chris498

Oren 8)

I thought Dobbs Ferry's older Seagrave was a 1977........... as for the oldest...... I guess perhaps it is Somers, I can't think of any others that are older.

As for Putnam, I think Mahopac still has a 1965 Oren Pumper in service, and Cold Spring has Carmel's 1964 Oren Ladder. In Westchester, Rye's Maxim Tiller dates back to 1956 with a major refurb in 1985/86 when Ruscon added a new Spartan tractor and performed a major rehab of the tilller. I think Yorktown's 1934 Maxim pumper is officially the oldest in service pumper in the county.... although Katonah's 1928 ALF Pumper is still officially ENG. 114 with the county.

Just a quick note, fire apparatus separates from marchers before the turn to the firehouse, so if you want good pictures, I'd stay on Rt. 22...... reviewing stand is a probably a good place to be.

I have to agree with my friend Mr. Daday about the amount of pride that is involved with parades..... its one of the times I realize as a volunteer how appreciated we are by the communities we serve. Typically we too have people who do not go to the parade who are still in town, who can still respond....... It would be nice to have 30 or 40 people respond to each call, but lets face it.... do you really need 30 or 40 people at a PIAA or a car fire? Besides a parade is a planned event that people are aware of for typically months in advance....... fire and emergencies are not, and therefore you need to make due with the resources you have at that moment (I'm not talking about alarms that occur during parades, rather a remark that was made about "where all of those 30 to 40 people are when the alarm goes off".) Additionally we always have rigs that stay in town while we are at a parade, and when we do go to a parade, many people opt to return once we have finished marching..... while some others will decide to stay for trophies. I'm not trying to say that parades are more important. I think we all can agree that we are here to do a job to protect those in our communities and their property. Perhaps keeping a stand-by crew in town and at the firehouse while we are at parades is the best option.

Sorry, but Katonah took best regulation at Yorktown this year, not Buchanan.

In that regard Stench I think I have to agree with you that there are a few examples where certain municipalities are relying too heavily on mutual aid to provide adequate protection for their communities, One example I will leave nameless comes to mind..... however, I do not think that Mutual Aid on a whole is being abused, that's what it is there for. I've gone down this road before with other discussions regarding the response system in counties in Maryland where you might get an initial response from 4 differnent communities. If one of those companies fails to sign on within a certain period of time, another company is then directed to respond...... I know this hasnothing to do with Rye Brook at this point..... and I know that concept would probably not work here in WC, but I think it provides an interesting glimpse of how the concept of mutual aid is viewed in other areas of the country.

I don't think Mutual Aid is being abused in Westchester. In fact, as many members of this web form have indicated on other threads, MA is a vital part of our emergency services. Frankly I believe that others will agree with me that WC could do a lot more with MA to provide safer and more efficient services to our the populations we protect. On the contray, if one department responds to an alarm and they have no one else left to protect their community, and they request mutual aid for coverage and the coverage is then protecting the community in the event of further incidents, is that really abuse? Not in my mind....... but who am I...... a fool from Katonah.

Ok, So here is the deal for the Maxim dealer, the company was based out of Hamden CT and it was called O.B.Maxwell; the owner was Andrew Maxwell, and he sold scores of Maxim's across NY and CT. Maxim was at one point a very very popular fire truck in Westchester County. The Mack Dealer at one point was appaerently John Bucci of Long Island; but I have no time frame on that.

The Montreal Bronto's were built and delivered around the late 80's early 1990's........ Most of them were on Freightliner Cab Over Chassis, with crew cabs added by the company that contracted to do the bodywork.......... there was also a 135ft. or something wierd like that Bronto built on a huge 4 axel Pacific Chassis. Pacific built logging trucks in Canada for many years and for a short period of time in the early 1990's built custom fire truck chassis for Canadian apparatus mfgs. ; they are now out of business. As for time to replace the fleet....perhaps..... but I wouldn't say those trucks were past their replacement dates........who knows.

The dealer for Maxim Fire Apparatus for the Westchester Area was from Hamden CT. the same guy sold the trucks for years and years.... when I see a comissioner budy of mine tonight at the FD I'll ask him about it again......perhaps he can tell me who the Mack deal was tooo......stay tuned.

