helmets. I wear a leather N5A New Yorker. The standard issue helmet in my department is the Ben Franklin II. We chose that helmet for two reasons. First we use to issue Metro's and so many guys bought thier own New Yorkers that we had a bunch of Metro's that were in storage, but were old. The Captain in charge of gear wanted to go with a Traditional style helmet. One member had bought thier own 1010, and another had bought a Bullard, other than their owners noone liked those all that much. We were able to see a recently issued Ben II from New York and after a bit of research selected that as the standard. Another factor was cost. Several of the neighboring departments issue 101's but we have been able to get the Ben II's for less money, whcih in this day and age has to be considered when buying equipment.