That engine is a 1984 Hendrickson (Now HME) Darley Pumper from Round Hill Fire Company in Greenwich..... it was replaced in the last few years by a new KME Pumper. Old rig - http://www.firenews.org/ne/RoundHillE1a.jpg New rig - http://www.firenews.org/ne/GreenwichCTE61.jpg The old engine in White Plains were solid red Maxims from the 1960's and 1970's. (With the exception of one from the late 1970's that was red and white. It served as Engine 2 and then Engine 8)

There are several Bronto's out on Long Island...... South Hampton, and Wading River both on Pierce Chassis.... remember guys, Pierce had that contract until E-One bought that company (Bronto) also, Mineloa has a snorkle on a Pemfab Chassis....... that was built before Pierce had the sole rights to supply chassis and bodywork for these units. There was one in Elizabeth NJ, but that truck was replaced several years ago. I do not know of any other rigs like this in the Hudson River Valley. As for Montreal, they are a large city, I know for a fact they have quite a few E-One Rear Mounted Aerials........ I'm sure they have a large spare pool and will be in ok shape..... I took from the article that there Bronto's will be removed for inspection and most likely they will return to service.

Port Chester Volunteers are going to respond why RBFD apparatus? That is an interesting concept.

Found Fairviews 1965/1980 Sanford Pierce Telesquirt which served Malta Ridge and now Poland FD in upstate NY. http://www.cnyfiretrucks.com/ Click on Poland.

I too am about 1/2 way through the book, a really great read. If you liked that book pick-up "Population 431" It was writen by a volunteer firefighter in rural Wisc. it too really puts it in perspective, I found myself relating to an aweful lot in that book..... the author has a good sense of humor, and it was a relatively quick read......oh and Seth, the guys talks quite a lot about his time as a medic....right up your alley....lol

Just a reminder about family fun day. Lets try to keep this thread up and current, it means a lot to me and to many others. Thank you!

They are lucky that tanker did not explode...... what a mess. Hopefully all of those involved will make a quick and safe recovery.

Croton Falls has 2 Pumpers, 1 Rescue, 1 Mini-Attack, and 2 Gowans Rebuilt Appartus in service!!!!! Says something about them. Pound Ridge now has two engines by Gowans, and Bedford Engine 108, the Mack source pumper is a Gowans as well. The first MA 15 was a Gowans Knight, built in 1971 on an International Chassis..... also, Mahopac has twin Simon-Duplex/Gowans Tanker Pumpers. Here is what I know about them, they were at one point the local CT. dealer for Oren (Later Grumman) Dealer. They also at one point sold Bordman Fire Apparatus before Boardman was bought out by ALF in the late 1990's. They built their first fire truck around 1963 or three or so and it was sold to a fire company in the Town of Litchfield CT. (I think it was a GMC tanker) They do not build tooo many trucks each year, but the people around here that own them seem to like them...... Bedford Village's rescue was built by Gowan in the 1991 as well. Check out www.gowansknight.com and see what you think.

It is difficult, I think to catagorize exactly what a patrol truck was..... just look at the variety of rigs listed above. I guess the best way of defining a patrol would be to say that it was a truck that usually had firefighting capabilities with a small booster tank and usually a small pump or high-pressure fog system, that additionally carried equipment for rescue and salvage operation.... again, just look at the trucks listed above. It is also true that some of the patrol units were full sized pumpers, or that they were small 4WD units that we would probably equate with todays Mini-Attacks...... most patrols transitioned into either rescue trucks or mini-attacks. I know that is a loose answer, but again when you really look at the trucks that served, by todays standards it would be hard to catagorize it.

Check out the new rig! http://www.gowansknight.com/watertown_page.htm

Mamaroneck Parade is always a good parade to see a ton or rigs! Last year even Aviation from da' Bronx was there...... bring yer cameras if you are not marching!

Can someone confirm this rumor? Did the boat really sink? Were they underway? Is the crew ok?

Here is an interesting conversion of an old Mack CF Pumper into a tanker...... how about it Croton? http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/other...yster%20Bay.htm

Questionablle use? It was called a quick attack because it was just that...... a quick attack. A unit that required little set up.... packed some punch and could get a head start on things while the to quote "big toys" took time to set up; there was really nothing big about these units. This concept of a small fast moving quick to spring into actin unit is not new, in fact it is very strikingly similar to the chemical units of the late 19th and early 20th century . Quick Attacks if you really looked at the details of such a unit would seam to imply a small rig with firefighting capabilities and rescue abilities...... Questionable use? They had a purpose..... they served it. QA2 still fulfills that roll today!!!! Something someone made up..... like the first mini-attack, some made that up too.... they used to be called patrols.